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Cuentos Fantásticos #1
Collected Stories, Vol. 1
RICHARD MATHESON: COLLECTED STORIES, VOLUME ONE is an expanded tradepaperback version of the 1989 Dream/Press hardcover limited edition. We will be publishing it in 3 volumes, the first in 2003 and one each year following.
RICHARD MATHESON: COLLECTED STORIES is the gathering together of 86 Richard Matheson short stories, beginning with Born of Man and Woman from 1950 and ending with Duel from 1971. The stories were arranged by Matheson himself roughly in chronological order of original publication. There are also several tributes to Richard Matheson throughout the volumes from admirers such as Stephen King, Ray Bradbury, Robert Bloch, William F. Nolan, and others. Finally, Matheson wrote a deeply revealing Introduction for the collection. As Matheson himself states in this Introduction, "A twenty-year period of creativity reduced to the psychological background of my output of fantasy and science-fiction stories. If this were a thesis, that would be my premise".
For the Volume One, editor Stanley Wiater has included:
> A "bibliophile" at the end of each story containing Matheson's very own commentary on the behind-the-scenes details of each story. Each story is also listed with it's original publication date and place of publication.
> A brand new introduction written expressly for this version of the book
Each subsequent volume of RICHARD MATHESON: COLLECTED STORIES that we publish will include the Matheson bibliophiles with each story.
RICHARD MATHESON: COLLECTED STORIES is the gathering together of 86 Richard Matheson short stories, beginning with Born of Man and Woman from 1950 and ending with Duel from 1971. The stories were arranged by Matheson himself roughly in chronological order of original publication. There are also several tributes to Richard Matheson throughout the volumes from admirers such as Stephen King, Ray Bradbury, Robert Bloch, William F. Nolan, and others. Finally, Matheson wrote a deeply revealing Introduction for the collection. As Matheson himself states in this Introduction, "A twenty-year period of creativity reduced to the psychological background of my output of fantasy and science-fiction stories. If this were a thesis, that would be my premise".
For the Volume One, editor Stanley Wiater has included:
> A "bibliophile" at the end of each story containing Matheson's very own commentary on the behind-the-scenes details of each story. Each story is also listed with it's original publication date and place of publication.
> A brand new introduction written expressly for this version of the book
Each subsequent volume of RICHARD MATHESON: COLLECTED STORIES that we publish will include the Matheson bibliophiles with each story.
408 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1989
31 people are currently reading
909 people want to read
About the author
Richard Matheson
759 books4,778 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 51 reviews
October 16, 2021
Cuarenta y dos relatos muy cortos, de horror unos y con elementos de ciencia ficción otros, escritos por Richard Matheson.
El tema recurrente de toda su obra -y de esta recopilación-, dicho por él mismo, es el del individuo aislado que trata de sobrevivir en un mundo amenazador.
Muy cortos, originales y entretenidos. Una lectura genial. 4,5🌟
El tema recurrente de toda su obra -y de esta recopilación-, dicho por él mismo, es el del individuo aislado que trata de sobrevivir en un mundo amenazador.
Muy cortos, originales y entretenidos. Una lectura genial. 4,5🌟
August 13, 2016
So, where to start with Mr. Richard Matheson? Have to say something before I get to the actual book... in the late 70s, in my tween years, I was a devoted fan of THE TWILIGHT ZONE thanks to repeats on WPIX, Channel 11 out of New York City ("Odd Couple/Honeymooners/Twilight Zone"). I was also a kid that payed close attention, so I realized that, after Rod Serling and Charles Beaumont, Richard Matheson was the man (remember the gremlin on the plane? Matheson. The little girl who falls out of bed into another dimension? Matheson. The mysterious phone calls with no one on the line? Matheson). Having a wonderful reference book like Starlog Magazine's Fantastic Television, with its invaluable episode guides and credit lists, and various books on horror films, I began to realize that this Mr. Matheson had impacted my life in other ways. He wrote the screenplays of the Roger Corman produced Edgar Allan Poe movies I loved so much during "Vincent Price Week" on the ABC 4:30 MOVIE. He wrote the stories from TRILOGY OF TERROR, and DUEL and adapted THE NIGHT STALKER, and THE NIGHT STRANGLER, all of which haunted and entertained me. Then, I was lucky enough to get my hands on a set of paperbacks, the SHOCK series (Shock!: No. 1, Shock 2, Shock III, Shock Waves) that reprinted most of Matheson's original stories. This new set of COMPLETE STORIES makes the SHOCK paperbacks redundant, but I'll always cherish them, because, not surprisingly, it turned out that Mr. Richard Matheson was a hell of a writer as well. And it's important for kids to be exposed to good, solid, entertaining short fiction. Ray Bradbury and Richard Matheson - I grew up with them. So, that's that out of the way.
This first volume contains 28 stories published between 1950 and 1953. 3 years. Think about that. Matheson was just starting, sending stories to the sci-fi mags and whoever else would have them. This collection contains little afterwards, giving backgrounds to the tales or info about their reception, or just his feelings about them now. He's brutally honest at times, calling out the weaker stories, or noting how many times he'd just spin an idea out and then bolt on a sci-fi ending so it would sell (which doesn't always make for a bad story of course, but I appreciate the honesty). He's also brutally honest about his own psychology, noting the fear of marriage and commitment that bubbles under many of these pieces. Her points out that a number of stories are based in a fictional locale of "Fort College", named after the noted iconoclast and collector of paranormal info, Charles Fort (another figure I was lucky enough to stumble onto as a grade-schooler, another man whose books shaped my world)- something I'd never noticed before.
