This document summarizes three classic horror stories from literature that helped establish the genre: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley tells the story of a scientist who creates a monster from assembled body parts, sparking criticism from religious groups. Dracula, directed in 1931, is about the vampire Count Dracula preying on young women in England. When re-released in 1936, some scenes were cut due to stricter censorship. Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson features a doctor who transforms into a murderous alternate personality after drinking a potion.

1. Frankenstein, Dracula and Dr Jekyl
and Mr Hyde – Horror’s roots in
classic literature

2. Frankenstein
• Written in 1818 by Mary Shelley
• It is of the horror, science fiction and romance genre.
• The story came about when Mary was on holiday in a posh
villa somewhere with her husband and famous writer Percy
shelly, and his good friend Lord Byron, another famous English
writer. They decided to see who could come up with the best
ghost/horror story, and Mary came up with Frankenstein.
• This story is responsible for the beginning of the science
fiction genre and has been the inspiration.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JLK-E2W82I

3. The misinterpreted Frankenstein
• Parents complained to the makers of the film, because they
were unhappy about the obscenities depicted in 1910 classic.
They were outraged that such graphic scenes of horror could
be seen by their children.
• Other people (Christians, Catholics etc) also complained
because apparently you cant resurrect some sewn together
body parts with a bolt of lightening. This enraged them as
they believed that only God should be able to give life.

4. Dracula (1931)
This film was produced in 1931 and directed by
Tod Browning. It is a classic film known by
anybody interested in the horror genre. In the
film The ancient vampire Count Dracula arrives
in England and begins to prey upon the virtuous
young Mina.

5. Dracula re-released
The film was originally released with a running time of 85 minutes.[2] When
the film was reissued in 1936, the Production Code was being strictly
enforced. At least two scenes are known to have been censored and cut from
the film. The most famous was an epilogue which played only during the
film's initial run. In a sequence similar to the prologue from Frankenstein, and
again featuring Universal stalwart Edward Van Sloan, he reappeared to
reassure the audience that what they’d seen wouldn’t give them nightmares.
Van Sloan would then calmly inform those with a nervous disposition that...
"There really are such things as Vampires!" In a 1936 reissue, this epilogue
was removed out of fear of offending religious groups by encouraging a belief
in the supernatural. Also, Dracula's off-camera "death groans" at the end of
the film were shortened as were Renfield's screams as he is killed; these
pieces of soundtrack were later restored by MCA-Universal for its laser disc
and subsequent DVD releases (with the exception of the 2004 multi-film
"Legacy Collection" edition). However, Van Sloan's epilogue is still missing and
presumed lost.

6. Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde
• Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is the original title of a
novel written by the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson
that was first published in 1886.
• The idea came to Stevenson in a dream, he fell asleep and
when his wife woke him he claimed he was “dreaming a fine
bogey tale”
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/english_literature
/prosejekyllhyde/jekyllplotact.shtml