Frankenstein Monster (Tales of Tomorrow)

The Frankenstein Monster is an undead creature and the central antagonist from the "Frankenstein" episode of the 1950s sci-fi anthology series Tales of Tomorrow. The character is based upon an original character created by author Mary Shelley in her original 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus.

Biography
The Frankenstein Monster was an artificial human being created in a castle laboratory by the scientist Victor Frankenstein. By channeling electricity into a prone body lying on an operating table, Victor was able to infuse his creation with life. The creature rose from the table, confused and unable to speak. Victor tried to calm it down, but the monster began to panic, slamming its fists against the walls of the lab. Once Victor was able to get his creation to settle down, he strapped him back onto the laboratory table and locked him inside.

The creature soon escaped however and began wandering the halls of the castle. He came upon a housekeeper named Elise and a butler named Matthew. He lunged after them, but Matthew attempted to defend Elise and he with a dining room chair. The monster pushed them over and continued on his way. He then came upon Victor's young cousin William in a playroom. He attempted to play with William by scooping the boy up and placing him onto a hobby horse whereupon he began violently rocking him back and forth. William was frightened by the monster and shouted at him, calling him "mean and ugly". At this point, the monster saw his own reflection in the mirror and realized that what the child said was true. Throwing the boy down to the floor like a discarded toy, he stormed out of the room and began stalking the other hallways of the castle. Driven into a frenzy, he stumbled upon Elise again, but this time he attacked her, strangling the woman until she was dead. When Victor and his servant Matthew discovered Elise's body, they knew that Victor's creation was still wandering the castle. The two men returned to the laboratory, but the monster was gone. They began arming themselves with a handgun and a rifle when the monster suddenly burst through the door and began attacking Matthew. Victor didn't have enough time to ready his rifle so he lit a piece of paper on fire and used it to force the monster to release Matthew. Matthew then used his handgun to fire several shots into the monster, driving him through a stained glass window. Victor was sure that the fall into the lake below would be enough to kill him. He was wracked with guilt over Elise's death.

Soon after, Victor's wife Elizabeth and her father returned to the castle and Victor told her about the monster he had created. He pledged to discontinue his experiments and destroy all of his work, but his old mentor protested, saying that he should not simply throw away the secrets to life and death.

As it turned out, the monster had in fact survived his fall through the window and had managed to climb back into the castle. Victor theorized that since electricity brought his creation to life, then perhaps the same method could be used to destroy him. He reluctantly enlisted Elizabeth and William's aid as bait to lure the monster back to the laboratory. He rigged up two large power cables that stretched across the doorway to the laboratory. As the monster lumbered into the room, he ran into the cables and the massive surge of electricity ended his existence once and for all.

Notes & Trivia

 * Lon Chaney, Jr. also played the role of the Frankenstein Monster in the 1942 film The Ghost of Frankenstein.


 * At no point is it stated that the Monster was made from body parts of the dead.