The Iconic Horror House Of Geneva Switzerland - Frankenstein Birth & Vampire Tales At Villa Diodati
Geneva Switzerland Horrors
Transcript
0:03
Today's adventure begins as the
0:03
recording of this Thursday, December
0:05
11th,
0:07
2025. I can hear church bells ringing
0:16
peeking out
0:16
of my hotel room
0:19
window
0:21
balcony
0:28
at that magnificent
0:28
mountain. It's 7:45
0:31
and those bells in town are a ringing.
0:48
It's a wakeup call, I guess, for the
0:48
town folk, including myself.
0:55
Temporary town folk, I'm calling myself.
0:55
being here the last couple days, but I'm
0:57
heading out today from Zerat,
1:00
the town at the base of the Matterhorn.
1:02
And I'm heading to another town in
1:04
Switzerland by the name of Geneva via
1:08
train. Couple different stops on a
1:11
train.
1:19
Harold the Yeti is up there somewhere.
1:19
And I'm going to a little Frankenstein
1:21
history in [music] Geneva
1:24
where Mary Shelley
1:27
wrote Frankenstein.
1:42
Love this shared balcony except I don't
1:42
think anyone's staying in the room next
1:43
to me. So I've had this balcony all to
1:44
myself.
1:55
Loving Switzerland. Loving those bells.
1:55
Let's just soak it in for a moment.
2:13
Relaxed a little bit in my room. Very
2:13
nice accommodation. Stayed at a place
2:14
called the Albatross Hotel.
2:17
was decent.
2:19
And now I'm walking to the train
2:20
station.
2:22
Grab a cup of Joe. Grab a tiny cup of
2:24
Joe. Cup of coffee. Coffeey's here. Or
2:27
small sizes, but get a little caffeine
2:29
to my sister.
2:36
I love when I can see my breath. I love
2:36
chilly weather. I love the cold. I
2:39
thrive and I'm happier when it's colder,
2:42
which is Don't ask me why I purchased a
2:44
house in Florida. However, I am happy
2:47
and content with the weather right now.
2:49
You know, I got the hoodie unzipped.
2:52
Feeling pretty good. Got the head
2:54
covering on. It's going to be a little
2:56
warmer where I'm going in Switzerland,
2:58
but still going to have a nice chill in
2:59
the air. But I have loved it here.
3:02
Saying goodbye to the Matter Horn and
3:04
hello to a train ride and keeping up
3:07
with the last few days. Say I had two
3:09
nights in the hotel. So, I got into
3:11
town, had one night, then had all day
3:13
yesterday and then last night. And now
3:15
I'm leaving. And each time I've gotten
3:17
coffee, I have gotten it here at the
3:19
coffee house cups. C U PS coffee house.
3:24
They don't have venties. They don't have
3:25
larges, but they do have they have some
3:28
sort of cup. Just talking to the very
3:30
kind barista inside cups
3:33
here in Zerat. I never didn't figure out
3:34
if it was pronounced Zerat or Zerat, but
3:38
she said the train ride to Geneva is
3:40
very beautiful in part. So, and I I
3:42
truly believe her because I mean, look
3:44
at this. Look at this place.
3:54
Good times. It is been an enjoyable
3:54
stay. A beautiful and scenic stay.
3:58
Such a relaxing village.
4:02
kind of not ready to say goodbye to this
4:04
thing. The majestic Matterhorn.
4:07
I have basked
4:09
in its bottomness. The bottom of the B.
4:11
I'm trying. I have basked in the glory
4:15
of the bottom of this beautiful mountain
4:19
for a couple of days. And for that, I'm
4:22
grateful. Take care, Matterhorn. Next
4:24
time we'll see you, we'll be at
4:26
Disneyland whenever whenever the heck I
4:28
get back. Going down a bob sled.
4:30
Realigning my spine.
