Monsterpiece Literature: Frankenstein

illustration via the great Bernie Wrightson, available via Nakatomi Inc.*

Back in fall of 2025, when the Guillermo del Toro movie of Frankenstein, I decided to give Mary Shelley's novel a spin one more time before the movie arrived.  I've read it probably four times previously, but with so much Frankenstein media out there, it's easy to get details confused or forgotten.

Rather than look at paper, I picked an audiobook narrated by Dan Stevens, a favored actor, and decided I'd listen while walking Emmylou.  But mid-way through the book - and I cannot remember the circumstances -  it disappeared from my audible library.  I shrugged, gave up, and moved on.  I know the book, I was prepped for the movie in any case.

I certainly had *opinions* about del Toro's film.and spoke about how it confused me that we've never actually seen the book interpreted as it is on page.  Large chunks always get reimagined and changed.  I'm not really sure why that is, as every change seems to morph what author Mary Shelley was doing and saying.  And while I didn't find del Toro's version *offensive*, I found it was changing the course of events in a way that never added up for me.

Then, a couple of weeks ago, the audiobook of Frankenstein re-appeared in my Audible library, and I decided to finish it up before I select a new book for Hallow-read.

Happy Birthday, Cassandra Peterson

Happy Birthday to Cassandra Peterson, who you may know as Elvira, Mistress of the Dark.

She doesn't put on the outfit anymore, and has successfully made a career out of being herself, which is pretty great.  She appears in movies and at cons and whatnot, and has a thriving merchandising empire.  That's got to be nice to know it's not just the character people adore.

I still pick up Elvira comics, which come out pretty regularly in mini-series form.  And if she were nearby, I think I'd actually drop some coin to go see her.  

I don't normally select pics with someone and their partner (I know her partner has a full name, but she goes by "T"), but this was the best pic I found of Peterson.  I am very happy for her and T.

Happy 75th, Ms. Peterson.  And here's to a successful Halloween season!

Doc Watch: Film Geek (2023)

Watched:   09/15/2026

Format:  TCM on DVR

Viewing:  First

Director:  Richard Shepard

It's always weird to watch a documentary about someone talking about themselves and their family.  In this way, the recent award winning doc by Mariska Hargitay My Mom Jayne absolutely works.  As her mother Jayne Mansfield passed when she was so very young, it's really about her learning about her own mother decades after the fact.  She just happens to have the best possible access to Mansfield's history.  But she also is clear eyed about remaining objective and talking about it when she isn't and what it means to live with that legacy.

Film Geek (2023) tosses anything like objectivity out the window in the first minute of the film, and you're just along for the ride as film maker Richard Shepard recounts his youth in 1970's and 1980's Manhattan, which was a whirlwind of movie mania and NY-based Gen-X childhood.  This is paired with our director/narrator trying to unpack how movies tied him to a father he wants to present as a romantic rogue and bon vivant and his mother as a saint.