The Afterlife of Frankenstein – A Century of Mad Science, Automata, and Monsters Inspired by Mary Shelley
The Afterlife of Frankenstein: A Century of Mad Science, Automata, and Monsters Inspired by Mary Shelley, 1818-1918 / edited by David Sandner / ISBN 9781941360798 / 408-page paperback with flaps published by Lanternfish Press / Clockwork Editions
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“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.
“The Afterlife of Frankenstein is a treasure trove of truly remarkable stories. This entertaining and illuminating anthology presents a fascinating portrait of English and American literature in the wake of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and is not to be missed by anybody interested in the literature of the fantastic.”—Jacob Weisman, World Fantasy Award-winning editor of Invaders and The New Voices of Fantasy
