This book was a different change of pace from the normal books I read. It really had a sense of horror and gave me chills whenever I read it at night. All the stories had their own unique element and all of them were scary. The only problem was that none of these stories were connected so it h...
I have this vision of Richard Matheson, Ray Bradbury, Stephen King and Roald Dahl hanging out. It's like a twisted poker game, all of them huddled over a ratty green felt table, bare bulb hanging overhead, the fug of cigar smoke in the air. And each one of them is taking a turn, trying to come up...
This could have been a great story, my issue with it is the point of view in which Richard Matheson chose to tell it. The narrator was a bitter old horror author who spoke directly to the reader too much, and spoke to himself too much. Often when he addressed the reader he would often ask a que...
“Welcome to my house, I’m delighted you could come. I am certain you will find your stay here most illuminating. It is regrettable I cannot be with you, but I had to leave before your arrival. Do not let my physical absence disturb you, however. Think of me as your unseen host and believe that, d...
Western with supernatural horror elements.
The Gunfight is a meager two-hundred forty seven pages but don't let that dissuade you. Matheson's books are all meat. You won't find any needless descriptions. If Matheson takes the time to describe something, you know it will be important later.The plot of The Gunfight is fairly simple. A legen...
Maximillian Delacorte was once the world's greatest stage magician. Now a recluse, suffering from a mysterious disease, he lures his family and associates to his lonely estate for an afternoon of magic, madness, and revenge. Bodies appear and disappear without warning, severed heads speak words o...
A new Richard Matheson novel is a literary happening. Especially when it is his first new novel in seven years. Hunted Past Reason marks the return of the most influential horror writer of the 20th century.For those new to this grandmaster—How I envy you; oh, to be able to read his works again fo...
AFTERWORDWhen I am asked how I got the idea for any particular novel, I can (usually) provide an answer.For I Am Legend, it came while I was viewing Bela Lugosi's Dracula. It occurred to me that if one vampire is scary, what if the whole world was full of vampires?For The Shrinking Man, the idea ...
A BELATED TRIBUTERichard Matheson was my Ray Bradbury, the gateway drug to science fiction books as a teenager. I started with his short stories, probably his best and most consistent terrain, marked by no frills narrative, emotional honesty and often a twisting of the knife. Not long after I rea...
New York Times Bestselling Author of I Am LegendWhen a mysterious imposter steals his identity and life, mathematician Chris Barton is suddenly thrust into a whirlwind of danger and intrigue. Overnight, without warning or explanation, people he has never met are trying to kill him-not even his ow...
Eine in Inhalt und Aufbau klassische Vintage-SciFi-Horror-Story. Einige Längen in der Mitte des Romans hätte Matheson vielleicht kürzen können, aber nach meiner Einschätzung liegt die Stärke des Romans ohnehin nicht im Plot. Eigentlich ist der Roman mehr ein erstaunter Ausruf, den Matheson an den...
I am going to start this review by talking about the one thing that caused this to be a 4-star book rather than a 5-star book. That one thing is the author's note at the beginning. Now, I almost never read author's notes or introductions, because I find that they inevitably ruin some aspect of th...
The Link began as a 557-page outline Richard Matheson wrote for a proposed 20-hour ABC-TV mini-series in the 1970's. Television executives asked him to shorten the series into 7 hours. Later, after Matheson had written three hours of the miniseries the two parted company. Matheson's vision could ...
Like Lucy, this rating is gonna take some splainin. Unfortunately, I don't have a slide show or any multi-colored pie charts to provide visual assistance on this one, so I will try to splain it as clearly as I can, but I will be using quite a few "i.e." and "e.g." to provide supporting clarificat...
This short novel that is told with almost fable-like simplicity: Matt Harper is a first-time counselor at a boy’s summer camp when he witnesses a casual brutality that leads to murder. The bullying, gluttonous headman Ed Nolan (who has "reduced Camp Pleasant to a microcosm of the Third Reich") is...
Prolific screenwriter and genre novelist has long maintained an interest in parapsychology, telepathy, ESP and the like. His brief and elegantly printed new volume amounts to a lightly fictionalized history and quick, evocative episodes of paranormal abilities from Greek antiquity to those of the...
Richard Matheson's FIRST and previously UNPUBLISHED novel, written over 50 years ago when Matheson was 23, the book was considered unpublishible by his then agent due to its length. The book sat in Matheson's cabinet for over 50 years and only now sees the light of day. The story of Erick, who af...
cried Harry, alarmed and angry at the same time. Several moments more of threat, Max’s gray-blue eyes unblinking as he looked at Harry. “Hey!” said Harry again, thoroughly intimidated. Max stared at him. Then, turning, he hurled the dagger at the lobby display. Harry (and I, it felt like) jolted ...
Then in an instant new terror had wiped her mind clean. She glanced into the kitchen. Chris couldn’t seem to get away from the door. He leaned against it heavily, looking trapped and dazed. The bell rang again with a coarse buzzing noise. Now Chris moved away from the door and she heard him pull ...
Chorus: It looks like rain on my loveThe dark clouds aboveare chasing the sunbeams awayThe ugly clouds of despairAre hovering near todayNot long agoSkies were blueBlessed by the magic of you.Now you are goneand it seemsgone are the wonderful dreamsThat I hadThe days go byand are goneand though I ...
Then he cleared his throat and tried to go back to sleep but the jangling wouldn’t let him. He felt her hand on his shoulder. “Honey?” she whispered. He woke up. “Uh?” “Telephone.” “Oh, my God,” he muttered disgustedly. He pulled back the covers and let his legs down to the floor. As he stood, he...
The young man sat across from me, one palm braced against the hard, dry leather of the seat, the other holding on his lap a small black bag. He was somewhere near nineteen or twenty. His build was almost delicate. He was dressed in checkered flannel and wore a dark tie with a stickpin in its cent...
Everything out of proportion and coldness in me and him looking down. “You’re lying,” I said, weakly, very weakly. “Am I?” And I couldn’t convince myself that he was. “All the facts can be found in new...
Over the last few years I've scanned and posted dozens of ebooks. This one is very special, it really does have the power to make a grown man cry. It is a hauntingly beautiful book. If you are reading it for the first time, I envy you. If you've read it before, or watched the movie, - based upon ...
His feet carried him away from the black tube depths. The distant roar of underground machinery left his brain to be replaced by myriad whispers of the city. Now he was walking the main street. Men of flesh and men of steel passed him by, coming and going. His legs moved slowly and his footsteps ...
Bob stood up from his seat and took down their overnight bags from the bin, putting them on his seat. He smiled at Jeanne. “Nice flight,” he said. “We didn’t have to go first class,” she told him. “That was very extravagant of you.” “Are you kidding?” He chuckled. “On our honeymoon? Come on.” “I ...
A confession. “There’s something I didn’t tell you. I didn’t feel ready … I’m sorry …” Hand on eyes. “… my mother committed suicide when I was fourteen. On the QE II, New Year’s Eve. I was at boarding school in Virginia. We talked that night. I remember the call verbatim.” Aching “When she died i...