When modern horror is good, Matheson…is usually in there somewhere, a felt presence, like a ghost…To me, his great subject—which I also think is the key question of the horror genre itself—is the problem of belief. He was the master of a particular kind of story in which puzzlement turns gradually to acceptance of an impossible-seeming reality, and ultimately to full-blown panic…At first, his protagonists can't believe what's happening to them, and then, slowly, inexorably, they do. The beauty of the stories is that Matheson's people don't believe too readily: They have to persuade themselves, and often—with difficulty—others that the inconceivable is, in fact, bearing down on them. Although horror does tend to address itself to the small, frightened child that lives inside all of us, all our lives, Matheson's horror is for grown-ups, those who have lost the easy credulity of the very young; for us, believing anything out of the ordinary is a process, usually an arduous one. Matheson gets that, and respects it.
The Best of Richard Matheson
Narrated by Donald Corren, Peter Berkrot, Paul Michael Garcia, Hillary Huber, Traber Burns, Scott Brick, Robertson Dean, Devon Sorvari, Kevin Kenerly
Richard MathesonUnabridged — 15 hours, 7 minutes
The Best of Richard Matheson
Narrated by Donald Corren, Peter Berkrot, Paul Michael Garcia, Hillary Huber, Traber Burns, Scott Brick, Robertson Dean, Devon Sorvari, Kevin Kenerly
Richard MathesonUnabridged — 15 hours, 7 minutes
Overview
Among the greats of twentieth-century horror and fantasy, few names stand above Richard Matheson. Though known by many for novels like I Am Legend and his sixteen Twilight Zone episodes, Matheson truly shines in his chilling, masterful short stories. Since his first story appeared in 1950, virtually every major writer of science fiction and fantasy has fallen under his influence, including Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Peter Straub, and Joe Hill, as well as filmmakers like Stephen Spielberg and J. J. Abrams.
Matheson revolutionized horror by taking it out of Gothic castles and strange cosmos and into the darkened streets and suburbs we recognize as our own. He infused tales of the fantastic and supernormal with dark explorations of human nature, delving deep into the universal dread of feeling alone and threatened in a dangerous world. The Best of Richard Matheson brings together his greatest hits as chosen by Victor LaValle, an expert on horror fiction and one of its brightest talents, marking the first major overview of Matheson's legendary career.
Editorial Reviews
08/14/2017
Richard Matheson (I Am Legend) is one of the giants of genre writing, and his talents are on full display in this collection, edited and introduced by LaValle (The Changeling). Classic stories such as “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet,” in which an airline passenger is the sole witness to a creature tearing at the engines of the airplane, display Matheson’s quick, dexterous pacing. Matheson wrote to thrill, and he succeeds even when there’s no supernatural element. In the tense “A Visit to Santa Claus” and “Dying Room Only,” characters contend with human monsters in broad daylight. All of his stories are lessons in economy, and Matheson’s last lines are swift and sometimes brutal, as with “The Last Day,” which follows a man through humankind’s dying hours. The end of “Witch War” will stick with readers, melding the horrors of war with the indifferent brutality of children. Matheson was a writer of revelations, and some of his stories’ climactic twists feel like clockwork irony (the man was dead the whole time! The phone calls are coming from the cemetery!). Yet his imagination and mastery of the short form cannot be denied, and this collection demonstrates the indelible influence he had on speculative literature. Agent: Susan Ramer, Don Congdon Associates. (Oct.)
