Halloweenology - The Frankenstein Monster of Halloween
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THE FRANKENSTEIN MONSTER

Most people have heard the story of Victor Frankenstein and the monster he created that came from the novel Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelly, wife of the acclaimed poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. What you may not know is that Victor Frankenstein was based on the real-life Johann Konrad Dippel (1673-1734), a kind of 18th century mad scientist who was born in 1673 in Germany at - this is true - Castle Frankenstein.

Dippel was a physician who set up a laboratory at Castle Frankenstein near Darmstadt, Germany where he would be free to conduct his bizarre experiments. He probably did not have a hunchback assistant named Igor, but Dippel (who often went by the name Konrad Frankensteina) spent a lot of his time with his hobby of alchemy - a popular pursuit of the day. Alchemy is a kind pseudoscientific experimentation with the elements - crazy chemistry - whose ultimate challenge was to be able to turn lead into gold. Like Victor Frankenstein, Dippel was also fascinated by the possibility of immortality through scientific means. He really did use the parts of butchered animals and exhumed human corpses in his vain attempt to "engender life in the dead," in his own words.

Dippel, unlike the movies, did not rig up the body parts to elaborate lightning-powered gizmos and spark generators. It is told he boiled everything - skin, muscle, bone, blood, hair and organs - in large vats. When the surrounding community got wind of what Dippel was up to, maybe they didn't storm his castle with torches, shovels and rakes, but they did kick him out of town.

Shelly probably based her novel on Dippel's antics, since it is documented that she visited Castle Frankenstein in 1814 when she eloped with Percy. The ruins of Castle Frankenstein can still be seen today. The Frankenstein monster is one of the most enduring images of Halloween, our most popular images of which come from James Whale's 1931 film and Boris Karloff's unforgettable portrayal.