4:33
Preparing for future chiropractor visits
4:36
on one of the roughest rides at Walt's
4:38
original Magic Kingdom. I don't know if
4:40
this was originally supposed to be a
4:41
bobslad. I think it's just a fountain
4:44
cuz you can see the little nozzle there.
4:47
It reminds me of a bob slab. Waiting
4:48
patiently here for a few moments because
4:52
the clock should strike 10 momentarily
4:54
at the church. Our train's at 10:37 and
4:57
then I'll start strolling over to the
4:58
train station. It's about 3 or 4 minutes
5:01
till 10, but I want to hear those 10
5:03
chimes at the base of the Matter Horn.
5:12
Right while standing in the proximity of
5:12
the plaque dedicated to Edward Weiper,
5:16
who was the first to make the pilgrimage
5:19
to the top, well, not pilgrimage, the
5:21
trek, the first mountain climb to the
5:23
peak, to the very, very top.
5:25
Edward Wiper
5:28
>> and the rest of his crew, which a lot of
5:29
the other crew, four of them did not
5:31
survive. Also, interesting fact, I
5:34
talked about the story the other day,
5:36
but the four that perished, they did
5:38
make it to the top. So, they did
5:40
accomplish the goal, they fell from the
5:42
mountain on the descent.
5:50
Kind of sad, but at least they reached
5:50
their goal. Welcome everyone.
5:53
Adam the Woo here. I'm inviting you to
5:55
join me as the clock chimes 10 times.
6:26
>> It's going to be a great day. Join me,
6:26
shall you?
6:58
It's amazing to me. No automobiles are
6:58
allowed in this town. Only these things.
7:00
They all have to be these little
7:01
rectangular vehicles. Love it.
7:05
I'll never forget this place. This place
7:07
is awesome. It's like a dream.
7:10
Even the police cruiser.
7:19
Look at the back of it. Even the
7:19
officers have a little matter horn there
7:21
in the back.
7:24
All right, I'm getting on the 1037
7:27
to Visp. And in Visp, I have a transfer.
7:31
So, two trains, one to Visp and then
7:34
from Visp to Geneva. Looks like the one
7:37
to visp is on platform five. So, we got
7:40
to find platform five. Shouldn't be too
7:42
hard. There's only there's only a few
7:44
platforms here. Very very lowkey
7:47
Melo train station. In fact, here's
7:49
another sign letting me know about Visp.
8:29
I don't think I'm going there though.
8:29
Leaving Zerat or Zerat.
8:33
Off to the next place. All right. I
8:35
guess my luggage just kind of goes right
8:37
here.
8:37
>> This is the luggage compartment.
8:47
>> All right. I got lucky and there's no
8:47
one sitting in front of me or beside me.
8:50
So,
8:52
I move my bag in bags right here
8:57
for the first round.
9:00
My bag was pretty cramped back there.
9:02
It's also interesting that this
9:03
particular car has no overhead space.
9:05
>> The only thing I can think is that way
9:07
you get some better views where luggage
9:09
is not obstructing the viewpoint
9:13
up that direction. Get some better
9:15
mountain views.
11:02
>> That goes to Brig.
11:02
This goes to Geneive.
11:05
12:09. So I got about 10 minutes.
11:09
>> A little more than 10 minutes.
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>> Number six.
11:23
>> Up the stairs.
11:23
There's my shadow
11:25
waving to myself.
11:28
Look at all the little villages up there
11:29
on the side of the hill. They're just
11:32
all up there.
11:35
houses
11:37
all amongst the mountains here in the
11:39
Alps,
11:40
>> Swiss Alps.
13:18
All right, I've arrived in Geneva.
13:18
It's about 2:30, almost 2:30.
13:23
Actually,
13:28
it's 2:35.
13:28
2:36.
