Monster by Dave Zelterserman

Ed here: I read Monster in manuscript shortly 

after Dave finished writing it. 

I'll tell you what I told him. I think it's a 

masterpiece of originality, beauty, ugliness, 

eloquence, wisdom and power. I mean all this sincerely.

And it's one hell of a page-turner as well. I'm glad

 to see the critics agree with me.

BOOKLIST STARRED REVIEW  Issue: June 1, 2012   *Monster: A Novel of Frankenstein.  

Zeltserman, Dave (Author)  Aug 2012. 224 p. Overlook, hardcover, $23.95. 

(9781590208601).    Repudiating the “outrageous fabrication” of 

Victor Frankenstein’s story as told by Mary Shelley is the aim  of 

this imaginative and grotesque novel from the revisionist 

perspective of the monster. First off, the  monster had 

a name, Friedrich Hoffmann. Second, he had a true love, 

Johanna. So that they could become  unwilling participants 

in unholy experiments, the lovers were murdered by 

Dr. Frankenstein, whom  Zeltserman portrays as a perverse 

maniac in the mold of Lovecraft's Herbert West, working 

in league with  the Marquis de Sade. Awakening to find 

himself inside a hideous, patchwork body, Hoffmann’s 

first  friend is Charlotte, a reanimated severed head 

in a bowl. Things get worse. Zeltserman’s monster is every  

bit as eloquent as Shelley’s, though his rage is more 

focused. He seeks to avenge Johanna, plain and  simple. 

But the mystical rituals enacted by the doctor make 

insurrection difficult, and so Hoffmann  wanders the 

countryside encountering changeling vampyrs, kindly 

monks, groveling Satanists, and,  finally, a castle 

in which 200 girls have been kidnapped to be a part 

of Frankenstein and the Marquis’  unspeakable “drama.” 

This is juicy material for Franken-fans, and Zeltserman 

is just faithful enough to the  original (he, too, 

ends with the fateful wedding night and the icebound ship) 

that his many fresh  contributions feel entirely normal. 

Well, abnormal, to be accurate, but deliciously so.  

— Daniel Kraus

Foreword Pick of The WeekMonster: A Novel of 

Frankenstein by 
Dave Zeltserman78-1-59020-860-1

 / Fiction / Overlook Press / Hardcover / $23.95 / 224pp

In nineteenth century Germany, a young man is

about to marry his beloved, but she is found murdered

, and he, who is innocent, is accused and put to death.

A few weeks later, he wakes to find himself transformed

into a hideous monster by the mad scientist Frankenstein.

With his brain and memory intact but trapped inside an

enormous, mismatched body, he escapes the lab and

embarks on a journey to take revenge on his accuser.

A tale of justice, true love, and ultimate forgiveness,

this gruesome novel is perfect for fans of Stephen King

and similar horror stories.