"This book shows how Mary Shelley created a monster. Commemorating the two-hundredth anniversary of Frankenstein, it traces the origins and impact of her novel - a classic of world literature, a masterpiece of horror, and a forerunner of science fiction. Shelley conceived the archetype of the mad scientist who dares to flout the laws of nature. She devised a conflicted creature, eloquent and repulsive, torn between good and evil. In the movies he can be a brute pure and simple, yet he is still an object of compassion and remains a favourite on stage and screen.0This engaging visual record begins with a biography of the author and continues through current reinterpretations of the story. Many of the contextual images have never been published before in print."--Publisher.