Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, which is also known as Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus, was originally published in two volumes. The first was published anonymously in 1818, while the second was published under Mary Shelley's name in 1823. The story of Frankenstein derived from a competition between Mary Shelley, her future husband P.B. Shelley, Lord Byron and John Polidori to see who could write the best horror story. Mary Shelley later had a dream of the storyline, and set out to write it. Now that you know the backstory of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, it's about time you read one of the most famous classic stories of all time: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.