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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
3 1/2 stars. This was my first novel of his, and I have to say I quite enjoyed this. I also have to credit him as an immensely creative person, if all of these short story were originally his idea. If you read this book, you feel like you have heard or know about at least one of them or the concept. Maybe they were depicted in movies or books or similar. If all of these stories were originally his, because I'm not fully sure of that, then I have to give a huge credit to him to partially form the film and book industry today. The only thing I can really complain about as someone whose first language is not English, this book was a challenge. The writing style was... weird. Even though the sentence structure was pretty easy to understand, and the vocabulary was not entirely from another platen (haha get it?) it was still hard to wrap my head around. I had to read a sentence twice, sometimes three times, to unterstand. It seemed to me, that RM used an unnecessary complex sentence to describe something very simple, and if your native tongue is not English, you want to bang your head on the table at first. But for all my not native English-speaking people out there, don't worry you'll get into it, maybe take a break if you need to.
I really like Richard Matheson and this was a pretty solid collection. I had read most of his more popular novels and a few of his short stories, but there were very few stories in this collection that I had read before.
I really enjoyed 'Prey,' about an animate, predatory African doll. It was fast paced, suspenseful, and pretty scary even decades after it was written.
There were several famous Matheson stories here that I'd never read, like 'Duel', 'Nightmare at 20,000 feet', and 'Button Button.' I liked all of them, though Duel had been built up a bit by Joe Hill and I was expecting way too much from it.
The only real dogs for me were 'Long distance call,' because it was lame (it's hard to make a bedridden old lady a compelling protagonist) and 'Witch War,' because it was a little too abstract.
I really enjoyed 'Prey,' about an animate, predatory African doll. It was fast paced, suspenseful, and pretty scary even decades after it was written.
There were several famous Matheson stories here that I'd never read, like 'Duel', 'Nightmare at 20,000 feet', and 'Button Button.' I liked all of them, though Duel had been built up a bit by Joe Hill and I was expecting way too much from it.
The only real dogs for me were 'Long distance call,' because it was lame (it's hard to make a bedridden old lady a compelling protagonist) and 'Witch War,' because it was a little too abstract.
Reading the first few stories: "This feels like reading a twilight zone episode
Getting to Death Ship: "This IS a twilight zone episode isn't it?
And then I looked it up and realised why Richard Matheson was a familiar name to me and felt like an idiot ;;;;;;;
Excellent collection. Aside from some questionable but period-accurate gender politics, I really enjoyed the horror/sci-fi mix and variety!
Getting to Death Ship: "This IS a twilight zone episode isn't it?
And then I looked it up and realised why Richard Matheson was a familiar name to me and felt like an idiot ;;;;;;;
Excellent collection. Aside from some questionable but period-accurate gender politics, I really enjoyed the horror/sci-fi mix and variety!
When you read this collection you can truely appreciate the genius that is Richard Matheson. His ability to be able to shift reality a little to left (actual left not politcal left). What if that truck on the highway was actually out to get you, what if the creepy janiter was an alien. When Matheson is at his best he is in that corner of reality where it could be a gremlin on the wing. Matheson is the carpenter of horror/sci-fi world. Everything he does is solid.
And, one more thing I really liked. I just loved the character names. Again, the solid oak table of names. There are a lot of Ruth's, Nora's, Thema's, Don's, Howard's. Just old fashioned, no weird spelling boring every man/woman names. I have liked these types of names. And it made me very happy to spend time with these ordinary names in extraordinary situations.
And, one more thing I really liked. I just loved the character names. Again, the solid oak table of names. There are a lot of Ruth's, Nora's, Thema's, Don's, Howard's. Just old fashioned, no weird spelling boring every man/woman names. I have liked these types of names. And it made me very happy to spend time with these ordinary names in extraordinary situations.
