08/31/2026 Kerry E.B. Black Binges Books!
- Candace Nola
- 53 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Kerry is back this week to help us celebrate Mary Shelley's Birthday!
Happy Birthday, Mary Shelley!
Written by Kerry E.B. Black
Called “The Mother of Science Fiction” and “The Original Goth Girl,” Mary Shelley was born on 30 August, 1797. Her most famous written work, Frankenstein: or the Modern Prometheus, was written and published when she was still a teen. However, this wasn’t the sum total of her impressive literary output. To her credit are six novels (Valperga, 1823; The Last Man, 1826; The Fortunes of Perkin Warbeck, 1830; Lodore, 1835; Falkner, 1837; Mathilda, edited and published U. of N.Carolina press, 1959), a travel book (Rambles in Germany and Italy, 1844), short stories, poetry, essays, and articles. She also edited her husband, Percy Bysshe Shelley’s work and wrote a biography of him. Additionally, she penned three children’s stories and edited the work of several other contemporary authors.
The daughter of two famous English intellectuals, multilingual abolitionist Mary Shelley began her unconventional courtship with an already married Percy Bysshe Shelley when she was sixteen. In her father, William Godwin’s sphere, Mary came in contact with many writers and philosophers. She held her mother, feminist Mary Wolllstonecraft, in high esteem, though she never knew her except vicariously, since Wollstonecraft died shortly after giving birth to her only girl. Famously, teenaged Mary and twenty-one year old Percy declared their love for each other while visiting the Mary Wollstonecraft grave in the churchyard of St. Pancras Church. The couple ran away to France and other parts of Europe in 1814. The couple faced societal ostracism and debt, but they married in late 1816 none-the-less. They had four children, but three of them died from illness early in their lives.
Percy died when his boat wrecked during a storm in the Gulf of Spezzia, Italy, in 1822. Legend has her husband, the Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley’s heart calcified and kept by the grieving widow. Doesn’t get much more Gothic than that.
Although she died on 1 February, 1851 from an apparent brain tumor (at 53 years old), her work gives her immortality. She’s buried with Percy’s heart and her parents’ remains in a family tomb located in St. Peter’s Churchyard, Bournemouth, Dorset, England.
Which brings up the idea of adaptations of her best known work. Frankenstein has been in the Public Domain for a long time. The most famous film adaptation, that of Universal Studios’ Boris Karloff depiction, with the iconic Jack Pierce makeup, will be a part of the Public Domain as of 1 January, 2027. Frankenstein’s unnamed creature appears on seasonal cereal boxes and is a part of children’s programming from “Monster High” to the 1990’s PBS show “Wishbone.” He’s been interpreted humorously by Mel Brookes in 1974’s “Young Frankenstein,” the Abbott and Costello monster episodes, and 1987’s “The Monster Squad.” In The Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine,” a Frankenstein’s monster drinks a potion to transform into John Lennon. Cartoon characters “Bugs Bunny,” “Rocky and Bulwinkle,” “Mickey Mouse,” “Phineas and Ferb,” “The Simpsons,” and “Alvin and the Chipmunks” met the creature. Wednesday Addams, H.P. Lovecraft, Tim Burton, and the maker of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” found inspiration in the tale, and the list goes on from there.
Frankenstein has many stage preparations, and the film interpretations number in the hundreds. Thomas Edison’s 1910 silent film lasted 16 minutes and is the first motion picture adaptation of the 1818 novel. Hammer Films loosely presented the story through the years. The 2004 two-part Hallmark Channel television miniseries is the most faithful to the novel that I’ve seen (which isn’t the same as the most enjoyable), but again, there are hundreds, including Del Toro’s recent Arctic exploration. And remember, new interpretations are offered frequently.
Of course, the novel has birthed hundreds of other books by those inspired by Mary Shelley’s Gothic vision - or the romanticized challenge to a house filled with literary luminaries one rainy, trip. Frankenstein and his reanimated creation has been to Bagdad (Ahmed Saadawi), a future US in Chicano Frankenstein (Daniel A. Olivas), and mashed-up with Jane Austen (John Kessel). The creature’s story continues as a diary (Susan Heboer O’Keefe) and is reimagined through the eyes of the ladies (Kiersten White and Kris Waldherr).
Even the initial act of creation of the book has been romanticized. The story finds a grieving Mary Shelley, her pregnant stepsister, Percy, Lord Byron, and Dr. John Polidori trapped together by storms on Lake Geneva, Switzerland, 1816. Lord Byron challenged them to write ghost stories. A waking nightmare inspired Mary’s contribution to the game.
These days, Frankenstein and his creature are portrayed gender-flipped, as animals, and as romance characters. They waltz through the popular imagination and speculative television shows. They menace games such as “Castlevania.” The story evolves with each interpretation and reiteration. In this modern age, some point to the scientific responsibilities outlined in the novel as a mirror for AI. Still, the original and the inspirations are analyzed. Since it remains a staple of many school curricula with themes of obsession, ambition, justice, prejudice, responsibility, isolation, loneliness, and revenge, this work continues to electrify the imagination and likely will for many years to come.
Need a new copy of Frankenstein for your shelves? Try these!
Masterpiece Library Edition
Chartwell Deluxe Edition
Reader's Library Classic-Original Text Edition
More about Kerry E.B. Black
Kerry E.B. Black writes from an over-stuffed little house situated along a fog-enshrouded river in the land where Romero's Dead roamed. Her children think she's dull, and their dogs agree, but the family cats, Poe and Hemingway, feel differently. The felines find a kinship with their nocturnal buddy and encourage Kerry to write.
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