‘Frankenstein’ Comes Alive: Horror Literature Expert Studies the Enduring Impact of Mary Shelley’s Monster

In the past 200 years since its debut, the novel “Frankenstein” has been taught worldwide, adapted through every art form and cemented in pop culture. 

David Sandner, professor of English, comparative literature and linguistics, is an expert in science fiction, horror literature and fantasy literature. He has published two books recently on Frankenstein. One is an anthology of stories titled “The Afterlife of Frankenstein: A Century of Mad Science, Automata, and Monsters Influenced by Mary Shelley, 1818-1918” that shows the cultural reach of the novel in its first hundred years.

His other recent book, “His Unburned Heart” tells the story of Shelley’s quest to retrieve her husband’s heart after it — as history actually records — didn’t burn in his funeral pyre.

“‘Frankenstein’ is a startling original novel,” Sandner said. “It is not only the very first science fiction novel, but it marks the first appearance of the ‘mad scientist’ figure. Perhaps its most important ‘first’ is Shelley’s now-ubiquitous modern twist on the monster: The ‘sympathetic monster’ who we identify with instead of simply trying to kill. The monster who we recognize is, indeed, ourselves.”

Sandner also is working on a new novel titled, “The Frankenstein Singularity,” returning to his work in what he calls the “Frankenverse.” He can be reached for an interview at [email protected].

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