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Hunted Past Reason
The bestselling author of such classic novels as I Am Legend and What Dreams May Come, Richard Matheson is one of the twentieth century's acknowledged masters of suspense. Hunted Past Reason is a major literary Matheson's first new novel in seven years-and a gripping tale of madness, paranoia, and murder.
It's supposed to be just an ordinary camping trip, two old acquaintances hiking through the wilderness toward a remote cabin in the woods of northern California. Bob Hansen, a middle-aged family man and author, isn't anticipating anything worse than sore muscles and maybe a few chilly nights.
But the enforced isolation of the hike soon exposes long-hidden rivalries and resentments between Bob and his guide through the forest, a fading TV actor whom Bob has known for several years. The deeper they get into the primeval wilderness and the farther from civilization, the greater the tension between the two men becomes-until the simmering hostility erupts into a terrifying life-or-death struggle for survival.
Two men entered the woods, but only one may emerge alive. Hunted Past Reason is a nail-biting thriller in the classic Matheson tradition.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2002
About the author
Richard Matheson
728 books5,045 followersBorn in Allendale, New Jersey to Norwegian immigrant parents, Matheson was raised in Brooklyn and graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School in 1943. He then entered the military and spent World War II as an infantry soldier. In 1949 he earned his bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Missouri and moved to California in 1951. He married in 1952 and has four children, three of whom (Chris, Richard Christian, and Ali Matheson) are writers of fiction and screenplays.
His first short story, "Born of Man and Woman," appeared in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1950. The tale of a monstrous child chained in its parents' cellar, it was told in the first person as the creature's diary (in poignantly non-idiomatic English) and immediately made Matheson famous. Between 1950 and 1971, Matheson produced dozens of stories, frequently blending elements of the science fiction, horror and fantasy genres.
Several of his stories, like "Third from the Sun" (1950), "Deadline" (1959) and "Button, Button" (1970) are simple sketches with twist endings; others, like "Trespass" (1953), "Being" (1954) and "Mute" (1962) explore their characters' dilemmas over twenty or thirty pages. Some tales, such as "The Funeral" (1955) and "The Doll that Does Everything" (1954) incorporate zany satirical humour at the expense of genre clichés, and are written in an hysterically overblown prose very different from Matheson's usual pared-down style. Others, like "The Test" (1954) and "Steel" (1956), portray the moral and physical struggles of ordinary people, rather than the then nearly ubiquitous scientists and superheroes, in situations which are at once futuristic and everyday. Still others, such as "Mad House" (1953), "The Curious Child" (1954) and perhaps most famously, "Duel" (1971) are tales of paranoia, in which the everyday environment of the present day becomes inexplicably alien or threatening.
He wrote a number of episodes for the American TV series The Twilight Zone, including "Steel," mentioned above and the famous "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet"; adapted the works of Edgar Allan Poe for Roger Corman and Dennis Wheatley's The Devil Rides Out for Hammer Films; and scripted Steven Spielberg's first feature, the TV movie Duel, from his own short story. He also contributed a number of scripts to the Warner Brothers western series "The Lawman" between 1958 and 1962. In 1973, Matheson earned an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for his teleplay for The Night Stalker, one of two TV movies written by Matheson that preceded the series Kolchak: The Night Stalker. Matheson also wrote the screenplay for Fanatic (US title: Die! Die! My Darling!) starring Talullah Bankhead and Stefanie Powers.
Novels include The Shrinking Man (filmed as The Incredible Shrinking Man, again from Matheson's own screenplay), and a science fiction vampire novel, I Am Legend, which has been filmed three times under the titles The Omega Man and The Last Man on Earth and once under the original title. Other Matheson novels turned into notable films include What Dreams May Come, Stir of Echoes, Bid Time Return (as Somewhere in Time), and Hell House (as The Legend of Hell House) and the aforementioned Duel, the last three adapted and scripted by Matheson himself. Three of his short stories were filmed together as Trilogy of Terror, including "Prey" with its famous Zuni warrior doll.
In 1960, Matheson published The Beardless Warriors, a nonfantastic, autobiographical novel about teenage American soldiers in World War II.
He died at his home on June 23, 2013, at the age of 87
http://us.macmillan.com/author/richar...
His first short story, "Born of Man and Woman," appeared in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1950. The tale of a monstrous child chained in its parents' cellar, it was told in the first person as the creature's diary (in poignantly non-idiomatic English) and immediately made Matheson famous. Between 1950 and 1971, Matheson produced dozens of stories, frequently blending elements of the science fiction, horror and fantasy genres.
Several of his stories, like "Third from the Sun" (1950), "Deadline" (1959) and "Button, Button" (1970) are simple sketches with twist endings; others, like "Trespass" (1953), "Being" (1954) and "Mute" (1962) explore their characters' dilemmas over twenty or thirty pages. Some tales, such as "The Funeral" (1955) and "The Doll that Does Everything" (1954) incorporate zany satirical humour at the expense of genre clichés, and are written in an hysterically overblown prose very different from Matheson's usual pared-down style. Others, like "The Test" (1954) and "Steel" (1956), portray the moral and physical struggles of ordinary people, rather than the then nearly ubiquitous scientists and superheroes, in situations which are at once futuristic and everyday. Still others, such as "Mad House" (1953), "The Curious Child" (1954) and perhaps most famously, "Duel" (1971) are tales of paranoia, in which the everyday environment of the present day becomes inexplicably alien or threatening.
He wrote a number of episodes for the American TV series The Twilight Zone, including "Steel," mentioned above and the famous "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet"; adapted the works of Edgar Allan Poe for Roger Corman and Dennis Wheatley's The Devil Rides Out for Hammer Films; and scripted Steven Spielberg's first feature, the TV movie Duel, from his own short story. He also contributed a number of scripts to the Warner Brothers western series "The Lawman" between 1958 and 1962. In 1973, Matheson earned an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for his teleplay for The Night Stalker, one of two TV movies written by Matheson that preceded the series Kolchak: The Night Stalker. Matheson also wrote the screenplay for Fanatic (US title: Die! Die! My Darling!) starring Talullah Bankhead and Stefanie Powers.
