I’ve always had a passion for monsters. Spooky stories, creepy crawlies, things that go bump in the night. Despite being an incredibly cautious kid with an overactive imagination, I would spend hours pouring over books about monsters (my favorite was Grandpa’s Ghost Stories by James Flora). So, it should come as no surprise to people now that I’m a big fan of classic horror (both films and books). While I do not claim favorites, I have to admit that of those monsters, Frankenstein is one of the best.
While writing this list, I realized that most of these book descriptions were going to be some variation of “a book about the history and/or science of Frankenstein”, so instead of repeating myself, I’m going to share these in a simple list form.
It’s Alive: A Visual History of Frankenstein by Elizabeth Campbell Denlinger
Frankenstein: How a Monster Became an Icon,
The Science and Eduring Allure of Mary Shelley’s Creation
by Sidney Perkowitz and Eddy von Mueller
Frankenstein and the Birth of Science by Joel Levy
Frankenstein: A Cultural History by Susan Taylor Hitchcock
The Lady and Her Monsters: A Tale of Dissections, Real-Life Dr. Frankensteins
and the Creation of Mary Shelley’s Masterpiece
by Roseanne Montillo
Readings on Frankenstein by Don Nardo
Making the Monster: The Science Behind Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein by Kathryn Markup
