THE COLD STARS SHONE IN MOCKERY

Flipping through Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein while sitting in the breakfast room of the Shelley Hotel in Lewes, where The Vampire’s Wife offices and showrooms now reside. I’d like to think that Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein here, as it remains one of my favourite horror stories, a book that captures the unforeseen terror of playing God and the heart-stopping fear of being pursued by a powerful, relentless killer. I adore it! Love, Susie x 

“When night came I quitted my retreat and wandered in the wood; and now, no longer restrained by the fear of discovery, I gave vent to my anguish in fearful howlings. I was like a wild beast that had broken the toils, destroying the objects that obstructed me and ranging through the wood with a stag-like swiftness. Oh! What a miserable night I passed! The cold stars shone in mockery, and the bare trees waved their branches above me; now and then the sweet voice of a bird burst forth amidst the universal stillness. All, save I, were at rest or in enjoyment; I, like the arch-fiend, bore a hell within me, and finding myself unsympathised with, wished to tear up the trees, spread havoc and destruction around me, and then to have sat down and enjoyed the ruin.”

Mary Shelley