In the dreary summer of 1816, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley created a monster. (Or created a creator who created a monster. You know what we mean.)

On the shores of Lake Geneva, at 19 years old, Shelley started work on her first and most well-known novel, Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus. Eventually published in 1818, when Shelley was only 21, Frankenstein has become a classic of English-language literature, and is considered to be an early precursor to modern horror and science fiction. Frankenstein has been endlessly adapted, translated, remixed, and parodied. Now it’s your turn.

Monster Mash is our 5th edition of The Blackout Poetry Project. The Blackout Poetry Project affords readers and makers an avenue for responding to authors and their work. We’ll be making blackout poems directly on the pages of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s Frankenstein.

Here’s a very quick how-to: a blackout poem in its simplest form needs only a page and a marking tool (pencil, marker, correction pen, etc.) You hide some words to make a poem out of what is left behind. You can stop there, or you can take it further and add some art.

Everyone is invited to join in! Pages and materials will be available in the Poetry Center in Wright Hall and at Design Thinking Initiative in Capen Annex. If you’re far from campus but would like to participate, just send an email to jblackbu [at] smith.edu with the subject line “Monster Mash,” and we’ll send you a page!

If you wish to be credited, please write your name and the date legibly on the back of your page (and if you want us to tag you on Instagram, please include your IG handle!) If you’re a student or alum, please include your class year! If you’d prefer to remain anonymous, please just write the date you made your work.

Put your completed pages on the paper tray or windowsill in the Boutelle-Day Poetry Center so we can collect them.

At the end of the project, we will put images of your pages on our project website and compile the physical pages and present them to Smith College Special Collections. We’ll be collecting these all year, through June 1, 2026!