13:30
All right. Burning a little bit of
13:31
daylight here. Sunset is in a little
13:34
over 2 hours. Like 2 hours and 10
13:36
minutes. Just shy of 5:00 p.m. It'll be
13:39
dark. Sun will be setting. Going check
13:42
into my hotel real quick. Put my stuff
13:44
away and try to go to a couple of the
13:48
Frankenstein spots.
13:56
This is the town, well city where Mary
13:56
Shelley
13:58
came up with the idea, the short story
14:01
of Frankenstein and she went back to
14:03
Bath, England where she completed it and
14:06
then published it 2 years later. I
14:08
booked a room here at the Cornan Hotel
14:13
right next to the train station.
14:15
Check in. Drop my bags off.
14:28
I'm all checked in.
14:28
Give a little room tour. Here are the
14:32
Well, I guess it's one bed, but there's
14:33
a spot for There's two pillows and two
14:36
blankets, but it's a pretty good size
14:37
bed kind of low to the ground.
14:41
Got my bags all put away. really huge
14:45
desk
14:46
that overlooks the window to a cathedral
14:49
of some sort here.
14:57
Geneva is also the fictional home of
14:57
Victor Frankenstein who created the
14:59
monster
15:02
and Mary drew inspiration for a lot of
15:04
the places
15:06
that the monster roamed around and
15:07
Victor his story
15:10
from this place as well.
15:13
Check out the accommodations in here.
15:17
Little room tour.
15:19
Again, don't have a lot of daylight
15:21
left, so going to make it quick
15:25
and then move on
15:27
and go check out some Frankenstein
15:29
stuff. One of the most iconic monster
15:33
monsters
15:34
in horror history.
15:42
And I guess you could say the first
15:42
horror book or horror novel
15:50
started here as well as sci-fi. You
15:50
know, science fiction kind of began here
15:53
in Geneva. Pretty mind-blowing when you
15:55
think about it.
16:24
And the premise of her time here began
16:24
when she was with her what eventually
16:27
became her husband, but at the time they
16:29
were not married and ended up staying at
16:32
a a really nice place with Lord Byron,
16:35
who was a poet.
16:37
I'm going end up going by the the house,
16:39
the little mansion that they were
16:40
staying at. And that year, the weather
16:42
was so bad that it was it was nicknamed
16:46
the year without summer. Bad storms,
16:49
lots of time indoors. I'm kind of
16:51
looking over here. Is that like a geyser
16:52
of some sort over there?
16:55
But they spent so much time, the group
16:58
of them, indoors
17:01
at the place I'm going to go to a little
17:02
bit later after I go by the Frankenstein
17:07
sculpture.
17:12
They had so much time indoors that they
17:12
were reading
17:15
horror stories of sorts, horror tales, I
17:18
should say. just short stories, the
17:21
scary persuasion.
17:27
Then Lord Byron had an idea that
17:27
everyone should come up with their own
17:29
version of a scary
17:31
scary time of type type of tale. They
17:34
each all the guests wrote their own
17:36
little version.
17:38
Mary wrote hers which eventually that
17:41
story after she went back to math and
17:43
wrote for another year or so turned into
17:46
the modern Prometheus which we know was
17:51
Frankenstein. This is way before
17:55
way before the Universal movies came
17:57
out. Frankenstein probably in her mind
18:00
had a different look than what Boris
18:03
Carlo came up with or was makeuped as.
18:07
But it all started here and then
18:09
culminated in Bath and elsewhere. This
18:12
is going to be the third pivotal
18:14
Frankenstein spot that I've been to in
18:17
London. I went to where her mom is
18:20
buried. Mary Wilencraft who died
18:24
childbirth short right after Mary who
18:27
became Mary Shel later
18:30
when she married the guy who was not
18:32
married at the time or the guy was
18:34
married at the time Percy Shelly
18:39
and he was not with his wife he was with
18:41
Mary here when they wrote the when she
18:43
wrote the short story the the tale of
18:45
horror
18:46
which I'm going to go to later but I've
18:48
been to the mother's headstone which it
18:52
is said that kind of inspired
18:55
Mary Shel to kind of have the the love
18:59
of graveyards and spooky things and
19:01
creepy things. Even some say that she
19:04
would fornicate
19:06
with others men at the graveyard around
19:11
her mom's headstone where her mom was
19:14
laid to rest. So Mary Shel was an
19:16
interesting woman. You can kind of go
19:18
down a deep rabbit hole of stories, you
19:21
know, hearsay about her and some facts,
19:23
some unfactual.
