Title: A New Life
Author: Ramsey Campbell
Date of First Publication: 1987
Place of Publication: Winter Chills 1
Type: Short Story
Characters: Victor Frankenstein; The Creature
Themes: ANDROID; MAD SCIENTIST/MONSTER; BYRONIC HERO; POSTHUMAN; SYMPATHETIC MONSTER
Critical Summary: The story commences with the main character gaining consciousness in a dark, isolated area. This character is never named. He is in complete darkness and finds himself unable to move. He begins to panic and manages to calm himself down before he exhausts himself. He recalls how he got into the situation. He rescued a little girl from drowning. However, he was unable to save himself and was washed up by the current. He wonders whether he is dead or alive. He must constantly calm himself down and prevent himself from panicking. As time slowly goes by, he notices that he is beginning to gain the ability to move. However, his movement is limited. He can barely move his arms. He notices that he is constricted. He thinks that he is being tied down which would explain his inability to move. Once again, he wonders if he is dead and if this may be hell.
He begins to hear noises and calls out to whoever or whatever is out there. He immediately regrets the decision to call out, as he has now given away his position to what is lurking in the dark. He begins to panic. He hears a door unlock and sees a bright light approach him. He can barely distinguish the figure in front of him. Quickly, the figure hurries away. He refers to this mysterious figure as his overseer. He is not being constricted or held down. What he felt were bandages. He figures them to be for his wounds. He is in what appears to be an operating room. Time passes by and he continues to work on his movement. One small limb at a time. He still feels numb. The door once again opens. He hears the same small steps from earlier; however, they are now accompanied by larger steps. Once again, the bright light accompanies the sound and it is flashing directly at him. He was able to distinguish the overseer and a larger figure looking directly at him. He attempts to move and communicate to no avail. The larger figure looks disappointed and walks away. As he is walking away, the overseer calls out to him, “Dr. Frankenstein.”
This story is a sort of spin-off of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. It is from the point of view of one of Victor Frankenstein’s failed experiments. In this adaptation, the Creature recalls events from his brain’s past life. He was unable to move due to the experiment being a failure and all the stitched-up parts are covered by the bandages. In the end, Victor Frankenstein shows up to examine the condition of his experiment only to see it is another failure. This story shows the panic, confusion, and torment endured by one of Frankenstein’s failed experiments.
Administrative Notes: Maximiliano Solis Contreras, CSUF; AManda Howard, CSUF (editing)