static still in a moment of horror
the world explodes
unwillingly and complete
cacophony of screams
and abrupt stillness
and fragility
exploited
on black top
in pews
in prayer
in moments
if one asks you what death's cause
look not to its instruments
but in its narcissism
ego raw, dripping of the
insipidness
not to be explored
seeing the world
as nothing more
than blots of shadow
and never lights of triumph
of our collective will
for a moment of peace
emptiness aching in
madness of the one
the ticking incessant
and we pay the price
for a crusade
in
one
head
"When I reflected on his crimes and malice, my hatred and revenge burst all bounds of moderation. I would have made a pilgrimage to the highest peak of the Andes, could I when there have precipitated him to their base."
- 9.6 Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Frankenstein
What's fascinating about the success of Frankenstein is that its genesis is as queer a tale as the titular horrors of the doctor's story. As well known as it is, that Mary Shelley wrote this at the urging of her lover, Lord Byron, during a lightless summer of 1816, when possessed by 'grim terrors'. She had struggled for several days to come up with a ghost story, until the galvanizing effects of stress struck this visual chord within her.
If you have not read it, and with Halloween mere weeks away, I'd entreat you to try. It is not only Gothic, and, both, Romantic - it is the height of fantastical fiction, or science fiction, or fantasy. Mary wrote it as if the factual world of Dr. Frankenstein existed in some other universe and she fully culled all of his resources as if it were a research document.
And, if you have a chance, or the money, I was lucky to be introduced to artist Bernie Wrightson's rendition of the novel back in '83. Of all the illustrations his is the most haunting and the most familiar. The creature is the height of perversity and failure of Science - and, yes, Science does fail at times. Yet, the outcome of the experiment brought forth a creature we fear, but ultimately pity. He has no place in the world.
Wrightson drew 47 black ink plates, each one will sear into your memory.
