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The Best of Richard Matheson
The Best of Richard Matheson | Richard Matheson
10 posts | 1 read | 21 to read
The definitive collection of terrifying stories by "one of the greatest writers of the 20th century" (Ray Bradbury), edited by award-winning author Victor LaValle Among the greats of 20th-century horror and fantasy, few names stand above Richard Matheson. Though known by many for novels like I Am Legend and his sixteen Twilight Zone episodes, Matheson truly shines in his chilling, masterful short stories. Since his first story appeared in 1950, virtually every major writer of science fiction, horror, and fantasy has fallen under his influence, including Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Peter Straub, and Joe Hill, as well as filmmakers like Stephen Spielberg and J.J. Abrams. Matheson revolutionized horror by taking it out of Gothic castles and strange cosmos and setting it in the darkened streets and suburbs we recognize as our own. He infused tales of the fantastic and supernormal with dark explorations of human nature, delving deep into the universal dread of feeling alone and threatened in a dangerous world. The Best of Richard Matheson brings together his greatest hits as chosen by Victor LaValle, an expert on horror fiction and one of its brightest talents, marking the first major overview of Matheson's legendary career. "[Matheson is] the author who influenced me most as a writer." -Stephen King "Richard Matheson's ironic and iconic imagination created seminal science-fiction stories . . . For me, he is in the same category as Bradbury and Asimov." -Steven Spielberg "He was a giant, and YOU KNOW HIS STORIES, even if you think you don't." -Neil Gaiman For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
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vivastory
The Best of Richard Matheson | Richard Matheson
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A contemporary of Bradbury's, but seems to have emboldened him to “go dark“ at times & was a noticeable influence on King. Of the short stories by the three, I admit to preferring those of Matheson as they are devoid of the burdensome nostalgia that can sometimes weigh down those of both Bradbury & King. An excellent story collection that is at home with the other strange American tales published by Penguin over the past few years.

vivastory Book 3 of #MidwayBOTY23 9mo
Branwen Nice! Is Matheson the one who wrote What Dreams May Come? 🤔 I might be confusing him with someone else. 9mo
vivastory @Branwen You're correct, Matheson did write that novel. I haven't read it. The only novel of his that I have read is I Am Legend, which I love. 9mo
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vivastory
The Best of Richard Matheson | Richard Matheson
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I have heard lit fiction referred to as a genre. I don't nec agree with this, for various reasons. I will say that I personally think that there are few (minor) differences between lit fiction & genre fiction, but there are genre writers who are as talented as those who have been widely acknowledged in literary fiction & deserve to be recognized as such. As I read across several genres, there are several that are close to my heart, but if (cont)

vivastory pressed I would say that my #favoritegenre is horror. Pictured are my favorite horror books I have read the past 4 years. #marchmagic @alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @eggs Linked is the recent Reading Glasses episode, the first part of which is about genre & how it often boils down to marketing. A very interesting episode:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/4KmYnAEpEUWbMoMH3zIIom
13mo
Reggie The Between 🖤🖤🖤 13mo
Eggs Beautiful covers 🖤💙🖤 13mo
58 likes3 comments
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vivastory
The Best of Richard Matheson | Richard Matheson
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I took a break from my phone this weekend, so I'm posting my #weeklyreport a few days late. Last week (1/21-128) I read 8 books & multiple short stories. Highlights were O'Nan's Last Night at the Lobster, Gauld's Revenge of the Librarians & the tagged. I reviewed only one of these. So much for my NY resolution to review every book that I read. Last week was a deeply strange week & books helped me maintain my sanity. Onwards!
@cinfhen

Branwen 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉 14mo
52 likes1 comment
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vivastory
The Best of Richard Matheson | Richard Matheson
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What a strange & wonderful story.

