Horror In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Horror. It’s a genre that has forever fascinated humanity. The thought of running from something that will never be killed, the thought of a strange creature under your bed or in your closet. Often the scariest stories are the ones where there is no seen threat; it’s just the thought, or the strange sounds heard in the middle of the night when you’re the only one in the house. Often Mary Shelly’s “Frankenstein” is referred to as horror, and also as science fiction. It definitely has attributes of a “horror” story; fear, surprise, suspense, and mystery. This novel also has characteristics of a science fiction story; meaning it tells of a fantastical event that has never been achieved, such as, sowing together various parts of humans and making …show more content…
Obviously, Dr.Frankenstein is terribly afraid of the monstrosity he has created. And the “monster” is well aware that it’s appearance is not what most people would call human; and that it inspires fear in others. Of course, there is also the element of science fiction; Dr. Frankenstein was afraid of a being that he created from a feat of scientific means. He created a living being in a way that has never been done, and probably never will, at least not in this way. He is terrified of what he has done, and in fact has a complete nervous breakdown before he's even done creating the thing. And when he actually sees it, he runs, spends the night in his yard and is afraid to even return to his own home. Dr. Frankenstein knows that he’s made a mistake; and he’s …show more content…
The main character of course, is the creature itself. The creature that Dr. Frankenstein creates is without a doubt terrifying. Who wouldn't think that an eight foot tall man that looks like he’s the living dead; and is in fact the various parts of dead criminals sewn together; be frightening? In the beginning he is an inarticulate giant, trying to communicate and talk among people who see that he is horribly different and attack him for it. He then knows that he is frightening and eventually uses this to get what he desires from Frankenstein; a companion. However, Dr. Frankenstein himself is a scary character. He somehow thought that creating a human from parts of other dead humans was a logical idea. His thoughts and actions that led him to create an eight foot tall beast that could hardly be classified as a human are very scary. What could be going on in his mind that led him to the conclusion that this was the only way to experiment with creating life? Dr. Frankenstein is terrifying in his own way, and by him creating the “monster” he produced something even more