Books Stephen King Recommends discussion

Richard Matheson

Stephen King recommended author as noted in Chapter 9 of Berkley's 1983 paperback edition of Danse Macabre.

From Wikipedia:

Richard Burton Matheson (born February 20, 1926) is an American author and screenwriter, primarily in the fantasy, horror, and science fiction genres. He is perhaps best known as the author of What Dreams May Come, Bid Time Return, A Stir of Echoes, The Incredible Shrinking Man, and I Am Legend, all of which have been adapted as major motion pictures. Matheson has also written for several The Twilight Zone television show episodes such as "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet", and adapted his 1971 short story Duel into a screenplay later that year for the Steven Spielberg directed television movie of the same name.

In 2010, Matheson was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame[5]

Matheson received a World Fantasy Award in 1984 for Lifetime Achievement. Richard Matheson: Collected Stories won the World Fantasy Award in 1990 for Best Collections and his novel Bid Time Return won in 1976.[6]

Novels

Someone is Bleeding (1953)
Fury on Sunday (1953)
I Am Legend (1954) filmed as The Last Man on Earth, The Omega Man, I Am Omega and I Am Legend
The Shrinking Man (1956); filmed as The Incredible Shrinking Man and subsequently reprinted under that title; also the basis of the film The Incredible Shrinking Woman
A Stir of Echoes (1958); filmed as Stir of Echoes
Ride the Nightmare (1959); adapted as an episode of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour and later filmed as Cold Sweat (1970 film)
The Beardless Warriors (1960); filmed as The Young Warriors
The Comedy of Terrors (1964), with Elsie Lee; filmed as The Comedy of Terrors
Hell House (1971); filmed as The Legend of Hell House
The Night Strangler (1973)
Bid Time Return (1975); filmed as Somewhere in Time and subsequently reprinted under that title
What Dreams May Come (1978); filmed as What Dreams May Come
Earthbound (editorially abridged version published under the pseudonym "Logan Swanson", 1982; restored text published under Matheson's own name, 1989)
Journal of the Gun Years (1992)
The Gunfight (1993)
7 Steps to Midnight (1993)
Shadow on the Sun (1994)
Now You See It... (1995)
The Memoirs of Wild Bill Hickock (1996)
The Path: A New Look at Reality (1999)
Passion Play (2000)
Hunger and Thirst (2000)
Camp Pleasant (2001)
Abu and the 7 Marvels (2002)
Hunted Past Reason (2002)
Come Fygures, Come Shadowes (2003)
Woman (2006)
Other Kingdoms (2011)

Short story collections

Born of Man and Woman (1954)
The Shores of Space (1957)
Shock! (1961)
Shock 2 (1964)
Shock 3 (1966)
Shock Waves (1970) Published as Shock 4 in the UK (1980)
Button, Button (1970)
Richard Matheson: Collected Stories (1989)
By the Gun (1993)
Nightmare at 20,000 Feet (2000)
Pride with Richard Christian Matheson (2002)
Duel (2002)
Offbeat: Uncollected Stories (2002)
Darker Places (2004)
Unrealized Dreams (2004)
Duel and The Distributor (2005) Previously unpublished screenplays of these two stories
Button, Button: Uncanny Stories (2008) (Tor Books)
Uncollected Matheson: Volume 1 (2008)
Uncollected Matheson: Volume 2 (2010)
Steel: And Other Stories (2011)

I have I Am Legend / Hell House, read it, loved it! Bought Hunted Past Reason used but haven't read it yet. Have more by him on my wishlist though, would love to get them :)

I have placed I am Legend on my list for December/January. Read Hell House a long time ago; it sure makes an impression!

I would like to read more of Matheson also. Just need a reminder, since I have so many books on my list.

I think Somewhere In Time is my All Time Favorite romance. It is different from his other popular fiction. The Incredible Shrinking Man will probably be my next choice.

Just finished I am legend and I thought it was great.

Was there a movie called The Incredible Shrinking Man????

I used to really like watching the movie for What Dreams May Come when I had a vcr, and I was kinda surprised when I seen here on GR that it was by Matheson, so that's one of the ones I want to get the most. The Shrinking Man looks really good also.

Linda wrote: "Was there a movie called The Incredible Shrinking Man????"

Yep, based on this story. Critics/reviewers mention political and social content to ponder and argue over. I of course, just remember watching a good story with awesome (then) special effects.

Wonder if I would "read in" the social commentary now?

Kit★ wrote: "I used to really like watching the movie for What Dreams May Come when I had a vcr, and I was kinda surprised when I seen here on GR that it was by Matheson, so that's one of the one..."

The special effects and hyper colors in What Dream May Come were really awesome. I got lost during the movie a few times. Until reading about Somewhere in Time here on Goodreads, I would not have associated the two.

Almeta wrote: "Kit★ wrote: "I used to really like watching the movie for What Dreams May Come when I had a vcr, and I was kinda surprised when I seen here on GR that it was by Matheson, so that's o..."

I wouldn't have made that connection either! I was just thinking of buying that movie from the $5 dvd bin at Walmart the other day too. Maybe I should :)

Oh, I forgot I also read The Box: Uncanny Stories, and not that long ago. Wow, how could I forget that? They were all pretty good stories!

Kit★ wrote: "Oh, I forgot I also read The Box: Uncanny Stories, and not that long ago. Wow, how could I forget that? They were all pretty good stories! ..."

Ah, another for my To Read pile!

Button, Button reminds me of a TV episode that I saw on Twillight Zone or Hitchcock Presents or..one of those. I bet it was based on this story.

