Origins of famous Halloween monsters can be fun to learn. It mostly comes from a place of reflection of humanity’s flaws. 

 Frankenstein originally came from the book Frankenstein by Mary Shelly. Published in 1818, Shelly and her future husband, Percy Shelley, visited Lord Byron in Switzerland. The weather was too cold to go outside, so they started creating their own horror stories.  As a result, Shelly created Frankenstein. 

 In the book, Frankenstein was actually the doctor, the monster not ever being called anything other than “The Monster.” The book describes the monster as having translucent yellow skin that was so tight around the frame that it barely covered up the organs of the creature. He was also described as having pale watery eyes. 

 In 1931, 113 years later,  a movie called Frankenstein was directed by James Whale. The movie  gave Frankenstein’s monster a broad stature and large forehead. The color of his skin being green came from the posters for the movie having him colored green. 

The book and movie show the dangers of scientific progress without control. Having the scientist’s own creation be his eventual demise. 

 Dracula made his debut in Bram Stokers book Dracula, which was released in 1897. It is thought that Stoker took inspiration from  Vlad III the Impaler, a 15th century prince that was infamous for being bloodthirsty and unforgiving, taking captives from battles and impaling them with giant spikes. The name Dracula comes from Vlad III’s father, Vlad II Dracul. 

The story of Dracula is a reflection of the danger of greed for power.  Dracula’s greed for power diminished everyone else. 

Zombies have quite a longer history. History suggests that the idea goes as far back as the 8th century. The word “zombie” comes from the word “zonbi,” a Haitian Creole that represents a person being brought back to life with no speech or free will. 

 Zombies made their first big appearance in Western culture in the movie White Zombie, directed by Victor Halperin in 1932. The movie depicts them without cannibalism and rotting, but more as mindless revived slaves of the voodoo master Murder Lengendre. Zombies in this movie are a reflecion of the danger of absolute control over other beings. 

 Monsters sometimes reflect our inner selves, our insecurities and negative impulses. They can also be a fun research project on their origins and their contribution to different cultures. or they can inspire clever Halloween costumes and decorations.