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20th out of 27 books
—
26 voters
Earthbound
An Erotic Ghost Story by the Author of Hell House and A Stir of Echoes
David and Ellen Cooper came to the lonely beachside cottage in hopes of rekindling their troubled marriage. Yet they are not alone on their second honeymoon. Marianna, a beautiful and enigmatic stranger, comes to visit David whenever Ellen is away.
Who is Marianna, and where has she come from?
Even as he s...more
David and Ellen Cooper came to the lonely beachside cottage in hopes of rekindling their troubled marriage. Yet they are not alone on their second honeymoon. Marianna, a beautiful and enigmatic stranger, comes to visit David whenever Ellen is away.
Who is Marianna, and where has she come from?
Even as he s...more
Paperback, 224 pages
Published
April 16th 2005
by Tor Books
(first published 1989)
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An unusual mixture of eroticism, ghost story and relationship drama. As one would expect, Matheson shines in the scary department, with some quite unsettling scenarios unfolding throughout the story but alas, he lacks the poetic insight and endurance to keep the relationship-angle interesting and deeper than superficial. Everyone who has experienced excruciating relationship debates will be reminded of the same while reading this book. Many dialogues between the two people in question amount to...more
This book is really closer to a novella size than a real book - it has only 134 pages. The story is as follows:
David and Ellen Cooper came to the lonely beachside cottage in hopes of rekindling their troubled marriage. Yet they are not alone on their second honeymoon. Marianna, a beautiful and enigmatic stranger, comes to visit David whenever Ellen is away.
Who is Marianna, and where has she come from?
Even as he succumbs to her seductive charms, David realizes that Marianna is far more than a t...more
David and Ellen Cooper came to the lonely beachside cottage in hopes of rekindling their troubled marriage. Yet they are not alone on their second honeymoon. Marianna, a beautiful and enigmatic stranger, comes to visit David whenever Ellen is away.
Who is Marianna, and where has she come from?
Even as he succumbs to her seductive charms, David realizes that Marianna is far more than a t...more
This Is Halloween '12 Challenge #1
Ellen and David Cooper have been married for over twenty years, but their marriage is on the rocks. David cheated on Ellen and Ellen still doesn't feel comfortable having sex with him. They have come to a small beach-side resort to work out their issues and rekindle their romance. From now on, I'll be referring to Ellen and David as Prude and Dumbass, respectively. Dumbass encounters Ghost Whore in one of the rooms. She tells Dumbass that he reminds her of her h...more
Ellen and David Cooper have been married for over twenty years, but their marriage is on the rocks. David cheated on Ellen and Ellen still doesn't feel comfortable having sex with him. They have come to a small beach-side resort to work out their issues and rekindle their romance. From now on, I'll be referring to Ellen and David as Prude and Dumbass, respectively. Dumbass encounters Ghost Whore in one of the rooms. She tells Dumbass that he reminds her of her h...more
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A Chilling Ghost story. Dark and fascinating. Grabs you immediately. I could not put it down. It's hightly erotic,sometimes disturbingly so. Beneath the the ghost story is an intelligent probing of the relationshiop between mind and body, and a sharp and provoking contrast between lust and craving on the one hand, with it'd deadly and empty results; and Love and intimacy on the other, with it's power to renew, redeem, and and ultimately save us all . . from ourselves.
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Stephen King often cites Richard Matheson as an influence. There's a lot of Matheson here--it doesn't feel like Matheson, entirely--but there's also a lot of pre-writer King. King, of course, had no influence on this novel, a writer of his own right by this time. But it's written in 1982.
It was, in a word, disappointing. I expect a lot of Matheson, and a certain gut-punch at the end. Was he tired? Did he want to try something entirely different? I'm not sure. There are moments of pure intensity,...more
It was, in a word, disappointing. I expect a lot of Matheson, and a certain gut-punch at the end. Was he tired? Did he want to try something entirely different? I'm not sure. There are moments of pure intensity,...more
A ghost story with a twist that only Matheson could deliver. Similar to his other books, the story is slow to get going, but has great character development. The couple visiting their honeymoon location in an effort to rekindle their stressed marriage was not the most interesting start to a book. The husband's affair and the wife's lack of emotion are nothing spectacular either. However, when the reasons for the affair and lack of emotion start to bubble up, it becomes quite interesting, not to...more
Nov 21, 2011
Tabitha the Pabkins
rated it
1 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
People who like sad erotic ghost stories
Depressing and Aggravating – that is what this book was! I bought it a long time ago – shortly after I had read I Am Legend – which I LOVED! I also, really loved What Dreams May Come. So I went with the idea that I usually do – that if I loved two of an authors books that I’ll likely enjoy everything they right. How severely wrong I was. I hope this convinces you to NOT to read it. I feed bad – I guess this is a flamer review.
