How to write

Some works of fiction become legends that are passed from generation to generation; becoming more ingrained in our history and culture with each reincarnation.   

Frankenstein’s Monster

A chilling story of mythic proportions, a scientist assembles body parts and reanimates them, creating an abomination to humanity. The creature is born good and innocent, but once he is exposed to the hatred of man, he becomes violent. 

“But it is true that I am a wretch. I have murdered the lovely and the helpless; I have strangled the innocent as they slept and grasped to death his throat who never injured me or any other living thing. I have devoted my creator, the select specimen of all that is worthy of love and admiration among men, to misery; I have pursued him even to that irremediable ruin.”

The novel was written by Mary Shelley when she was 19 years old, and it was published in 1818.  The world was still reforming after the French and American revolutions and the ideals of the time accepted the inherent good of people. 

Shelley’s family was politically active, supportive of revolution and equality.  She was surrounded with educated individuals.  Dinnertime conversations swirled around Darwin’s theories of life and mutations.   Scientific discoveries were challenging the imagination.  Shelly overheard stories of bodies being stolen for the purpose of experimentation and corpses that were reanimated with electricity.

She captured the political and moral conflicts of her time and wove them into a fiction that would “speak to the mysterious fears of our nature.”  She wrote in her journal of a horrible dream, in which she witnessed the “pale student of unhallowed arts kneeling beside the thing he had put together…the hideous phantasm of a man stretched out.”  A monster was born.

“[a] flash of lightning illuminated the object and discovered its shape plainly to me; its gigantic stature, and the deformity of its aspect, more hideous than belongs to humanity, instantly informed me that it was the wretch, the filthy demon to whom [he] had given life.”

The manuscript was turned down by two publishers before it was accepted.  The book was an instant success.  By 1823, stage versions were appearing regularly and in 1910 Thomas Edison made the first Frankenstein movie.  Since then, over 40 films have been released.

Mary Shelley would write four more novels, but none could match the success of Frankenstein.  Frankenstein is often considered the first work of science fiction, as well as, an exploration of political and scientific themes. The relevance of which has only grown over time. 

Dracula

The ghoulish demon often thought of as Frankenstein’s twin.  Bram Stoker’s Dracula was published in 1897 and has frightened readers ever since.  Stoker presented an evil creature, with razor sharp teeth and grotesque pointed features, a dead man who must consume blood to survive.  

Stoker was a sickly child, bound to bed, and his mother entertained him with frightening stories.  As an adult, Stoker collected horror stories and one in particular, Carmela, the story of a female vampire, captured his imagination.

Stoker fused thousands of years of legends and historical facts into his work. He spent seven years researching vampire myths and legends. The stories dated back to Lilith, Adam’s first wife in the Talmud the book of Jewish laws.  Asian cultures also have legends of vampires attacking babies; hiding in lakes to ambush travelers; or taking the form of wolves. 

Transylvania was the origin of many vampire legends, including methods to kill the undead; decapitation or burning.  Staking the corpse was supposed to keep it pinned and immobile and religious artifacts would incapacitate a vampire. 

“When the Count saw my face, his eyes blazed with a sort of demonaic fury, and he suddenly made a grab at my throat. I drew away, and his hand touched the string of beads which held the crucifix. It made an instant change in him, for the fury passed so quickly that I could hardly believe that it was ever there.”

Vlad the Impaler, the ruler of Wallachia, vehemently defended the country’s boundaries using vicious means.  Prince Vlad impaled his victims and left their bodies visible as a warning to others.  Stories circulated of Vlad’s atrocities; drinking blood and roasting the heads of his victims. It is estimated that during his six year reign he tortured and murdered over 40,000 innocent men, women and children.

“I on my part give up the uncertainty of eternal rest and go out into the dark where may be the blackest things that the world or the nether world holds!”

Dracula was not well received upon its publication.   In1912, Stoker died in obscurity and poverty.  In 1927 a theatrical adaptation played on Broadway featuring Bela Lugosi and it was a hit.  Bela Lugosi also starred in the movie four years later.

People have a macabre fascination with what terrifies us most.  If you wish to create a lasting character tap into what frightens us the most: loneliness, helplessness and death.