Marc-antoine wrote: "Just finished I am legend and I thought it was great."

Hell House was really good, too! You might want to check it out.

I need to read more Matheson, especially based on the discussion here.

I've updated msg 1 to show some info about Matheson and his works.

Was sad to hear of Matheson's death on 6/23/13 at the age of 87. He left a legacy of writing behind and will live long in the minds of his fans.

That is sad news, I need to read some of his work.

I recommend I Am Legend. It's excellent!

Debra wrote: "I recommend I Am Legend. It's excellent!"

Yes, indeed it is. If I had to name two authors responsible for giving me the urge to set down words to paper, then those men would be James Herbert and Richard Matheson.

I loved Herbert's early work, primarily because of the raw emotion, violence and horror he was willing to unleash on his readers. Being prepared to describe despicable acts, and every graphic detail which accompanied them, was something James Herbert was a master at.

Richard Matheson, while some would argue not the USA's greatest writing talent, was easily my personal favorite.
The depth of his back-catalog is absolutely stunning, although it is possible that many people will be more familiar with his film and television projects, rather than having 'read' all of his stories and novels.

And, Linda, you should check out his work, you won't be disappointed. If I was forced to pick a personal favorite, then it would be Richard Matheson's Hell House.

Hell House is another classic Matheson novel. Good suggestion, David. I agree that early Herbert like The Fog is very good horror.

I agree that early Herbert like The Fog is excellent stuff. Sadly, we lost him this year, too.

Yep. It's been a very bad year for losing writing talent.

The Fog, and The Rats both creeped the life out of me when I first read them.
I was a lot younger then, though. :(

I recently read I am Legend and Other Stories and The Incredible Shrinking Man. Currently reading A Stir of Echoes. I love Matheson's style.

I read A Stir of Echoes recently and really enjoyed it!

Thanks for all of the suggestions. Wasn't there a movie called The Fog??

Stephen King wrote a moving tribute to Matheson.
http://www.liljas-library.com/article...
Tribute to Richard Matheson June 25th, 2013 12:26:18 pm
We've lost one of the giants of the fantasy and horror genres.....

Ann, thanks for adding that tribute. I'd missed reading it somehow, even though I subscribe to that newsletter.

Linda wrote: "Thanks for all of the suggestions. Wasn't there a movie called The Fog??"

Yeah, but it's a different Fog :)

Okay - Thanks David!

Debra wrote: "I read A Stir of Echoes recently and really enjoyed it!"

I just finished A Stir of Echoes. Quick, creepy little ghost-story/mystery with a nice twist ending.

Duane wrote: "I just finished A Stir of Echoes. Quick, creepy little ghost-story/mystery with a nice twist ending."

Looks as if I will be bumping this one up to the top, for the thrill. Somewhere in Time has an altogether different mood.

Howdy, all! If this isn't cool, I'll delete it, but I wrote a blog post about Mr. Matheson below and thought you might find it interesting. Mods, feel free to remove if it breaks any forum rules:

http://jonathanjanz.com/2013/06/30/mo...

Jonathan wrote: "Howdy, all! If this isn't cool, I'll delete it, but I wrote a blog post about Mr. Matheson below and thought you might find it interesting. Mods, feel free to remove if it breaks any forum rules:

..."

Great tribute, Jonathan! I'm relatively new to Matheson's work (read I am Legend and Other Stories, The Incredible Shrinking Man, and A Stir of Echoes recently) and I love his writing. I scooped up the majority of his catalogue on Amazon so I still have plenty of reading ahead of me. I too started reading King at age fourteen and read virtually nothing but King for the longest time. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks, Duane! It's awesome to meet a fellow King/Matheson fan. You're a man of great taste. I still have more Matheson to read too. The Beardless Warriors is probably my next foray into his world.

Jonathan wrote: "Thanks, Duane! It's awesome to meet a fellow King/Matheson fan. You're a man of great taste. I still have more Matheson to read too. The Beardless Warriors is probably my next foray into his world."

I suppose one of my "first-world problems" is having many enormous stacks of unread books and deciding what to read next. A good problem to have nonetheless.

What a nice tribute to Richard Matheson, Jonathan. Thanks for sharing it. I loved Somewhere In Time, I need to add some of the rest to the tbr.

I've enjoyed everything I've read by Matheson. Wonderful stuff!

Because of his recent death, I immediately ordered Somewhere In Time. The movie based on the book is my all time favorite Romance (I am not a romance genre reader), and was filmed in my home state of Michigan.

I am actually more of a mystery/suspense reader. I need to look into Noir: Three Novels of Suspense.

He wrote in such a wide range.

Duane wrote: "Jonathan wrote: "Thanks, Duane! It's awesome to meet a fellow King/Matheson fan. You're a man of great taste. I still have more Matheson to read too. The Beardless Warriors is probably my next fora..."

"First-world problems"--great phrase and one I often forget about.

Ann wrote: "What a nice tribute to Richard Matheson, Jonathan. Thanks for sharing it. I loved Somewhere In Time, I need to add some of the rest to the tbr."

Thanks, Ann! I really appreciate that! And isn't Somewhere in Time just a lovely book? :-)

Debra wrote: "I've enjoyed everything I've read by Matheson. Wonderful stuff!"

Agreed, Debra. Matheson is the bomb. :-)

Almeta wrote: "Because of his recent death, I immediately ordered Somewhere In Time. The movie based on the book is my all time favorite Romance (I am not a romance genre reader), and was filmed in my home state..."

He did indeed, Almeta. I think you'll love Noir.