The Best of Richard Matheson
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4.5 • 2 Ratings
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
The definitive collection of terrifying stories by "one of the greatest writers of the 20th century" (Ray Bradbury), edited by award-winning author Victor LaValle
Among the greats of 20th-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, horror, 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 setting it in 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.
"[Matheson is] the author who influenced me most as a writer." -Stephen King
"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
"He was a giant, and YOU KNOW HIS STORIES, even if you think you don't." -Neil Gaiman
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
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.