These stories fall into a number of genres. There are some scary stories, a few straight-ahead suspense, and many science-fiction and science-fantasy stories. I am not, by nature, a sci-fi reader. In my youth, I liked Ray Bradbury's humanistic approach but I was never one for hard SF or world-building or space opera. I like J.G. Ballard and some Philip K. Dick and some of the New Wave guys, but sci-fi isn't my bag, generally. Philip José Farmer once said "The truth is that (Kilgore) Trout, like Vonnegut and Ray Bradbury and many others, writes parables. These are set in frames which have become called, for no good reason, science fiction. A better generic term would be 'future fairy tales'. And even this is objectionable, since many science fiction stories take place in the present or the past, far and near." This is the same type of science fiction found here, although sometimes they really are just short "idea stories" - spinning out on a basic premise. In other words, don't look for realistic portrayals of martian biology or the mechanics of how a robot or time machine works, "martians" and "robots" and "time machines" are simply tools in the tale, like spaceships.
Which brings up the second and more important point. Matheson isn't merely a famous writer because of his ideas - his writing is a style all his own and something to be admired. In another essay, I said Richard Matheson is the closest thing genre writing had to a Raymond Carver and I wasn't being facetious. Matheson is all about economy and effectively propelling a story forward with the least words possible. This isn't *always* true, especially here at the start (and with a sidenote that he tries many approaches to telling his stories) but still, Matheson at his best is a lesson in how not to overwrite (which is odd because he was probably being paid by the word in those pulp sci-fi mags) and how to craft a story as an efficient machine. Sometimes, this may seem rushed or hollow to the modern eye, especially in our day of "character depth", but Matheson's subject matter was often the average (white) man of the 1950s, so sketching character was kept to a minimum. Know what your story wants to say and say it as efficiently as possible seems to have been his watchword. Also, another minor note - much like Bradbury, I think a number of these stories would be wonderful additions to the canon of kid's literature - the sheer fun of ideas and unexpected outcomes work best on younger, less cynical individuals.
There are, as to be expected, a few weak stories here. "Return", a time-travel story, goes on for too long, setting up a simple ending with unneededly abstract technology and concepts regarding death in the future. "Advance Notice" is that chestnut (most probably predating Matheson, although maybe not his sci-fi spin of it) of the pulp hack whose tales are coming true, even when he writes of alien invasion. Compact enough to leave the reader with a smile on his face, but not much else. "Brother To The Machine" features an amnesiac figure wandering a future world of robots and totalitarian surveillance - the ending is fairly obvious quite soon, but a kid might enjoy it more. "F-" is another time travel story, this one featuring a future where food is no longer available. Again, it's overlong for its main point but it did make me realize that part of Matheson's secret writing arsenal was the growing acceptance of sexual matters in the culture. Not that this story has any overt sex - Matheson wasn't a lit writer who could get away with that and sci-fi was still mostly "kid's stuff" in the eyes of the culture - but the scenes of the Future Chancellor greedily scarfing down the time traveller's food stores, while lustily perusing photos of other foodstuffs, makes the connection with basic appetites and pornography obvious. Even the title, which suggests the verboten word, was changed by the publisher to "The Foodlegger". An alien places a personals notice for a boyfriend in "SRL Ad" - it's cute but slight, with some fun 50s slang and the Venusian female's bad english as standouts in the writing - would have made a good story in EC's WEIRD SCIENCE-FANTASY comic book of the time. "To Fit The Crime" is another old chestnut - this time the "ironic hell" motif, as a pompous blowhard of a poet who decries the decline of the language and insults his family ruthlessly, dies and, well, you write the ending. Again, cute slang but not worth rereading. Finally, "Lazarus II", which even Matheson considers weak, is about a possessive mother who drives her brilliant son to suicide, only for his scientist father to ressurect his brain in the body of a robot, transforming him into the controllable object his mother always wanted anyway. It's not bad (I'm not sure the downsides of being a mind trapped in a machine had been much explored in sci-fi before this) but no great shakes either (Roald Dahl pulled off a much nastier version in "William and Mary").
"Full Circle" is one of those sci-fi parables mentioned earlier, as a reporter in the future attends a "marionette" show staffed with real Martians and gradually realizes that they're not the unintelligent slave race he'd been led to believe. Another story that kids should read - nowadays dupes and rubes, victims of the propaganda war on human compassion, would consider it a manifestation of "liberal guilt" or somesuch hogwash. In "The Disinheritors" a woman leaves her husband sleeping after a picnic and finds herself becoming the main player in the events of Goldilocks, even as her mind warns her something is wrong. Even though you can almost hear Matheson riveting the heavily expositional sci-fi ending into place, it finishes on a nice, darkly paranoid note - another spooker for the kids. "Shipshape Home" is a fairly simple story about a couple renting rooms in a suspiciously cheap apartment building and their mysterious janitor who may have 3 eyes. Cute sci-fi tale, briskly paced, another WEIRD SCIENCE-FANTASY contender. Another parable story, this time set in an (over)regulated future and featuring the life-changing inspiration to be gained from secretly exposing children to something that "doesn't make sense", the titular "Thing" - this reminded me a bit of Bradbury's "The Smile" but, whereas that was a recognizable artifact, this was more a story about an idea. "Clothes Make The Man" is a slight tale about an overworked, "Man in the Gray Flannel Suit"-type, advertising executive whose clothes begin to live his life for him. It's an interesting doppelganger variant, informed by fears of identity loss and the prevalance of corporate "surface" culture that rewarded functional anonymity. "When The Waker Sleeps", which starts as a cliche space opera scenario but is eventually revealed to be something far more sinister, is interesting as an early take on the Dick-ian virtual reality twist. "Third From The Sun", adapted on TWILIGHT ZONE, is in one sense a simple twist story (it's right there in the title) on a family and their neighbors fleeing a doomed world in a spaceship, but what makes it work is that, again like Bradbury, the focus is really on the emotions and psyches of the main characters faced with such a situation.
