Mary Shelley"s classic work, published when she was just twenty years old, tells the tale of eccentric scientist Victor Frankenstein, who creates a terrifying creature in an unorthodox scientific experiment. Inspired after a competition between Shelley, her husband Percy, Lord Byron and John Polidori to see who could write the best horror story, Frankenstein is in part a gothic novel and considered by some as one of the first forays into science fiction. The story takes place in the 18th century and has led to numerous spin-off works featuring "Frankenstein"s monster."