Monday night, Showtime will air a short promo dedicated to the breakout star of its new horror/drama series Penny Dreadful.  While spiritualist Vanessa Ives (Eva Green), adventurer Sir Malcolm Murray (Timothy Dalton) and American sharpshooter Ethan Chandler (Josh Hartnett) have teamed up against a vampire threat, their colleague Victor Frankenstein (Harry Treadaway) is in possession of a secret that could harm them all.  Hit the jump for the promo, and more on Frankenstein (with all currently aired episodes discussed).

In stark contrast to the gore and horror of Penny Dreadful's other monster tales, the time spent with Victor's creations Proteus (Alex Price) and his original monster, The Creature (Rory Kinnear) have been hypnotic, beautiful, and emotional.  Proteus' "rebirth" and education in the world at the hands of Victor was surprisingly tender, which made his death all the more horrible, despite the fact viewers had only been introduced to him for a short time.

But Sunday night's episode, "Resurrection," showed that Proteus was not Frankenstein's first creation, and that The Creature had a very difficult and far more painful rebirth.  It was one where, as he says, the first emotions he learned were rejection and abandonment.  From there, his education was completed all by himself.  Now he has returned to Victor, to tell him of the cursed second-life he's been living, and also to threaten him -- and his friends -- if Victor does not stop creating life.  Except, of course, one last life: a bride for the Creature.

Penny Dreadful has done an excellent job of making these old horror tales feel fresh and new again, and its attention to Frankenstein's story in particular bodes well for the rest of the season.  Then again, the real star is not Frankenstein, but his creations -- first Proteus, and now The Creature.  And according to this promo, it looks like he's just getting started.

Penny Dreadful airs Sunday nights at 10 p.m. ET on Showtime.