One Stormy Night: A Story Challenge That Created the Gothic Horror Genre: A Story Challenge that Created the Gothic Horror Genre Frankenstein, or A . Fragment of a Novel (Wordfire Classics)

What happens when writers vacation together …

And challenge each other to write ghost stories?

On a stormy night in 1816, the writers Mary Shelley, John William Polidori, and Lord Byron undertook a challenge that would change history and create the gothic genre.

The result is three chilling tales of monsters, vampires, and murder.

Lord Byron’s A Fragment is of historical importance as it is one of the very first vampire stories. Does it stand the test of time?

The Vampyre, by John Polidori, recounts the story of Aubrey and Lord Ruthven. What dark secret lies between them?

In Frankenstein, a university student unleashes a monster upon the world. Or is he the real monster?

If you love gothic horror, you’ll love One Stormy Night.

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Mary Shelley, born Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin (1797-1851), was the daughter of philosopher and political writer William Godwin and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft (The Vindication of the Rights of Woman). Mary Shelley had a painful and turbulent life. Her mother died shortly after giving birth. Mary ran away with poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, a married student of her father's, which resulted in alienation from her family and scandal. The couple traveled throughout Europe and lost their first child in 1815. Then, Mary's half-sister committed suicide, followed shortly thereafter by Percy's wife Harriett. This unfortunate circumstance allowed Percy and Mary to be wed in 1816. Percy Shelley drowned while sailing in 1822, leaving Mary as a young widow and mother. Mary Shelley is renowned for Frankenstein, but she also wrote additional novels, working to support her son and keeping her husband's legacy alive. She died of brain cancer in 1851.

George Gordon Byron (1788-1824), also known as Lord Byron, was a peer of the British Empire and member of the House of Lords. However, he is best known for his contributions to the Romantic movement, particularly his poems Childe Harold's Pilgrimage and Don Juan. Lord Byron is also known for his many love affairs, although he was briefly married and produced his only legitimate child, Ada Lovelace (who is recognized as a pioneer in computer programming). In his thirties, he joined the Greek War of Independence and died of a fever at age 36. His body was returned to England was refused burial at Westminster Abbey, though a memorial was eventually placed there in the 1960's.

Dr. John William Polidori (1795-1821) was an English writer and physician. His work "The Vampyre" is credited with being the first in the genre of vampire fiction. He became a Doctor of Medicine in 1815, at only 19. He became Lord Byron's personal physician, and they traveled through Europe. When he eventually was dismissed by Byron, he returned to England. He died at the age of 25, hounded by debts and depression. Though evidence points to cyanide as his cause of death, the coroner declared his death was due to natural causes.