The history of Frankenstein: who made the monster, and why it is green with neck bolts

Before Frankenstein’s monster ever knocked on a door for Halloween candy, an eighteen-year-old writer had to think him up. Mary Shelley found her story during a rainy summer near Lake Geneva. The creature she imagined would learn to speak, read books and ask someone to keep him company.

The history of Frankenstein begins with Mary Shelley in 1816 and her novel’s publication in 1818. Victor Frankenstein is the creator; his monster has no personal name. Shelley gave the creature yellowish skin. Theater and movies changed his appearance, and the 1931 film popularized the flat head and neck bolts we recognize today.

Jump to: Mary Shelley · Plot summary · The name · Green skin and bolts · Was he real? · Costume and makeup · Read aloud.

Who wrote Frankenstein?

**Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, first published in 1818.** She began the story in the summer of 1816 at eighteen and was twenty when the book appeared. 1 2

She was in Switzerland with Percy Bysshe Shelley. Lord Byron and his physician, John Polidori, were staying nearby at Villa Diodati. Rain kept the group indoors, reading ghost stories and talking about science. Byron suggested that each of them write a frightening story.

Mary struggled to find an idea. As she later recalled, one night she imagined a student beside the being he had assembled. A powerful machine started working, and the body showed signs of life. By morning, she had her story. She developed it into a novel over the following months.

That summer also helped set Polidori on the path to The Vampyre. Frankenstein’s creature and the vampires of early fiction share a connection to that gathering of writers, long before either became a costume-parade favorite. 11

Year	What happened
1816	Mary began her story during the summer near Lake Geneva.
1818	Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus appeared without the author’s name on the title page. Read the 1818 novel on Gutenberg.
1823	Richard Brinsley Peake’s play Presumption; or, The Fate of Frankenstein brought the creature to the stage. Mary attended a performance. 3
1831	Mary published an introduction describing how she had imagined the story. 2
1910	Edison’s company released a film adaptation, years before Karloff played the creature. 3
1931	James Whale directed Universal’s Frankenstein, with Boris Karloff as the monster and makeup by Jack Pierce. 4

Frankenstein joined the classic Halloween monsters by way of books and movies. The holiday itself has an older history, explored in where Halloween came from.

What is Frankenstein about? A clear plot summary

Frankenstein follows a young man who creates a living being and abandons him, and the conflict that grows between them. Victor’s ambition drives the experiment; the creature’s search for companionship shapes much of what follows. 1

Victor Frankenstein grows up in Geneva and travels to Ingolstadt to study. He becomes obsessed with discovering what makes something alive. Working in secret, he gathers materials from bodies and builds a being much larger than a person. When the creature finally breathes, Victor recoils and runs away.

Left alone, the creature takes shelter beside a cottage and watches the family who lives there. Listening helps him learn words. Later, he reads books and tries to understand who he is. He even helps his neighbors in secret by gathering firewood. He hopes to join them, but people respond to his appearance with fear and rejection.

After further mistreatment, he turns against people and his creator. Deaths and destructive choices follow. The creature demands that Victor make a companion who will live with him far from humanity. Their conflict eventually leads to a pursuit into the Arctic.

For a short homework answer: Mary Shelley published Frankenstein in 1818. Victor Frankenstein creates a living being and abandons him. The creature learns to speak and seeks affection, but repeated rejection leads him toward revenge. The novel asks what a creator owes a life they have brought into the world, and how people treat someone who looks different.

Is Frankenstein the monster or the scientist?

Frankenstein is Victor’s family name: he is the young man who creates the monster. The creature has no personal name in the novel. “The creature” and “Frankenstein’s monster” both identify him clearly. As adaptations spread, audiences began using “Frankenstein” for the creation too. 1 3

If your child points to a costume and says “Frankenstein,” they’re using a familiar name for the character. You can add the distinction without interrupting the game: “Victor Frankenstein made him. This is Frankenstein’s monster.”

Why is Frankenstein’s monster green with bolts in his neck?

Green skin and neck bolts come from the creature’s stage and screen history. Shelley describes yellowish skin and black hair. Boris Karloff’s performance in the 1931 movie made the flattened head and metal fittings on either side of the neck famous. 1 4

Where did the green come from?

The color was changing before movies existed. The National Library of Medicine describes T. P. Cooke’s green face and blue body paint in the 1823 stage production. Green therefore had a theatrical history long before Universal made its film.

