The Frankenstein Collection

by Peter Haining (Editor)

The monstrous creation of Mary Shelley's obsessed scientist, the machine that comes to life and turns against its maker, has haunted writers and film makers for generations. Frankenstein has become a 20th Century cult.

The Frankenstein Collection is the most complete Collection of horror stories ever published on this theme. It brings together the best of the many terrifying short stories and the novelisations of the most chilling film adaptions inspired by the Classic over the last two hundred years.

Genres: Horror, Anthologies, Short Stories, Science Fiction, Victor Frankenstein, Fiction

647 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Peter Alexander Haining was an English journalist, author and anthologist who lived and worked in Suffolk. Born in Enfield, Middlesex, he began his career as a reporter in Essex and then moved to London where he worked on a trade magazine before joining the publishing house of New English Library.

Haining achieved the position of Editorial Director before becoming a full time writer in the early Seventies. He edited a large number of anthologies, predominantly of horror and fantasy short stories, wrote non-fiction books on a variety of topics from the Channel Tunnel to Sweeney Todd and also used the pen names "Ric Alexander" and "Richard Peyton" on a number of crime story anthologies. In the Seventies he wrote three novels, including The Hero (1973), which was optioned for filming.

In two controversial books, Haining argued that Sweeney Todd was a real historical figure who committed his crimes around 1800, was tried in December 1801, and was hanged in January 1802. However, other researchers who have tried to verify his citations find nothing in these sources to back Haining's claims. A check of the website Old Bailey at for "Associated Records 1674-1834" for an alleged trial in December 1801 and hanging of Sweeney Todd for January 1802 show no reference; in fact the only murder trial for this period is that of a Governor/Lt Col. Joseph Wall who was hanged 28 January 1802 for killing a Benjamin Armstrong 10 July 1782 in "Goree" Africa and the discharge of a Humphrey White in January 1802. Strong reservations have also been expressed regarding the reliability of another of Haining's influential non-fiction works, The Legend and Bizarre Crimes of Spring Heeled Jack.
He wrote several reference books on Doctor Who, including the 20th anniversary special Doctor Who: A Celebration Two Decades Through Time and Space (1983), and also wrote the definitive study of Sherlock Holmes on the screen, The Television Sherlock Holmes (1991) and several other television tie-ins featuring famous literary characters, including Maigret, Poirot and James Bond. Peter Haining's most recent project was a series of World War Two stories based on extensive research and personal interviews: The Jail That Went To Sea (2003), The Mystery of Rommel's Gold (2004), Where The Eagle Landed (2004), The Chianti Raiders (2005) and The Banzai Hunters (2007).

He won the British Fantasy Awards Karl Edward Wagner Award in 2001.

Reviews

[Robert Hepple · Rating 3 out of 5]

Published in 1994, 'The Frankenstein Collection' is an anthology of stories inspired by the famous movie of 1931. The blurb on the cover actually says 'terrifying tales inspired by the cult horror movie', which is a little misleading since the tales are not terrifying at all, and many of them pre-date the movie. However flimsy the pretext, it is an interesting collection with a mixture of viewpoints. There are a number of famous authors here, as well as some that have been lost in the mists of time. Where they are by famous authors, they are probably not their best work - the 19th century items have nearly all dated very badly. though they are still readable. Screenplays for some of the early movies are included - some read like a short story, whilst some are more workmanlike story outlines, but a nice idea nevertheless. Fun.

[Mark Gee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m really glad I brought this book, I got it second hand online too for a bargain price of £3.
I wasn’t keen on six of the stories in this collection, it wasn’t a great start and i was disappointed.
But thankfully after the dreaded six stories it was all great and I couldn’t put down the book.

My favourite stories were near the end :

-Wednesdays child by William Tenn - P578
- The plot is the thing by Robert Bloch - P605
- Fortitude By Kurt Vonnegut, Jr - P613

It was great to read the manny variations of Frankenstein, and get some inspiration.

[Reichen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great volume full of stories and movie novelizations that centers around the "Frankenstein" theme. It made me want to watch the movies and search for the excerpts from books that is included here

[Vincent Darlage · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an awesome collection of short stories built around the Frankenstein theme.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great collection!

[Martin Willoughby · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good if you like 19th century literature, bad if you don't. Some good short stories, but not much else.