The first edition of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein was published anonymously in 1818, but the version with her name on the cover wasn't published until 1823. Shelley gained inspiration from traveling around Europe with future husband Percy Shelley and Lord Byron. They participated in ghost story telling competitions while traveling around, which is where some of her inspiration came from. Frankenstein tells the tale of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a hideous creature and the trials of the creature after being abandoned by Frankenstein. The novel implements the frame story narrative style of storytelling, which was unique at the time. Her novel fuses together the genres of Gothic fiction with the notions of the Romantic movement. It's also seen as early science fiction work. The idea for the novel came to Shelley in a dream that later became the basis for Frankenstein. Mary Shelley's novel was hugely influential on the world of science fiction and horror. Image source: http://frankensteinia.blogspot.com/2008/08/mary-shelley-meets-frankenste...