Frankenstein: The Monster Wakes

Frankenstein's monster lives, kills and learns to party down in this uneven, somewhat absurd anthology of original stories based on Mary Shelley's seminal gothic horror novel. Some stories follow Shelley's design quite literally, including Christopher Fahy's long-winded account of the consequences that follow upon Shelley's confrontation with the man who would serve as the model for Victor Frankenstein; or Brian Hodge's gory tale of how the misunderstood monster awakes after 150 years to save a small French village from the advancing Nazis. However, the better entries are inspired by Hollywood's often embellished retelling of the story, including Max Allan Collins's farce in which one of Dr. Frankenstein's descendants works with the Mafia; he creates a monster that turns against the local Mob boss in an act of personal vengeance. Equally entertaining is a tale by Terry Beatty and Wendi Lee in which the suddenly affable monster makes a trip to Tinseltown to strike a deal that allows him to be more faithfully represented on the silver screen. Greenberg edited Christmas Ghosts. (Dec.)