Longlisted for the 2022 International Gothic Association's Allan Lloyd Smith PrizeThe bestselling genre of Frankenfiction sees classic literature turned into commercial narratives invaded by zombies, vampires, werewolves, and other fantastical monsters. Too engaged with tradition for some and not traditional enough for others, these 'monster mashups' are often criticized as a sign of the artistic and moral degeneration of contemporary culture. These hybrid creations are the 'monsters' of our age, lurking at the limits of responsible consumption and acceptable appropriation. This book explores the boundaries and connections between contemporary remix and related modes, including adaptation, parody, the Gothic, Romanticism, and postmodernism. Taking a multimedia approach, case studies range from novels like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and The Extraordinary Adventures of the Athena Club series, to television programmes such as Penny Dreadful, to popular visual artworks like Kevin J. Weir's Flux Machine GIFs. Megen de Bruin-Molé uses these monstrous and liminal works to show how the thrill of transgression has been contained within safe and familiar formats, resulting in the mashups that dominate Western popular culture.

Chapter One: Frankenfictions- Gothic Remixed- Monstrous Adaptations- The Many Faces of Frankenfiction- Twenty-First-Century Remix Culture- Frankenfiction as Remix- Frankenfiction as Adaptation- Frankenfiction as Appropriation- Hauntings and Illegitimate OffspringChapter Two: Adapting the Monster- From 'Miserable Wretch' to 'Modernity Personified': Defining the Twenty-First-Century Monster- 'Ourselves Expanded': Anno Dracula and the Neoliberal Vampire- The Empire Strikes Back: Victorian Monsters and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen- 'We Are All Monsters': Reclaiming Privilege in Penny Dreadful- 'Monstrum Sum': Intersectional Monstrosity in The Extraordinary Adventures of the Athena Club- The Promises of MonstersChapter Three: Mashing Up the Joke- Camp as Sincere Parody- The Irony of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies; Or, Taking Historical Fiction Seriously- Literature with a Twist: Parodying the Classics- Parodying Neo-Victorianism- Taking the Past Seriously; Or, The Limits of Postmodern Irony- Conclusion: Beyond Postmodern IronyChapter Four: Remixing Historical Fiction- The Gothic and Historical Fiction- The 'Look' of the Past: Visual Gothic Histories- Sublime Metamorphosis: Dan Hillier's Victorian Illustrations- Foreign Animals: The Immigrant Portraiture of Travis Louie- Meet the Family: Colin Batty's Victorian Cabinet Cards- Flux Machine: Kevin J. Weir's Animated Horrors- Conclusion: Unnatural HistoryChapter Five: Appropriating the Author- Frankenfiction and Romantic Authorship- Frankenfiction and the (Un)Death of the Author- Frankenfiction and Transmedia World-Building- Women's Work: Mary Shelley as Remixer/Remixed- Feminist Frankenfiction?- Conclusion: The Monster Always Escapes- Bibliography