Every Frankenstein adaptation, in one list
All 30 of them, spanning 1910 to 2026: editions of the novel in both its texts, silent and sound films, a filmed stage production, a ballet, manga and graphic novels, novels that answer it, audio and a video game. Grouped by how you would take each one in, oldest to newest inside each group. Every entry has its own guide.
What counts as a version of Frankenstein here: anything that uses Shelley’s characters, her text, or a direct line from an adaptation of her — the Universal films, the Bride, a body assembled from the dead and brought back to life.
Read
Frankenstein: the 1831 text (Penguin Classics, ed. Maurice Hindle)2003
The revised 1831 novel, with Mary Shelley’s own account of how she came to write it.
The Original Frankenstein2009
Mary Shelley’s draft, printed twice: once as she wrote it, once with Percy Shelley’s changes marked.
Frankenstein, the play by Nick Dear2011
The National Theatre script, which starts with the creature’s birth.
Gris Grimly’s Frankenstein2013
Shelley’s own words, lightly cut, as an illustrated graphic novel.
The New Annotated Frankenstein2017
A big illustrated hardcover with Leslie S. Klinger’s notes beside the text.
Frankenstein: Annotated for Scientists, Engineers, and Creators of All Kinds2017
The 1818 text with notes on the science and the responsibility of making things.
Frankenstein: The 1818 Text (Penguin Classics)2018
The novel as it was first published, in a paperback you can find anywhere.
Frankenstein: Junji Ito Story Collection2018
Junji Ito draws Shelley’s novel as horror manga.
The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein2018
The novel retold by Elizabeth, the girl brought into the Frankenstein house to keep Victor company.
Frankenstein in Baghdad2018
In war-torn Baghdad, a scavenger sews the remains of the dead into one body so that someone will bury them.
Frankissstein2019
Jeanette Winterson moves between Mary Shelley in 1816 and a near future of AI and sex robots.
Frankenstein: The 1818 Text (Oxford World’s Classics)2020
The 1818 text, with the changes of 1831 listed at the back.
The Norton Critical Edition, third edition2021
The 1818 text with maps, sources, the reviews and eleven critical essays.
Frankenstein, illustrated by Bernie Wrightson2021
The complete novel with about fifty full-page pen-and-ink drawings.
Watch
Frankenstein1910
The first film of the novel, made by Edison’s studio, free from the Library of Congress.
Frankenstein1931
Boris Karloff, the flat head and the windmill.
Bride of Frankenstein1935
The creature asks for a mate, and Elsa Lanchester plays both the Bride and Mary Shelley.
The Curse of Frankenstein1957
Peter Cushing’s Baron, Christopher Lee’s creature, and Hammer’s first horror film in colour.
Young Frankenstein1974
Gene Wilder as the grandson who insists his name is pronounced “Fronkensteen”.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show1975
A stranded couple spend the night in a castle where Dr Frank-N-Furter is about to bring his creation to life.
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein1994
Kenneth Branagh as Victor, Robert De Niro as the creature, and the Arctic frame kept.
Frankenstein at the National Theatre2011
Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller alternate as Victor and the creature, and you can watch both.
Frankenweenie2012
A boy called Victor Frankenstein brings his dog back to life.
Frankenstein, The Royal Ballet2016
The novel as a full-length ballet, with no words at all.
Poor Things2023
Emma Stone as Bella Baxter, a woman brought back to life by a surgeon, who sets out to see the world.
Frankenstein2025
Guillermo del Toro’s version, told first by Victor and then by the creature, on a ship in the Arctic.
The Bride!2026
In 1930s Chicago, Frankenstein’s creature asks a scientist to make him a companion, and she has her own ideas.
Listen
The Dan Stevens audiobook2013
The novel read in full by Dan Stevens.
Big Finish’s Frankenstein2014
A full-cast audio drama with Arthur Darvill as Victor and Nicholas Briggs as the creature.
Play
Also out there, and not the pick
These come up whenever this novel does. None of them is on the list above, and here is the reason for each.
Abomination: The Heir of Frankenstein (2019)
Plaid Hat Games’ board game, set in 1819, in which rival scientists race to finish a body for the creature’s companion. It sits down here for one reason: it is out of print. On 22 October 2026 Amazon listed it as currently unavailable, the US board-game shops tracked by BoardGameOracle were all out of stock, and Noble Knight had a single used copy. If it is reprinted, it moves up the page.
Start with the edition question
Which edition should you read? explains the 1818 and 1831 texts and puts the editions side by side.