SUPERNATURAL STORIES
CREATED DURING
THE SUMMER OF 1816
Mount Tambora
April 5, 1815
The explosion of Mount Tambora, a volcano in Indonesia, is the largest volcanic eruption in all of recorded history. This eruption caused many harmful aerosols to enter the atmosphere, as well as causing large amounts to ash to enter the air and ocean. The effects of this resulted in the covering of towns and homes in the surrounding area, where the weight of the ash was large enough to collapse buildings, causing many fatalities. The effects this had on Europe and North America were not evident until a year later, where it was coined as being "The Year Without a Summer." This title referred to the climate change Europeans and Americans saw in regards to a summer full of rain, cold temperatures, storms, and a lack of sunshine, which consequently led to food shortages. The effects and appearance of this natural disaster is depicted not only in historical record, but is also found in art and literature. For instance, texts by Lord Byron, John Polidori, and Mary and Percy Bysshe Shelley, include descriptions in their texts that portray what this event would have looked like during the Summer of 1816. Images such as Friedrich's "Neubrandenburg" also provide visual documentation of what this demonstrate what this event would have looked like in Europe, specifically in Germany.
Year Without Summer: Summer of 1816
This video, narrated by the meteorologist Jason Meyers provides a brief summary regarding the eruption of Mount Tambora, and the effects this had across the globe.
Summer
of 1816
Caspar David Friedrich
"Neubrandenburg"
c. 1816-1817
The influence this summer had on literature is found in Lord George Gordon Byron's "A Fragment," John Polidoris' "The Vampyre," Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein," and in the edits Percy Bysshe Shelley made to his wife's novel "Frankenstein." The reason it is so evident in these specific authors works is due to the summer they all spent together at "Villa Diodati" in Switzerland, where they experienced firsthand the effects the eruption of Mount Tambora had on the climate and weather. One night, while they were stuck inside due to stormy weather conditions, the group of authors decided to read ghost stories, such as "Fantasmagoriana." Being inspired by the weather and these haunting stories, Lord Byron suggested they all compete in writing a ghost story, thus resulting in the birth of several fictional works that are still read and celebrated in present day.