# frankenstein used to look like this

- Link: https://tacobout.online/2026/10/22/frankenstein-used-to-look-like-this/
- Published: 2026-10-22T16:02:19-05:00
- Author: Telly

the monster on this 1910 _edison kinetogram_ cover looks like he has been living
inside a chimney. wild hair, long fingers, absolutely no interest in the tidy silhouette
that would eventually become halloween shorthand.

the [library of congress restored edison’s _frankenstein_](https://blogs.loc.gov/now-see-hear/2018/10/frankenstein-post/),
the first film adaptation of the novel, in 2018. its account of the work is worth
reading alongside the film: a nitrate print, replacement opening credits from another
collection, a recreated intertitle, a new score by donald sosin. a film can survive
and still need help becoming watchable.

this is the useful part of going back before an image became definitive. the monster
stops being a logo and starts looking like a choice somebody made. another face 
was possible. another kind of hair was, regrettably, also possible.

the restoration is available through the library’s linked screening room. a small
halloween detour, with the repair work left visible in the explanation.

image: edison manufacturing company, _edison kinetogram_, march 15, 1910, via the
library of congress. public domain in the united states.