In an attempt to create a perfect new being, scientist Victor Frankenstein secretly assembles a collection of body parts and activates it with an electrical charge. The result is horrifying - even to his maker - and is never named.

The hideous creature escapes the laboratory and searches in vain for friendship. Despairing, he returns to Frankenstein and demands a partner as his right to happiness. But when Victor destroys her before she is completed, the monster vows vengeance on everything he holds dear.

Widely regarded as the first proper science-fiction novel, "Frankenstein" provided the inspiration for a whole genre of horror stories and, later, films.