Jack Pierce developed Karloff’s makeup for director James Whale, building up the head and shaping the face into a look that became instantly recognizable. The movie was released in black and white. Green belongs to the color imagery that grew around the screen monster. 4 5

The book creates a different contrast. Victor chooses dark hair and white teeth that he thinks will be beautiful, then recoils when those features belong to a living face. We see that first moment through Victor’s horror. When the creature gets to speak, we hear about his loneliness.

What are the neck bolts for?

The “bolts” represent electrodes: points where electricity would enter the movie creature’s body. Historian Alexander B. Magoun discusses their role in his account of how the 1931 film turned the electrical laboratory into such a memorable spectacle. 5

What changes between the book and its adaptations?

People say…	What we know
Mary Shelley wrote a green monster with neck bolts.	Her creature has yellowish skin; the bolted appearance belongs to adaptations.
The bolts hold his head on.	In the explanation of the movie design, they act as electrical connections.
The monster can only grunt.	In the novel he learns to speak, reads books and tells Victor about his life.

Was Frankenstein real? Does his monster exist?

Victor Frankenstein and his creature are fictional characters. The science around Mary Shelley was real: researchers were investigating how electricity made muscles move. Those experiments helped make the novel’s central question imaginable. 2 6

Luigi Galvani observed contractions in frogs’ muscles during electrical experiments. His nephew Giovanni Aldini later gave demonstrations using human bodies; a famous one took place in London in 1803. Curator Katie Crowson describes this work in the Science Museum’s history of the science behind Frankenstein.

Electrical current could make muscles move in those bodies. That was what spectators saw. A being who wakes, learns, remembers and searches for his maker belongs to Shelley’s imaginative leap. 6 7

If your child asks whether the monster could turn up at home, a short answer is enough: “Mary Shelley invented him. The people dressed like him are pretending.” The Halloween scarecrow also traveled from something familiar into stories about a figure coming to life.

How can you make a Frankenstein costume and makeup at home?

Start with dark clothes, a tall cardstock headband and paper bolts attached to a shirt. A little green on the cheeks adds color if your child wants it. Your child chooses and decorates; you cut, fasten and check the fit.

Before you begin: skin, eyes and movement

Choose cosmetic face paint labeled for your child’s age and follow its directions. Keep acrylic craft paint and markers on paper. The FDA recommends testing makeup on the arm 24–48 hours ahead. Remove it if irritation appears. Spain’s consumer organization OCU recommends skipping makeup for children under three. 8 9

Leave eyes, nose, mouth and lips clear, and keep all paint away from young children’s eye area. A headband should leave your child able to see and breathe freely, without sliding over the face. Attach cardstock bolts to clothing, never to skin. For children under three, choose clothing alone, with no detachable decorations. 9 10

Check pants and sleeves with shoes on: your child should be able to walk and lift both arms comfortably. Use their regular shoes. Keep paper and fabric away from candles and flames, and add reflective material for nighttime trick-or-treating. 10

Materials and time

Gather a T-shirt, a lightweight jacket that opens easily and comfortable pants. You’ll need cardstock, tape suitable for your materials and adult-use scissors. For makeup, set out green and black cosmetic face paint, a clean sponge and a clean brush. Allow roughly 30–45 minutes for assembly and 5–10 for face paint, plus any drying time on the adhesive label.

A craft store has the paper supplies; your child’s closet may supply the rest. For a classroom costume parade, a green shirt also lets your child leave their face bare and remove the decorations when it’s time for the next activity.

Make the costume, step by step

1. Your child tries on the clothes. Choose pieces that allow sitting and moving. You fold and secure any extra length, leaving no pins in the outfit.
2. You make the headband. Cut a wide strip of cardstock, round the corners and fit it comfortably around the head. Let it rise above the forehead while keeping the face clear.
3. Your child draws hair on paper. Try uneven tufts, a side part or curls. You cut out the decoration and attach it to the band. Check that it stays above the eyebrows when your child looks down.
4. You cut out flat paper bolts. Give each silhouette a wide head and a short shaft. Your child colors them gray on paper. Attach them to the upper shirt, away from the neck, with no projecting points or metal parts.
5. Try the whole outfit. Have your child walk, sit, turn their head and raise their arms. Remove anything that moves toward the face or feels uncomfortable. Sleeves and pants keep their usual length.

The Halloween printables give your child a paper activity while the glue dries.

