In 1816, a group of young English writers - Percy Shelley, Mary Godwin (who would soon become Mary Shelley upon her marriage to Percy), Lord Byron and John William Polidori - met at a villa on the shores of Lake Geneva, spending their time writing, boating on the lake and talking late into the night.
It may have been summer, but the days and nights were often racked with terrible weather and violent thunderstorms. The Earth's climate was suffering as a result of the 1815 Tambora eruption, and the group of friends would stay up late into the night as a thunderstorm raged outside terrifying each other with ghost stories.
This now historic meeting would result in the birth of one of history's most famous monsters - Frankenstein's monster - and when the modern vampire tale was born.
A fascinating exploration of one of the most significant moments in gothic history - the night when Mary Shelley, Lord Byron and their cohorts gathered together in Lake Geneva to tell ghost stories. The night when Frankenstein and the modern vampire were born. All those involved in the events of the summer of 1816 wrote about their life-changing stay in Switzerland. This dramatised documentary is based on their letters, journals and diaries. The film also draws on British Library manuscripts and archive, and brings together a stellar cast of gothic, horror and science fiction writers, including Neil Gaiman, Charlaine Harris and Margaret Atwood, to discuss why one single night had such a significant impact on our culture.
Watch it here: BBC iPlayer - Frankenstein and the Vampyre: A Dark and Stormy Night
"I beheld the wretch — the miserable monster whom I had created. He held up the curtain of the bed; and his eyes, if eyes they may be called, were fixed on me. His jaws opened, and he muttered some inarticulate sounds, while a grin wrinkled his cheeks. He might have spoken, but I did not hear; one hand was stretched out, seemingly to detain me, but I escaped and rushed downstairs. I took refuge in the courtyard belonging to the house which I inhabited, where I remained during the rest of the night, walking up and down in the greatest agitation, listening attentively, catching and fearing each sound as if it were to announce the approach of the demoniacal corpse to which I had so miserably given life."
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus (1818 )
It may have been summer, but the days and nights were often racked with terrible weather and violent thunderstorms. The Earth's climate was suffering as a result of the 1815 Tambora eruption, and the group of friends would stay up late into the night as a thunderstorm raged outside terrifying each other with ghost stories.
This now historic meeting would result in the birth of one of history's most famous monsters - Frankenstein's monster - and when the modern vampire tale was born.
A fascinating exploration of one of the most significant moments in gothic history - the night when Mary Shelley, Lord Byron and their cohorts gathered together in Lake Geneva to tell ghost stories. The night when Frankenstein and the modern vampire were born. All those involved in the events of the summer of 1816 wrote about their life-changing stay in Switzerland. This dramatised documentary is based on their letters, journals and diaries. The film also draws on British Library manuscripts and archive, and brings together a stellar cast of gothic, horror and science fiction writers, including Neil Gaiman, Charlaine Harris and Margaret Atwood, to discuss why one single night had such a significant impact on our culture.
Watch it here: BBC iPlayer - Frankenstein and the Vampyre: A Dark and Stormy Night
"I beheld the wretch — the miserable monster whom I had created. He held up the curtain of the bed; and his eyes, if eyes they may be called, were fixed on me. His jaws opened, and he muttered some inarticulate sounds, while a grin wrinkled his cheeks. He might have spoken, but I did not hear; one hand was stretched out, seemingly to detain me, but I escaped and rushed downstairs. I took refuge in the courtyard belonging to the house which I inhabited, where I remained during the rest of the night, walking up and down in the greatest agitation, listening attentively, catching and fearing each sound as if it were to announce the approach of the demoniacal corpse to which I had so miserably given life."
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus (1818 )
