Frankenstein's Warning: Don't Deny Your Daemon

The creator horrified by his own creation. Frontispiece from the 1831 edition of Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus . Illustration by Theodor von Holst.

Dear Living Dark reader,

With Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein debuting on Netflix this week, I’ve been reflecting again on why Mary Shelley’s creation myth has haunted me for so many years, and why it occupies an important place in Writing at the Wellspring. Below are three pages from the book, including an excerpt titled “Frankenstein’s War...