It’s Alive! Happy Frankenstein Friday 2026!

While it’s true that Halloween is arriving tomorrow, and you’re probably neck-deep in celebrating the Spooky Season these past three-plus weeks, but today there’s yet one more holiday to be found during Spooky Season: Frankenstein Friday!

Observed on the last Friday in October, this unusual holiday was the (mad) creation of New Jersey resident Ryan MacCloskey, who in 1997 wanted a reason to celebrate author Mary Shelley and her legendary literary Prometheus, and thus…Frankenstein Friday was born!

So, how can you best celebrate this monstrous day of remembrance?

Well, you could read the Shelley classic, Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, of course.; that’s a good place to start. And there’s certainly no lack of Frankenstein and Frankenstein-inspired movies you could watch, from Thomas Edison’s silent movie to the 1960s Hammer Films, all the way up to last year’s stellar adaptation from Academy Award–winning director Guillermo del Toro.

Speaking of movies, as part of its Halloween programming Turner Classic Movies is running Bride of Frankenstein, the 1935 Universal monster movie directed by James Whale and starring Boris Karloff as the Monster, Elsa Lanchester as the Bride (and Mary Shelley!), Colin Clive as Frankenstein, and the scenery-chewing Ernest Thesiger as the giddily diabolical Dr. Pretorius. It airs at 6:30 pm, Eastern Time—a day late for this celebration, but that’s all right. (Unfortunately, they’re not running any of the other movies in the series, including the original Frankenstein—which, by the way, is celebrating its 95th anniversary this year.)

There’s also comic books! The Bride of Frankenstein Lives #1 is the first issue in a new miniseries that went on sale from Image Comics this week. Writer Kelly Thompson and artist Mattia De Iulis present a sequel to the classic film in which the Bride “must discover where and who she came from and begin what every living thing begins…the process of staying alive.” Sounds intriguing!

So, Happy Frankenstein Friday, Monster Kids young and all. Now get ready for the big day tomorrow: Halloween!

Happy Halloween 2025!

It’s Halloween! And celebrations can be found everywhere, including in Pan’s home neighborhood of Sunnyside, Queens, where I took this spookily decorated window in a local thrift shop. Gee, some of those items might look pretty good in the StarWarp Concepts home office…

It’s also this year’s celebration of Frankenstein Friday, which is observed on the last Friday in October—and fortuitously enough, that just happens to be today! As to the origins of this unusual holiday, according to the calendar site Checkiday:

“Frankenstein Friday was created by Ryan MacCloskey of Westfield, New Jersey, in 1997, to celebrate the birth of the Frankenstein monster, and its creator, Mary Shelley. He created it on a Friday because of the alliteration the name makes, and because it’s easier to be festive on a Friday.”

Works for me! After all, with writer/director Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein having had a limited theatrical run a couple of weeks ago (before it heads to Netflix on November 7), who’s to say it’s not a great time to celebrate Mary Shelley’s legendary novel—especially on Halloween! (I got to see the movie during its recent limited theatrical run—definitely watch it when it debuts on Netflix, it’s a fantastic adaptation!)

So while you’re devouring all those sweet treats tonight, spend some time with Frankenstein’s Monster—he’s certainly got enough movies and cartoon appearances to keep you occupied beyond the midnight hour!

(Photo © Steven A. Roman)