Right away the tone of the book is somber – you don’t know why these t...more
Right away the tone of the book is somber – you don’t know why these t...more
Quick read by Matheson. His male characters can be extremely mature( I am Legend) or pretty immature(Earthbound). It fits for the story, because David's immaturity makes him suseceptible to psychic control, and his latent maturity saves his and his wife's lives, and brings them together in love at the end.
This was not my favourite Richard Matheson by any means.It was a little creepy,but not scary and I did not like the characters, none of them. I liked how he ended it with Marianna but I felt like that was even unoriginal and had guessed that that was how it would end about half way thru.
It seems with all Richard Matheson books they are good but "just" miss the mark with me they are not great. I have read several of his books at this point and rhino like them I don't love them. They have good ideas but all seem a tad dated And they just miss giving a good fright.
I'm not sure where to begin with how much I didn't like this book. It started off boring and then it got a bit predictable and then it ended awful again. I didn't like Ellen or David, I wish that they had a bit more personality.
A couple with a troubled marriage try to rekindle their romance by returning to a Long Island beach where they once honeymooned, but a lascivious ghost tries to interfere. The writing was excellent, 4.25 stars.
Aug 20, 2010
Cheryl
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
50-books-for-2010,
just-because-i-like-it
I liked this one, but it seems I haven't met a Richard Matheson book/story I haven't. There were things I wished had gone a little differently. There were side stories I would have liked to know more about. But this was a good, quick read.
Not a bad book, but certainly not up to the standards of I Am Legend. At times, the prose is a little messy and in particular, Matheson's use of adverbs is definitely dubious, especially considering the fact that at times, he makes them up. Also, toward the book, the sentence 'He reach for her.' rears its ugly head and makes you wonder what the heck Matheson's editors were doing, if they were doing anything at all. Still, it's a decent story and fairly early on, after the lead character has been...more
I was vastly disappointed in this book. Seemed like more of a sketch than a fleshed out novel, and, coming from this master of horror, relativity mundane and by the numbers.
85 books/2009
At its basis, Earthbound is the story of a succubus haunting a middle aged man trying to save his fractured marriage. Under the surface, it's a metaphor for the things that haunt our souls and our relationships, about what is really the connection of love between a man and a woman. Erotic and gothic.
At its basis, Earthbound is the story of a succubus haunting a middle aged man trying to save his fractured marriage. Under the surface, it's a metaphor for the things that haunt our souls and our relationships, about what is really the connection of love between a man and a woman. Erotic and gothic.
David and Ellen go for a second honeymoon in the hopes of rekindling their failing marriage. Their honeymoon has one unexpected complication, one that could end more than their marriage.
I am a big fan of Richard Matheson but I did not love this book as much as his others. I found the pace clunky and slow at moments and the very rapid at others. I also got the feeling that Matheson, who did the majority of his work in the 50's and 60's, was still in the same mindset when he wrote this (late 80's)...more
I am a big fan of Richard Matheson but I did not love this book as much as his others. I found the pace clunky and slow at moments and the very rapid at others. I also got the feeling that Matheson, who did the majority of his work in the 50's and 60's, was still in the same mindset when he wrote this (late 80's)...more
Bleh. I went from "Meh" to "Oh, that was a cool twist!" and all the way back to "Meh" again.
I feel I wasted time reading this novel. I was so disappointed when I finished, I wanted to toss the book across the room. I love "I Am Legend" and "Hell House" and I find it hard to believe that the same author wrote this book. They characters were unsympathetic, the plot thin and the ending felt like a "shocking" ending from a bad 1970's TV movie of the week.
I like Richard Matheson. This book is very interesting.
Why Mr Matheson you saucy devil. You'll make me blush.
Not up to Matheson's usual standards, by a longshot.
Aug 16, 2012
Jonathan
added it
50 Shades of Grey of Ghosts.
Not awesome.
a very creepy read.
Richard Matheson does it again! This man can write!!! :o)
Writing Style: 3.5 stars
Characterization: 4 stars
Plot: 3.5 stars
Page-turner: 4 stars
Heart factor: 3 stars
Characterization: 4 stars
Plot: 3.5 stars
Page-turner: 4 stars
Heart factor: 3 stars
Somehow I expected more from this story, but I'm not sure what. It's a decent read, but not exceptional. This is the second Matheson book I've read, so don't have much to compare it with, but I have seen a lot of his work adapted for film and television. Marianna is a very earthy ghost, and every man's fantasy I would assume.
I didn't even bother finishing this one. I realized about half way through that I didn't care. I didn't care at all about the main character and it seemed so formulaic and predictable so at the half way point I flipped through the rest of it and wasn't interested.
"The author who influenced me the most as a writer was Richard Matheson." � Stephen King
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Born 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 w...more
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