"Born Of Man And Woman", the first story in the book, is quite a calling card from a new writer, as it takes a classic genre scenario (scientist creates life) and upends it, telling the story from the POV of the monstrous *thing* in the basement and what it thinks about its parents. A horror/sci-fi gem. Today's young vampire fans might do well to read "Blood Son" (or see George Romero's film MARTIN, which treads the same ground) in which a young misfit, possibly mentally ill, fixates on vampires as his role model after seeing the Lugosi DRACULA and reading Stoker's classic. It's a dark, dark take on the 1950s "monster kid" culture and the ending is wonderfully ambiguous (validation, or insanity?). Equally as ambiguous is "Dress of White Silk", an attempt to recreate the narrative child's voice of "Born" again, this time involving a little girl and her dead mother. Hard to say exactly *what* happens, but it's very creepy! "Mad House" is a longer piece, a character study of a failed writer/English Professor who's self-loathing and bitter anger over his career, life and marriage externalizes as a destructive poltergeist effect that drives away his wife and colleagues and eventually his sanity. It's quite a painful, frenetic story to read, filled with boiling, bilous rage and despair over failed lives and bad choices, that could almost give the reader an ulcer. The resentment voiced over an abandoned writing career is painfully honest and Matheson handles it with aplomb. An exploratory spacecraft combing an alien planet finds a wrecked ship - their own, with their own bodies onboard - in "Death Ship", which was also adapted on TWILIGHT ZONE (during the less-seen, hour-long season). It's a bit more than the usual "little idea" story, as every possible science fiction explanation is entertained and refuted before the inevitable is accepted. Quite well done. "Disappearing Act" is simplicity itself as a frustrated writer begins to find everything and everyone he knows fading out of existence. Another solid, suspenseful tale (it was adapted on TWILIGHT ZONE as "And When The Sky Was Opened" and they "sci-fi-ed" it up a bit, making the main character a returning astronaut). "Dying Room Only" is also disarmingly simple - a couple driving across lonely desert country stop at a diner. The husband goes to use the bathroom and never comes back. It's extremely suspenseful and, while it may not be a classic like "Duel", it's an effective tension generator. It was made into a Made For TV Movie in the 70s that I've yet to track down and I can't really say much more about it (like even what genre of story it is) without spoiling it - it's yet another story a sharp kid would enjoy. "The Last Day" proves that there are lots of ways to write a "this is the way the world ends" story, and this is one of the gentle, honest, beautiful ones. Inspired by a true experience of Matheson and his wife, two parents are awakened one night to find their young daughter missing, even though they can hear her crying voice clearly as it drifts around the house in "Little Girl Lost" (yet another TWILIGHT ZONE adaptation). It's a great little sci-fi story, well-executed. An invalid old woman contends with an odd, silent but persistant, midnight phone caller in "Long Distance Call" (retitled "Night Call" on need it say it?). It's a great horror tale (reminding me a bit of Bradbury's similar "The Emissary") and, unlike Matheson, I like the original story's dark ending over the altered one they used on tv.
I was not a fan of "Lover When You're Near Me" when I read it originally, but I'm happy I decided to re-read this longish sci-fi story, as I really enjoyed it this time around. A newly assigned Controller arrives at an off-planet mining operation where the work is carried out by the males of a subservient slave race of aliens. A female of the same species works as a domestic maid for the Controller, who slowly begins to understand why the previous occupants of the position left the planet seemingly mentally unhinged. This is a very powerful story, delving into the mental and emotional toll of that classic sci-fi staple, "telepathic powers", as it touches on many male fears - fear of marriage, of commitment, of Mother, of age (the alien's decrepit form seems a symbol of this), of unconditional love, of intimacy (remember what I said about Matheson's use of sex before? It goes double here). What really makes the story are the thoughtful details (the female alien could not really be deemed "evil" by any reader), the pacing (a late reveal of what could only be termed a human/alien "stag" film is chillingly deployed) and the relentless build of tension and madness.
And finally, there's a clutch of superb tales here as well. "Through Channels" is an excellent little horror piece told as a police transcript in which a detective tries to get a boy to explain what he saw when his parents, watching TV one night, disappeared. Sharp, spare (nowadays they'd call it flash fiction), creepy, it shows how you don't need much plot, character or verbiage to bring horror across. "Witch War" really impressed me as a kid, not only because I recognized that it was lifted wholesale from a musing in a Charles Fort book (Matheson cops to it himself, guessing LO! but I'd hazard Wild Talents myself) but again, also because of how simple it is. In a perfect economy of words and evocative description, Matheson sketches a future of warfare based on the hideous powers of pubescent girls being used as the ultimate superweapon (PG center, indeed!). There's lots of effective juxtapositions juggled in this one. Finally, apoplectic exasperation and paranoia combine into a churning, destructive broth in "Legion of Plotters", a perfect story for our modern times of road rage and outrageous public "acting-out". In a later story in another volume, Matheson mentions that that story was inspired by famed dark humor monologist Brother Theodore. I heard a lot of Theodore in this tale as well, when a humble but perhaps overly sensitive tie salesman is driven to insanity by the annoyances and impingings of modern city life.
And that's it for now. More to come when I read Volume Two!
This first volume contains 28 stories published between 1950 and 1953. 3 years. Think about that. Matheson was just starting, sending stories to the sci-fi mags and whoever else would have them. This collection contains little afterwards, giving backgrounds to the tales or info about their reception, or just his feelings about them now. He's brutally honest at times, calling out the weaker stories, or noting how many times he'd just spin an idea out and then bolt on a sci-fi ending so it would sell (which doesn't always make for a bad story of course, but I appreciate the honesty). He's also brutally honest about his own psychology, noting the fear of marriage and commitment that bubbles under many of these pieces. Her points out that a number of stories are based in a fictional locale of "Fort College", named after the noted iconoclast and collector of paranormal info, Charles Fort (another figure I was lucky enough to stumble onto as a grade-schooler, another man whose books shaped my world)- something I'd never noticed before.
These stories fall into a number of genres. There are some scary stories, a few straight-ahead suspense, and many science-fiction and science-fantasy stories. I am not, by nature, a sci-fi reader. In my youth, I liked Ray Bradbury's humanistic approach but I was never one for hard SF or world-building or space opera. I like J.G. Ballard and some Philip K. Dick and some of the New Wave guys, but sci-fi isn't my bag, generally. Philip José Farmer once said "The truth is that (Kilgore) Trout, like Vonnegut and Ray Bradbury and many others, writes parables. These are set in frames which have become called, for no good reason, science fiction. A better generic term would be 'future fairy tales'. And even this is objectionable, since many science fiction stories take place in the present or the past, far and near." This is the same type of science fiction found here, although sometimes they really are just short "idea stories" - spinning out on a basic premise. In other words, don't look for realistic portrayals of martian biology or the mechanics of how a robot or time machine works, "martians" and "robots" and "time machines" are simply tools in the tale, like spaceships.
