Richard Matheson

Matheson Biography

Richard Matheson was born in 1926 in Brooklyn. As a youngster, he claims to have desired to be a composer or writer. After realizing that composing would be too hard, he set out to be a writer. His first published work was "Born of Man and Woman" in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1950.

Matheson has been called "one of the most important writers of the 20th century" by Ray Bradbury, and his work

 has inspired many other notable authors. Stephen King cites Matheson as "the author who influenced me most as a writer," and Dean Koontz says, "We're all a lot richer to have Richard Matheson among us." His work had had a tremendous  impact on the popular consciousness, and if  if you've never heard of him, you've almost certainly seen his work.

In addition to novels in the mystery, science fiction, horror, fantasy, and western genres, Matheson has been a prolific writer of film and television scripts. He wrote the script for episodes of The Twilight Zone, including "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" (where William Shatner sees a gremlin on the wing of the plane . . .), "The Invaders," and "Little Girl Lost." He also wrote episodes of Have Gun, Will Travel, Night Gallery, and Star Trek (among them "The Enemy Within," in which Kirk is split into good and evil halves).

Several of Matheson's novels and stories have been made into films, including The Shrinking Man (1957), I Am Legend (1964 & 1971), and Bid Time Return (filmed as "Somewhere in Time" starring Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour in 1980). Matheson also wrote the scripts for Stephen Spielberg's first feature film, Duel (1971); the TV-movie The Night Stalker, which drew a record 75 million viewers on its first broadcast; and several of Roger Corman's Edgar Allan Poe films, including House of Usher (1960), The Pit and the Pendulum (1961), and The Raven (1963).

While writing in five decades, Matheson has won numerable awards over his career, including the World Fantasy Convention's Life Achievement Award, the Bram Stoker Award for Life Achievement, the Hugo Award, the Edgar Allan Poe Award, the Golden Spur Award, and the Writer's Guild Award. In 1984, Matheson was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the World Fantasy Convention.

Five good Matheson books

I am Legend

Robert Neville is the last man on Earth , but he is not alone. Every other man, woman, and child has turned into a vampire, and they are hungry for Neville's blood.  By day he is the hunter, stalking the sleeping undead through the abandoned ruins of civilization. By night, he barricades himself in his home and prays for the dawn to finally come.

Neville is able to survives on his wits for a few years, at least until the creation of, upon  a "new society," that eventually executes Neville because he is perceived as a threat

Matheson was inspired to write I am Legend after viewing Dracula, starring Bella Lugosi, basing the novel based on the idea that if one vampire were scary, then an earth populated by them would be truly terrifying. 

I Am Legend has been filmed as The Last Man on Earth starring Vincent Price (1964) and The Omega Man starring Charlton Heston (1971). This volume contains the complete novel plus several other tales.

The Incredible Shrinking Man

Day by day, Scott Carey is getting smaller. Trapped in his small cellar, he knows he is shrinking 1/7 of an inch everyday, and there's nothing he can do to stop it. Once an ordinary husband and father, Scott finds himself struggling to survive against the elements and a creature that he had once towered over, all with no end in sight. 

His wife and family turn into unreachable giants, and even the family cat becomes a dangerous menace.  Scott must battle to survive in a world that seems to be growing ever larger and more dangerous. He comes to miss the  ordinary, mundane things that he once took for granted, and suffers through terrible pain until the end where he  faces the ultimate fear of existence.

This volume contains the complete novel that inspired the classic 1957 film, plus several more tales by Richard Matheson, including Duel, 20,000 feet under the Sea, and .

The movie

What Dreams May Come

What happens to us after we die? Chris Nielsen had no idea, until a sudden accident cut his life short and he is separated from his beloved wife, Annie. Now Chris discovers the true nature of life after death.

But even Heaven isn't paradise without Annie, and when tragedy threatens to divide them forever, Chris risks his very soul to save Annie from an eternity of despair.

Can love bring together what Heaven and Hell have torn apart? What Drams May Come was made into a 1998 movie, starring Robin Williams and Cuba Gooding Jr.

The movie

Earthbound

David and Ellen came to the lonely beachside cottage in hopes of rekindling their troubled marriage. Yet they are not alone on their second honeymoon. Marianna, a beautiful and enigmatic stranger, comes to visit David whenever Ellen is away. But who is Marianna, and where has she come from?

Even as he succumbs to her seductive charms, David realizes that Marianna is far more than a threat to his marriage, for her secrets lie deep in the past and beyond the grave. And her unholy desires endanger the lives and souls of everyone she touches.

Now You See it . . .

Maximilian Delacorte was once the world's greatest stage magician -- until a mysterious disease ended his career forever.

 Now, after months of seclusion, Max has lured his family and associates to his lonely mansion for an afternoon of magic, madness, and revenge. 

Bodies disappear and reappear without warning, severed heads speak words of hate, and nothing is quite what it appears to be. As grisly tricks lead to ever more surprising twists, not even The Great Delacorte can tell where the illusion ends . . . and murder begins.