HarperCollins is proud to introduce its new series of beloved, essential classics. "The rain beat drearily against the panes, and my candle was nearly extinguished when I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open with a glimmer of the half-extinguished light..." Victor Frankenstein's monster is stitched together from the limbs of the dead, sourced from the dissecting room and the slaughterhouse. The result is a grotesque being, rejected by its creator and alienated from human society, embarking on a journey to seek revenge. In the most famous gothic horror story of all time, Shelley confronts the boundaries of science, the nature of human cruelty, and the path to forgiveness. Begun when Mary Shelley was just eighteen years old and published two years later, this chilling tale of a young scientist's desire to create life—and the consequences of that creation—resonates to this day.