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
s'good. a compilation of short stories. didn't know I wasn't much into it til now. I realized that I wanna know more and dig deeper into the story, the characters, the narration. nonetheless, it's still good for what it is- short stories. not that creepy though
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
A few good stories here but a lot are pretty dated And some of the stories weren't horror, SF, or fantasy at all. One story was just about someone from a man's past showing up for revenge. The man had hidden his youthful criminal past from his wife. After he kills the intruder he tells wife to call police and he will confess that he is that wanted criminal. The wife calls police and tells them her husband killed an unknown intruder. ??? What was the point of that story?
Many of the stories in the book I didn't even finish.
One reasonably good story was "Nightmare at 20.000 Feet", which Matheson turned into a script for The Twilight Zone (one of his 16 scripts for that show). The best of the stories for me was "Mute" about 7 yo boy who had been raised by his parents as a scientific experiment to only communicate telepathically. He was never taught to speak or read and had no contact with the outside world. After his parents die in a fire he is taken in by a couple has to adjust to a world of words as opposed to pure thought.
Many of the stories in the book I didn't even finish.
One reasonably good story was "Nightmare at 20.000 Feet", which Matheson turned into a script for The Twilight Zone (one of his 16 scripts for that show). The best of the stories for me was "Mute" about 7 yo boy who had been raised by his parents as a scientific experiment to only communicate telepathically. He was never taught to speak or read and had no contact with the outside world. After his parents die in a fire he is taken in by a couple has to adjust to a world of words as opposed to pure thought.
The Best of Richard Matheson is a collection of 32 of Matheson's best.
Around the turn of the century, I was enduring the agonizing gulf between Dark Tower books four and five when the local bookstore owner turned me on to Richard Matheson, saying he was one of Stephen King's biggest influences. After devouring one of his westerns and [b:I Am Legend and Other Stories|547094|I Am Legend and Other Stories|Richard Matheson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1317791583s/547094.jpg|2223519], I was hooked.
After a creepy introduction by Victor LaValle, we're treated to many of Matheson's iconic tales, some of which were turned into Twilight Zone episodes or adapted to TV or film in other ways. Many of the greats are here: Button, Button, Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, Duel, Third from the Sun, as well as others I'd never read before, like The Prisoner, Big Surprise, and Mute.
It's funny that Matheson's is one of Stephen King's influences in that their writing isn't all that similar. Where King's prose is overly verbose at times, Matheson's is more like a sharpened knife. He cuts you hard and deep, knowing just how to hurt you the most. He knew just how to let the suspense build, like a pressure cooker. It's no wonder many of his stories were adapted for the Twilight Zone and other shows. Richard Matheson was the master of the twist ending.
The Best of Richard Matheson is a must read for anyone who likes suspenseful short stories, fans of the Twilight Zone, or Stephen King fans interested at getting a peek at some Kingly lineage. Four out of five stars.
Around the turn of the century, I was enduring the agonizing gulf between Dark Tower books four and five when the local bookstore owner turned me on to Richard Matheson, saying he was one of Stephen King's biggest influences. After devouring one of his westerns and [b:I Am Legend and Other Stories|547094|I Am Legend and Other Stories|Richard Matheson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1317791583s/547094.jpg|2223519], I was hooked.
After a creepy introduction by Victor LaValle, we're treated to many of Matheson's iconic tales, some of which were turned into Twilight Zone episodes or adapted to TV or film in other ways. Many of the greats are here: Button, Button, Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, Duel, Third from the Sun, as well as others I'd never read before, like The Prisoner, Big Surprise, and Mute.
It's funny that Matheson's is one of Stephen King's influences in that their writing isn't all that similar. Where King's prose is overly verbose at times, Matheson's is more like a sharpened knife. He cuts you hard and deep, knowing just how to hurt you the most. He knew just how to let the suspense build, like a pressure cooker. It's no wonder many of his stories were adapted for the Twilight Zone and other shows. Richard Matheson was the master of the twist ending.
The Best of Richard Matheson is a must read for anyone who likes suspenseful short stories, fans of the Twilight Zone, or Stephen King fans interested at getting a peek at some Kingly lineage. Four out of five stars.