Novels include The Shrinking Man (filmed as The Incredible Shrinking Man, again from Matheson's own screenplay), and a science fiction vampire novel, I Am Legend, which has been filmed three times under the titles The Omega Man and The Last Man on Earth and once under the original title. Other Matheson novels turned into notable films include What Dreams May Come, Stir of Echoes, Bid Time Return (as Somewhere in Time), and Hell House (as The Legend of Hell House) and the aforementioned Duel, the last three adapted and scripted by Matheson himself. Three of his short stories were filmed together as Trilogy of Terror, including "Prey" with its famous Zuni warrior doll.
In 1960, Matheson published The Beardless Warriors, a nonfantastic, autobiographical novel about teenage American soldiers in World War II.
He died at his home on June 23, 2013, at the age of 87
http://us.macmillan.com/author/richar...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 159 reviews
October 29, 2010
This book was a real disappointment for me, I think because I am a backpacker and being a Matheson fan I was really excited to read it when I discovered it in a used book store. The story is unrealistic and full of of holes.
The one that stood out to me the most was the whole premise that it is illegal to hunt in a national forest, which is totally untrue. Anyone who spends anytime in the wilderness should know that. I would go so far as to call it common knowledge that hunting is perfectly legal, and even encouraged, in national forests. Also, Matheson seemed to consider national forests and national parks as the same thing, which they are not. It might be nitpicking on my part, but I just could not get passed it. I mean, how could Matheson or his editors not catch that glaring mistake, which shoots the story's credibility full of holes?
The other hang-up for me was the amount and type of wildlife they encounter. I've been backpacking many times all over Montana, Washington and Idaho, and I've never seen anything close to what these characters see in a national forest in California. It just robbed the story of realism in my eyes, the frequency in which they encounter bears and cougars and coyotes... It's just not realistic at all.
Finally I found that I wasn't really rooting for Bob all that much. He was a little sissy. He complained too much. In the end I was hoping he would just fall a cliff so I could finish the book and move on to something with a little more substance.
The one that stood out to me the most was the whole premise that it is illegal to hunt in a national forest, which is totally untrue. Anyone who spends anytime in the wilderness should know that. I would go so far as to call it common knowledge that hunting is perfectly legal, and even encouraged, in national forests. Also, Matheson seemed to consider national forests and national parks as the same thing, which they are not. It might be nitpicking on my part, but I just could not get passed it. I mean, how could Matheson or his editors not catch that glaring mistake, which shoots the story's credibility full of holes?
The other hang-up for me was the amount and type of wildlife they encounter. I've been backpacking many times all over Montana, Washington and Idaho, and I've never seen anything close to what these characters see in a national forest in California. It just robbed the story of realism in my eyes, the frequency in which they encounter bears and cougars and coyotes... It's just not realistic at all.
Finally I found that I wasn't really rooting for Bob all that much. He was a little sissy. He complained too much. In the end I was hoping he would just fall a cliff so I could finish the book and move on to something with a little more substance.
April 10, 2010
Not what I was expecting at all. I have read some really good things by Richard Matheson, and so I was looking forward to this one. All I got was disappointment. From the very beginning, Bob was annoying. His whining and complaining, and his attitude did nothing to make me like the character. Doug just had an all around bad attitude, but I didn't expect him to turn into a complete psycho. He was an envious jerk, but a rapist and psycho killer? That came out of nowhere, and by the end, he was just a caricature of evil. If he'd had a mustache, I have no doubt that he would have twirled it at some point.
It seems as though Richard Matheson has fallen into the category of people who think that horror means sexual deviance and campy killers. I went into it excited because I never thought that he would go down that road. It started slow and I kept reading hoping it would pick up. When it did pick up, I was just disgusted with the action and the writing. By the end, I was just skimming, pushing through so I could reach the end. I didn't like this one at all.
It seems as though Richard Matheson has fallen into the category of people who think that horror means sexual deviance and campy killers. I went into it excited because I never thought that he would go down that road. It started slow and I kept reading hoping it would pick up. When it did pick up, I was just disgusted with the action and the writing. By the end, I was just skimming, pushing through so I could reach the end. I didn't like this one at all.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 8, 2013
I like Richard Matheson, but this book was just bad from page one.
Some easy takeaway lessons are 1)never go backpacking in a forest with a person that you only know as a casual friend and 2)certainly don't do it if you have no training or even the slightest idea of what you are doing.
The friend,(Doug), is a jerk from the very beginning. He's smug, and there is absolutely nothing likable about his character. The protagonist, a writer named Bob, has engaged Doug to lead him on a 3 day backpacking hike through the forest, because he is writing a novel about backpacking, and wants the experience so the novel is more realistic.
In the first few pages you quickly realize that Doug has already set Bob up for failure. Doug didn't give him enough information ahead of time, and Bob, inexplicably, did no researching whatsoever before they set out. It quickly gets irritating as Bob, who should obviously want information on everything they are doing, starts to become annoyed by his friend's instructions. He doesn't want to listen, and he feels as if his friend is trying to make him feel ignorant. That's what bothered me from the get go. Why in the world do you ask your friend to take you backpacking and then not even listen to his advice?
Anyway, Doug continues to be a jerk, and Bob continues to act like a petulant 3 year old until the real ugliness starts to happen, and then it's just one impossibility after another.
I've never been backpacking in a national forest, but pretty much everything in this novel seems very hard to believe. It's supposed to be a lesson in faith and morality, but it just served to convince me that if someone tries to kill you alone in the wilderness, don't give them another chance.
Some easy takeaway lessons are 1)never go backpacking in a forest with a person that you only know as a casual friend and 2)certainly don't do it if you have no training or even the slightest idea of what you are doing.
The friend,(Doug), is a jerk from the very beginning. He's smug, and there is absolutely nothing likable about his character. The protagonist, a writer named Bob, has engaged Doug to lead him on a 3 day backpacking hike through the forest, because he is writing a novel about backpacking, and wants the experience so the novel is more realistic.
