It's (still) alive! Mary Shelly's Frankenstein

Non-fiction: Frankenstein: The First Two Hundred Years, Christopher Frayling, Reel Art Press, hardback, 209 pages, €34

A poster for James Whale's 1935 horror film 'Bride Of Frankenstein', starring Boris Karloff and Elsa Lanchester. (Photo by Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images)

Darragh McManus

Frankenstein was the result of a late-night ghost-story session between a group of literary friends. Almost 200 years later, Mary Shelley's novel has grown into a horror icon, and replaced Adam and Eve as the ultimate 'creation myth'

The creation story of Frankenstein, while not quite as famous as the novel itself, is one of the best-known tales in literary history. The book was published 200 years ago next January 1, and art-historian Christopher Frayling begins this sumptuous anniversary tome by remarking that he'd dearly love to have been present on the night of June 17, 1816, when the monster was born.