In my research, I’ve come across this painting so. many. times. It is a piece of art that’s absolutely terrifying. Today I decided to look up its history. And guess what? It may have inspired some of my favorite pieces of horror. 

Three years before Frankenstein was published, Mary Shelley traveled through Europe. While in Germany, she passed near Frankenstein Castle, which may have influenced her novel. The castle was home to Johann Conrad Dippel, an alchemist who created a tar-like substance called Dippel’s Oil. Folklore about Dippel’s experiments possibly inspired Shelley, though she never mentioned this in her journals.