In the first few pages you quickly realize that Doug has already set Bob up for failure. Doug didn't give him enough information ahead of time, and Bob, inexplicably, did no researching whatsoever before they set out. It quickly gets irritating as Bob, who should obviously want information on everything they are doing, starts to become annoyed by his friend's instructions. He doesn't want to listen, and he feels as if his friend is trying to make him feel ignorant. That's what bothered me from the get go. Why in the world do you ask your friend to take you backpacking and then not even listen to his advice?
Anyway, Doug continues to be a jerk, and Bob continues to act like a petulant 3 year old until the real ugliness starts to happen, and then it's just one impossibility after another.
I've never been backpacking in a national forest, but pretty much everything in this novel seems very hard to believe. It's supposed to be a lesson in faith and morality, but it just served to convince me that if someone tries to kill you alone in the wilderness, don't give them another chance.
August 14, 2013
This was a great book! Matheson was a master of the craft, for sure! This is the story of two men, a writer and an actor, who go on a hiking adventure. Writer is needing the experience so he can write a hiking novel, actor is an expert hiker who offers to take him and show him the ropes. Their superficial relationship turns sour, and we end up with actor tracking and hunting writer, trying to kill him. This was an excellent page turner, I really had a hard time putting it down!
April 30, 2013
Oh come on...does this book really deserve only one star??
Yes, but only because I can't give it zero stars.
If you don't believe me, give it a read. I double dog dare you ;)
But seriously, speaking of dares, I have a feeling the author wrote this on a dare. How else can you explain an experienced and skilled writer sh*tting out such a steaming pile of literary fail?
I honestly don't know how I made it all the way through. It was quite a journey. At a certain point I told myself to read it as a comedy. I think that's what gave me the strength to soldier on.
Unlikeable characters: Check.
Unbelievable dialog: Check.
Plot holes galore? Check.
Male on male anal rape: Check.
Wait what...
Anyway, moving on quickly. Nothing to see here folks. Nothing to read here either. You've been warned. What has been read cannot be un-read.
Yes, but only because I can't give it zero stars.
If you don't believe me, give it a read. I double dog dare you ;)
But seriously, speaking of dares, I have a feeling the author wrote this on a dare. How else can you explain an experienced and skilled writer sh*tting out such a steaming pile of literary fail?
I honestly don't know how I made it all the way through. It was quite a journey. At a certain point I told myself to read it as a comedy. I think that's what gave me the strength to soldier on.
Unlikeable characters: Check.
Unbelievable dialog: Check.
Plot holes galore? Check.
Male on male anal rape: Check.
Wait what...
Anyway, moving on quickly. Nothing to see here folks. Nothing to read here either. You've been warned. What has been read cannot be un-read.
January 27, 2010
This book is hilariously bad. Inner monologues repetitious to the point of hypnosis. A strange fixation on bowel movements. Incongruous sodomy. Richard Matheson's hallmark casual misogyny. A whole lot of "I want to give up but I must not!" over & over again. There is something quite chilling about the thought of being in the woods with someone who's really unstable when you yourself know nothing about finding your way out. But rather than build on this, Doug abruptly turns into some ridiculous caricature of ultimate, unstoppable evil and it all turns into a joke.
October 3, 2007
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 for the first time!—Richard Matheson is the author of some of the seminal works of horror/dark suspense including I Am Legend, The Shrinking Man, Stir of Echoes, Hell House, Bid Time Return, What Dreams May Come, and others. Several of those titles will resonate with movie buffs, as many were made into successful films. But don't just take my word for his skills; Matheson has received the Edgar, Stoker, World Fantasy, Spur, and the Writers Guild Award. Did I mention his work on Twilight Zone, Star Trek, Rod Serling's Night Gallery, and both Nightstalker films? It is not hyperbole to say that without Richard Matheson, there would be no Stephen King or Dean Koontz.
Hunted Past Reason is the story of Bob Hansen, a screenwriter researching his next film, and his friend Doug, an out of work actor and consummate outdoorsman, spending what is suppose to be two days in the California wilderness hiking and camping. The plan is for Doug to share the experience of the outdoors with Bob. He does that and so much more.
Turns out Doug has a criminal past and is insanely jealous of Bob and his success. His writing career, his beautiful wife, his wonderful children. Doug is a struggling actor, a failed husband, the father of a suicide victim. He is also crazy.
Eventually the novel becomes "The Most Dangerous Game" (Richard Connell's classic short story of man vs. man). This is not a bad thing; Matheson is a master of suspense. The tension was there. I was riveted. So much so that I was dreaming the story at night. And let met tell you, they weren't pleasant dreams.
Matheson uses his strengths. Hunted Past Reason is a slim book with a taut, crisp style. Unlike his literary descendant, Stephen King, Matheson's prose has become, if nothing else, leaner as his career has progressed.
Just above him, he saw the ledge he'd picked out when he'd mapped his climbing route before starting out. Thank God, he thought. A chance to rest. He reached up eagerly to pull himself onto the ledge.
Moving too fast, he started losing his balance. "No!" he cried out, panicked, pressing himself against the rock face as tightly as he could, wavering between balance and loss of it. Gasping for breath, he clutched as hard as he could at a rocky outcrop on the ledge. Don't fall, don't fall, he told himself, jamming both feet in their holds as rigidly as he could. Don't fall!
This is a men's adventure novel in the best sense of the word. Is it harsh? Yes. Horrific? In places. Is it well written? Absolutely.
All this leads to the disappointment at the end. Sadly, the ending is every thing you'd come to expect from a lesser writer: Stereotypical and sappy. Matheson really needed to return to his roots and give us a Twilight Zone ending. It's all too clean and pat at the end. I'm almost surprised that it doesn't end with "...and they lived happily ever after." Though it is close.
While flawed, Hunted Past Reason is the best Matheson novel since the Spur award winner Journal of the Gun Years. This is an author at the peak of his skills, who forgot that a great story needs a great ending. Matheson was this close to creating another masterpiece. Hunted Past Reason is what I call a train ride book, a story that has a exciting journey—but when you get where you are going, the station is a disappointment.
