The Rivals of Frankenstein

by Michel Parry (Editor), Ambrose Bierce, Eando Binder

CONTENTS:

9 • Introduction: In the Footsteps of Frankenstein • essay by Michel Parry
17 • The Colossus of Ylourgne • [The Colossus of Ylourgne] • (1934) • novelette by Clark Ashton Smith
56 • The Last of the Daubeny-FitzAlans • (1976) • short story by Arnold Harvey
59 • The Dancing Partner • (1928) • short story by Jerome K. Jerome
66 • Moxon's Master • (1910) • short story by Ambrose Bierce (variant of A Night at Moxon's 1899)
76 • Dr. Karnstein's Creation • (1976) • short story by Donald F. Glut
91 • Almost Human • (1943) • short story by Robert Bloch
111 • Count Szolnok's Robots • (1948) • short story by D. Scott-Moncrieff
126 • Herbert West: Reanimator • [Herbert West: Reanimator Universe] • (1943) • novelette by H. P. Lovecraft
158 • Pithecanthropus Rejectus • (1938) • short story by Manly Wade Wellman
169 • The Dead Man • (1950) • novelette by Fritz Leiber
198 • The Iron Man • (1955) • short story by Otto Binder (variant of Iron Man) [as by Eando Binder]
214 • Further Rivals of Frankenstein • essay by Michel Parry
215 • The Monster at the Movies - a Checklist of Frankenstein Films • essay by Michel Parry

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Anthologies, Victor Frankenstein, Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction

224 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1977

Reviews

[Shawn]

PLACEHOLDER REVIEWS

"The Dancing Partner" by Jerome K. Jerome - an expert maker of clockwork figures turns his skills towards the complaints of young women of his association who are unhappy with their choice of dancing partners at the grand balls. But ingenuity ends in tragedy. There's so much to like about this piece - its succinctness, its restraint (it lets you know that awfulness has happened without spelling it fully out), its prescience (as we enter the age of AI, for good or ill), its (possible) awareness its own lineage (I imagine Jerome must have read Hoffmann's "The Sandman" and incorporated its tale of the proto-android Olympia). A good 'un.

[Charlie Eckhaus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Introduction summarizes the history and variations of the Frankenstein monster story.
The Colossus of Ylourgne
by Clark Ashton Smith: Establishes a weird medieval mood, from which the horror ensues. An excellent start to the collection.
The Last of the Daubeny-FitzAlans by Arnold Harvey: A compact diversion which seems to flow from its predecessor here.
The Dancing Partners by Jerome K Jerome: A promising horror tidbit that seemed to lack conviction.
Moxons Monster by Ambrose Bierce: OK scenario, puzzling ending.
Dr Karstein's Creation by Donald F Glut: Competent twist on the legend.
Almost Human by Robert Bloch: The usual well-crafted moderately humorous Bloch.
Count Szolnok's Robots by D. Scott-Moncrieff: Another with a good period feel, like The Colossus..., above.
Herbert West Reanimator by H. P. Lovecraft: Very much in the vein of the medieval/gothic-tinged stories here. Originally published in serial form, seems more like a series of very similar somewhat redundant short stories.
Pithecanthropus Rejectus by Manly Wade Wellman: Point-of-view account of an experimental subject, atypical for the author.
The Dead Man by Fritz Leiber: A satisfying substantial weird Leiber.
Iron Man by Eando Binder: Well-done puzzler though not to-spec anent the monster's origin.

Overall, acceptable quality, but not enough connection with the Frankenstein legend (as, for example, did Preiss' Ultimate Frankenstein.

[Talmadge Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of eleven short stories constructed around the theme of creating life. A few well-known authors (Clark Ashton Smith, Ambrose Bierce, Robert Bloch, Lovecraft and Fritz Lieber) are included, but for the most part the selections are far from their best work, although the C.A. Smith & Fritz Lieber pieces are quite good. In my mind, the best story of the collection is "Count Szolnok's Robots," by D. Scott-Moncrieff.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

A really fun and solid little anthology with a lot of entertaining stories all in the vein of Frankenstein.

The only thing holding it back is the fact that the Lovecraft story included has some CRAZY racist parts (not a big surprise given his infamy) and it kind of takes you out of the book in a major way.

Would be interested to read the corresponding anthologies for King Kong and Dracula.

[Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second of three themed horror anthologies of the 1970s edited by Michel Parry, this book follows THE RIVALS OF DRACULA and was followed in turn by THE RIVALS OF KING KONG (to my chagrin the latter is exceedingly hard to get hold of and thus I don't own it at this time). This anthology is even better than the first, with a handful of quite good stories and a whole bunch of either very good or excellent ones.

