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Frankenstein's Aunt
128 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1995
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September 27, 2019
A thoroughly delightful imaginative extension of the monster movies of the early 1930s in which a well-meaning Aunt of the son of the original Baron tries to set things right at Frankenstein Castle.
At only about a hundred pages, and quite full of humorous characters and situations, the book is essentially written for children, but it nonetheless an enjoyable romp for adults. It isapparent that Pettersson, who just died last year, spent more time watching the old movies than hedid reading the actual works of Shelley or Stoker upon which they were based.
Aunt Hanna Frankenstein is well over six feet in height, constantly smokes cigars and drinks sherry, and has 'large flat feet and long knobby toes'. She also an insurmountable predilection to amend things which she finds inappropriate. Igor's 'worm-eaten smile', with which he greets her upon her arrival, makes her decide right away that he needs to visit the dentist. Talbot's propensity to turn into a werewolf is, to her, an obvious case requiring psychoanalysis. And Dracula's insatiable desire for blood is merely a result of an iron deficiency which could be overcome by a balanced diet. But the greatest challenge she faces is the rehabilitation of the Monster, who is also called the Prince, Franz and Junior throughout the story. As she admits to herself, her belief that people can change is 'her great guiding light in the Vale of Tears that stubbornly continued to call itself civilization'. As a moral basis for an overall theme, this isn't a bad one with which to expose child readers.
Her attempt to complete her challenge to have Junior recite poetry from Shelley to a soiree of the villagers, who are pointedly asked not to bring torches and dogs to the gathering at the Castle, is the climax of the story, although the ending bespeaks the possibility of continuing adventures. There is an accompanying volume Frankenstein's Aunt Returns, which I have not as yet been able to procure at a reasonable price.
The humour throughout is exceptional. Agreeing with Igor that Junior's revitalization lacked a sufficiently high charge of electricity, Hanna finds him sleeping under an oak tree during a thunder storm, and is just about to tell him to move since one should stay away from tall trees when lightning is likely to occur when her problems are suddenly solved. Dracula's return to the castle is somewhat uncomfortable since he discovers that Hanna and Igor have used his coffin as a dirty laundry hamper. Upon their 'attack' on the Castle which occurs early on in the novel, the torch-bearing villagers early bring a bulldog, whose lack of enthusiasm for the entire venture is shown in that he 'looked like an ancient piece of furniture, longing to be put in a museum'. Finally, when Talbot first turns into his werewolf alter-ego, Hanna feels that he looks like 'a cross between an Alsatian dog and a gorilla in trousers.'
These and many more humorous turns of phrase made this a delightfully light and pleasant read. My only regret is that it wasn't longer.
At only about a hundred pages, and quite full of humorous characters and situations, the book is essentially written for children, but it nonetheless an enjoyable romp for adults. It isapparent that Pettersson, who just died last year, spent more time watching the old movies than hedid reading the actual works of Shelley or Stoker upon which they were based.
Aunt Hanna Frankenstein is well over six feet in height, constantly smokes cigars and drinks sherry, and has 'large flat feet and long knobby toes'. She also an insurmountable predilection to amend things which she finds inappropriate. Igor's 'worm-eaten smile', with which he greets her upon her arrival, makes her decide right away that he needs to visit the dentist. Talbot's propensity to turn into a werewolf is, to her, an obvious case requiring psychoanalysis. And Dracula's insatiable desire for blood is merely a result of an iron deficiency which could be overcome by a balanced diet. But the greatest challenge she faces is the rehabilitation of the Monster, who is also called the Prince, Franz and Junior throughout the story. As she admits to herself, her belief that people can change is 'her great guiding light in the Vale of Tears that stubbornly continued to call itself civilization'. As a moral basis for an overall theme, this isn't a bad one with which to expose child readers.
Her attempt to complete her challenge to have Junior recite poetry from Shelley to a soiree of the villagers, who are pointedly asked not to bring torches and dogs to the gathering at the Castle, is the climax of the story, although the ending bespeaks the possibility of continuing adventures. There is an accompanying volume Frankenstein's Aunt Returns, which I have not as yet been able to procure at a reasonable price.
The humour throughout is exceptional. Agreeing with Igor that Junior's revitalization lacked a sufficiently high charge of electricity, Hanna finds him sleeping under an oak tree during a thunder storm, and is just about to tell him to move since one should stay away from tall trees when lightning is likely to occur when her problems are suddenly solved. Dracula's return to the castle is somewhat uncomfortable since he discovers that Hanna and Igor have used his coffin as a dirty laundry hamper. Upon their 'attack' on the Castle which occurs early on in the novel, the torch-bearing villagers early bring a bulldog, whose lack of enthusiasm for the entire venture is shown in that he 'looked like an ancient piece of furniture, longing to be put in a museum'. Finally, when Talbot first turns into his werewolf alter-ego, Hanna feels that he looks like 'a cross between an Alsatian dog and a gorilla in trousers.'
These and many more humorous turns of phrase made this a delightfully light and pleasant read. My only regret is that it wasn't longer.
Displaying 1 of 1 review