Which brings up the second and more important point. Matheson isn't merely a famous writer because of his ideas - his writing is a style all his own and something to be admired. In another essay, I said Richard Matheson is the closest thing genre writing had to a Raymond Carver and I wasn't being facetious. Matheson is all about economy and effectively propelling a story forward with the least words possible. This isn't *always* true, especially here at the start (and with a sidenote that he tries many approaches to telling his stories) but still, Matheson at his best is a lesson in how not to overwrite (which is odd because he was probably being paid by the word in those pulp sci-fi mags) and how to craft a story as an efficient machine. Sometimes, this may seem rushed or hollow to the modern eye, especially in our day of "character depth", but Matheson's subject matter was often the average (white) man of the 1950s, so sketching character was kept to a minimum. Know what your story wants to say and say it as efficiently as possible seems to have been his watchword. Also, another minor note - much like Bradbury, I think a number of these stories would be wonderful additions to the canon of kid's literature - the sheer fun of ideas and unexpected outcomes work best on younger, less cynical individuals.
There are, as to be expected, a few weak stories here. "Return", a time-travel story, goes on for too long, setting up a simple ending with unneededly abstract technology and concepts regarding death in the future. "Advance Notice" is that chestnut (most probably predating Matheson, although maybe not his sci-fi spin of it) of the pulp hack whose tales are coming true, even when he writes of alien invasion. Compact enough to leave the reader with a smile on his face, but not much else. "Brother To The Machine" features an amnesiac figure wandering a future world of robots and totalitarian surveillance - the ending is fairly obvious quite soon, but a kid might enjoy it more. "F-" is another time travel story, this one featuring a future where food is no longer available. Again, it's overlong for its main point but it did make me realize that part of Matheson's secret writing arsenal was the growing acceptance of sexual matters in the culture. Not that this story has any overt sex - Matheson wasn't a lit writer who could get away with that and sci-fi was still mostly "kid's stuff" in the eyes of the culture - but the scenes of the Future Chancellor greedily scarfing down the time traveller's food stores, while lustily perusing photos of other foodstuffs, makes the connection with basic appetites and pornography obvious. Even the title, which suggests the verboten word, was changed by the publisher to "The Foodlegger". An alien places a personals notice for a boyfriend in "SRL Ad" - it's cute but slight, with some fun 50s slang and the Venusian female's bad english as standouts in the writing - would have made a good story in EC's WEIRD SCIENCE-FANTASY comic book of the time. "To Fit The Crime" is another old chestnut - this time the "ironic hell" motif, as a pompous blowhard of a poet who decries the decline of the language and insults his family ruthlessly, dies and, well, you write the ending. Again, cute slang but not worth rereading. Finally, "Lazarus II", which even Matheson considers weak, is about a possessive mother who drives her brilliant son to suicide, only for his scientist father to ressurect his brain in the body of a robot, transforming him into the controllable object his mother always wanted anyway. It's not bad (I'm not sure the downsides of being a mind trapped in a machine had been much explored in sci-fi before this) but no great shakes either (Roald Dahl pulled off a much nastier version in "William and Mary").
"Full Circle" is one of those sci-fi parables mentioned earlier, as a reporter in the future attends a "marionette" show staffed with real Martians and gradually realizes that they're not the unintelligent slave race he'd been led to believe. Another story that kids should read - nowadays dupes and rubes, victims of the propaganda war on human compassion, would consider it a manifestation of "liberal guilt" or somesuch hogwash. In "The Disinheritors" a woman leaves her husband sleeping after a picnic and finds herself becoming the main player in the events of Goldilocks, even as her mind warns her something is wrong. Even though you can almost hear Matheson riveting the heavily expositional sci-fi ending into place, it finishes on a nice, darkly paranoid note - another spooker for the kids. "Shipshape Home" is a fairly simple story about a couple renting rooms in a suspiciously cheap apartment building and their mysterious janitor who may have 3 eyes. Cute sci-fi tale, briskly paced, another WEIRD SCIENCE-FANTASY contender. Another parable story, this time set in an (over)regulated future and featuring the life-changing inspiration to be gained from secretly exposing children to something that "doesn't make sense", the titular "Thing" - this reminded me a bit of Bradbury's "The Smile" but, whereas that was a recognizable artifact, this was more a story about an idea. "Clothes Make The Man" is a slight tale about an overworked, "Man in the Gray Flannel Suit"-type, advertising executive whose clothes begin to live his life for him. It's an interesting doppelganger variant, informed by fears of identity loss and the prevalance of corporate "surface" culture that rewarded functional anonymity. "When The Waker Sleeps", which starts as a cliche space opera scenario but is eventually revealed to be something far more sinister, is interesting as an early take on the Dick-ian virtual reality twist. "Third From The Sun", adapted on TWILIGHT ZONE, is in one sense a simple twist story (it's right there in the title) on a family and their neighbors fleeing a doomed world in a spaceship, but what makes it work is that, again like Bradbury, the focus is really on the emotions and psyches of the main characters faced with such a situation.
