The Illustrated Frankenstein

By John Stoker

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• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0806989165
• ISBN13: 9780806989167
• Release Date: January 1980
• Publisher: Sterling Publishing (NY)
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.

Customer Reviews

The Monster as Pop Culture Icon

I remember ordering this book from the back pages of Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine. There used to be a series of ads from the Captain Company that sold horror merchandise. I saw The Illustrated Frankenstein and just had to buy it way back in 1980 when it was first published. After an agonizing 4 to 6 weeks for delivery, a package finally arrived containing this book in full paperback glory. I sat in bed all day one Saturday and read it from cover to cover. John Stoker does an excellent job at presenting the lasting enduring power of the Frankenstein story and how it has survived throughout the century. Stoker begins by telling the well-known story of how Mary Shelley, Percy Shelley, Lord Byron, and John Polidori engaged in a ghost story contest and Mary came up with the idea for Frankenstein. He then moves on to covering all the theater productions, some which ran in Mary Shelley lifetime. The silent era is covered followed by Universal, Hammer, all the teenaged monster movies, AIP, Mexican, and Japanese movies. Frankenstein transcends several different cultures that perhaps helped the story to endure. Stoker also takes a look at numerous short stories based on the Frankenstein legend, including my personal favorite, H.P. Lovecraft's Herbert West Reanimator. This book will probably be hard to find at your local used bookstore but it should be easy to find online. From a fan's perspective, it definitely has some interesting tidbits to add to your Frankenstein knowledge. John Stoker provides good solid critical analysis of quality Frankenstein films and is not afraid to criticize bad movies. Since it was published in 1980, it is still a great work that covers all the Frankenstein movies up to that point. There have been a few good movies that came out after such as the Hallmark Frankenstein. Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy and spend the Weekend with an entertaining look at an iconic monster that was born in Europe and nurtured in America and beyond.