(This review originally appeared at RevolutionSF)
Link: [http://www.revolutionsf.com/article.h...]
For those new to this grandmaster—How I envy you; oh, to be able to read his works again for the first time!—Richard Matheson is the author of some of the seminal works of horror/dark suspense including I Am Legend, The Shrinking Man, Stir of Echoes, Hell House, Bid Time Return, What Dreams May Come, and others. Several of those titles will resonate with movie buffs, as many were made into successful films. But don't just take my word for his skills; Matheson has received the Edgar, Stoker, World Fantasy, Spur, and the Writers Guild Award. Did I mention his work on Twilight Zone, Star Trek, Rod Serling's Night Gallery, and both Nightstalker films? It is not hyperbole to say that without Richard Matheson, there would be no Stephen King or Dean Koontz.
Hunted Past Reason is the story of Bob Hansen, a screenwriter researching his next film, and his friend Doug, an out of work actor and consummate outdoorsman, spending what is suppose to be two days in the California wilderness hiking and camping. The plan is for Doug to share the experience of the outdoors with Bob. He does that and so much more.
Turns out Doug has a criminal past and is insanely jealous of Bob and his success. His writing career, his beautiful wife, his wonderful children. Doug is a struggling actor, a failed husband, the father of a suicide victim. He is also crazy.
Eventually the novel becomes "The Most Dangerous Game" (Richard Connell's classic short story of man vs. man). This is not a bad thing; Matheson is a master of suspense. The tension was there. I was riveted. So much so that I was dreaming the story at night. And let met tell you, they weren't pleasant dreams.
Matheson uses his strengths. Hunted Past Reason is a slim book with a taut, crisp style. Unlike his literary descendant, Stephen King, Matheson's prose has become, if nothing else, leaner as his career has progressed.
Just above him, he saw the ledge he'd picked out when he'd mapped his climbing route before starting out. Thank God, he thought. A chance to rest. He reached up eagerly to pull himself onto the ledge.
Moving too fast, he started losing his balance. "No!" he cried out, panicked, pressing himself against the rock face as tightly as he could, wavering between balance and loss of it. Gasping for breath, he clutched as hard as he could at a rocky outcrop on the ledge. Don't fall, don't fall, he told himself, jamming both feet in their holds as rigidly as he could. Don't fall!
This is a men's adventure novel in the best sense of the word. Is it harsh? Yes. Horrific? In places. Is it well written? Absolutely.
All this leads to the disappointment at the end. Sadly, the ending is every thing you'd come to expect from a lesser writer: Stereotypical and sappy. Matheson really needed to return to his roots and give us a Twilight Zone ending. It's all too clean and pat at the end. I'm almost surprised that it doesn't end with "...and they lived happily ever after." Though it is close.
While flawed, Hunted Past Reason is the best Matheson novel since the Spur award winner Journal of the Gun Years. This is an author at the peak of his skills, who forgot that a great story needs a great ending. Matheson was this close to creating another masterpiece. Hunted Past Reason is what I call a train ride book, a story that has a exciting journey—but when you get where you are going, the station is a disappointment.
(This review originally appeared at RevolutionSF)
Link: [http://www.revolutionsf.com/article.h...]
August 3, 2014
Hunted Past Reason is another triumph for Richard Matheson, a man who sits high in the pantheon of story-tellers. Ever the master, Matheson paints the ultimate portrait of impending terror with flawless strokes. Much like the antagonist, Matheson is relentless in his pace as he sends us into the unknown wilderness of California and a sociopath's psyche. Matheson has crafted a piece that not only causes us to think of what we would do in the same scenario, but also how we view the world as a whole.
I highly recommend Hunted Past Reason for not only fans of Richard Matheson, but also anybody who wishes to examine the lengths at which a man can be pushed and still maintain his sanity.
I highly recommend Hunted Past Reason for not only fans of Richard Matheson, but also anybody who wishes to examine the lengths at which a man can be pushed and still maintain his sanity.
Want to Read
July 9, 2007i love the way Richard Matheson writes, and a story about two men hiking in the remote woods of northern california, whose isolation from society forces them against each other, has me interested. i've heard from two people about this book, as well. one person hated it, and one loved it.. so i'm not too sure anymore. we'll see.
December 23, 2012
This one was pretty disappointing. We know from the back page blurb that a wilderness hike with two men ends with one being hunted by the other. However, the first 166 pages of the book consist of the two men arguing and sniping at each other but with no overt violence. When the action finally starts the book gets pretty interesting, and very violent, but then comes the ending, which features so much repeated stupidity on the part of the hero that you start to hope for him to die. I was glad to get this one over.
April 16, 2018
I think Matheson was having a bad day when he wrote this poor man's melding of MOST DANGEROUS GAME and DELIVERANCE. It's simply not good. And I like Matheson, HELL HOUSE being my favorite. It's overlong, drags, and takes forever to get to the end. Worst line: "Bushy!" I threw the book across the room when I read that and didn't pick it up until 2 days later.
People should definitely read Matheson, but this is the one you'll want to skip. Unless you're absolutely curious what "Bushy!" was about.
People should definitely read Matheson, but this is the one you'll want to skip. Unless you're absolutely curious what "Bushy!" was about.
October 25, 2017
After reading Hunted Past Reason, I wonder how Richard Matheson has achieved acclaim as an author. It was like reading a first book by a not very talented new author. It was pedantic past reason, ridiculous past reason, and repetitive past reason. I read a LOT of books and consider myself able to recognize a "good read" when I see one. This is NOT a good read!
June 1, 2009
I'm sure you'll love it if you're into whiny guys running around in the woods.
March 31, 2018
“Fear of the unknown weakens one’s ability to think and plan.”
Hunted Past Reason is the story of an author who wished to write a novel based on camping and hiking and so embarks on his travels with a friend into the woods towards a remote cabin in northern California. As things turn out the further they go into the wilderness the greater the tension between them arises resulting in a case of survival of the fittest.