19:25
But I also not only there in London
19:27
where her mom is, also been to Bath
19:30
where she lived for quite a few years
19:33
right next to the Roman Bass. In fact,
19:35
they tore the accommodations where Mary
19:38
Shelley used to live. They tore those
19:40
down and now they've expanded onto the
19:42
tourist area there in front of the
19:44
cathedral. So, I went there this year as
19:46
well. went to both those spots earlier
19:49
this year and now I'm here in Geneva to
19:52
kind of wrap the story up. Really, the
19:54
fourth spot that I have not been to is
19:58
Frankenstein's Castle, which I think is
19:59
over in Germany, which she visited a
20:01
year before she was here. And some say
20:04
that Frankenstein's Castle gave her
20:07
inspiration in a way as well, but I
20:09
don't think that's ever been confirmed.
20:11
Obviously, not the Frankenstein that you
20:13
were thinking of. Not the monster. This
20:15
was a different guy named Frankenstein
20:17
and it had a big castle. Whole backstory
20:19
with that as well. Maybe one day I'll go
20:21
to Germany. Keep going. Oh, I see it.
20:24
There he is. Like it's right next to a
20:27
skate park.
20:29
Kind of in an odd spot that you'd see a
20:32
Frankenstein's
20:34
monster,
20:35
which I just call him Frankie.
20:39
I always refer to him as Frankie and
20:40
Frankenstein. I do realize that Victor
20:43
Frankenstein created the monster. So he
20:45
has technically Frankenstein's monster,
20:47
but I think it's just supersedes
20:49
everything that he is referred to as
20:51
Frankenstein. Again, this is not going
20:53
to be the version that you see from the
20:54
movies, the Boris Caroff version. This
20:56
is the much earlier
21:04
nonfilm version.
21:04
And I was reading the reason that he is
21:05
in this particular spot
21:08
is because in the book this is where the
21:13
demise of William the brother of Victor
21:17
Frankenstein took place
21:24
killed by Frankie here and then went up
21:24
to the Geneva Lake Mountains which are
21:28
over there. So there is a reason on why
21:30
this is in this particular spot. Let's
21:33
take a look at him here. Let's take a
21:34
look at Mary Shel's version, even though
21:37
she did not design the statue. I think
21:39
the statue's been here for 10, 15 years.
21:42
In fact, I don't really know if she ever
21:46
drew anything. Her interpretation of
21:48
what the monster was supposed to look
21:49
like, but definitely not the Caroff
21:52
version that we know and love now. That
21:55
came way later, way later when Universal
21:57
put their their first classic film out
21:59
and then Bride and then all the others.
22:08
See, he's got some pants on here. He's
22:08
got the hands which have been sewed up
22:11
because, you know, in the story,
22:14
different body parts from different
22:15
graves.
22:28
the Frankenstein's monster. You can see
22:28
the jaw has been,
22:31
you know, sealed up there. Probably a
22:32
different jaw from a different head
22:34
perhaps.
22:36
All sealed up here as well with the
22:38
stitches. All down the belly.
22:45
This is amazing.
22:45
I also It's also interesting that really
22:47
it's not getting much attention of me
22:48
even being here. There's like nobody
22:50
else even taking pictures of it or
22:51
anything. There's no plaque. No plaque
22:54
of any sort.
23:02
He's got the bolt there through the ear
23:02
through his eyes.
23:11
Frankenstein's monster. Victor treated
23:12
him very poorly.
