Three Of The Earliest Monsters In Movies And The Books They Came From

Believe it or not, most of the monsters that made the modern horror movies what we have all come to love actually did not get there start in the movies... Yeah, it is true! As a matter of fact, I would say that some of the earliest monsters from the movies, actually got their starts in the imaginations of Victorian era authors like, 'Bram Stoker', or , 'Mary Shelley'!

And so I thought that you guys might enjoy this list of: Three Of The Earliest Monsters In Movies And The Books They Came From!

At number 3: Mr. Hyde.

In 1988, Anthony Perkins did a great job portraying Jack The Ripper as being Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde!

Now for most of you out there, you probably know Mr. Hyde from the role that some actor had... And if you are a big enough fan, you might have even seen Anthony Perkins (Psycho) play the role later in life! But before Anthony Perkins and the multitudes of actors that came before and after had the chance to play the role, the character was one of the central figures in the Robert Louis Stevenson novel: The Strange Case Of Doctor Jekyll And Mr. Hyde (1886)!

A truly horrific classic that has helped shape the world of the horror movie!

At number 2: Frankenstein's Monster.

Boris Karloff as, 'Frankenstein's Monster' in probably the most famous big screen adaption of Mary Shelley's novel!

A slightly more used figure in the world of the horror movie, the first time though Frankenstein's monster came to life was not in James Whale's classic movie but in the pages of the novel that had originally been written by Mary Shelley!

The book that the universal classic was made from!

At number 1: Orlok/Dracula.

Believe it or not, before any of these Dracula's came about, Dracula was first seen in the pages of Bram Stoker's original novel!

Most people tend to forget this, but, 'Dracula' was not the first, 'Dracula' movie to come out... No, no, you see, Bram Stoker's estate would not give them the rights to make the movie, so some inventive German Filmmaker decided to try to change just enough of the story so that they could make it... Thus, before Dracula there was Orlok... But before there was Orlok, there was Dracula in literary form!

5 Original Masters Of Written Horror And the Books That Made Them Famous

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="301"] Frankenstein... A literary masterpiece of horror![/caption]

Most people these days, when it comes to written horror generally tend to think of people like, 'Stephen King', or, 'Dean Koontz', 'Anne Rice' or I supposed the women who wrote the, 'Twilight' Series would count in that capacity as well!

Well it got me to thinking about the great horror writers that helped not just shape the world of, 'horror' in novels, but also would in there own way help shape the world of literature in the whole!

So here is my list of, '5 Original Masters Of Written Horror And the Books That Made Them Famous':

To start things off At Number 5, we have, 'Dante Aligheri' (1265 - 1361):

[caption id="attachment_2535" align="aligncenter" width="450"] Dante's Divine Comedy... Being that it takes place on the journey through, 'Hell' could be said to be one of the original books of, 'Horror'![/caption]

Now I know that some of the lists that I have done in the past have been popularity contests, but this one isn't, the truth is, is that Dante's 'Divine Comedy' is probably one of the most definitive works of fiction about the, 'Devil' and, 'Hell' that has ever been produced!

At number 4: 'John Milton' (1608 - 1674):

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="450"] Milton's, 'Paradise Lost' could be said to be another extremely historically relevant horror novel![/caption]

John Milton's, 'Paradise Lost' is another one of the classics about the fight between (Heaven) and, (Hell)... The truth is, is that till the end of time, this book will always be considered to be one of the greatest poems about Heaven and Hell to exist... (Beware though, this poem does not translate well in to the mainstream...)

At number 3: Edgar Allan Poe (1809 - 1849):

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="561"] The Raven... A fictitious representation of, 'Poe' during his heyday....[/caption]

In my opinion, the reason that I think Edgar Allan Poe should be in here, is not necessarily for anyone book, but really because his stories like, 'The Tell Tale Heart', 'The Raven', etc... Are some of the best scary stories to have come out of the 19th century, and in my opinion still resonate real well in the modern day!

At number 2: Mary Shelley (1797 - 1851):

[caption id="attachment_2538" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Mary Shelley's, 'Frankenstein' is still one of the most prolific works of fiction in Hollywood today![/caption]

For her, really I would say would be the work that she did writing, 'Frankenstein'... Most people very easily recognized the monster from the movies, but before it became a century long box office sensation, the story that started it all came from the work that Mary Shelley wrote in, 'Frankenstein' in 1818!

At number 1: Bram Stoker (1847 - 1912):

[caption id="attachment_2539" align="aligncenter" width="450"] Bram Stoker's, 'Dracula' to this day is still considered to be one of the definitive works of Vampire fiction![/caption]

In the case of Bram Stoker... I put him at number 1, because where as these other authors and the books that they produced may have defined certain elements of what make horror great, but in my opinion, in a lot of respect Bram Stokers, 'Dracula' (1897), could be said to be one of the most definitive horror masterpieces of all time!