An Evening with "Frankenstein" author Mary Shelley

This Halloween season, spend an evening in the Victorian mansion of President Rutherford and First Lady Lucy Hayes with the woman who created one of history’s most enduring science fiction and horror novels.

A living history presenter will portray Mary Shelley, author of “Frankenstein,” at 6:30 pm. Tuesday, Oct. 27, and Wednesday, Oct. 28, in the historic Hayes Home. Attendees will be treated to an intimate evening of learning about the woman whose most famous work spawned numerous modern movies and spinoff stories but was so much more than the creature who comes to life in her novel.

Shelley was a teenage mother, behind-the-scenes support of social reform, romantic and scholar. During this program, experienced living history presenter Susan Marie Frontczak describe how Shelley blended themes and events from her own life with a vivid imagination to construct one of the world’s most-read novels through generations.

Tickets are $35 for non-members and $30 for Hayes Presidential Library & Museums members. They are available online at https://www.rbhayes.org/news/2026/08/19/general/spend-an-evening-with-frankenstein-author-mary-shelley/ until the event begins each night. They also will be available at the museum front desk, pending availability.

At the end of the program, Frontczak will answer questions in character as Shelley and then answer questions as herself about her portrayal of Shelley.

Frontczak has given more than 900 programs across the world since 2001. In addition to portraying Shelley, she has given programs as historical figures Eleanor Roosevelt, Clara Barton, Marie Cunie, Irene Castle and Erma Bombeck.