The Afterlife of Frankenstein
A Century of Mad Science, Automata, and Monsters Inspired by Mary Shelley, 1818-1918
“Fear of age and death often creeps coldly into my heart; and the more I live, the more I dread death, even while I abhor life. Such an enigma is man—born to perish—when he wars, as I do, against the established laws of his nature.” –Mary Shelley, “The Mortal Immortal”
Dr. Frankenstein’s monster is one of the most iconic figures in English literature, popularized through decades of writing, film, and comedy. But even before the invention of film, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein profoundly impacted scores of writers, gathering force for the genre that would ultimately become what we know as science fiction.
In this anthology, scholar of the fantastic David Sandner explores the first hundred years of Frankenstein’s influence. This collection of short stories and excerpts from work published between 1818 to 1918 demonstrates what a pioneering myth Frankenstein has always been—from the very day when lightning first struck and it opened its eyes on the world.
Dr. David Sandner is a Mythopoeic Award-nominated scholar of the fantastic and teaches at California State University, Fullerton. His books include Critical Approaches to the Fantastic, 1712-1831; Fantastic Literature: A Critical Reader; and Philip K. Dick: Essays of the Here and Now, among other books and essays. He digitally mapped Mary Shelley’s other SF work, The Last Man, for Space(s) of the Fantastic and founded an online database, The Frankenstein Meme, to study Shelley’s literary influence. As a writer, he publishes fiction and poetry and is a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association and the Horror Writers Association. Learn more at davidsandner.com.
