Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein: or, the Modern Prometheus (1818) is a combination of Gothic horror story and science fiction first conceived for a writing challenge by Lord Byron when she was just eighteen. It is the story of Victor Frankenstein, a Swiss student of natural science who assembles pieces of corpses to create an artificial man and brings it to life with galvanism. Though it seeks affection, the unnamed monster inspires fear and loathing . . .