23:19
Created his son out of body parts from
23:19
other
23:21
other graves.
23:23
And then when the monster started doing
23:25
things that Victor didn't approve of, he
23:27
wanted to disown him.
23:34
He's an outcast, a lonely guy,
23:34
Frankenstein's monster. And he's kind of
23:37
sitting here lonely next to the skate
23:39
park in this Gothic town of Geneva.
23:49
Incredible that it all began here. Just
23:49
think about
23:51
everyone knows Frankenstein. everyone.
23:53
You can mention that name to pretty much
23:55
anyone and they will know some version
23:58
of the story or the look of the monster
24:02
or you know or paraphernelia merch HHN
24:06
etc. And it kind of all started here
24:09
with this guy and Mir Shelly.
24:25
Is there a bigger horror icon than
24:25
Frankenstein?
24:35
I mean, you got Freddy, you got Jason,
24:35
you got Michael Myers, you got the new
24:38
newly brought to the scene, Art the
24:39
Clown. But I think out of all of them, I
24:43
think he's the biggest.
24:45
I think he is the most Well, I don't
24:48
know. It's tough to say.
24:51
It's tough to say based on some of those
24:53
others, but legendary. The legendary
24:56
monster himself.
24:59
Modern Prometheus.
25:11
He's going to escape up after he's taken
25:11
a victim.
25:13
Go up to those mountains
25:15
off in the distance.
25:27
Right next to the skate park.
25:28
>> Yeah, right over by the right over by
25:30
the skate park. I take that back.
25:32
Someone else is over there taking a
25:33
photo as well. This is getting a little
25:35
love.
25:38
Got to wonder if any of these guys skate
25:39
and have any idea of the history.
25:41
Probably because they probably live
25:42
here. It's probably a pretty famous
25:44
story locally.
25:47
>> Or maybe not. All right, I just ordered
25:49
an Uber, Frankie, and I'm going to go to
25:52
where Mary wrote the original story.
25:59
What became
25:59
your story? I'm going to go to the exact
26:02
spot, the exact spot during stormy times
26:07
that ghost stories were read and
26:10
written.
26:12
And one of those scary tales became
26:15
where you are known as today. An early
26:17
version of what you are known as today.
26:22
Wild to think about that. It all started
26:24
right here.
26:26
As I'm waiting here, almost kind of
26:28
looks like he's running off to this
26:30
popup circus they got going on.
26:37
It's also very bizarre. There's no
26:37
plaque, no information, nothing about
26:41
why this is here. It's kind of like if
26:44
you know, you know, type of thing,
26:47
but I would imagine a lot of people
26:48
don't know. They just think it's a a
26:51
sculpture of a of a creature of some
26:54
sort.
26:59
Maybe that's the intent why they built
26:59
it. Maybe they wanted to make make him
27:01
the lonely guy that he was in the story,
27:05
a loner of sorts. an outcast.
27:39
He's got his shirt on. Open up. The
27:39
shirt's open. Almost has like jeans on
27:42
that are ripped up, torn open with the
27:44
knee exposed
27:50
around the back here.
27:50
More stitchings.
27:52
The foot. I mean, that foot could have
27:55
belonged to someone differently than
27:56
what that foot belonged to.
28:00
Big hands that are attached there.
28:04
All right. Got to get going. Get off
28:07
into those mountains. The Geneva
28:09
Mountains near Lake Geneva. Frankie,
28:12
take care, buddy. Oh, is that my Uber?
28:15
I don't know if you can get two people
28:16
fitting in that thing. N I don't think
28:18
that's my Uber. That right there is
28:20
about half the size of my golf glorified
28:22
golf cart. Look at that thing. I love
28:26
that. Look at that. What the heck is
28:28
that thing?
28:31
from snow cabs
28:33
to this all in one day.
28:40
I think I should get over to where I got
28:40
to go before the sun goes down, which
28:42
would be kind of nice.
