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A review by nathanrester
A Stir of Echoes by Richard Matheson
3.0
Basically an elongated Twilight Zone story, complete with fifties-era gender roles and that "peel off the innocuous veneer of suburban domesticity to reveal the simian depravity underneath" theme that Rod Serling was so damn good at articulating. I just wish the messaging had been a bit more concise here: the novel's treatment of women is uneven, and the antiquated notion of Rockwellian suburbia is shattered and restored multiple times throughout the narrative, muddling the theme past paradox and into outright incongruity.
But once you can get past the thematic mixed signals, there's a great slow-burn supernatural thriller here with some hellishly good plot turns scattered throughout. If you're a fan of Rod Serling or Shirley Jackson, this is a sparse but effective horror story about domestic dysfunction, marital infidelity, and the inevitable violence (literal and otherwise) inflicted on and by members of artificially tightened communities. Solid read.
But once you can get past the thematic mixed signals, there's a great slow-burn supernatural thriller here with some hellishly good plot turns scattered throughout. If you're a fan of Rod Serling or Shirley Jackson, this is a sparse but effective horror story about domestic dysfunction, marital infidelity, and the inevitable violence (literal and otherwise) inflicted on and by members of artificially tightened communities. Solid read.