Things kick off on a high note with Clark Ashton Smith's THE COLOSSUS OF YLOURGNE in which the titular beast wreaks havoc on an unsuspecting countryside. It's spellbinding stuff, perfectly blending dark fantasy with a gruesome horror spin, ending with a fantastic pay-off. It really doesn't get much better than this. Arnold Harvey does his best, though, in THE LAST OF THE DAUBENY-FITZALANS, a short anecdotal effort which offers an interesting twist on the old Frankenstein story. THE DANCING PARTNER is by Jerome K. Jerome and about an old inventor who decides to make a mechanical dancing partner for one of his daughter's friends to take to the ball. It's genteel and innocuous...at least at the outset.

MOXON'S MASTER, by Ambrose Bierce, is one of the lesser stories collected here, but only because the competition is so fierce. It's a philosophical piece exploring the complexities of the man-machine relationship. Not what I'd call entertainment, but at least it makes you think. Donald F. Glut's DR. KARNSTEIN'S CREATION is more like it: a straightforward Universal Horror pastiche which ably mixes up the vampire and Frankenstein mythology. Robert Bloch's ALMOST HUMAN is a curiously unsatisfying short about a humanoid robot in trouble with the law. It's pretty forgettable, not helped by an all too obvious twist ending.

I have no idea who D. Scott-Moncrieff was, but COUNT SZOLNOK'S ROBOTS is an excellent tale about an eccentric count who has assembled a team of golems to help him with day-to-day tasks. In the modern era of the 'Internet of Things' this is particularly unsettling stuff, a wonderful fusion of sci-fi and horror. H.P. Lovecraft shows up for HERBERT WEST, REANIMATOR, about a medical student with an obsession for raising the dead; it's pulp horror at its finest, and although episodic, it still packs one heck of a punch. As does PITHECANTHROPUS REJECTUS, a tragic tale from the pen of Manly Wade Wellman with an all-too-inevitable outcome. It's thought-provoking reading for sure.

THE DEAD MAN is by Fritz Leiber and an elaborate, modern-day twist on THE FACTS IN THE CASE OF M. VALDEMAR. It benefits from decent characterisation and takes a while to get going, but the creepy ending is worth the wait. Finally, Eando Binder writes THE IRON MAN, a neat look at the human/robot relationship, unsurprising but idiosyncratic enough to be worth a look for genre fans.

[Leothefox · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like everything else I read, I bought this at the paperback exchange and then let it collect dust in my cue for a year or two until I finally took it along on a plane trip.

"The Rivals to Frankenstein" has some really good stuff in it, especially the Clark Ashton Smith and H.P. Lovecraft selections, however it suffers from some of the major flaws that burden most collections. There's a lot of padding, some of it doesn't quite fit the theme (including the Bloch and Wellman selections, although they are among the better stories here), and it ends with a real loser, Otto Binder's "The Iron Man". Fritz Leiber's compelling "The Dead Man" comes in second to last, and it would have been a great climax.

Seriously, I've got to rant about this for a second: what is wrong with editors? Is there a rule out there some place that dictates that every collection of short science-fantasy fiction has to end on the worst piece in it? Is this a carry-over from Vaudeville? I buy a lot of these collections and I usually enjoy myself, but for some reason they never save the best for last, or even second best, for that matter. I'm sure there's some obscure logic to this that I'm just not getting, but I figure it's better to leave folks cheering for more, and not leave them wanting to chuck the book in the trash. My 2 cents.

The book had roughly 5 or 6 winners out of 11 stories, and a couple of the other ones almost made it, but not quite. I'm left with the mental image of Michel Parry at a buffet, picking out some if the tastiest morsels, and then burying them in bad gravy or something.

[Brian Moloney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was in a second hand book shop the morning after I watched the 1931 Frankenstein movie and thought, why not? The first story, The Colossus of Ylourgne by Clark Ashton Smith, set a great tone for the collection which sadly, many of the other stories failed to live up to. Stories like Robert Bloch's Almost Human Eando Binder's The Iron Man fell kind of flat and other such as Manly Wade Wellman's Pithecanthropus Rejectus and D. Scott-Moncrieff's Count Szolnoks Robots did not really fit the theme, being about uplifted chimps and robots respectively. In light of the latter point, the titling of the collection as rivals of Frankenstein seems a bit misleading, and taken as a whole there seems to be more of a sorcerers apprentice vibe running through it. Despite all this, theres a lot to enjoy here. The Dancing Partner (Jerome K. Jerome) and The Last of The Daubeny FitzAlans (Arnold Harvey) clock in at a mere 10 pages between them yet each manage to immerse you in their world before sending you back, shaken at what you've encountered. Count Szolnok's Robots, while not really on-topic (like I said, robots, and automatons at that, not sentient) builds and solves it's mystery at a brisk pace, like one of the better early 20th century weird tales. Speaking of which, what homage to Frankenstein (no matter how broad) would be complete without Lovecraft's Herbert West, Reanimator?
All said, I enjoyed this one, but would find it hard to recommend given the breadth of the theme and the antiquated style of some of the stories.

[Frances · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely glad I picked it up, but I have a bit of trouble giving it more than three stars--this is a must-read for any completist, but I found about half the stories to be fairly rocky.