Title: Mister Creecher

Author: Christopher Priestly

Date of First Publication: 2011

Place of Publication: Bloomsbury

Type: Novel

Characters: The Creature; Victor Frankenstein; Henry Clerval; Mary Shelley; Percy Shelley

Themes: ANDROID; BYRONIC HERO; MAD SCIENTIST/MONSTER; RACE/POLITICS; SYMPATHETIC MONSTER

Critical Summary: The story mainly involves the fraught relationship of two main characters: Billy, a Dickensian street urchin who is a young teen, and the Creature, “Mr. Creecher,” fully formed but ignorant of much about the world. They team up in the novel to commit crimes, Billy’s specialty, and to keep tabs on Victor Frankenstein, the Creature’s concern. The novel takes place after Frankenstein has agreed to make the Creature a mate, but before he tears the partly formed mate apart in front of the Creature, sending the Creature into a murderous rage. The Creature must wait, and survive, as Frankenstein travels to England, finally goaded to take up his task. Billy and the Creature do not become friends, but companions, bound in need, both learning about the world. They encounter a lot of odd people: do good-ers, circus folk, and heartless men. The Creature longs for companionship from Billy, but in the end lose him, too. Victor Frankenstein reveals what “Creecher” did to poor William just for having the same name as the man the Creature hates. Billy is repulsed when a woman, Jane, is killed so her heart might be used in the body of the woman Victor creates. The book although horrifying at some points, has moments of pure innocence. Ultimately, we realize that the book is a mash up with Dicken’s Oliver Twist, and Billy leaves the Creecher to become the monstrous Bill Sikes, with his twisted childhood here offered as explanation for what we know him to be later.

Painstakingly researched, Mr. Creecher could have been inserted in the actual book after the point where the monster leaves the locket in the folds of Justine’s dress. At the point the monster is freed and could have gone on this journey with Billy before he goes back to kill Frankenstein’s bride on the night of their wedding. The theme of the ANDROID body is evident, as is the ongoing saga from Shelley’s novel of the MAD SCIENTIST/MONSTER. There are BYRNOIC HEROES everywhere, paired with a strong study of the SYMPATHETIC MONSTER. The Dickensian emphasis on social commentary is also clear.

Administrative Notes: Natalia Roberts, CSUF; Dr. David Sandner (editing)