Mary Shelley Wrote Frankenstein at Age 18

The story's genesis is as dramatic as the novel itself, born during the "Year Without a Summer" of 1816. A massive volcanic eruption in Indonesia the previous year had blanketed the globe in ash, causing severe climate abnormalities. This led to a dark, cold, and relentlessly rainy summer in Europe, trapping a young Mary Godwin (soon to be Shelley), her partner Percy Shelley, and the infamous Lord Byron indoors at a villa on Lake Geneva. To pass the time, Byron challenged the group to each write a ghost story, setting the stage for a literary masterpiece.

While the famous male poets in the group struggled, Mary was captivated by their late-night philosophical discussions, particularly on the scientific principle of galvanism—the idea that electricity could potentially reanimate dead tissue. These conversations sparked a terrifying "waking dream" in which she envisioned a pale student kneeling over the monstrous creature he had brought to life. Horrified by her own vision, she realized she had found her story.

What began as a teenage girl's contribution to a holiday contest evolved into a profound and complex novel. Over the next year, encouraged by Percy, Mary expanded her short story into the full-length work that would be published anonymously in 1818. This tale, conceived in a gloomy summer of scientific debate and supernatural storytelling, not only became a cornerstone of Gothic horror but also pioneered the entire genre of science fiction, posing questions about creation and consequence that remain relevant today.