"[Matheson is] the author who influenced me most as a writer." -Stephen King
"He was a giant, and YOU KNOW HIS STORIES, even if you think you don't."-Neil Gaiman
"Richard Matheson's ironic and iconic imagination created seminal science-fiction stories . . . For me, he is in the same category as Bradbury and Asimov." -Steven Spielberg
"[I] never met Richard Matheson, but his stories have been life companions. Books are human souls, in analog form. Go read his." -Joe Hill
"Perhaps no other author living is as responsible for chilling a generation with tantalizing nightmare visions." -The New York Times
"Richard Matheson is one of the great names in American terror fiction.” -The Philadelphia Inquirer
"[Matheson has] been an inspiration to me and to so many. He is a legend himself." -Anne Rice
"We're all a lot richer to have Richard Matheson." -Dean Koontz
"[Matheson is] one of the most important writers of the 20th century." -Ray Bradbury
"Matheson’s horror is for grown-ups, those who have lost the easy credulity of the very young . . . He’s an ideal writer to read right now, because — as grown-ups know — we live in unbelievable times." -Terrence Rafferty, New York Times Book Review
"Indeed, it's very nearly impossible to overstate the importance of Matheson's contributions to popular culture and our modern perception of horror . . . The Best of Richard Matheson is a fine collection of some of the best short works from one of the great writers of the 20th (or any, really) century." -Pop Matters
"One of my favorite writers of all time . . . If you love short stories, he was a master." -Joe R. Lansdale
"Richard Matheson was quite simply one of the greatest genre writers of all time. Horror, mystery, suspense, western novels...television, film scripts...He was one for the ages." -Christopher Golden
"If all we knew Richard Matheson for was his Twilight Zone episodes, he'd still be a writing legend. But he did so, so much more...It is impossible to overstate how important Richard Matheson is to postwar sci fi, fantasy & horror in prose, TV & film." -Zack Stentz, screenwriter of Thor and X Men: First Class
"140 characters can't begin cover what [Richard Matheson] has given the sci fi & horror genre." -Edgar Wright, writer and director of Baby Driver
"You could make a strong case for Richard Matheson as the most influential American writer of 'fantastika' between Lovecraft and Stephen King . . . I thought I knew most of Matheson’s short fiction . . . and yet editor LaValle has chosen at least a dozen I can’t remember ever having read." -Michael Dirda, Washington Post
"Matheson’s stories never shock viewers with gruesome effects or CGI wondrousness; instead, they worry them at the human level. And they never let a reader go until they’re finished." -Los Angeles Times
"Matheson is a master of horror, but moreso a master of incisive prose and skill." -Tor.com
"Where Matheson shines is in his depictions of ordinary horror, the way strange goings-on affect everyday people, and his ambiguous endings leave plenty of room for further thought. . . . These chilling page-turners still hold up, serving as an excellent starting point for a new generation of readers.” -Kirkus Reviews
"[Matheson's] imagination and mastery of the short form cannot be denied, and this collection demonstrates the indelible influence he had on speculative literature" -Publishers Weekly
2017-07-17
A collection of stories from a horror legend.This retrospective, the first since the author's death in 2013, is a mix of 33 well-known classics and lesser known tales offering tension and scares aplenty. Readers already familiar with Matheson's work will immediately recognize "Duel," which takes road rage to horrifying new levels and was immortalized in Steven Spielberg's TV movie of the same name. And of course, "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" served as the basis for a well-known Twilight Zone episode (of which Matheson wrote 16). Among other highlights are "Shipshape Home," in which a couple is convinced that something strange is going on in the apartment they bought for a song, and the humorous "The Funeral," which has a hapless funeral director take on a very odd client and his very, very strange friends. "The Prisoner" tells of a man who finds himself on death row in 1954 but claims to be a nuclear physicist from 1944, and the quick but effective "Now Die in It" is about a husband and father with a secret past that comes back to haunt him. The melancholy "The Last Day" is about, well, the last day before a flaming ball in the sky destroys the Earth, and the disturbing "Day of Reckoning" features a mother who will go to extraordinary lengths to have eternal control over her child. Where Matheson shines is in his depictions of ordinary horror, the way strange goings-on affect everyday people, and his ambiguous endings leave plenty of room for further thought. As a bonus, editor LaValle offers an enlightening introduction that discusses Matheson's influence on his own work and even offers up the story behind what he calls his "Matheson moment," giving more heft to the stories that follow. These chilling page-turners still hold up, serving as an excellent starting point for a new generation of readers.
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940169608564 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Blackstone Audio, Inc. |
| Publication date: | 10/10/2017 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
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