The Haunted Summer

 The Haunted Summer of 1816

    With a name like "The Haunted Summer" it's easy to imagine hauntings and scary stories, and for one Mary Shelley that was the case. However for many, the year of 1816 was the year with no summer. This is because of the largest volcanic eruption in history(1). Because of the volcano, there were severe changes in the weather across the entire globe, including the dropping of temperature, thus a year without summer. It was the coldest year in about 400 years and caused a massive decline in crops in the Northern Hemisphere(1). Because of this massive change, soon to be author of the classic story of Frankenstein, Mary Shelley found herself staying in a vacation home to escape the weather. This vacation home is where she would famously come up with the idea of Victor Frankenstein and his creature.

  

(2)The most famous depiction of the Eruption of Mount Tambora

The Origin of Frankenstein

    During this "Year without summer" Mary Shelley(who was named Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin at the time) was staying at Maison Chapuis, a house near the own rented house of one Lord Byron and John Polidori(1). She stayed with Claire Clairmont, her step sister, as well as Percy Shelley, the father of her infant son who would be her husband a few months into the future(3). Because they were neighbors, Mary, Percy, Claire, and Lord Byron spent a lot of time together, mostly talking about books and literature. At some point during their stay, they decided to write their own ghost stories to share with each other. This is how Mary Shelley conceptualized Frankenstein. 

(3) the villa where Mary Shelley stayed

    In trying to think of a story to write, Mary often listened to her counterparts talk about ghosts and vampires, and well if it was possible to reanimate the dead and the possible moral ramifications of that(3). It was this conversation, as well as one late night of insomnia and a nightmare, that lead to the very first draft of Frankenstein being written. 

As well as the first drafts of Frankenstein being written here, so was John Polidori's story, the "Vampyre" that later went on to inspire the famous tale of Dracula.

Works Cited

(1) “The Haunted Summer of 1816 and the Origin of Frankenstein.” The Midnight Society, 24 Feb. 2020, https://www.midnightsocietytales.com/2020/02/24/summer-of-1816-origin-frankenstein/. 

(2) “Eruption of Mount Tambora (Famous Painting).” OnThisDay.com, 5 Apr. 1815, https://www.onthisday.com/photos/eruption-of-mount-tambora. 

(3) The Haunted Summer of 1816 - Prospect Magazine. https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/arts-and-books/sumer-1816-frankenstein-shelley-byron-villa-diodati.

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