When I picked this up I had seen it had a lot of bad reviews but I love a challenge and went ahead and read it. I like the premise of the story of an author looking for inspiration and so he embarks on a trip into the woods and things becoming creepy. There’s nothing more frightening than a psychological horror set in the woods where surroundings and inner struggles make people lose their grip on reality and become feral.
This story however failed to deliver for me. I was disappointed because I love Matheson’s work but this could have been a lot better. There’s a lot of inner dialogue with the protagonist character Bob where he’s talking to his author brain when he’s trying to survive. There are moments where he had to push himself as he isn’t experienced in camping and at those points I felt anxious for him.
Doug on the other hand was a volcano just waiting to erupt, literally 🙈 I disliked this character however his gradual mental breakdown was predictable.
Overall the idea was promising but I didn’t enjoy this book. The first half felt like a crash course in camping and the second half was creepy with its imagery and nod to deliverance but it’s one you could probably skip. 🤷🏽♀️
Hunted Past Reason is the story of an author who wished to write a novel based on camping and hiking and so embarks on his travels with a friend into the woods towards a remote cabin in northern California. As things turn out the further they go into the wilderness the greater the tension between them arises resulting in a case of survival of the fittest.
When I picked this up I had seen it had a lot of bad reviews but I love a challenge and went ahead and read it. I like the premise of the story of an author looking for inspiration and so he embarks on a trip into the woods and things becoming creepy. There’s nothing more frightening than a psychological horror set in the woods where surroundings and inner struggles make people lose their grip on reality and become feral.
This story however failed to deliver for me. I was disappointed because I love Matheson’s work but this could have been a lot better. There’s a lot of inner dialogue with the protagonist character Bob where he’s talking to his author brain when he’s trying to survive. There are moments where he had to push himself as he isn’t experienced in camping and at those points I felt anxious for him.
Doug on the other hand was a volcano just waiting to erupt, literally 🙈 I disliked this character however his gradual mental breakdown was predictable.
Overall the idea was promising but I didn’t enjoy this book. The first half felt like a crash course in camping and the second half was creepy with its imagery and nod to deliverance but it’s one you could probably skip. 🤷🏽♀️
March 10, 2022
Read in 2002. Bob must fight both nature and an insane man trying to kill him. Matheson is a legend and I found out he wrote 16 of the original Twilight Zone shows. That was 40 years ago!
September 12, 2019
Matheson has demonstrated that he can still write an excellent book. With little preamble, we join Doug and Bob as they are dropped off at the woods on a three to four day backpacking trip. All part of some research by Bob for a new book that he is writing; Doug is the expert backpacker providing the in-field research. And as the trip progresses and we get to learn about our characters, we also learn that Doug is not the most well-balanced individual. And after further tribulations, Bob finds himself very much the whipping boy for Doug.
While the idea has been done countless times before (man hunting man in the woods) and while I did find myself waiting a few time for the inevitable final collapse of friendship between the two men, I still found myself pulled into the characters and the events unfolding. Part of the hunt evolves from a disagreement on a philosophy for life but that can only be pulled off if you have believable characters in the first place. And we do have them here. This is a solidly good novel and I'm glad to see a new novel from Matheson as opposed to just reading all the collections of his older material.
While the idea has been done countless times before (man hunting man in the woods) and while I did find myself waiting a few time for the inevitable final collapse of friendship between the two men, I still found myself pulled into the characters and the events unfolding. Part of the hunt evolves from a disagreement on a philosophy for life but that can only be pulled off if you have believable characters in the first place. And we do have them here. This is a solidly good novel and I'm glad to see a new novel from Matheson as opposed to just reading all the collections of his older material.
August 6, 2013
This could be one of the best Matheson novels he’s written in a number of years. Bob Hansen who is an author and screenwriter goes on his first ever hike with semi-successful actor, Doug Crowley. Crowley is an expert hiker and doesn’t let Hansen forget it. When the adventure starts Crowley starts to antagonize Hansen, who has no experience in hiking, over little things. In fact you really start to feel sorry for Hansen who just wanted some inspiration for his new novel. Crowley has some other ideas. The plot is fairly easy in this novel and the surprises are not really all that unexpected, but I still very much enjoyed it. There are some graphic sexual scenes in this book and quite a bit of language. I would not recommend this for teens. There is nothing supernatural in this book although he does speak about the metaphysical beliefs, which Matheson shared in his own personal life. This is a real nail biter to the very last page.
July 3, 2015
Do not read this book. I really loved hell house, but weirdly didn't like the protagonist in that book. And right from the beginning I did not like bob, protagonist in this book. He is whiney and pathetic. He is in a race for his life, and stops to eat a cheese sandwich and make coffee. He's irritating, and I almost wanted him to die. This book weirdly focuses on afterlife and religious beliefs, a bizarre animal protection and doctor Doolittle sort of thing, and also a weird fixation with bowel movements. I'm not sure why I finished it. If you want to read about two characters who are totally unrelateable, this is your book.
April 18, 2020
A patchwork of tired cliches reflecting on good and evil and the use of force in the name of good.
I loved Matheson's writing as a teenager and even admired What Dreams May Come when I read it in preparation to write about catabasis or the journey to the other wold motif in literature in my Ph.D. dissertation. Also remember re-reading I Am Legend a few years back on a plane and much admiring its pace and that astounding ending. So, I will return to Matheson, but this late novel, I have to admit, was a disappointment to me.
I loved Matheson's writing as a teenager and even admired What Dreams May Come when I read it in preparation to write about catabasis or the journey to the other wold motif in literature in my Ph.D. dissertation. Also remember re-reading I Am Legend a few years back on a plane and much admiring its pace and that astounding ending. So, I will return to Matheson, but this late novel, I have to admit, was a disappointment to me.
June 3, 2018
I am a fan of Mr. Matheson, but this one just... did not work for me. There characters we not fleshed out, and every time they spoke to each other, they said the other guy's name. People don't talk like that, and it doesn't flow.
"Bob, I need some help."
"ok Doug."
"Bob, don't get your boots wet."
"Doug, stop telling me what to do."
I knew Doug was going to be a psycho murderer the whole time.
I suggest reading "Deliverance" by James Dickey instead.
"Bob, I need some help."