28:47
Kind of cool to take a ride in one of
28:48
those things, huh?
28:53
Look at him there over my shoulder. He
28:53
hasn't moved.
28:54
He hasn't moved at all. Ever since I
28:57
went to bath, I've wanted to come here
28:59
to complete the ark, my Frankenstein
29:02
ark, and I did it. Well, got one more
29:05
spot. All right, the sun is now setting.
29:07
Well, close to setting. You call it
29:08
dusk. That was a long,
29:12
long Uber ride. Longer than I expected.
29:14
Probably twice as long. Said it was
29:15
going to be 20 minutes. It probably was
29:17
closer to 40 5 minutes. Didn't realize
29:20
there's a series of one-way streets and
29:22
it's kind of rush hourish. If I would
29:24
have just walked a few blocks to have
29:26
the Uber pick me up elsewhere, I would
29:28
have got here in half the time, but he
29:30
got stuck kind of a one-way circle.
29:33
After about 20 minutes in the Uber and
29:35
some he spoke a little English and some
29:37
small talk and whatnot, we passed back
29:40
by the Frankenstein sculpture. I was
29:43
like, we literally just went around in a
29:45
circle, but it's because of the one-way
29:47
streets. But nothing I can do about it.
29:49
I made it up here at a good time,
29:50
however, cuz the sun is setting. I think
29:53
it looks very very beautiful. And there
29:55
is a sculpture right here next to this
29:58
villa which is where it all happened.
30:01
It's where it all took place
30:05
started by the invite of Lord Byron
30:09
who was shown here
30:16
and I believe that that is
30:16
the villa itself
30:18
right over there. It is not open to
30:21
guests.
30:31
Some interesting things took place in
30:31
there.
30:34
a lot of free love and
30:37
good times with Lord Byron and the rest
30:40
of the group including Mary Shelley and
30:44
who would be her husband later in life
30:46
Percy Shelley who at the time when they
30:49
wrote the stories
30:51
were not wed he was still married to
30:52
another lady but that's neither here nor
30:55
there this is the birthplace of the
30:58
short story which became the birth of
31:01
Frankenstein when it moved over to
31:03
Batham it's kind of a complex Lex series
31:05
of things, but this is where it all
31:07
originated. I wonder if they have
31:08
anything written on here. Ah, yes. Let's
31:11
take a look at this. Dear visitors from
31:13
all over the world and residents of
31:15
Colony, which is a suburb, a slight
31:17
suburb, which is just over the horizon
31:21
from Geneva, which is where the
31:24
sculpture is right over there. It's only
31:27
a few miles, but again, the traffic is
31:29
pretty bad.
31:30
We're happy to welcome you this very
31:32
beautiful site from which both the city
31:33
of Geneva and the international
31:34
organizations could be admired. On this
31:36
very spot, Frankenstein
31:39
was born during the summer of 1816. The
31:42
weather was atrocious cold and rainy
31:44
spells altering with violent
31:45
thunderstorms. At that time, Lord Byron
31:49
right there
31:51
was 28-year-old poet was renting the
31:54
villa situated to the left of this
31:56
meadow. from the terrace of the house
31:58
overlooking the lake. He was inspired to
32:00
write these words.
32:03
And I read from the the little plaque
32:05
here. There was a time when I enjoyed
32:07
listening to the roaring ocean,
32:10
but your gentle babbling moves me like a
32:12
sister's voice, blaming me for having
32:15
sought evil dissipation.
32:22
That's I guess that's a quote. Mary
32:22
Shelley was also spending the summer in
32:23
Colony at Jacob Chappie's home situated
32:27
at the lower end of this hill below
32:30
where I'm standing now. And from what I
32:32
heard, where she was staying has changed
32:35
into modern buildings. So there's no way
32:37
to match any of that stuff up or go to
32:39
the spot where she was. And on an
32:41
evening, on one of the evenings at the
32:43
villa, Diodati,
32:46
which is right there,
32:49
right there in those very walls,
32:52
Byron and Mary Shel made a bet as to who
32:54
would be the first to write a horror
32:57
novel, a short story.