"Born Of Man And Woman", the first story in the book, is quite a calling card from a new writer, as it takes a classic genre scenario (scientist creates life) and upends it, telling the story from the POV of the monstrous *thing* in the basement and what it thinks about its parents. A horror/sci-fi gem. Today's young vampire fans might do well to read "Blood Son" (or see George Romero's film MARTIN, which treads the same ground) in which a young misfit, possibly mentally ill, fixates on vampires as his role model after seeing the Lugosi DRACULA and reading Stoker's classic. It's a dark, dark take on the 1950s "monster kid" culture and the ending is wonderfully ambiguous (validation, or insanity?). Equally as ambiguous is "Dress of White Silk", an attempt to recreate the narrative child's voice of "Born" again, this time involving a little girl and her dead mother. Hard to say exactly *what* happens, but it's very creepy! "Mad House" is a longer piece, a character study of a failed writer/English Professor who's self-loathing and bitter anger over his career, life and marriage externalizes as a destructive poltergeist effect that drives away his wife and colleagues and eventually his sanity. It's quite a painful, frenetic story to read, filled with boiling, bilous rage and despair over failed lives and bad choices, that could almost give the reader an ulcer. The resentment voiced over an abandoned writing career is painfully honest and Matheson handles it with aplomb. An exploratory spacecraft combing an alien planet finds a wrecked ship - their own, with their own bodies onboard - in "Death Ship", which was also adapted on TWILIGHT ZONE (during the less-seen, hour-long season). It's a bit more than the usual "little idea" story, as every possible science fiction explanation is entertained and refuted before the inevitable is accepted. Quite well done. "Disappearing Act" is simplicity itself as a frustrated writer begins to find everything and everyone he knows fading out of existence. Another solid, suspenseful tale (it was adapted on TWILIGHT ZONE as "And When The Sky Was Opened" and they "sci-fi-ed" it up a bit, making the main character a returning astronaut). "Dying Room Only" is also disarmingly simple - a couple driving across lonely desert country stop at a diner. The husband goes to use the bathroom and never comes back. It's extremely suspenseful and, while it may not be a classic like "Duel", it's an effective tension generator. It was made into a Made For TV Movie in the 70s that I've yet to track down and I can't really say much more about it (like even what genre of story it is) without spoiling it - it's yet another story a sharp kid would enjoy. "The Last Day" proves that there are lots of ways to write a "this is the way the world ends" story, and this is one of the gentle, honest, beautiful ones. Inspired by a true experience of Matheson and his wife, two parents are awakened one night to find their young daughter missing, even though they can hear her crying voice clearly as it drifts around the house in "Little Girl Lost" (yet another TWILIGHT ZONE adaptation). It's a great little sci-fi story, well-executed. An invalid old woman contends with an odd, silent but persistant, midnight phone caller in "Long Distance Call" (retitled "Night Call" on need it say it?). It's a great horror tale (reminding me a bit of Bradbury's similar "The Emissary") and, unlike Matheson, I like the original story's dark ending over the altered one they used on tv.
I was not a fan of "Lover When You're Near Me" when I read it originally, but I'm happy I decided to re-read this longish sci-fi story, as I really enjoyed it this time around. A newly assigned Controller arrives at an off-planet mining operation where the work is carried out by the males of a subservient slave race of aliens. A female of the same species works as a domestic maid for the Controller, who slowly begins to understand why the previous occupants of the position left the planet seemingly mentally unhinged. This is a very powerful story, delving into the mental and emotional toll of that classic sci-fi staple, "telepathic powers", as it touches on many male fears - fear of marriage, of commitment, of Mother, of age (the alien's decrepit form seems a symbol of this), of unconditional love, of intimacy (remember what I said about Matheson's use of sex before? It goes double here). What really makes the story are the thoughtful details (the female alien could not really be deemed "evil" by any reader), the pacing (a late reveal of what could only be termed a human/alien "stag" film is chillingly deployed) and the relentless build of tension and madness.
And finally, there's a clutch of superb tales here as well. "Through Channels" is an excellent little horror piece told as a police transcript in which a detective tries to get a boy to explain what he saw when his parents, watching TV one night, disappeared. Sharp, spare (nowadays they'd call it flash fiction), creepy, it shows how you don't need much plot, character or verbiage to bring horror across. "Witch War" really impressed me as a kid, not only because I recognized that it was lifted wholesale from a musing in a Charles Fort book (Matheson cops to it himself, guessing LO! but I'd hazard Wild Talents myself) but again, also because of how simple it is. In a perfect economy of words and evocative description, Matheson sketches a future of warfare based on the hideous powers of pubescent girls being used as the ultimate superweapon (PG center, indeed!). There's lots of effective juxtapositions juggled in this one. Finally, apoplectic exasperation and paranoia combine into a churning, destructive broth in "Legion of Plotters", a perfect story for our modern times of road rage and outrageous public "acting-out". In a later story in another volume, Matheson mentions that that story was inspired by famed dark humor monologist Brother Theodore. I heard a lot of Theodore in this tale as well, when a humble but perhaps overly sensitive tie salesman is driven to insanity by the annoyances and impingings of modern city life.
And that's it for now. More to come when I read Volume Two!
November 8, 2010
4.0 to 4.5 stars. I have not read all the stories in this collection (YET), so this review is for the stories listed below. I will update periodically as I get through the whole book. So far, all of them have been very high quality stories.
BORN OF MAN AND WOMAN (6.0 stars): Nothing like starting with your best foot forward. This is Matheson's first published work and still considered one of his best. At only five pages long, this story is a masterpiece of concise, elegant prose. This story was voted as one of the best short stories of all time by the Science Fiction Writers of America and included in the The Science Fiction Hall of Fame 1.
THIRD FROM THE SUN (3.5 stars): Clever story but it probably lost something in the ratings department as I new where this one was going having seen the Twilight Zone episode developed from this story.
WHEN THE WAKER SLEEP (4.0 stars): Early story that has a little bit of a Matrix feel to it. I liked it.
BLOOD SON (4.5 to 5.0 Stars): A great, creepy story about a very odd boy obsessed with vampirism in general and Draclua in particular. Great ending!!
CLOTHES MAKE THE MAN (3.5 stars): A funny, quirky story with another great ending.
DRESS OF WHITE SILK (4.5 stars): Following in the creepy footsteps of "Born of Man and Woman" this is another short story about a very odd child. The last line of this story is a CLASSIC.
BORN OF MAN AND WOMAN (6.0 stars): Nothing like starting with your best foot forward. This is Matheson's first published work and still considered one of his best. At only five pages long, this story is a masterpiece of concise, elegant prose. This story was voted as one of the best short stories of all time by the Science Fiction Writers of America and included in the The Science Fiction Hall of Fame 1.
