🎃 Ever wonder how Frankenstein and The Vampyre came to life? It all began during the stormy summer of 1816, a time so eerie it’s now called the "Year Without a Summer." Confined indoors by relentless rain, Mary Shelley, Lord Byron, and John Polidori challenged each other to write the scariest story they could. What followed was nothing short of legendary: Shelley’s Frankenstein—a tale of ambition, creation, and consequence—and Polidori’s The Vampyre, the first modern vampire story that still haunts us today.

These works explore themes we still grapple with—ambition, relationships, power, and the unknown. And they remind us of what the humanities do best: helping us ask the big questions about who we are and how we live together.

This Halloween, revisit these iconic stories and reflect on how literature challenges us to confront our fears—both real and imagined. Check out our latest blog post to explore the spirit of Villa Diodati and the enduring importance of these tales.

Read it now on the JSTOR blog.

it is a lovely coincidence that june is pride month as well as the anniversary of the time lord byron, percy and mary shelley, claire clairmont, and john polidori all gathered around at the villa diodati on lake geneva in 1816 to tell each other ghost stories and write some of the greatest literature in history while waiting out the nightly summer storms during what was known as “the year without a summer” due to a volcanic winter event after the eruption of mount tambora a year prior

it's that time of year again fellas...

"In the summer of 1816, we visited Switzerland, and became the neighbours of Lord Byron. At first we spent our pleasant hours on the lake, or wandering on its shores; and Lord Byron, who was writing the third canto of Childe Harold, was the only one among us who put his thoughts upon paper."

"But it proved a wet, ungenial summer, and incessant rain often confined us for days to the house. Some volumes of ghost stories, translated from the German into French, fell into our hands."

"'We will each write a ghost story,' said Lord Byron; and his proposition was acceded to."

"I busied myself to think of a story,—a story to rival those which had excited us to this task. One which would speak to the mysterious fears of our nature, and awaken thrilling horror—one to make the reader dread to look round, to curdle the blood, and quicken the beatings of the heart."

"My imagination, unbidden, possessed and guided me, gifting the successive images that arose in my mind with a vividness far beyond the usual bounds of reverie."

"And now, once again, I bid my hideous progeny go forth and prosper. I have an affection for it, for it was the offspring of happy days, when death and grief were but words, which found no true echo in my heart."

— Mary Shelley in her 1831 Preface to Frankenstein.

(they were also recreationally abusing ether, and at one point, during a reading of Christabel, Percy Shelley hallucinated Mary with eyes for nipples and ran out of the room screaming)

(Polidori then gave him more ether about it)

(Fun Facts)

MARY SHELLEY (2017) Dir. Haifaa al-Mansour

The Origins of a Monster: The Regency Sexual Revolution

History has seen bloody uprisings and revolutions and peaceful upsets. You could call abolishing slavery a “revolution,” as can the feminist movement. But one revolution waged war on morality and traditional values. In 1972, the writer Mary Wollstonecraft promoted early feminism in her book, The Vindication of the Rights of Women. For her time, she led a scandalous life, by living with William…

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When Mary Shelly wrote "I have love in me the likes of which you can scarcely imagine and rage the likes of which you would not believe. If I cannot satisfy the one, I will indulge the other" god I really felt that

I originally listed Anthony Trollope but cut him in favor of Oscar Wilde for reasons (Wilde is better, imo). So, if your favorite 19th Century English Lit author isn't listed, you can yell at me in the comments, or reblogs, or through an ask.

The people (well, 582 of you) have spoken - Jane Austen is the favorite! Oscar Wilde was second. Poor Anne Bronte and Thomas Hardy came in last. Thanks to everyone who voted and shared this poll. Going to do another one later.

I originally listed Anthony Trollope but cut him in favor of Oscar Wilde for reasons (Wilde is better, imo). So, if your favorite 19th Century English Lit author isn't listed, you can yell at me in the comments, or reblogs, or through an ask.

1 day and 2 hours left to vote!

I originally listed Anthony Trollope but cut him in favor of Oscar Wilde for reasons (Wilde is better, imo). So, if your favorite 19th Century English Lit author isn't listed, you can yell at me in the comments, or reblogs, or through an ask.

You have 1 day and 20 hours left to vote!

I originally listed Anthony Trollope but cut him in favor of Oscar Wilde for reasons (Wilde is better, imo). So, if your favorite 19th Century English Lit author isn't listed, you can yell at me in the comments, or reblogs, or through an ask.

I originally listed Anthony Trollope but cut him in favor of Oscar Wilde for reasons (Wilde is better, imo). So, if your favorite 19th Century English Lit author isn't listed, you can yell at me in the comments, or reblogs, or through an ask.

I originally listed Anthony Trollope but cut him in favor of Oscar Wilde for reasons (Wilde is better, imo). So, if your favorite 19th Century English Lit author isn't listed, you can yell at me in the comments, or reblogs, or through an ask.

I originally listed Anthony Trollope but cut him in favor of Oscar Wilde for reasons (Wilde is better, imo). So, if your favorite 19th Century English Lit author isn't listed, you can yell at me in the comments, or reblogs, or through an ask.

If there are many 'others' (this poll is quite UK-centred, I'll make a second poll.

You can find my other polls (art, literature, indie comics...) in my pinned post here.

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein manuscript.

@mareyshelley 😊

tag yourself: geneva squad edition