Mary Shelley and the nightmare vacation that inspired Frankenstein

Indonesia, Mount Tombora, 1815

There is nothing more frightening than being witness to a natural disaster. We are helpless in the wake of Mother Nature’s wrath. With all the beauty this earth has to offer, seeing its destruction is humbling. We are but a speck of dust in the microcosm of the universe.

In 1815, the eruption of Mount Tombora was a prime example of how the ripples of an event of this magnitude can carry its effect far and wide. While the world sat, relaxed and blissful, in the comfort of their homes, across the ocean lives were being ripped apart by a disaster of monstrous proportion.

Within hours of the first day, 100,000 souls lost their lives. Within in weeks, the darkness and fog encapsulated the world until temperatures dropped. Crops could not grow. And without crops, people everywhere starved.

Mary Shelley was a young woman seeking respite from the aftermath of atrocities such as political revolts, famine, and the cholera pandemic. When she arrived in Switzerland, instead of the quaint, picturesque beauty it is known for she watched from the window as the gods caused havoc in the skies. Thunder and lightning replaced the cheerful bird songs, and heavy, grey clouds drowned out the sunshine.

To make matters worse, young Mary was traveling with her four-month-old, her lover Percy, and her pregnant step-sister, Claire …the bun in Claire’s oven, by the way, was the love child of a well known poet by the name of Lord Byron.

On the heels of Perez Hilton style gossip and debt, Lord Byron made an attempt to escape Europe to avoid shame and wagging fingers. Meanwhile, the obsessed Claire convinces Mary and Percy to move their vacation from Switzerland to Geneva, Italy. The unsuspecting couple, who faced their own scandal when they eloped, agreed, only to find out it was a ruse. Claire plotted the change of plans to bump into her heart’s desire.

Things seemed to work out-or so they thought-when Byron and Percy became friends. No doubt, the two men had much in common. They were also fond of one another’s work. The travelers decided to slip away into a shared mansion, accompanied by Byron’s guest (and personal doctor) John Polidori.

After many days spent locked in-doors due to the vile weather, tensions began to grow in the spacious home whose walls seemed to grow smaller with each day. Byron was in a constant state of hiding from Claire’s advances. Unrequited love seemed to be a contagious bug when Byron’s doctor began exhibiting similar symptoms. His obsession with Mary had her playing the game of hide-and-seek alongside Byron.

It seems the only way to cope was to tell scary stories and poems by candlelight. Mary was content to listen in on the exhilarating tales until it was suggested by Lord Byron they each tell their own, original story and try to outdo the ones they had read.

Polidori wrote The Vampyr (What is it with doctors writing about blood sucking? Read the interview with Dacre Stoker in the Fall edition of House of Stitched where he discusses Bram learning about blood-letting from a famous family member.) This novel went on to be published in 1819.

Every morning, the group would convene over breakfast and ask who had come up with an idea for their story. It seemed everyone but Mary was inspired. When a sleepless night of wild storms kept her awake, Shelley had a vision of a phantom-like man being brought to life by some type of powerful engine. Using the backdrop of their stay in the villa, she began to pen the story of Frankenstein’s monster.

Stay tuned for the next part of “Mary Shelley and the nightmare vacation that inspired Frankenstein”