THIRD FROM THE SUN (3.5 stars): Clever story but it probably lost something in the ratings department as I new where this one was going having seen the Twilight Zone episode developed from this story.
WHEN THE WAKER SLEEP (4.0 stars): Early story that has a little bit of a Matrix feel to it. I liked it.
BLOOD SON (4.5 to 5.0 Stars): A great, creepy story about a very odd boy obsessed with vampirism in general and Draclua in particular. Great ending!!
CLOTHES MAKE THE MAN (3.5 stars): A funny, quirky story with another great ending.
DRESS OF WHITE SILK (4.5 stars): Following in the creepy footsteps of "Born of Man and Woman" this is another short story about a very odd child. The last line of this story is a CLASSIC.
July 25, 2021
Menuda genialidad. Estos relatos están entre lo más original que he leído en mi vida y tienen unos finales de infarto. Brutal Matheson en las historias cortas.
April 18, 2021
Este hombre es un genio!
Algunas de las historias ya las conocía (en los episodios de La casa-árbol del terror de los simpsons aparecen varios) pero no sabía que eran obra del mismo autor.
Hay un mix de géneros amplio: terror, intriga, ciencia ficción, thriller. Son cortitas, entretenidas, emocionantes algunas... De las 40 historias, sólo hay una historia que no me ha gustado. Eso es mucho decir.
De verdad, es muy recomendable leerse esta recopilación. El segundo volumen ya lo tengo y lo empezaré el año que viene.
Algunas de las historias ya las conocía (en los episodios de La casa-árbol del terror de los simpsons aparecen varios) pero no sabía que eran obra del mismo autor.
Hay un mix de géneros amplio: terror, intriga, ciencia ficción, thriller. Son cortitas, entretenidas, emocionantes algunas... De las 40 historias, sólo hay una historia que no me ha gustado. Eso es mucho decir.
De verdad, es muy recomendable leerse esta recopilación. El segundo volumen ya lo tengo y lo empezaré el año que viene.
October 1, 2018
Leer a Matheson me hace feliz. La mayoría de estos relatos los leí de niña en las antologías Shock y me asombró darme cuenta que los recordaba todos (lo que habla del efecto que me produjeron). En particular los cuentos de terror con esos finales inesperados que acostumbraba Matheson y que nos presentaban horrores cotidianos (viajes en el tiempo, desapariciones, casas encantadas). Puros cuentos clásicos.
April 13, 2015
Si te gusta la ciencia ficción, el terror y la paranoia, es una lectura imprescindible: cerca de 600 páginas con 42 relatos de puro disfrute, entre ellos algunos de los guiones de la serie "La Dimensión Desconocida".
A destacar los pequeños apuntes del propio Matheson en cada uno de los relatos, contándonos en qué se inspiró, de dónde surgió la idea, si le parece un relato flojo o bueno, o si en la versión guionizada para televisión le cambiaron el final.
Lectura obligatoria te guste la literatura de género o no. No tardaré en releerlo.
A destacar los pequeños apuntes del propio Matheson en cada uno de los relatos, contándonos en qué se inspiró, de dónde surgió la idea, si le parece un relato flojo o bueno, o si en la versión guionizada para televisión le cambiaron el final.
Lectura obligatoria te guste la literatura de género o no. No tardaré en releerlo.
December 16, 2017
El relato corto, Hijo de sangre, forma parte de este volumen recopilatorio de Richard Matheson.
Jules es un niño marginado y raro, que tiene una obsesión, la sangre. El relato es muy cortito, pero tiene un final sorprendente.
Todos los relatos tienen al final un comentario de Matheson, explicando cómo se le ocurrió escribir ese cuento.
Jules es un niño marginado y raro, que tiene una obsesión, la sangre. El relato es muy cortito, pero tiene un final sorprendente.
Todos los relatos tienen al final un comentario de Matheson, explicando cómo se le ocurrió escribir ese cuento.
November 7, 2014
Buena recopilación de los primeros relatos del autor. Aunque la calidad es siempre alta algunos cuentos son realmente brillantes y otros te dejan, simplemente, indiferente. Al final de cada título aparece una pequeña explicación del autor, contando detalles de su creación o adaptación audiovisual.
February 5, 2019
Después de haber disfrutado de la antología del cuento extraño saqué un par de conclusiones. Una, que debía seguir leyendo cuentos de terror y segundo, que debían ser escritos recientemente de manera que me resultaran mas cómodos de leer.Por eso cuando leía los reviews que hacían la gente del proyecto scriptorium a esta colección de cuentos escritos por R Matheson, supe que mi busca había terminado.
Nacido de hombre y mujer y otros relatos espeluznantes es un libro agridulce. Admito que pese a que un montón de cuentos me sorprendieron bastante por su estilo escritura y por el contenido en si-los puedo listar en los mas buenos que he leído hasta la fech- no puedo negar que también me tropecé con al menos una decena de piezas bastantes insulsos. Por esa misma razón me tardé tanto en leer todo este volumen.Otros, por otra parte, me parecieron que rozaban con mas ciencia ficción y no tanto con terror, que es exactamente lo que estaba buscando en ese libro.
Los cuentos que mas disfruté fueron : El hombre es lo que viste, Conferencia telefónica, Desapariciones, Un bloque espacioso, querida, cuando estas cerca de mi.
Lo recomiendo, solo si eres fan de ciencia ficción y tienes paciencia para cuando te encuentras con los cuentos que no son tan buenos.
Nacido de hombre y mujer y otros relatos espeluznantes es un libro agridulce. Admito que pese a que un montón de cuentos me sorprendieron bastante por su estilo escritura y por el contenido en si-los puedo listar en los mas buenos que he leído hasta la fech- no puedo negar que también me tropecé con al menos una decena de piezas bastantes insulsos. Por esa misma razón me tardé tanto en leer todo este volumen.Otros, por otra parte, me parecieron que rozaban con mas ciencia ficción y no tanto con terror, que es exactamente lo que estaba buscando en ese libro.