"ok Doug."
"Bob, don't get your boots wet."
"Doug, stop telling me what to do."
I knew Doug was going to be a psycho murderer the whole time.
I suggest reading "Deliverance" by James Dickey instead.
June 6, 2017
Quick, entertaining read. I just really love Matheson's writing style. Had some cringey sexual assault scenes but otherwise a solid read, Hunted Past Reason feels like you're watching a horror/thriller film. Not my favourite by him but still fun.
July 23, 2023
I generally love Richard Matheson's work, but this one fell flat for me. The characters were largely unlikable (Bob's whining eventually became insufferable). Throughout the middle of the book, it became so repetitive ("How am I going to survive? Can I survive? Will I die?"). The ending was also totally unbelievable. Ah well ...
April 1, 2014
Two men enter the woods. But only one emerge alive. That's the blurb on the cover, and pretty much sums up the story. Ok, given that's not the most accurate synopsis, but that's basically the bare-bones version of this novella. You've probably read a version of this already, it's been re-hashed so many times since the biblical depiction of Cain and Abel.
What should have been left better as a short story, Matheson somehow manages to expand it to a novella that uncovers the psyché of two very different men. Doug - the Alpha-male - Matheson's version of 'Cain, is a down-and-out actor, a very outdoor-sy person, and a testosterone crazy bloke just coming off a broken relationship. Bob - the writer - is 'Abel', the quiet articulate happily married man who seems to have everything going right for him. And for the purpose of the story, everything that Doug is not.
As "research" for Bob's next book, and using Doug's expert know-how, they plan a hiking trip into the wilderness. Although the trip seems to be going well at first, it doesn't take long before things go south pretty quickly.
Simmering tensions, jealousy and rage all rear their ugly heads and turn the second half of this story into a gripping tale of survival. Matheson does well to keep the pace intense, even managing to add some metaphysical dialogue about life between the two leading characters without bogging down the story.
Matheson does push the boundary a little, getting out a of his comfort-zone with a more added violence. Some scenes may be a little far-fetched and harsh, but at least it's not as brutal as some other writers out there currently.
However, it's an ending that you can predict. The same one that's done to death, literally, in plenty of B-movies. Fortunately, the only thing that keeps this a head above the rest is Matheson's brilliant writing. His hiking knowledge is top-notch and good enough to be used as a Survival-101 course, and the dialogue is as sharp as always.
Pick this up if you can. This is one author that I already miss.
~ Shob
What should have been left better as a short story, Matheson somehow manages to expand it to a novella that uncovers the psyché of two very different men. Doug - the Alpha-male - Matheson's version of 'Cain, is a down-and-out actor, a very outdoor-sy person, and a testosterone crazy bloke just coming off a broken relationship. Bob - the writer - is 'Abel', the quiet articulate happily married man who seems to have everything going right for him. And for the purpose of the story, everything that Doug is not.
As "research" for Bob's next book, and using Doug's expert know-how, they plan a hiking trip into the wilderness. Although the trip seems to be going well at first, it doesn't take long before things go south pretty quickly.
Simmering tensions, jealousy and rage all rear their ugly heads and turn the second half of this story into a gripping tale of survival. Matheson does well to keep the pace intense, even managing to add some metaphysical dialogue about life between the two leading characters without bogging down the story.
Matheson does push the boundary a little, getting out a of his comfort-zone with a more added violence. Some scenes may be a little far-fetched and harsh, but at least it's not as brutal as some other writers out there currently.
However, it's an ending that you can predict. The same one that's done to death, literally, in plenty of B-movies. Fortunately, the only thing that keeps this a head above the rest is Matheson's brilliant writing. His hiking knowledge is top-notch and good enough to be used as a Survival-101 course, and the dialogue is as sharp as always.
Pick this up if you can. This is one author that I already miss.
~ Shob
August 7, 2011
Although it was well written - easy to read, fast paced, and engaging - I found that I couldn't believe many of the plot twists. Spoiler: The main character can talk to animals??? That's just too ridiculous. And the bad guy came back one too many times - just kill 'em off already! I thought there was going to be something a little deeper to it - too many references to re-incarnation, but in the end that had nothing to do with it. We never got to see inside the mind of the villain, and there were several reoccurring events (run in with a bear/coyote/snake), falling, getting hurt, getting lost... and each time the hero solved his problems the same way (talk to the animals, get back up, keep moving).... I couldn't understand WHY he agreed to play "the game" (just because he felt like he had to protect his wife? He could have done that without playing the game!) If this were a movie it would fail... it was scary, and suspenseful, but there were just too many holes, and he took the easy way out too much of the time. I really like Matheson's stories (Button, Button - otherwise known as The Box - I Am Legend - and even his Twilight Zone stories... but this one could have been so much better...
May 8, 2026
This was... an interesting one.
To overly simplify things: this book is those two friends who don't actually like each other taken to its absolute extreme.
It started off promising. From the very beginning, I believe it did a good job of portraying the kind of casual 'friendship' most people experience at some point in their lives where, whether by proximity, industry, blood, or some sort of external influence you maintain a relationship with someone that, looking at it clearly, you don't particularly like. You don't get each other's humor, not understand or take the things each other say the wrong way and find that you feel a little drained after talking to them. You don't overly DISLIKE them, you're sure they're a fine person, but you are just operating on different wavelengths and you don't ever see yourself becoming truly close to them.
In the first pages of the book there's little needling here and there, aloud for Doug and mentally for Bob. Doug is arrogant and controlling and Bob is whiny and dismissive of Doug's genuine expertise, they both initially suck so equally that were it not for the insight of a POV you could wonder who's actually gonna end up the bad guy here. But as we go on that becomes less and less of a problem as Doug gets progressively more irritable, more insulting and more of his resentment for Bob's "perfect life" spills out. I won't outline the entire trajectory of the story, but I felt like the first 2/3rds of the book did a good job of portraying the degradation of an already flimsy relationship, and the resentment brewing between essentially peers of vastly different levels of success within the same or similar career trajectories.