32:59
Mary became excited at his idea,
33:01
completed the story of Frankenstein a
33:03
year later in England and won the bet.
33:07
Bath, England.
33:10
Next to the cathedral, next to the Roman
33:11
bass,
33:18
the meadow rim of the famous
33:18
Gretz lie is the scene of a Swiss Swiss
33:20
National Day of Celebrations on October
33:22
1st. Make sure you are peaceful, tidy,
33:25
friendly,
33:27
and take care of all the rules when it
33:30
comes to traffic regulations. Also, I
33:33
never realized until I was kind of
33:34
looking a little bit of this up that
33:36
evidently one of the stories by the
33:39
group of guests that were in there when
33:41
Mary wrote her the modern Prometheus
33:46
preamble. Well, what would you call it?
33:48
The story became Frankenstein inside
33:51
those very walls also was written
33:54
something called the vampire. The vamp
33:56
the vampire
33:58
which eventually turned into Dracula.
34:01
So, two massive horror icons began right
34:08
here
34:09
inside those walls of that villa. Let
34:11
that sink in.
34:19
Two of the biggest universal monsters.
34:19
Shablam.
34:21
It's kind of cool they recognize Lord
34:23
Byron right here. It's also heard that
34:26
at the time he was such a famous poet.
34:30
obviously winning over the affection to
34:32
bring Mary here with her lover. It was a
34:35
whole lover on Tandre. What a tangled
34:38
web they wo.
34:40
But evidently he was so popular
34:43
that it was said that down the hill and
34:45
up in different areas people would try
34:48
to get a view of Lord Byron.
34:53
Maybe it was up there, maybe it was down
34:55
there. kind of like pre
34:58
pre-poparazzi if you will. They just
35:00
wanted to see this man. That's how
35:02
popular of a poet that he was. From what
35:04
I was reading,
35:10
Lord Byron. In fact, just down the way
35:10
here on this empty field, looks like in
35:13
1924, if I'm reading the well, if I'm
35:15
interpreting my
35:17
guess correctly, that in 1924 they
35:21
deemed this Byron Park. It's actually
35:24
called Park Byron.
35:26
And this whole field here
35:29
named after Lord Byron.
35:39
Looks really cool with the
35:39
with the sun right there. Right.
35:47
That's great.
35:47
It's just so iconic to think that it all
35:49
began right here on a stormy night.
35:58
Geneva off in the distance.
35:58
Frankenstein after
36:01
killing William,
36:03
the brother of the creator, Victor,
36:07
his papa in a lot of ways
36:10
slayed his brother.
36:13
And the sculpture of Frankie is down
36:15
there somewhere trying to make it across
36:18
Lake Geneva to the mountains
36:22
that are over there.
36:25
all told about in the story.
36:31
Frankenstein the book takes place in a
36:31
lot of different areas, but there are
36:33
some mentions of Geneva. And more
36:36
importantly, this is where she came up
36:37
with the idea of the story right there
36:42
inside those walls. Man, that's so cool.
37:18
It's like a pretty fancy place.
37:18
Unbelievable when you think about it,
37:20
man.
37:21
Just let that sink in.
37:25
Think of anytime you've watched a
37:26
Frankenstein film or gone through a
37:29
haunted house or gone through a a horror
37:32
themed museum, you always see Frankie,
37:35
Frankenstein's monster.
37:39
And every
37:41
every thing has a starting point.
37:44
Frankenstein, that monster is no
37:46
exception.
37:48
And he began through the idea of an
37:51
18-year-old
37:58
Mary Pre Shelly. She hadn't married
37:58
Percy yet
38:07
inside those very walls.
38:07
I think that is so dang cool.
