Frankenstein: a True Horror Novel Frankenstein is a book famous for the eloquence of its language and the horror

of its story. It was written almost 200 years ago, and yet the impassioned, terrifying story is still relevant today. Although the most recognizable version of the monster, a green atrocity with bolts in his head being chased by villagers with pitchforks, is not quite the same as the monster in the books, Mary Shelleys horror masterpiece has stayed culturally present for much longer than any other horror story. While it is true its themes that still apply today and its iconic and original characters are part of the reason it has survived so long, another equally important reason is often not included. Mary Shelley devoted the majority of the book to building suspense using the letters, foreshadowing the horrible events of the book, and developing incredibly intricate and descriptive language, all of which make the book scary like no other novel had ever been before. Frankenstein is a real horror story because Mary Shelley uses her writing style to make it truly scary. One of the most obvious ways in which Shelley builds suspense and horror in the book is her incredibly poignant language. She devotes many pages to describing the scenery, and every event is painted for the reader by a massive array of complex and descriptive words. This descriptive language is one of the things that sets Frankenstein apart from other older horror stories because Shelley uses the language to its full extent in order to make the story truly terrifying. She uses descriptive language in order to build suspense and captivate the reader with dread and fear. When describing Frankensteins reservations about creating a new monster she writes, She might become ten thousand times more malignant than her mate, and delight, for its own sake, in murder and wretchednessthe creature who already lived loathed his own deformity, and might he not conceive a greater abhorrence for it when it

came before his eyes in the female form? (170). Using this combination of alliteration and word variety, Shelley paints a terrifying picture of both the monster and his new mate, building suspense as to whether he will still give life to a second horrifying creation. This is also a good example of how Shelley uses her language to terrify the reader by simply describing incredibly disturbing things in such great detail that they are easy to imagine in all their frightening glory. Finally, she uses her language to build a barren, desolate world around the characters that serves to frighten the reader further by creating a sense of incredible loneliness and despair. When introducing the story, she introduces the reader to a icy and deserted north sea: How slowly time passes here, encompassed as I am by frost and snowI shall certainly find no friend on the wide ocean (19-20). By describing a land that is desolate, barren and enclosed by ice, she paints a very creepy setting to introduce and conclude the story, which adds another layer to the disturbing imagery of the book. By using these techniques, the reader truly feels as if they are in the desolate world of Frankenstein with the terrifying monster, making the book horrifying to read. The book becomes even more disturbing when Shelley uses heavy foreshadowing in order to make the reader fear for the characters and to instill him or her with a sense of dread and horror. In the beginning letters, Shelley piques the readers curiosity by foreshadowing to the entire story before the main characters have even been introduced. On page 21 Captain Walton admits, There is something at work in my soul, which I do not understand there is a love for the marvelous, a belief in the marvelous, intertwined in all my projects, which hurries me out of the common pathways of men, even to the wild sea and unvisited regions I am about to explore (22). This section essentially foreshadows the entire book: the exploration of the unknown, and Frankensteins love of science and discovery leading him to his horrifying creation. There is something eerie about the passage, which foreshadows

everything that is to come, and makes the reader nervous for no discernable reason. Then, the foreshadowing during the description of Victors childhood is perhaps some of the most constant and obvious. Throughout the section as he narrates, Victor comments on his ignorance and how each new action further sealed his horrifying fate- without the reader knowing what that fate is yet, allowing them to fill in the possibilities with their own worst fears. Victor laments of his childhood, When I look back, it seems to me as if this almost miraculous change of inclination and will was the immediate suggestion of the guardian angel of my life- the last effort made by the spirit of preservation to avert the storm that was even then hanging in the stars, and ready to envelop meIt was a strong effort of the spirit of good; but it was ineffectual. Destiny was too potent, and her immutable laws had decreed my utter and terrible destruction (43). By this point the reader knows that something terrible is going to happen, but the fact that he or she does not know what allows him or her to imagine any number of horrifying possibilities, adding a level of terrifying unknown to the book. The final instance of foreshadowing comes in the form of a single line on page 173, when the monster gives Victor the fateful warning, I go; but remember, I shall be with you on your wedding-night. The true horror of this foreshadowing for the reader is that it seems obvious that the monster is going to go after Elizabeth, having already killed one person Victor loves; but the reader cannot tell Victor this as he goes through the motions to defend himself and leaves Elizabeth helpless. The fact that the reader knows this but Victor does not, and Victors constant thought back to the quote, makes the reader fell helpless and terrified for Victor, making the terror of the story very emotional and real. In those ways, the foreshadowing adds a level of emotional distress to the story like few can, setting it apart in its scariness from most other books. Finally, Shelleys use of the beginning and ending letters are perhaps the most unique way in

which she adds horror. The letters have a double use because they encompass the first two ways in which she creates fear in a small section of the book that sets the tone and foreshadows the story at the beginning, and then sadly and disturbingly ends the story. The beginning letters introduce Frankenstein and the monster, foreshadowing the end of the story, as the main story is actually Frankensteins retelling of his life story before he meets Walton. However, they also use descriptive language to create and eerie landscape and to confuse the reader. Walton describes his very first sight of the monster on the barren ice in spooky detail, remembering, A being which had the shape of a man, but apparently of gigantic stature, sat in the sledge and guided the dogs. We watched the rapid progress of the traveler with our telescopes until he was lost among the distant inequalities of ice (25). By starting the story off in the icy arctic prison, after the main story has already happened, the reader becomes confused and is given a sense of desolation and dread that stays with him or her throughout the novel. It is still present even in the final letters, although instead of using foreshadowing to create fear, Shelley plays on the readers emotion by ending the story sadly and cruelly, with no one except Walton, a minor character, having a chance at happiness after the disastrous events. In his final hours, Frankenstein notices, Alas! The strength I relied on is gone; I feel that I shall soon die, and he, my enemy and persecutor, may still be in being . By ending the story once again in the barren and lonely Arctic Ocean, with neither Victor, his dead friends or the monster happy. By beginning and ending in the same lonely place, and by using foreshadowing and then playing off the readers empathy in order to instill in him or her feelings of fear and despair, Shelley elevates the novel to a new emotional level of horror. In conclusion, Mary Shelley implements a variety of tactics in order to scare the reader with Frankenstein. Her descriptive language creates a claustrophobic and lonely setting that stays with the

reader throughout the book, and makes him or her feel as if they were right there next to Victor, in as much danger as he is. Her foreshadowing allows the reader to imagine any number of horrifying outcomes of the story and leaves him or her with a sense of dread. Finally, both of those tools are used in the letters beginning and ending the book, which start the book off in a creepy sea, foreshadowing something terrible, and end it in the same creepy setting and with a cruel and emotionally devastating ending. Any writer can tell a story about monsters and call it a horror story. Frankenstein has survived through the ages because it isn't just a story about a monster; Frankenstein is a story that is horrifying and emotionally disturbing until the very last page.