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Richard Matheson’s Followers (4,768)

Richard Matheson

Born

in Allendale, New Jersey, The United States

February 20, 1926

Died

June 23, 2013

Genre

Science Fiction & Fantasy, Horror, Mystery & Thrillers

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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 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 En 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 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

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Combine Editions
Richard Matheson’s books

Average rating: 3.94 · 472,549 ratings · 34,129 reviews · 760 distinct works • Similar authors

	I Am Legend 4.05 avg rating — 152,073 ratings — published 1954 — 121 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	I Am Legend and Other Stories really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 136,157 ratings — published 1954	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Hell House 3.69 avg rating — 62,862 ratings — published 1971 — 84 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	What Dreams May Come 3.96 avg rating — 14,949 ratings — published 1978 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Stir of Echoes 3.86 avg rating — 15,251 ratings — published 1958 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Shrinking Man 3.77 avg rating — 9,238 ratings — published 1956 — 16 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Nightmare at 20,000 Feet: Horror Stories by Richard Matheson, Stephen King (Goodreads Author) (Introduction) 4.06 avg rating — 8,339 ratings — published 2002 — 22 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Somewhere In Time 3.85 avg rating — 8,685 ratings — published 1975	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Road Rage by Richard Matheson, Stephen King (Goodreads Author), Joe Hill (Goodreads Author) 3.88 avg rating — 4,173 ratings — published 2009 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Button, Button: Uncanny Stories 3.54 avg rating — 3,870 ratings — published 1970 — 27 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Richard Matheson…

Series by Richard Matheson

Shock (4 books)
by

Richard Matheson

3.83 avg rating — 1,026 ratings

Cuentos Fantásticos (2 books)
by

Richard Matheson,

Stanley Wiater (Editor)

4.26 avg rating — 825 ratings

The Twilight Zone Scripts (2 books)
by

Richard Matheson,

Stanley Wiater

4.28 avg rating — 103 ratings

We'll admit it: Of all the types of novelists, it's horror writers we have the most questions for. Like: WHY? And WHAT IS WRONG WITH...

Polls

September 2015 New School Classic Poll

1928, All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, 296 pages

28 votes, 20.4%

1991, Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder, 403 pages

23 votes, 16.8%

1972, Watership Down by Richard Adams, 478 pages

19 votes, 13.9%

1954, I Am Legend by Richard Matheson, 160 pages

18 votes, 13.1%

1931, Light in August by William Faulkner, 507 pages

15 votes, 10.9%

1984, The Book of Disquiet by Fernando Pessoa, 544 pages

9 votes, 6.6%

1953, Go Tell it on the Mountain by James Baldwin, 290 pages

9 votes, 6.6%

1943, The Makioka Sisters by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, 530 pages

6 votes, 4.4%

1929, Look Homeward, Angel by Thomas Wolfe, 644 pages

6 votes, 4.4%

1953, The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow, 586 pages

4 votes, 2.9%

137 total votes

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