In recent years, the Bride of Frankenstein has re-emerged as a powerful cultural figure, appearing across film, fashion, and storytelling in ways that feel deeply connected to our current moment. This panel explores why the Bride resonates now and what it means that a character created as an afterthought—a constructed woman without agency—has become a symbol of identity, autonomy, and reclaimed power. She began as something that was never allowed to exist, and now she is everywhere. What does her story reveal about how we see women, creation, and control today? And what happens when the Bride is no longer silent, no longer secondary, but the center of her own narrative? Through horror history, modern reinterpretation, and cultural insight, panelists Bryant Dillon (Something Animal, Identity Thief), Jessica Maison (Monster vs Monster Podcast, Mary Shelley's School for Monsters), Leslie Klinger (editor, The New Annotated Frankenstein), Russell Nohelty (Cthulhu Is Hard to Spell, The Godsverse Chronicles), Sarah Faxton (The Animal Court; forthcoming Tiny Dreadfuls), and Deborah Daughetee (Kolchak, the Nightstalker, Stitches in Weird Tales) examine how the Bride reflects both our fears and our evolving sense of self. Moderated by Rick Hernandez (marketing strategist; host, Neon Swords & Lasers Podcast).
