Title: Fallen Angel
Author: Peter Crowther
Date of First Publication: 1993
Place of Publication: Frankenstein: The Monster Wakes
Type: Short Story
Characters: No Character
Themes: BYRONIC HERO; MAD SCIENTIST/MONSTER; ANDROID
Critical Summary: Yellen, a young thief, waits outside a darkened house he is planning to rob. Suddenly, he is startled by the sound of groaning and peers through a bush to see a tall, broad man fumbling around in the yard. While trying not to be seen, Yellen observes the man walking around in a drunken stupor and witnesses him carrying a valuable looking black bag in which he sets down and picks up multiple times. Curious as to what valuable items he could steal from the bag, Yellen follows the man down several streets, and out across a barren field. He stumbles upon a grand Victorian Style mansion set in the middle of nowhere. After watching the drunken man stumble around outside and speak to a large satellite atop the roof, the man goes in the house and Yellen follows, clenching the gun in his pocket for a boost of confidence.
As he enters the house, he observes that it is utterly filthy and he cannot contain his urge to vomit. With each step he takes up the stairs, he is overwhelmed with the stench. The house has wallpaper peeling off the walls, fast-food wrappers sprawled everywhere, and it has completely gone to ruin. Finally, he reaches a room and is startled by a young female monster stitched together. Her sores and yellow skin are so putrid and revolting that he uncontrollably vomits. Upon further investigation he finds an entire room of children ranging from teens to babies all in the same repulsive condition. They were caked with feces, stitched together, scabbed, and omitting a pungent smell. As if he already wasn’t repulsed enough, one of the creatures was consuming his own stool. Startled, he leaves to continue searching for the drunken man.
He reaches large doors and while peering in, another door opens and he finds himself face to face with the man. They exchange words about who they are, and Yellen angrily addresses the man about the children and the state they are in. The man continuously rambles, and quotes from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein which Yellen does not understand. The man even mentions that organs that had once belonged to Justine were bottled up in a jar. The man exclaims that the young girl Yellen met had been brought back to life after an incident involving a violent rape. The man ushers Yellen into his laboratory room and he realizes the man is a mad scientist. The room is full of tools, jars of organs, and a table with tubes and wires. The man drinks again and explains to Yellen that he is recreating the work of Victor Frankenstein and will be giving life to a dead child on the table. He tells of how he did this to all of the children that were in the room, including his daughter. Yellen, repulsed by the man and riddled with anger, decides to end the life of the man so he will not add to the monsters he has already created and mistreated. He uses the gun he has been clenching to destroy the man and his new creation. Before Yellen leaves the mansion, he sets fire to the room with the children, destroying them and everything that created them.
Administrative Notes: Brandy Manfredonia, CSUF; Courtney Berry, CSUF; Alexandra Hollinshead (editing); Dr. David Sandner (editing)