Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" is the second great archetype of the modern horror genre after Bram Stoker's "Dracula". In contrast to the Prince of Darkness, Shelley's main character is not a supernatural being, but an artificially created human being who, through the cruelty and ignorance of his environment, becomes the monster everyone thinks he is. The ordinary people, on the other hand, are really monstrous: with their cold hearts and their delusion of having the world under control. With the work contribution from Kindler's literature encyclopedia. With data on life and work, exclusively written by the editorial staff of the journal for literature TEXT + KRITIK.