Then within a few pages the facade totally drops, and I believe the book falls off and hard. Bob and Doug have a conversation regarding spirituality and the afterlife - a sore spot for Doug whose son Artie had killed himself some time previously. This sore spot starts to bleed profusely when Bob outlines his world and afterlife view as essentially being the plot to Matheson's other novel, "What Dreams May Come", where a soul's life and afterlife is subject to a karmic penance system, meaning that your hardships in this life may very well be a reflection of misdeeds in a past one.
Well, Doug really very much doesn't like this, as a recurring pattern with Doug is his utter inability to take any measure of accountability for the issues in own life, such as his divorce being a direct result of his admitted infidelity, emotional neglect and probable abuse; his son's descent into drug addiction and ultimately suicide as well as total estrangement from his daughter due to being an emotionally neglectful parent, his failing acting career due to his extreme arrogance, etc. The story multiple times points to this being a form of 'malignant narcissm', which as someone with no formal education in psychology, yeah sure I guess. But ultimately being presented with a viewpoint from a man he has an inferiority complex towards that his struggles are ultimately a result of his own faults both on a physical and metaphysical level - as someone utterly unable to find fault within himself... Well that tips him over the edge.
His aggression and thinly veiled hostility turns into outright malice, and anything Bob does or says from that point whether retaliatory or placating has the same effect, because Doug is well and truly off his rocker.
Within a few pages Doug is violently raping Bob which, while I don't believe sexual violence should be too taboo to include in forms of media where gratuitous violence is practically celebrated, I do believe it should be done with some tact and actually be necessary within the story, and here it's just not. It's the first major example of Doug's heel turn from believable kind of shitty person who snapped to full blown cartoon villain. There are some homo-erotic subtones from Doug throughout the story, and you could make the argument there's a slight 70's-macho-man-with-repressed-homosexual-urges thing going on, but ultimately it leads to nothing and this still comes out of left field. The book could have completely done away with it I think the benefit of the story overall.
For the rest of the book, Doug commits to his villainy act so thoroughly it ceases to be tense and just comes across as goofy. He's leaving him notes and food, calling him babe and truly stalking him like he's LARPing a billionaire poor people hunt. On more than one occasion, Bob is actually successful in getting the upper hand on him, but restrains himself because he's, "not like him", pulling the tired "if you kill a killer, the amount of killers stays the same" trope that as a MCU and DCU fan I am very tired of. Besides occasional off-putting interruptions from Doug, there's a decent 'man conquering himself" thing going on with Bob until he finally reaches their final goal, Doug's cabin, only to find that Doug had beaten him there and was chumming it up with Bob's wife who Doug also greatly coveted. There's some creepiness, Doug once again flipping from normal to unhinged to once again demonstrate the depths of his sociopathy, and another scuffle which Bob and Marion come out on-top of, with Marion adding one final, "you're not him" to stay Bob's wrathful hand. At least this one made sense as Doug was finally well and truly defeated at this point, and though deserving of his fate, it wouldn't actually help anything like it would have previously - though it sure would have been satisfying.
Ultimately the book ends with Doug strapped to the hood of Bob's Bronco like a fucking hunting trophy to drive until he either he reached the police or they found him... what?
If I were to rate this book individually based pre vs post Doug snapping, it'd be a 4 and a 2 respectively. If it had kept building on what the first 2/3rds was showing rather than having Game of Thrones season 8 worthy heel turn, it would have sat better with me. But it is what it is and we got what we got. If you take anything from my wordy, unprofessional and disjointed review, it's that while it's not a waste of a read, Matheson has some truly great works, and unfortunately this is not one of them.
To overly simplify things: this book is those two friends who don't actually like each other taken to its absolute extreme.
It started off promising. From the very beginning, I believe it did a good job of portraying the kind of casual 'friendship' most people experience at some point in their lives where, whether by proximity, industry, blood, or some sort of external influence you maintain a relationship with someone that, looking at it clearly, you don't particularly like. You don't get each other's humor, not understand or take the things each other say the wrong way and find that you feel a little drained after talking to them. You don't overly DISLIKE them, you're sure they're a fine person, but you are just operating on different wavelengths and you don't ever see yourself becoming truly close to them.
In the first pages of the book there's little needling here and there, aloud for Doug and mentally for Bob. Doug is arrogant and controlling and Bob is whiny and dismissive of Doug's genuine expertise, they both initially suck so equally that were it not for the insight of a POV you could wonder who's actually gonna end up the bad guy here. But as we go on that becomes less and less of a problem as Doug gets progressively more irritable, more insulting and more of his resentment for Bob's "perfect life" spills out. I won't outline the entire trajectory of the story, but I felt like the first 2/3rds of the book did a good job of portraying the degradation of an already flimsy relationship, and the resentment brewing between essentially peers of vastly different levels of success within the same or similar career trajectories.
Then within a few pages the facade totally drops, and I believe the book falls off and hard. Bob and Doug have a conversation regarding spirituality and the afterlife - a sore spot for Doug whose son Artie had killed himself some time previously. This sore spot starts to bleed profusely when Bob outlines his world and afterlife view as essentially being the plot to Matheson's other novel, "What Dreams May Come", where a soul's life and afterlife is subject to a karmic penance system, meaning that your hardships in this life may very well be a reflection of misdeeds in a past one.
Well, Doug really very much doesn't like this, as a recurring pattern with Doug is his utter inability to take any measure of accountability for the issues in own life, such as his divorce being a direct result of his admitted infidelity, emotional neglect and probable abuse; his son's descent into drug addiction and ultimately suicide as well as total estrangement from his daughter due to being an emotionally neglectful parent, his failing acting career due to his extreme arrogance, etc. The story multiple times points to this being a form of 'malignant narcissm', which as someone with no formal education in psychology, yeah sure I guess. But ultimately being presented with a viewpoint from a man he has an inferiority complex towards that his struggles are ultimately a result of his own faults both on a physical and metaphysical level - as someone utterly unable to find fault within himself... Well that tips him over the edge.
His aggression and thinly veiled hostility turns into outright malice, and anything Bob does or says from that point whether retaliatory or placating has the same effect, because Doug is well and truly off his rocker.
