In 1816 (known as the year without a summer, do to severe climate from the eruption of Mount Tambora) The author, all of 19 years old, along with a group of young writers and intellectuals, enthralled by the ghost stories in a book called “Fantasmagoriana” (Tales of the Dead), decided to have a ghost-story writing contest. Many of the guests wove tales of great horror, but our author was unable to.
Later that night, our author had a waking dream where the author saw "the pale student of unhallowed arts kneeling beside the thing he had put together." Then the author put the story on paper. In 1817 it would be published anonymously. Its success would endure long after the other writings produced that summer had faded. The book was republished in 1823 and this time was published with the author’s name.
This book’s sub-title was “The Modern Prometheus” and had influences from the Promethean myth (Prometheus stold fire from the gods and gave it to the greeks). Other sources include John Milton’s “Paradise Lost.”
What is the name of the author and the name of the book?
Bonus Question: What popular horror story can trace its genesis back to the same ghost story contest?
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14 years ago
5 comments:
I was thinking that the book was "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley, but the last question kind of throws a curve. Did the story of Dracula originate that far back? I don't know the author of the Dracula story offhand. Guess I need to do some research. Am I on the right track?
Well Golly Gee Whiz, I guess I need to come up with harder questions. The answer is Mary Shelley and her monster. The book known as "Frankenstein" was written in 1816 and published in 1817. By the way the monster is not called Frankenstein, but is called the creature or the monster, Victor Frankenstein was the creater of the monster.
As for the Bonus Question, one of the guest was Dr. John Polidori, who wrote a story called "The Vampyre" widely regarded as the first romantic vampire tale and later became an influence for Bram Stoker's "Dracula" first published in 1897.
Sorry. I actually read Mary Shelley's book...it's nothing like the movie.
That is usually how it is. Movies in their own right are great for entertainment, but books are the best.
I agree with Will, books are always better than movies. I'm going to try to read this Mary Shelley
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