Wneh Mary Shelley was eighteen, she traveled to continental Europe. One night, she was spending a stormy evening in Geneva with Percy Shelley, her husband to be, as well as with Lord Byron, and his uncle John William Polidori. Byron suggested a contest to see who of the four would write the best horror story. Mary Shelley had a dream in which a scientist had crated life and had been terrified by his creation. This inspired her to write her famous novel. Only she and Polidori completed their soties. Polidori's contribution was the short story "The Vampyre".
From my understanding, she was stuck indoors with several other authors and poets. Lord Byron was one of these, and suggested they all write ghost stories to pass the time. Frankenstein is what she came up with.
