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(TopShelf Columnist)
Twitter @JHBogran | [email protected]
Many horror films refer to the monster as
Frankenstein—an often
misconception—but along with the
wrench, other creatures populate the
cinematic pantheon of horror. The
most popular of course are Count
Dracula, the mummy, and the
werewolf. Frankenstein and Dracula
are based on eponymous novels that
were published in the late 19 th
Century, way before horror was
really established as a genre.
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein novel is
hardly horrific. Albeit referring to the
monster as hideous, hard to look at, we
never really have a detailed account of
his looks. The image of a large gray
monster with the nuts protruding from
the neck and the flattop head entered
the popular consciousness through the
movies, not the novel.
The original novel deals more with
the feelings of Dr. Frankenstein, his
reasoning for creating life, then his
horror at his own creation, that made
him despise the monster. The ironic
part is that the monster, when created,
was essentially good, he didn’t turn
bad until after being harmed and
insulted by humans. Yet, the monster
learned to think, and to speak two
languages that we know of.
On the other hand, we have Bram
Stoker’s Dracula, a true monster. The
creature terrorized London, killed for
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Ian Holm, John Cleese, and Aidan Quinn
complete the cast. Hollywood legend Francis
Ford Coppola directed Dracula with an
FRANKENSTEIN
VS. DRACULA
by J. H. Bográn
ensemble of yo ung actors included
Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder, Cary
Elwes, Robert E. Grant, while Oscar
award winner Anthony Hopkins plays
Van Helsing and consumed actor
extraordinaire Gary Oldman plays
Count Dracula.
Although the pitting of the two
monsters have occurred regularly in
different films, too many to list here, they
are versions that deviate from the source
materials and many quirks acquired from
the previous movies that have made into
pop culture keep coming back. The most
notorious example of this is complete
absence of hunchback Igor in the
Mary Shelly’s novel, but that
didn’t impede Daniel Radcliff
from putting a new spin on the
tale providing poor deformed creature
with a Pygmalion arc in the recent film
I, Frankenstein. You know what else is
absent from the book? Doctor
Frankenstein shouting “It’s alive!” In
fact, the whole creation process of the
monster is summarized into a couple of
paragraphs.
Both novels are now public domain,
and getting free digital copies, or
even affordable paperbacks should
make a great addition to any
household library.
FORGOTTEN TOMES:
pleasure, and had his sights set on the
beautiful Lucy Westenra. She’s to become
one of his half-dead brides. Except a group
of brave men led by lawyer Johnathan
Harker and Professor Abraham Van Helsing
hunt down Dracula and chase him away to
his native land in Transylvania where the
climax of the book occurs.
For some unknown reason, the best
adaptations of the novels happen to be the
most underrated of movies. Kenneth
Branagh not only plays Dr. Frankenstein but
directs the movie as well. The monster’s
played by Oscar winner actor Robert De
Niro; Tom Hulce, Helena Bonham Carter,
COLUMNS
J. H. Bográn, born and raised in
Honduras, is the son of a journalist;
however, he ironically prefers to write
fiction. José’s genre of choice is thrillers,
but he enjoys to throw in a twist of
romance on occasion. He has published
three acclaimed novels and is a member of
The Crime Writers Association, the Short
Fiction Writers Guild, and the
International Thriller Writers where he
also serves as the Thriller Roundtable
Coordinator and contributor editor for
their official e-zine The Big Thrill.
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TOPShelf magazine
OCTOBER2017 9