Scan barcode
A review by stephen_arvidson
A Stir of Echoes by Richard Matheson
3.0
Richard Matheson, author of such well-known titles as I Am Legend and The Incredible Shrinking Man, is a masterful storyteller and his mad skillz are on full display in this 1958 suspense piece titled A Stir of Echoes, which takes its name from the “Chambers of Imagery,” a haunting poem by Archibald MacLeish—“A music and an eerie faint carouse, And stir of echoes down the creaking floor.”
27-year-old Tom Wallace is your typical middle-class suburbanite with a wife, a son, and another baby on the way. But Tom’s tranquil middle-class existence is about to be upended when Tom allows his brother in-law to hypnotize him during a neighbor’s house party. Sure, the hypnotism is a successful party treat, but it’s clear that something has gone horribly awry when Tom soon suffers from adverse after-effects. He hears the intimate thoughts of those around him, acquiring dark secrets that rattle him to the core. Tom can not only perceive his neighbor Elsie’s darkest desires, but he can sense danger before it happens. Tom receives disturbing premonitions of the unhinged babysitter plotting to kidnap his son, that his wife has incurred a mild head injury, and even a grisly train wreck. Tom’s life becomes increasingly unbearable with each presentiment, both his sanity and marriage are strained as a result. To make matters worse, he is soon to be faced with the biggest revelation of all—a message from beyond the grave.
The notion of injecting upheaval in this 1950’s model of American idealism is well-conceived and the tension is tangible throughout the narrative. The chills may be tame by today's standards, but the suspense is deftly maintained—and therein lies the key to success in this genre. There's not much in the way of genuine terror in this story, but readers will certainly think twice before dismissing hypnosis as a cheap parlor trick. Matheson effectively captures the disruption to Tom’s domestic serenity, rendering his predicament as torturous rather than a mere nuisance, and Tom's beleaguered concern for his family comes off as authentic, thereby imbuing his character with a keen likeability. Here you have an average Joe afflicted with a quasi-superpower that he didn't wish for—an ability over which he has no conscious control—that estranges him from his wife and reveals his neighbors as avaricious malefactors driven by blind need.
Although the book was published in the late-50s, there’s surprisingly little evidence of this in the narrative. The only time the story felt “dated” was when Tom and his wife discuss writing a letter to his relatives and that Dorothy the Babysitter only charges fifty-cents an hour—point-five-zero! Otherwise, the only other sign of the times can be found in the politically incorrect jokes about hitting one’s pregnant wife in the belly. A contemporary author attempting to gain sympathy for his/her protagonist would never resort to such poor humor today.
A Stir of Echoes is a fleeting tale with shades of horror, suspense, and mystery—and (as of 1999) a one-degree Kevin Bacon movie. A sleuth subplot coupled with menacing phantoms and psychic phenomena is sure to captivate most readers. This quick, satisfying page-turner clocks in at just over 200 pages and could be finished in a single evening. Today's readers may find the antiquated writing style a tad disconcerting at times. Matheson loads his sentences with adjectives and awkward adverbs, a practice that has since been curtailed by modern-day writers. Matheson's rough-hewn style comes across less as a wordsmith and more like a day laborer in language.
27-year-old Tom Wallace is your typical middle-class suburbanite with a wife, a son, and another baby on the way. But Tom’s tranquil middle-class existence is about to be upended when Tom allows his brother in-law to hypnotize him during a neighbor’s house party. Sure, the hypnotism is a successful party treat, but it’s clear that something has gone horribly awry when Tom soon suffers from adverse after-effects. He hears the intimate thoughts of those around him, acquiring dark secrets that rattle him to the core. Tom can not only perceive his neighbor Elsie’s darkest desires, but he can sense danger before it happens. Tom receives disturbing premonitions of the unhinged babysitter plotting to kidnap his son, that his wife has incurred a mild head injury, and even a grisly train wreck. Tom’s life becomes increasingly unbearable with each presentiment, both his sanity and marriage are strained as a result. To make matters worse, he is soon to be faced with the biggest revelation of all—a message from beyond the grave.
The notion of injecting upheaval in this 1950’s model of American idealism is well-conceived and the tension is tangible throughout the narrative. The chills may be tame by today's standards, but the suspense is deftly maintained—and therein lies the key to success in this genre. There's not much in the way of genuine terror in this story, but readers will certainly think twice before dismissing hypnosis as a cheap parlor trick. Matheson effectively captures the disruption to Tom’s domestic serenity, rendering his predicament as torturous rather than a mere nuisance, and Tom's beleaguered concern for his family comes off as authentic, thereby imbuing his character with a keen likeability. Here you have an average Joe afflicted with a quasi-superpower that he didn't wish for—an ability over which he has no conscious control—that estranges him from his wife and reveals his neighbors as avaricious malefactors driven by blind need.
Although the book was published in the late-50s, there’s surprisingly little evidence of this in the narrative. The only time the story felt “dated” was when Tom and his wife discuss writing a letter to his relatives and that Dorothy the Babysitter only charges fifty-cents an hour—point-five-zero! Otherwise, the only other sign of the times can be found in the politically incorrect jokes about hitting one’s pregnant wife in the belly. A contemporary author attempting to gain sympathy for his/her protagonist would never resort to such poor humor today.
A Stir of Echoes is a fleeting tale with shades of horror, suspense, and mystery—and (as of 1999) a one-degree Kevin Bacon movie. A sleuth subplot coupled with menacing phantoms and psychic phenomena is sure to captivate most readers. This quick, satisfying page-turner clocks in at just over 200 pages and could be finished in a single evening. Today's readers may find the antiquated writing style a tad disconcerting at times. Matheson loads his sentences with adjectives and awkward adverbs, a practice that has since been curtailed by modern-day writers. Matheson's rough-hewn style comes across less as a wordsmith and more like a day laborer in language.