Los cuentos que mas disfruté fueron : El hombre es lo que viste, Conferencia telefónica, Desapariciones, Un bloque espacioso, querida, cuando estas cerca de mi.
Lo recomiendo, solo si eres fan de ciencia ficción y tienes paciencia para cuando te encuentras con los cuentos que no son tan buenos.
February 13, 2021
Una recopilación de varios relatos del autor, que incluyen distintos elementos de la ciencia ficción y el terror clásico.
Los relatos presentan distintos problemas con los que el lector se puede identificar hasta cierto punto, y sentirse en el lugar de los protagonistas para experimentar sus emociones. Algunos relatos permiten reflexionar sobre la incertidumbre del presente y los problemas que la humanidad podría enfrentar en el futuro. Mis favoritos son:
- Nacido de hombre y mujer
- Hijo de sangre
- Por los canales
- Hermanos de las máquinas
- Se cierra el círculo
- El ser
- Querido diario
Los relatos presentan distintos problemas con los que el lector se puede identificar hasta cierto punto, y sentirse en el lugar de los protagonistas para experimentar sus emociones. Algunos relatos permiten reflexionar sobre la incertidumbre del presente y los problemas que la humanidad podría enfrentar en el futuro. Mis favoritos son:
- Nacido de hombre y mujer
- Hijo de sangre
- Por los canales
- Hermanos de las máquinas
- Se cierra el círculo
- El ser
- Querido diario
August 24, 2019
Richard Matheson es uno de los grandes exponentes de la ciencia ficción anglosajona, con varios clásicos en su haber. Este es el primer volumen de dos, en los que se recopilan todos sus cuentos fantásticos. Abarca el período 1950-54, sus comienzos, y tal vez por ello el nivel es algo desparejo. Sin embargo encontramos verdaderas joyas, algunas adaptadas en la magnífica serie La Dimensión Desconocida. Acompaña cada cuento con un breve comentario, un plus que se agradece y mucho. Fundamental para los que amen el género.
November 12, 2021
Una extensa colección de relatos y cuentos del autor de temas variados y de desigual calidad, lo que en el fondo es buen indicador ya que apunta a que el escritor ha evolucionado. Aunque algunos han envejecido mal y nos dejan indiferentes, puede que en su momento fueran novedosos esos giros de guión y/o final inesperado, hay otros que conmueven y dejan un regusto amargo en la boca.
Cada cuento tiene un comentario corto del autor que ayuda a poner en contexto su creación.
Cada cuento tiene un comentario corto del autor que ayuda a poner en contexto su creación.
Read
June 29, 2023Me alucina tanto la variedad de las ideas (sobre todo en la época en la que empezó a escribir) como la evolución de sus relatos. Esta recopilación nos muestra desde algunos puramente pulp en los que la gracia está, sobre todo, en la sorpresa del final, hasta otros que suenan mucho más modernos y en los que nos tiene con el alma en vilo durante toda la lectura.
February 10, 2017
El nombre de Richard Matheson no puede ser desconocido para los amantes del terror y el fantástico, ya que en palabras de Neil Gaiman, incluso los que no saben quién es lo conocen. Así de larga es su sombra. Efectivamente, no es exagerado decir que él es el gran reformulador americano del género a mediados del siglo XX, ya que antes de consagrarse en la tarea de realizar guiones para el cine y la televisión, Matheson fue el autor de dos novelas clave para entender el género: Soy leyenda (1954) y El hombre menguante (1956). Además de escribir a lo largo de veinte años un gran número de relatos breves maravillosos, que son los que ha reunido en orden cronológico Ediciones Gigamesh en esta rica antología en dos volúmenes, con las preceptivas presentaciones, introducciones, apéndices y notas que uno se espera encontrar en una obra canónica y con voluntad de ser referencia.
La reseña completa en español en http://elbiblionauta.com/es/2017/01/1...
La ressenya sencera en català a http://elbiblionauta.com/ca/2017/01/1...
La reseña completa en español en http://elbiblionauta.com/es/2017/01/1...
La ressenya sencera en català a http://elbiblionauta.com/ca/2017/01/1...
May 15, 2013
This first volume includes all the stories Matheson published from 1951-1953. Most are pulpy with a science fiction bent, but many have elements of horror, too. I liked that there was author commentary with each, mentioning where the story was originally published and whether or not it was adapted elsewhere. Some were adapted for Twilight Zone episodes, for example.
He also admitted when the stories were not so great or when he tacked on an ending he thought would make it sell better, which was sort of humorous. There were a few stinkers, but overall, I thought they were quite good. My favorites were "Disappearing Act" and "Lover When You're Near Me."
I'll certainly read the next two volumes, too. I first saw them on an HWA must-read horror list, but I think they're must-read for anyone working with short stories of this type. When it comes to those Twilight Zone-y tales with zinger endings, Matheson really was the master.
He also admitted when the stories were not so great or when he tacked on an ending he thought would make it sell better, which was sort of humorous. There were a few stinkers, but overall, I thought they were quite good. My favorites were "Disappearing Act" and "Lover When You're Near Me."
I'll certainly read the next two volumes, too. I first saw them on an HWA must-read horror list, but I think they're must-read for anyone working with short stories of this type. When it comes to those Twilight Zone-y tales with zinger endings, Matheson really was the master.
March 29, 2016
What a fun read. Here are a few highlights:
*What would you do if you came across a dead body...and it was you!
*If you are looking at the personal ads ( online dating of the past) and see someone looking for love but claiming they live on another planet, would you write to them?
*Should you worry if there are strange machines in the basement of your apartment?
*Ever date one of those super clingy people? What if they were telepathic?!
*How much should you worry if your sons ambition is to grow up to be a vampire?
These are just a few of the interesting plot ideas the author played with. You may recognize two or three stories from the old Twilight Zone TV show but most stories will be new, bizarre journeys. This version of the book is nice because a the end of each story Mr Matheson says a few words about it, sometimes mentioning where he got the idea. If you like Bradbury at all, I would recommend giving this book a try.
