Delusional mad scientists working intensely on secret projects, peculiar large-silent über-human figures, and created-creatures who turn violently on their master/mistress are central tropes in the modern popular-cultural and horror imagination. While variants have existed in story forms in different contexts, one novel – written by a teenage girl and published in 1818 – has constantly acted as a valve for the speedy dissemination of these ideas into wider popular culture. The novel is, of course, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. The book has inspired a myriad of movies, beginning in the early 20th century. This autumn, the most recent incarnation, Guillermo Del…

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