The Science Fiction Novel - Richard Matheson

St. John's Nfld

Here we go, the start of another weekend. It's been a lovely day but we're in for some more snow tonight. But nothing like Newfoundland has been getting and will continue to get. Stay safe out there.

Richard Matheson

To start the weekend, my post will be a relatively short one. My Science Fiction Author for today is American author Richard Burton Matheson. Matheson was born in 1926 in Allendale New Jersey and died in Los Angeles in 2013. He was an author and screenwriter mainly in the fantasy, horror and Sci-Fi genres. Many of his stories were adapted to movies and TV shows; I Am Legend to three movies; his short story Duel by Stephen Spielberg's first movie, Duel; Shrinking Man as the The Incredible Shrinking Man; Hell House as The Legend of Hell House, etc.

Matheson also wrote 16 episodes of The Twilight Zone, including Nightmare at 20,000 Feet and Steel. He also did a number of adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe for Roger Corman of American International Pictures; The Raven, The Pit and the Pendulum, etc.

Matheson's first novel wasn't published until much later in his life in 2010. His first short story, Born of Man and Woman, was published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in the summer of 1950. His first anthology of work was published in 1954. From 1950 - 1971 he published numerous stories, mixing horror, fantasy and Sci-Fi.

My first exposure to Matheson's works was via the medium of movies. I've seen The Omega Man many times. It originally was released in 1971 and starred Charlton Heston and Anthony Zerbe. The synopsis for the movie is as follows -

"Lone survivor, doctor Robert Neville, struggles to create a cure for the plague that wiped out most of the human race while fighting The Family, a savage luddite death cult formed by the zombie-like infected to erase the past"

I've also seen the recent remake, I Am Legend, which stars Will Smith. But I do prefer the first one I've seen. I've also enjoyed Duel, The Incredible Shrinking Man, etc. It wasn't until the past few years that I realized that these movies had been based on books. I will admit that I hesitated to try the books, maybe because I felt they might have a 'made-for-movie' feel about them. In 2016, I finally purchased I Am Legend and read it in 2017. I will look for others of his books now. My review is below.

a. I Am Legend by Richard Matheson (1954).


















"I Am Legend is a collection of horror / Sci Fi short stories and one novella by author Richard Matheson. I am Legend was the basis for at least two movies; The Omega Man (1971) and I Am Legend (2017). Other stories remind me of episodes of The Twilight Zone and Night Gallery. Prey was made into a TV movie (part of Trilogy of Terror) starring Karen Black as Amelia, in a truly terrifying story of a young woman terrorized by an African tribal doll.

Every story was interesting; some very scary and even some humorous (The Near Departed and The Funeral).

It was interesting to finally read I Am Legend. I found it closer to The Omega Man, which starred Charlton Heston. Robert Neville is, as far as he knows, the last man on Earth. The rest if peopled by either vampires and people who still live but suffer from the effects of a virus that make them 'seem' like vampires; they aren't dead but still need blood and suffer from many of the effects of vampirism. Neville lives in a world of nightmare, trying to drown the memories of his past with drink and spending days killing these creatures. His life is turned upside down when he meets Ruth. (I'll leave you to read the story to find out about this incident). It was an excellent story and interesting to compare to my memories of the movies.

The other stories included stories with killer dolls, voodoo spells, strange funerals, haunted houses, etc.; all interesting and page turners. A pleasantly satisfying and enjoyable read. (4 stars)"

The complete collection of Matheson's books is available at this link.

Have a great weekend.