The “Uncanny Valley” is a term coined in 1970 by Masahiro Mori that describes our revolting reaction to something that seems very human but is not exactly. His research suggests that the more human something seems the more our affinity goes up for that thing until it seems a little too human. When something becomes too human, our affinity for it drops suddenly and we are disturbed by it.

We can see this effect happening in Frankenstein by Mary Shelly. In the book, Victor Frankenstein creates a creature that looks very human. He uses real human parts to make him. But when he becomes animated Frankenstein is horrified. It is something that looks very realistically human, but is not exactly. This is an exact example of the effect of the uncanny valley.

“Oh! No mortal could support the horror of that countenance. A mummy again endued with animation could not be so hideous as that wretch. I had gazed on him while unfinished; he was ugly then; but when those muscles and joints were rendered capable of motion, it became a thing such as even Dante could not have conceived.”

Frankenstein is describing the very concept of the uncanny valley in that passage. He said it was ugly when he was putting him together. Obviously, he still looks the same when animated, he is just moving around and seeming alive now. But it is when something that seems human becomes a little too human, in this case through animation, that it when the uncanny valley effect occurs.

Mori, Masahiro. “The Uncanny Valley: The Original Essay by Masahiro Mori.” IEEE Spectrum: Technology, Engineering, and Science News, IEEE Spectrum, 12 June 2012, spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/humanoids/the-uncanny-valley.

Schwarz, Rob. “10 Creepy Examples of the Uncanny Valley.” Stranger Dimensions, Stranger Dimensions, 14 Sept. 2017, www.strangerdimensions.com/2013/11/25/10-creepy-examples-uncanny-valley/.