Paul Ruditis

Vault of Frankenstein by Paul Ruditis takes the reader from the earliest, mere inkling of the iconic Frankenstein, when it was but an idea in Shelley's mind, through to the enduring legacy still vibrantly alive today. This is the charting of a legend, the mark of an outstanding story. Centuries on, the book and characters continue to inspire new adaptations, in all manner of media, showing how our interpretations change via the lens of culture and social values. My favourite has to be show more National Theatre's Frankenstein play starring Jonny Lee Miller and Benedict Cumberbatch, who took it in turns to play both Victor and his Creature. That version focused on the Creature's story, what it means to be abandoned as a child. I don't recall seeing it mentioned in this book though, which was a bit of a disappointment. This book is a great treasure for any who love Shelley's original book, the myriad adaptations, or are a classic horror buff in general. I enjoyed the digital ARC enough that I've ordered a hard copy!

***Many thanks to Netgalley and Quarto Publishing for providing an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. show less

We are quickly approaching the 200 year anniversary of a novel written as a part of a challenge by a British woman staying in a castle on Lake Geneva. Mary Shelley's little project has become one of the most recognized characters in the twentieth and twenty-first century. The novel floated around with classic literature of the period without making a huge wave until Universal Studios' full-length movie in 1931. Since that time the Monster has appeared in numerous films and just about every show more form of entertainment from cartoons (Frankenstein Jr and Scooby Doo), an Aurora model kit, Lurch from the Addams Family and Herman Munster, and even the X-Files. Although these modern interpretations drift from the original storyline, many newer versions try to stick closer to the original in the story of themes such as the series Penny Dreadful. His fame has not been limited to America. A rather comical looking giant Frankenstein monster joins the Japanese monster collection battling a Godzilla-like monster.

The Vault of Frankenstein will give the reader a detailed history of the creature in all his variations. Today's along with last century's version of the monster have changed quite a bit. Shelley would never have dreamt that her monster would meet the Wolfman, Abbot, and Costello, or grace the box of breakfast cereal. She would also be surprised to find that there was an Igor (or "eye-gor" in Mel Brooks version) or the movies most quoted line "It's Alive" was never written in the novel. In fact, the creation of the monster itself is under-represented in the book compared to the movies.

The Vault of Frankenstein is filled with photographs and memorabilia of Frankenstein's creation. Photos of Shelley's original writing, movie posters, photographs of the actors who played the creature, and various items and props are included in the pages of the book. The book includes all outgrowth that is influenced by the creature's fame -- from the Monster Mash to postage stamps. A well written and illustrated history of a cultural icon. show less

I had very mixed feelings about The Walking Dead TV series at the beginning. I really liked the survival-horror soap opera premise, and I was impressed with the production values, especially the great FX work on the zombie makeup. I also found both the zombies and the post-apocalyptic world they'd created genuinely scary. But my reaction to the characters ranged from mild liking to a strong and frequent desire to punch them in the face, and I thought several aspects of the storytelling could show more have been handled better than they were. The show's gotten steadily better as it's gone on, though, and I'm now very glad I decided to stick with it. Somewhere in season two, something finally clicked for me, and at this point, I'm completely hooked on it, and have developed considerable emotional investment in at least some of the characters. (OK, mostly Daryl. But he'd be almost enough by himself to make the show worth watching.)

With the series about to return after its mid-season three hiatus, and with me feeling much more charitable towards those early episodes in hindsight, this seemed like a good time to take a little look back with this companion volume, which was published between the first and second seasons. It covers pretty much the territory you'd expect:the development of the show, its comic-book origins, casting and visual effects, and so on. It's decently written, as such things go, with plenty of interesting quotes from various people involved in the making of the series, especially showrunner Frank Darabont and Robert Kirkman, who wrote (and still writes) the original comic. My only real complaint about it, except for some oddly repetitive material in the first couple of chapters, is that it's full of "sidebars" -- often several pages long -- that interrupt the main text, thus necessitating a lot of annoying flipping back and forth. Otherwise, while I wouldn't call it essential reading for fans of the show, it is a generally pleasant little supplement to it. For some definition of the word "pleasant" that includes lots of pictures of flesh-eating corpses, anyway. show less

I love tales about monsters! Frankenstein has been one of my favorite classic monsters ever since I watched the old black and white movies with my dad as a child. I grew to love the character even more when I read the book that started it all. I have to admit I didn't read the classic book by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley until I was in college. I first came to enjoy the character based on all the cheesy monster movies, scary tales and pop culture references that morphed out of her tale. I show more have since read the book many, many times and love both the original character and the more Holllywood version.

The book Vault of Frankenstein traces the history of the character from the book's publication in 1818 through all the related novels, plays, movies and pop culture references. Frankenstein's monster has grown from a monstrous creation that didn't even have a name to a pop culture force all its own.

This book is just awesome! Not only does it give detailed facts about Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, the book, the history of the character, the films, related novels and plays, actors who played the monster, and the pop culture history of the character, but the book is filled with many amazing illustrations and photos as well. I love how there are pictures of everything from Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's original hand written manuscript pages to Frankenstein themed postage stamps.

I have always loved the fact that the book grew out of a bet among friends during a boring, rainy summer in 1816. I wonder what Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley would think about the amazing journey her character has taken over the past 200 years? I think she would be impressed that the monster has taken on a life of its own....just like in the book. Just a bit less lonely and hopeless.

This is a beautiful book! After reading a review copy, I immediately ordered a copy for our keeper shelf. As a lover of classic monsters, I just had to have this book. The facts and descriptions are so interesting and the photos are awesome! Definitely full stars from this Frankenstein fan!

**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from Quarto Publishing via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.** show less