For those who are unaware of one of the most famous stories
in Gothic literature, I would like to introduce you to “the story of
Frankenstein… I think it will thrill you. It may shock you. It might even
horrify you.” You won’t find any of these lines in the original 1818 novel,
although the author once famously remarked that she had wanted to write a story
that “…would speak to the mysterious fears of our nature, and awaken thrilling
horror -- one to make the reader dread to look round, to curdle the blood, and
quicken the beatings of the heart”. The image of Whale’s “Frankenstein” is just
one example of several horror icons that have become more readily identified
with their filmic representation than their source material. Colin Clive’s
hysterical portrayal of Frankenstein set the “mad scientist” stereotype, which
was far removed from Shelley’s original tragic Faustian version, and Boris
Karloff’s simple-minded, grunting, lumbering portrayal of The Monster was even
further away from the intelligent, blighted and scorned figure of Milton-esque vengeance
in the novel. However, the novel has bitten back over the years since Universal
did such a great job of immortalizing its own icons. The 1980s proved to be something of a
watershed in this respect and this is where we find the first publication of
Maurice Hindle’s edited text. It is this influential edition of the novel,
which has subsequently been reprinted in the same format several times now; I
am reviewing rather than the original story.
