I think I first read Frankenstein somewhere around the age of 16-18. It was an utterly thrilling book and it’s on my shelf for a re-read this year.
I equally enjoyed the Kenneth Brannagh/Robert De Niro adaptation when it was released back in 1994. Many moons ago.
It wasn’t until recent years that I watched Frankenstein and Bride of Frankentein to discover how beautiful horror could be in all its black and white cinemaphotography and its gothic design which added a level of both sympathy and fear to such a sad and very misunderstood character.
Having missed out on Danny Boyle’s/Nick Dear’s stage adaptation for the National Theatre with Benedict Cumberbatch and Johnny Lee Miller alternating in the title role, I did seize the opportunity of catching it at the cinema a few years back with Miller starring as the creature. It was a part of the National Theatre’s NT Live cinema screening series. I was blown away. I came out feeling like it was one of the best things I’d seen on the big screen in a long time. Having watched Benedict Cumberbatch in the main role (which I thoroughly enjoyed) in the recent youtube lockdown screening, the small screen sadly doesn’t do the production justice. It has to be seen on stage or at least on the big screen. It is flawed in places (which I won’t go into here). But it doesn’t take away from the emotional and horrifying impact of a story that broke all the rules in storytelling when it was first written. Mary Shelley was a pioneer and some would argue that this is not only one of the best horror books of all time, but also one of the best in Science Fiction.
What are your memories of Frankenstein? What are you favourite adaptations? Feel free to drop a comment below. It’d be great to hear from you.
Mark Young is the author of the 13 Dark Fantasty & Horror Stories series. Available from Amazon for Kindle, Kindle Unlimited and in Paperback. The second volume ‘Coven’ is now available to pre-order on Amazon.
The Heartbreaker: 13 Dark Fantasy & Horror Stories is available now.
You can also connect via any of my social media links:
Mark Young 