Goleemn Just read this when I saw it here on your page. It is interesting and strange. It reminds me of Bradbury in that it‘s sci fi, but seems so plausible! Thanks for introducing it to me! 14mo
vivastory @Goleemn Bradbury is a great comparison! I think that Matheson is similar to Bradbury but without his overt sentimentality (to be fair some of my fave books are by Bradbury!) 14mo
Goleemn True. Nice way of putting it. Matheson leaves it out there for the reader to decide the emotion; Bradbury let‘s us know what we should feel. 14mo
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vivastory
The Best of Richard Matheson | Richard Matheson
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Uhh...wtf

sarahbarnes 😳 1y
vivastory @sarahbarnes It's just a few pages, but I won't forget them anytime soon 😬 1y
LeahBergen Well, that settles it. Stacked! 😆 1y
vivastory @LeahBergen ...And when people ask, “You've really known Leah for years? I say, yeah...we're both a bit a demented!“ 😂 🙌 1y
LeahBergen 🤣🤣 1y
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vivastory
The Best of Richard Matheson | Richard Matheson
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This morning I read 2 short stories from the tagged book: Button, Button & The Duel. The first “Button, Button“ was IMO the better of the two. Here is the Wikipedia summary for the Twilight Zone episode: Arthur and Norma Lewis live in a low-rent apartment and are descending into abject poverty. One day, a box with a button on top of it is delivered to their apartment. That evening, a man who introduces himself as Mr. Steward visits. He (cont)

vivastory visits. He gives Norma the key to the box and explains that if she presses the button, someone she does not know will die, and she will receive $200,000.“
I have not watched the TZ episode, but it is fairly faithful to the story, with two exceptions. In the story Arthur & Norma are living middle class lives, not in abject poverty. And they are told they will rec. $50,000. This was also the premise of a movie featuring Cameron Diaz called
1y
vivastory The Box, which I have seen, but I recall very little of. What prompted me to write this post is that I just learned that Spielberg adapted the Duel (an adventure story with a twist) into a TV movie. I had never heard of it before. Strange... (edited) 1y
Suet624 He sounds like Stephen King, with folks making movies out of many of his stories. 1y
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vivastory @Suet624 That's a good comparison! What I think of as the most well-known Twilight Zone episode (Nightmare at 20,000 Feet) was written by him 1y
Suet624 @vivastory Pluto TV (free) plays Twilight Zone episodes a lot. I remember that episode you mention from watching it as a kid. I don't know why I watched that show - freaked me out every single time. 1y
vivastory @Suet624 Some of the more memorable episodes are the ones that get under our skin the most! I'm currently making my way through Hitchcock Presents & in the last season there was an episode that I recall from my childhood, lol. The writing on TZ & Hitchcock Presents was often really great. 1y
LeahBergen I‘ve been wanting to read some of his short stories! 1y
Bookwomble @vivastory The Duel movie is very good, and still holds up. Great film if you get a chance to see it. Matheson also wrote The Shrinking Man, which is fantastic, too, if incredibly bleak. Need I mention, I Am Legend? 😊 1y
vivastory @LeahBergen I think you'd like this collection📚 1y
vivastory @Bookwomble Glad to hear your endorsement of The Duel, I'll have to check it out. I haven't read The Shrinking Man yet, but I love I Am Legend and am still waiting for a good adaptation. I haven't watched Last Man on Earth but I see that Matheson was so disappointed he had his name changed in the credits lol 1y
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MatchlessMarie
The Best of Richard Matheson | Richard Matheson
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I just found this on my phone. This was taken at my library. I meant to post this during the holidays. This is great advice. 🏃🏻‍♀️💨😂

AmyG One of these days..... 6y
65 likes1 comment
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BookishFeminist
The Best of Richard Matheson | Richard Matheson
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I‘m enjoying some late night solace and reading horror books. I‘ve managed to go a my whole life without ever reading Richard Matheson even though I‘ve been familiar with his more popular works. Now I‘m obsessed. Victor LaValle had hooked me in. These short stories give excellent creep. 💀

Betty He wrote some Twilight Zone episodes? I'm in! 6y
waqas1 Hi 6y
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PirateJenny
The Best of Richard Matheson | Richard Matheson

I'm not quite some with this one yet, but I wanted to mention that Victor LaValle is going to be at McNally Jackson bookstore in NYC on Oct. 24th to discuss it and, I assume, other creepy things. Ellen Datlow will also be there. Obviously I will be braving the rain for this. Oh, and you should all read the intro to this book. It's f-ing amazing. And no spoilers.

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PirateJenny
The Best of Richard Matheson | Richard Matheson
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My #bookspiral of a few creepy books I've worked on over the years #uncannyOctober @RealLifeReading

JazzFeathers 😍😍😍 6y
RealLifeReading Nice creepy spiral 6y
8leagueboot I am so eager to read the Richard Matheson collection! 6y
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