Easy Frankenstein makeup with a little green

1. Get the skin and tools ready. Wash your hands and use the clean sponge on clean, dry skin. Your child can practice their design on paper.
2. Dab on two small green patches. Place them on the cheeks, well away from eyes and mouth. Let your child decide how much paint feels comfortable; the shirt can supply more green.
3. Paint a pretend seam. Draw a short line on one cheek, crossed by three little black strokes. Keep it flat, with no wounds, blood or glued-on decorations.
4. Check for comfort. Remove the paint if it itches, causes redness or feels uncomfortable. Your child can carry on playing in the headband and clothes.
5. Take it off afterward. Follow the label’s removal directions, use a gentle touch and remove everything before bedtime. 8

How can you explain Frankenstein’s story to your child?

You can explain who invented the character and what the creature wanted, saving the frightening scenes for another reading.

Read aloud, ages 4–8

Mary Shelley invented a story about a young man named Victor Frankenstein. Victor builds a creature and brings him to life, but gets frightened and leaves him alone. The creature learns words and wants company. In the book his skin is yellowish; in movies and costumes we’ve seen him green with neck bolts. When someone dresses up as the creature, they’re pretending to be a character from that story.

What can you discuss in class?

The firewood scene offers a way to talk about a character’s actions before judging his face: What would the family learn about their neighbor if someone told them he had gathered wood to keep them warm? Remind the group that the creature helps in secret while still hoping to approach them. Children can answer aloud, point to a drawing or write their thoughts.

Frequently asked questions

Why did Frankenstein create the monster?

Victor wanted to discover the secret of life and overcome death. He also imagined a new species that would acknowledge him as its creator. Chapter IV shows curiosity mixed with a desire for greatness, before he runs from what he has made. 1

Can Frankenstein’s monster talk?

Yes. He learns by listening to a family and eventually reads books. A substantial part of the novel is his account of his life, told to Victor. The mostly wordless monster belongs to adaptations of the story. 1 3

What do you need for a simple Frankenstein costume?

Comfortable clothes, a cardstock headband and flat paper bolts on the shirt will do. Your child can leave their face bare. Choose the details they want to wear and try walking in the costume before heading out.

For another costume with a history tucked inside it, explore mummies and their wrappings together, all the way back to ancient Egypt.

Sources

1. **Mary Shelley, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, 1831, Chapters IV–V, XI–XVII and Walton’s closing letters.** Gutenberg no. 42324. Primary literary text for the plot, appearance and Victor’s ambitions. Parallel Spanish text: SEP, 2025, ISBN 9786076431948, Biblioteca Digital Chamakes.

1. **Mary Shelley, introduction to Frankenstein, 1831.** Gutenberg text listed above. The author’s account of the story’s beginnings, written fifteen years after that summer.

1. **National Library of Medicine, Frankenstein: Penetrating the Secrets of Nature, “Transformation of a Monster.”** Exhibition. Institutional history drawing on playbills, images and documents, including the 1823 stage makeup.

1. **Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Costumes & Makeup, 2008, PDF p. 7; Victoria and Albert Museum, “Frankenstein facts you should know.”** Academy guide · V&A. Film-industry and museum sources on Whale, Karloff and Pierce’s work.

1. **Alexander B. Magoun, “Why Frankenstein Became Electric,” Proceedings of the IEEE, 107(2), 2019, pp. 488–498, especially p. 497.** DOI · Author-shared text. History-of-technology research on the electrodes and the 1931 laboratory scene.

1. Katie Crowson, “The science behind Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein,” Science Museum, October 31, 2023. Article. A curator’s historical explanation of galvanism and electrical experiments.

1. National Library of Medicine, “Boundary Crossing / 1818.” Exhibition. Medical-history context with works by Galvani and Aldini.

1. **FDA, Halloween safety guidance and Novelty Makeup.** Halloween guidance · Cosmetics guidance. U.S. regulator’s recommendations for testing, application and removal.

1. OCU, Halloween guidance, October 28, 2025, and Carnival guidance, February 2026. Halloween · Carnival, in Spanish. Consumer guidance, including avoiding makeup under age three.

1. American Academy of Pediatrics, “Halloween Fun & Safety Tips for Kids of All Ages.” HealthyChildren. Pediatric recommendations for fit, vision, accessories and lighting.

1. Andrew Dickson, “Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein,” British Library. Article. Institutional literary history of the 1816 gathering and its connection to Polidori.