What inspired Mary Shelley to write Frankenstein, one of the most famous science fiction works of all time? A writing competition between friends!
in 1816, Mary Shelley and her husband Percy were on vacation with long-time friends Lord Byron and John Polidori. Byron suggested the competition after reading some horror stories for everyone’s rainy-day amusement, and the writers got to work.
What began as a fun project produced not one, not two, but three iconic literary works! (The other was Polidori’s “The Vampyre”, the short story that later inspired Bram Stoker’s Dracula.)
Watch a comedic re-enactment of the iconic competition in this Comedy Central video.