Women in horror: Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

LITTLE ROCK — February marks the ninth anniversary, and the beginning of year 10 for Women in Horror Month. The purpose of WiHM is to salute the fantastic contributions of women in all realms of horror whose work still finds itself marginalized. Such an example of belittlement happened all too recently when Blumhouse's CEO, founder and producer Jason Blum made the following statement last October.

"There are not a lot of female directors period," Blum said. "And even less who are inclined to do horror."

It is hard to believe such an attitude still exists, but unfortunately a bias toward female artisans of scary movies still haunts modern times. Surely, enough is enough. WiHM is well-known for its tireless efforts spotlighting women in horror, and this 28-day celebration will focus on film and television. As such, each day this month will celebrate a different woman whose contributions have left an irrevocable mark on the horror genre.

1.

MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT SHELLEY

Mary Shelley is the Matriarch of the Macabre thanks to her 1818 Gothic novel "Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus." When it comes to celebrating women in horror, commemoration begins and ends with Shelley. Despite her work being published decades prior to the earliest age of filmmaking, her tale of the mad scientist and his monster led to countless reproductions of her literary work in motion pictures.

Such examples include, but are not limited to, Universal's classic "Frankenstein" (1931), starring The Uncanny Boris Karloff, and Hammer Film's "The Curse of Frankenstein" (1957) with Peter Cushing portraying Dr. Frankenstein. Check out the videos below for examples of Frankenstein in film from the Silent Era to today.

"I do not wish women to have power over men; but over themselves," Mary Shelley said.

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