Within a few pages Doug is violently raping Bob which, while I don't believe sexual violence should be too taboo to include in forms of media where gratuitous violence is practically celebrated, I do believe it should be done with some tact and actually be necessary within the story, and here it's just not. It's the first major example of Doug's heel turn from believable kind of shitty person who snapped to full blown cartoon villain. There are some homo-erotic subtones from Doug throughout the story, and you could make the argument there's a slight 70's-macho-man-with-repressed-homosexual-urges thing going on, but ultimately it leads to nothing and this still comes out of left field. The book could have completely done away with it I think the benefit of the story overall.
For the rest of the book, Doug commits to his villainy act so thoroughly it ceases to be tense and just comes across as goofy. He's leaving him notes and food, calling him babe and truly stalking him like he's LARPing a billionaire poor people hunt. On more than one occasion, Bob is actually successful in getting the upper hand on him, but restrains himself because he's, "not like him", pulling the tired "if you kill a killer, the amount of killers stays the same" trope that as a MCU and DCU fan I am very tired of. Besides occasional off-putting interruptions from Doug, there's a decent 'man conquering himself" thing going on with Bob until he finally reaches their final goal, Doug's cabin, only to find that Doug had beaten him there and was chumming it up with Bob's wife who Doug also greatly coveted. There's some creepiness, Doug once again flipping from normal to unhinged to once again demonstrate the depths of his sociopathy, and another scuffle which Bob and Marion come out on-top of, with Marion adding one final, "you're not him" to stay Bob's wrathful hand. At least this one made sense as Doug was finally well and truly defeated at this point, and though deserving of his fate, it wouldn't actually help anything like it would have previously - though it sure would have been satisfying.
Ultimately the book ends with Doug strapped to the hood of Bob's Bronco like a fucking hunting trophy to drive until he either he reached the police or they found him... what?
If I were to rate this book individually based pre vs post Doug snapping, it'd be a 4 and a 2 respectively. If it had kept building on what the first 2/3rds was showing rather than having Game of Thrones season 8 worthy heel turn, it would have sat better with me. But it is what it is and we got what we got. If you take anything from my wordy, unprofessional and disjointed review, it's that while it's not a waste of a read, Matheson has some truly great works, and unfortunately this is not one of them.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 21, 2012
Three words here...Graphic homosexual rape. Written with such descriptiveness and fury that it made me truly disturbed. I noticed a lot of editing errors in this sequence of the book so I got the idea that the author kind of lost himself during the writing of this chapter and the editor just didn't want to pay close attention. Creepy.
The book succeeds in keeping you this way for the better part of the story. On edge and stomach in knots. All the way until the anti-climactic ending where the protagonist decides to take the moral high-ground and doesn't exact the revenge you are aching for. Mr Matheson seems to have used up all his steam writing the rape scene and then just wants to end the book soon after. But the book does not end soon after. There are some thrilling scenes that transpire but I felt the story start to fizzle out near the end. Obviously, the author was feeling morally ambivalent about taking revenge. Not me sir.
That is why I give the story 3 stars. It's decently written book, if somewhat unrealistic, but I think the author set out to write a highly disturbing thriller but then found, he just didn't have the stones for it.
The book succeeds in keeping you this way for the better part of the story. On edge and stomach in knots. All the way until the anti-climactic ending where the protagonist decides to take the moral high-ground and doesn't exact the revenge you are aching for. Mr Matheson seems to have used up all his steam writing the rape scene and then just wants to end the book soon after. But the book does not end soon after. There are some thrilling scenes that transpire but I felt the story start to fizzle out near the end. Obviously, the author was feeling morally ambivalent about taking revenge. Not me sir.
That is why I give the story 3 stars. It's decently written book, if somewhat unrealistic, but I think the author set out to write a highly disturbing thriller but then found, he just didn't have the stones for it.
September 7, 2018
What an utterly horrible book. Richard Matheson's name used to be synonymous with good storytelling, but this book completely blew that expectation out of the water. Beginning with a mind-numbing inventory of camping equipment that goes on for pages, the story just gets progressively worse. It wasn't long before loads of profanity had me skipping segment after segment to try and avoid it. Eventually, the characters argue religion and politics with, predictably, the religious and more conservative-leaning character emerging as the racist, disturbed, evil psychopath and villain (gee, we NEVER see that from Leftist authors, right?? *eye roll*).
But the final straw was a putrid guy-on-guy rape scene. As soon as it became clear that that's where Matheson was headed, I skipped the entire sordid thing and quit reading altogether. Life is too short to waste on gratuitous garbage and if I hadn't checked this thing out of the library, I would've just thrown it in the trash. I can't even imagine being proud to put one's name on such an embarrassment. I'd recommend that others save themselves time and misery by just skipping this one altogether.
But the final straw was a putrid guy-on-guy rape scene. As soon as it became clear that that's where Matheson was headed, I skipped the entire sordid thing and quit reading altogether. Life is too short to waste on gratuitous garbage and if I hadn't checked this thing out of the library, I would've just thrown it in the trash. I can't even imagine being proud to put one's name on such an embarrassment. I'd recommend that others save themselves time and misery by just skipping this one altogether.
October 6, 2014
I read "Hunted Past Reason" by Richard Matheson a couple of years ago and loved it. I was just a a book fair and picked up the hard cover version. I first want to say that I enjoy Thrillers, Horror and Mystery books and I enjoy many of them. This book however is extremely good because it really evokes emotion from the reader. Not many books really have you on the edge of your set and concerned about the characters like this book. Once you start reading this book you wont want to put it down and it will make you want to do a background check on the people you go camping with in the future. Don't want to give any of the story away but I give a solid recommendation for Hunted Past Reason.
December 18, 2009
This was bad....two guys on a hike, so Bob can experience it so he can write a book. Doug, who supposedly knows everthing there is about the great outdoors, wildlife, survival...etc.Then Doug goes pyscho & Bob has to try to get to the cabin alive...argh! I'm sorry that this is the same author that brought us, "Hell House", "I Am Legend". Sad, real sad.
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