Being that I love the horror genre, and also classic literature, I am surprised that I hadn't bother to read Frankenstein until now. I just needed a little "buddy read push" to do so. Shelley's novel was written 80 years before Stoker's Dracula. The two monsters from these books now walk side-by-side looking for candy on Halloween night. They are probably the first two to haunt my childhood closet, and they are the legends of the big screen. But, Frankenstein is nothing like Dracula and placing it strictly within the horror genre would be a mistake. 
 It's Alive! It's Alive! 
 Actually, this line is not in the book! The particular scene in the book is mellow compared to the movies. Much of what people think about Frankenstein, myself included, comes from an altered Hollywood's version of the story. That's kind of sad, but I can also understand the reasons. Shelley's monster is scary in what he eventually becomes, but her book is not. I don't think it was meant to be. The story is about many things besides terror. Humanity or humaneness is most central. From Wikipedia, I learned that Mary Shelley arrived at the premise for her legendary book while simply trying to think of a good ghost story to tell her friends as they vacationed in Geneva. Eventually, she came up the idea of a re-animated corpse. What started as a short, possibly scary, ghost story became a book that seems to be partially based on her life experiences and her thoughts of man's ways. 
 Frankenstein is first about family, love and loss. Without others in life, what do we have? This becomes the heart of the book as Frankenstein's creation is spurned by his designer and then rejected as a monster by people. What happens to the soul of one who is utterly alone? In this case, it seeks revenge. 
 While reading, I found the parts including the monster to be the best of this book. These were the 5-star moments that were not only the most exciting, but also the most thought provoking. Other sections of the book dragged a bit. Before and between these parts, I couldn't help but think "where the hell is the monster". When all is said and done, this is a story that causes reflection and good for everyone to read at least once.