*What would you do if you came across a dead body...and it was you!
*If you are looking at the personal ads ( online dating of the past) and see someone looking for love but claiming they live on another planet, would you write to them?
*Should you worry if there are strange machines in the basement of your apartment?
*Ever date one of those super clingy people? What if they were telepathic?!
*How much should you worry if your sons ambition is to grow up to be a vampire?
These are just a few of the interesting plot ideas the author played with. You may recognize two or three stories from the old Twilight Zone TV show but most stories will be new, bizarre journeys. This version of the book is nice because a the end of each story Mr Matheson says a few words about it, sometimes mentioning where he got the idea. If you like Bradbury at all, I would recommend giving this book a try.
April 5, 2022
Al ser el primero de dos volúmenes que recopilan al completo sus relatos cortos hay cuentos para todos los gustos. Hay varias joyas y alguna masterclass de escritura de terror (Matheson hacía que pareciera sencillo). Otros son bastante regulares, y muchos no han envejecido demasiado bien (especialmente los de ciencia ficción). Pero, de una forma u otra, aunque no sean redondos todos tienen ideas la mar de originales. Mis favoritos: "Nacido de hombre y mujer", "Hijo de la sangre" y "La Danza de los muertos". Mención especial para "La casa carnicero", un homenaje a las clásicas casas encantadas sin mucha miga pero muy bien escrito, y "Un bloque espacioso", que me hizo especial gracia.
September 10, 2014
Obra "fons de biblioteca bàsic". Retorn a "La Dimensió desconeguda". Tot i que els relats més quotidians, per mi són els més inquietants. Un quants contes sobre els escriptors, el procés creatiu i les seves pors haurien de ser lectura obligatòria a les aules d'escriptura. Imprescindible.
April 29, 2016
Imprescindible.
December 5, 2025
3⭐ Nada menos que 42 relatos cuenta esta recopilación escrita en los 50s de Matheson, en los que predomina el terror, ciencia ficción y lo desconocido y por lo mismo la calidad de cada uno es irregular y algo "naive" si los leemos en la actualidad. Ambientados en general en un entorno de cotidianidad, con protagonistas hombres que sucumben ante la paranoia de una posible amenaza externa y con desenlaces inesperados que convirtió al autor en uno de los favoritos para adaptaciones a la TV en la mítica Dimensión Desconocida.
Tal como lo relata Matheson en la introducción y en los breves pero valiosos comentarios a cada cuento, muchas veces los temores, paranoias y traumas del autor se vieron reflejados en estos relatos, que abarca desde sus inicios con algo más de 20 años hasta después de su casamiento y de haberse convertido en padre.
Tal como lo relata Matheson en la introducción y en los breves pero valiosos comentarios a cada cuento, muchas veces los temores, paranoias y traumas del autor se vieron reflejados en estos relatos, que abarca desde sus inicios con algo más de 20 años hasta después de su casamiento y de haberse convertido en padre.
July 24, 2025
I thought this book was wonderful, I’ve been a Matheson fan for years, and this was a great way to read many of his classics all in one place. As a kid I watched many of his classic episodes on Twilight Zone. Also movies like The incredible Shrinking man, “The Legend of Hell house” and “I’m Legend”. This book contained a number of his early classic short stories, many that went on to be screen plays. Some of his best stories like “Born of Man and Women”, “Blood Son”, Dress of White Silk”, “Death Ship”, and “Little Girl Lost”, to name a few. These stories go from science fiction to Fantasy, to horror, and all move at a good pace, I never got board. Highly recommended for the fan of the early days of these genre.
December 21, 2016
Recopilación de relatos donde unos sobresalen por encima de otros. Su mayor virtud es que si el relato no te encandila tardará poco en llegar otro y en cambio si la historia te absorbe te dejará con ganas de encontrar el siguiente. La memoria me hace recordar unas jovencitas usadas como arma en la guerra, un terrícola que sufre a una ayudante durante seis meses, gasolineras que no son lo que parecen, críos espeluznantes, temas tabú en futuras civilizaciones, viajes en el tiempo (incluida la crucifixión) y varios finales apocalípticos para nuestro planeta
August 20, 2017
So much of what became important in popular culture, often due to Stephen King writing an "homage" (or 20) based on Matheson stories/Twilight Zone episodes, would never have happened without a brilliant couple of decades of this man putting paranoia and anxiety into accessible stories for the average Joe. To know Richard Matheson's work is to love it, regardless of it's periods of predictability (work for hire aimed at Weird Fiction and Twilight Zone outlets, after all).
February 13, 2020
"Matheson supo advertir antes que nadie que todo lo que nos rodea puede convertirse en una amenaza, y que nosotros tabien podemos ser los monstruos. Según sus propias palabras, el tema recurrente de toda su obra –y por supuesto de esta recopilación de relatos– es el individuo aislado que trata de sobrevivir en un mundo amenazador."
November 1, 2023
*Nacido de hombre y de mujer
Ambiguo, sin tantos detalles pero eso es lo interesante de este relato, RM te deja que tu mente vuele.
*El tercero a partir del sol
Ese terror, esa angustia a la muerte del planeta.
*El hombre es lo que viste
Relato cómico pero con su toque de fantasía, de esa que da miedo por qué desconocemos el porque.
Ambiguo, sin tantos detalles pero eso es lo interesante de este relato, RM te deja que tu mente vuele.
*El tercero a partir del sol
Ese terror, esa angustia a la muerte del planeta.
*El hombre es lo que viste
Relato cómico pero con su toque de fantasía, de esa que da miedo por qué desconocemos el porque.
May 9, 2019
Super sympa, il y a de très bonnes idées dans ces textes. Bien sur certains ont vieilli et font un peu rétro mais dans l'ensemble ils sont bons et s'adaptent a notre epoque (prevoir la colonisation de planètes en 1997 etait optimiste cependant)
April 25, 2020
Mi opinión de "Nacido de hombre y mujer" aquí
November 17, 2020
No lo cuento como abandonado pero a la mitad dejé de leerlo
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