Mary Shelley’s House of Frankenstein, Bath

Frankenstein isn’t just a cult classic in the world of film, trivia, fiction and theater, but the early years of Gothic literature, too. And it was in Bath, of all places, that troubled author Mary Shelley birthed the idea for the story of Frankenstein—a globally recognized piece of fiction about the ill-fated creature and its affiliation with abandonment and the occult of alchemy and Galvanism. It was there, in an irregular five-story townhouse of charcoal and white, that Mary put quill to paper and decided to conceive a story that would later be passed down through the generations.

“Perhaps a corpse would be re-animated?”

Credit: TerrorTury

Mary Shelley’s House of Frankenstein is, to a great extent, an ode to the famed author and her struggles to reignite the wick beneath her masterclass of fictional storytelling. The tour, which consists of five interactive floors plus a sixth layer with an added dungeon, invites you to gaze through the eyes of Shelley and embark on a bittersweet journey of love, loss, belittlement, abandonment, and redemption. With dozens of contraptions to marvel over, stories to read, pop culture memorabilia to examine, and even several jump scares to succumb to, the exhibit itself offers an excellent ninety-minute self-guided experience that is bound to resonate with fans of Gothic literature all over the globe.

On each of the five well-structured floors, you will find a series of journal entries—short passages that mostly depict Mary’s upbringing during the early 1800s, as well as her unnatural fixation on Galvanism and various occult theories. Included in said tour are various homages to Frankenstein, including figures, multimedia references, movie props, and original writings from the original novel. And then there’s the lower portion of the building—the dungeon. In this area, you will find several tight-knit quarters, crawl spaces, unorthodox science experiments, and even a living reincarnation of none other than Shelley herself.

The best best part about Mary Shelley’s House of Frankenstein is that it’s open all year round. So, if you’re out visiting Bath, then be sure to add this one to your bucket list.

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