Three surprising things about Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a book that has become one of staple elements of the horror genre. Whether it is as movies or the book itself, there is no denying how big an influence this book has had on the horror genre. So here are three surprising things that you might not know about Mary Shelley’s classic.

She wrote it when she was a teenager

Mary Shelley did more when she was a teenager than most of us do in a lifetime. She ran away with the poet Shelley at the age of sixteen and had two children with him over the next two years. The pair then travelled to visit Lord Byron at Villa Diodati. She was 18 and whilst there began writing Frankenstein. It was published in 1818, when she was just 20 years old.

It was written for a ghost story competition

It wasn’t an official competition, but one that was suggested by Lord Byron after the group, along with John Polidori, read the ghost stories from the book Fantasmagoriana. Byron wanted to see who could write the best ghost story – Shelley, Byron, Mary or Polidori. Neither Shelley nor Byron ever finished their ghost stories, Mary won, and Polidori’s vampire story influenced Bram Stoker whilst he wrote Dracula. It was a rather competition in the end.

People thought the poet Shelley wrote the book

It was originally published anonymously as was dedicated to Mary’s father, William Godwin. Shelley wrote the preface to his wife’s book and many assumed that because of these things that he had written the book. It even continued after the book was reprinted with Mary’s name on it.

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Horror Books To Look Forward To In 2019

It’s never too early to get a start on figuring out your must-read books for this year. And these horror titles are guaranteed to get horror fans excited in 2019. Across all mediums this is turning out to be a golden age for horror writing, meaning that there are more and more great books vying for horror fan’s attention. These titles are some of the best the genre will have to offer in 2019 and must-reads for any horror fan.

Collision: Stories-J.S. Breukelaar

From the acclaimed author of Aletheia and American Monster comes another enrapturing collection featuring four never before seen anywhere stories and a novella. Breukelaar’s weird and deeply atmospheric stories have earned them comparisons to the likes of Kelly Link, Jeff VanderMeer, and Daphne DuMaurier.

The Familiars-Stacey Halls

Go back in time to 1612 with this enticing and imaginative debut novel from writer Stacey Halls. Melding the historical perspective of witch trials with a strange almost gothic fairytale atmosphere.

Inspection- Josh Malerman

With the Netflix adaptation of his novel ‘Bird Box’ taking the world by storm, Josh Malerman’s star has never been higher in the horror world, and deservedly so. This next book will be sure to cement his legacy as one of the defining voices for this generation of horror writers.

If you’re a horror fan and are looking for some great books to satiate your appetite for thrills and chills, head over to www.mediabinn.com where they have a comprehensive selection of horror eBooks and audiobooks.

Gross out: The top performing horror movies of all time

It’s one of the quirks of horror fiction that millions of us are prepared to spend good money to have the wits scared out of us. Horror is big business, whether in books or movies, and the thirst for frights shows no signs of going away.

Horror movies are grossing more and more every year. Even when you factor in the increased value of money, box office records are being broken all the time. Here are the top grossing horror movies of all time.

It (2017)

Stephen King's classic horror novel has already been given the big screen treatment with a well received 1990 movie. However, the latest version has shot to the top of the box office charts. That may have been down to the huge anticipation surrounding the movies release. It has all the creepy tropes of a classic horror flick – scary clown, evil demon and band of determined people who will find a few bumps along the road as they try to save the day. It already boasts a total box office take if $328m, almost ten times what it cost to make the movie.

The Exorcist (1973)

William Friedkin's iconic movie has its rightful place in horror movie folklore, it tells the tale of a young girl who is possessed and the efforts to exorcise her of the demon. It performed excellently on its release and was the second highest grossing film of that year, however its second place on the all-time list is down to several reissues which have brought its all-time box office to $232.9m.

Get Out (2017)

A critical hit as well as commercial hit, Jordan Peele's directorial debut has gone down a storm. It has already grossed $255m and won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.

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