38:11
I think that's so cool.
38:17
woman
38:19
come up with that tale
38:23
that has just lived on to be
38:27
one of the most famous famous horror
38:30
stories, science fiction, the first
38:32
science fiction
38:35
early horror novel
38:38
stem from the ideas on a bet that was
38:41
made
38:42
right inside there.
38:53
So, I wanted to stop off here,
38:53
especially after I went to Bath. I
38:55
started really getting some deep history
38:57
on the completion of the book and they
39:00
have a really great museum based on the
39:02
monster there.
39:09
I thought I got to go to Geneva, go to
39:09
the villa.
39:18
Glad I got up here before it got too
39:18
dark. I was really worried because it
39:20
was taking a while in the car, but made
39:23
it up here. Got it. Actually, it worked
39:24
out pretty good. So, I'm getting the the
39:27
nice little like sun peeking down over
39:29
the horizon.
39:31
Oh, Frankenstein.
39:34
A true classic.
39:45
also got to think
39:45
how all things work out. Would she have
39:47
been inspired to write that if they
39:49
weren't stuck in there with bad weather
39:52
or if she wasn't around a group of
39:54
friends coming up with the idea
39:57
cuz evidently it didn't just immediately
40:00
like pop out of her brain. She was one
40:02
of the last ones from what I was
40:04
reading. She was one of the last ones to
40:06
come up with the story of the group that
40:09
was in there.
40:15
Timeline of things is interesting. If
40:15
she never came here, if she wasn't in
40:18
there, wasn't stuck inside. They were
40:20
out doing other stuff, occupying their
40:22
mind in other ways.
40:24
Who knows?
40:27
I don't know.
40:33
It's also kind of fascinating that Lord
40:33
Byron here in honor of him, there's
40:36
really nothing with with Mary Shel,
40:38
though.
40:40
I mean, I would say you if you were to
40:42
go up to nine out of 10 people or you go
40:45
to 10 people and say, you know who Lord
40:46
Byron is, nine out of 10 won't. But if
40:50
you say, have you ever heard of
40:52
Frankenstein? Everyone's gonna say,
40:56
"Feel like there needs to be a Mary Shel
40:58
bus next to Lord Byron." I don't know
41:00
how Percy Shelly would feel about that,
41:02
though. He might have some words to say.
41:04
I don't know. They're all dead and gone.
41:07
So, really, I guess none of it
41:09
just all
41:16
It's all thinking out loud.
41:16
I'm just sitting here contemplating
41:19
about how unusual it is to be a long way
41:22
from Celebration, Florida. Long way from
41:24
home,
41:27
where I have on more than one occasion
41:29
thrown on the original Universal
41:31
Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein,
41:39
Young Frankenstein,
41:39
Gene Wilder Classic.
41:41
Love Young Frankenstein.
41:47
Frankenstein versus Wolfman. The HHN
41:47
maze. I have I wear that shirt all the
41:48
time. Love that HHN maze from years
41:51
past. Just such an iconic figure in
41:56
horror.
41:58
But anyway, long way from Celebration,
42:00
Florida all the way over here in
42:02
freaking Switzerland. I'm sitting here
42:04
on a bench where right there within a
42:07
hundred yards of me is where the story
42:10
was written.
42:12
Very
42:17
grateful to be here. I'm very grateful
42:17
to be able to travel and see things and
42:19
do things.
42:21
Trying to do as much as I can. Being
42:24
able to,
42:26
you know, I'm moderately healthy while
42:28
I'm healthy,
42:30
financially able to travel and do
42:32
things. So, trying to do it now while
42:34
I'm able to. And I just
42:38
sitting here in this peaceful moment
42:40
here looking over Lake Geneva.
42:51
being thankful to be able to do stuff
42:51
like this.
43:20
The actress that played Bride of
43:20
Frankenstein, the original Bride of
43:22
Frankenstein was also in Mary Poppins.