As other have noted, the monsters themselves are literary characters that came well before the original movies that were made, so Universal doesn't own the rights to the monster characters.
What they do own are the specific looks of the monsters in the movies, for example, the look of Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein (the squared off head, the neck bolts, etc.).
That's why other movies can use those monsters, but they look a bit different in those productions.
The same goes for the various fairy tales Disney has told over the years. They don't own Snow White, The Little Mermaid or any of those other characters. What they do own is the Disney version of the story, which contains certain changes from the original story.
In other words, anything from the original public domain stories is fair game for anyone to use. The modifications a particular movie makes is not, assuming it's still under copyright.
It's like in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. There have been two movie productions (one BBC mini series and one theatrical film) made of it. Since the original story merely states that Zaphod Beeblebrox has two heads, but never specifies how they look or are placed, you have two very different styles in each production. Granted, two side by side heads isn't a new concept, so the method used in the theatrical movie was likely for cost cutting purposes in regards to the use of digital effects. However, it does certainly ensure that the BBC couldn't claim a copyright issue.
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