Hi! I a HUGE fan of RCM! I have read "Scars.." and reread it often! "Created By" is my all-time favorite book! I must say once I received this book I found it hard NOT to read it all in one setting! (I wanted to savor each story and good reading is so very hard to find!) RCM is amazing, incredible and I would reccomend him to anyone who loves good stories that go straight to the jugular! They are such a quick read- they leave you begging for more! He has all those "other" horror writers beat, hands down! (Sorry, Clive) It is true he is a VERY underated author, but he has become my favorite! I tried to get this book several times at our local stores and they had no idea who I was talking about- pity the fools! Thankyou Amazon.com for making RCM available to the masses! Read this book- I promise you won't be disappointed then TRY to find his others-I am sure you will be hooked like me!

Richard Christian Matheson is the unequivocal master of the short story. Dystopia shows us why. Sixty superb stories are collected in this volume accompanied by illustrations by the wonderfully gifted Harry O. Morris. Not all of the stories in this volume are of the horror variety, either. Matheson demonstrates his literary flexibility with this collection and it is stunning. This is a book that truly should not be missed.

I'D GIVE IT FIVE HUNDRED STARS IF I COULD! Without a doubt oneof the most underrated authors of the often misunderstood horrorgenre, Mr. Matheson defiinitely pulls no punches! Awesome collection of his (unfortunately) hard to find work! And his dad's no slouch either, hahaha! Thanks Gauntlet Press for having the brains to make this great stuff available, and thanks to Amazon.com for the same reason. Thanks to you RCM! Now buy this, it's A STEAL! Do yourself a favor, and realize that there's more to horror than King, Rice, and Straub, no offense intended.Cheers!

You cannot go wrong reading Schow. Simply put, he is one of the most unique voices in "Horror" fiction today. Schow writes what only others could dream about and far more potently than most writers today. Even his worst pieces are far above what is being passed off as "literature". It saddens me that he isn't being pushed as he should to the reading market, all because he writes "horror". This collection alone is worth so much more because, no matter how many times you read it, you always come out changed. Always. Schow is a very under-appreciated writer. Hopefully, more people will come across his work and treasure it as I have.

David Schow's short fiction is as keen-eyed and hard-hitting as one could want from a horror collection. It always pains me that Schow is often identified with a genre in which laughable supernatural occurrences abound; his horror is founded in circumstance and emotion, and any supernatural notes are used to support that, rather than hold the entire story aloft. He does it right. I'm very happy to see this edition available.

Richard Matheson is an incredable author. He has writen many great stories. One of these was Born of Man and Woman. He was noted by Stephen King as the author who influenced him the most as a writer. Ray Bradbury said that he is one of the most important authors of the 20th century. The short story, Born of Man and Woman, is one of his less popular works but certainly one of his greatest. In the Science-Fiction genre it is very mysterious as it depicts a young child who is abused severly and he does not know what it is like to be a child. This child has been locked up in a basement and has been chained to the wall. The child has been treated like they were an animal. It gives a brief look into the every day life that the child has to go through. At the end the child indicates that there is going to be revenge taken. The child seems disabled with severe psychological problems and he seems deranged. That is what makes the piece of work a Science Fiction that will go far.

No one writes short stories like Richard Christian Matheson. Often,they are very short and experimental,as well as masterful
exercises in subtle brevity. Matheson's prose is beautiful,and this only adds to the horror. The brilliant "Red" is here,as well
as "Shutterbugs" "Region Of The Flesh" and a few pieces that
aren't actually stories but are worth reading anyway,like
"Things To Get" and the strong-stomachs-only-need-apply grue of
"Mutilator." There are a lot of stories in this book,so you're
getting your money's worth and then some.

While browsing through the bookstore, my eye caught this blurb on the cover of this novel. "The best novel I read last year." The quote is from Stephen King, no less. When I saw that the author was Richard Matheson, I was very surprised since I primarily know Matheson as a writer of horror. Westerns have not been an element of my previous reading history but I decided to give it a try. God, was I glad that I did! I now rate this novel as one of my top three all time favorites. Matheson's approach is to take the traditional story of the life of a gunslinger in the old West and look at it from the inside out. The novel takes the form of a journal written by Clay Hauser from his beginning as a frightened soldier in the Cival War to his inevitable destiny in a small mining town. From outlaw to lawman (and sometimes back again) during this ten year period, Matheson does a wonderful job in depicting the deterioration of a potentially great man. I felt genuinely sad at the end of this powerful novel. I've been recommending this novel throughout the Internet whenever I get the chance. I think that it's time that people began to realize that the modern Western is a 'new' genre filled with interesting writing and stories. I would have thought that people would have been more influenced by the success of Lonesome Dove. (Another of my top three favorites, by the way.) C'MON, people, get on the ball and stop being afraid to explore new avenues of literature. Because that's exactly what this novel is, Great Literature!!

The Path was given to me as a gift, and that it truly was. The book is a dedication to Percival's "Thinking and Destiny," but is written in a concise, clear and engaging manner. The author addresses the questions we ask ourselves on a daily basis: What is the purpose of life? How do I achieve my destiny? How do I come to accept the inadequacies of the human being? The book encompasses Mr. Matheson's thoughts and views on metaphysics in a simple way. I recommend the book for anyone who enjoys discussion of metaphysics, spirituality and humanity.

An excellent collection of first-rate horror short stories. Matheson is a master of concise, nasty little tales; "little" being the operative word here; nearly all of the tales are no more than a few pages long. But boy, do they pack a punch! I owned a copy of this book some years back, but something bad happened to it, and I haven't been able to replace it since. A real shame, too, because this is one that can be read over and over with no diminished enjoyment. Would-be writers of short fiction can learn a lot from these works. R.C. Matheson is the son of Richard Matheson, another amazing writer of horror, sci fi , and fantasy, probably most known for his writing for "Twilight Zone", "Duel", and "Prey", which became the most memorable segment in "Trilogy of Terror", where the fiendish Zuni fetish doll comes to life and terrorizes poor Karen Black. If you can find this title, it's definitely worth checking out. Why does all the good stuff always go out of print?!?

Richard Neville is the last human on earth, or so he thinks. A strange plague has swept the world and has left in its wake an army of bloodthirsty creatures of the night. Vampires are now the dominent lifeform on the planet and one man must fight for his life and his sanity in this new world. At first he spends his time proofing his house from the vampires, and gathering supplies. He then sets out to destroy every beast, they must all die! Soon he realizes they are to many and begins to study them, there must be a logical explanation for this horror. But are they the monsters or is he?

I never thought a 170 page book could enthrall me so. I read this book in about 3 hrs, but it has been with me for much longer. Richard becomes so realistic you start to forget he is not real. The realism with which Matheson weaves his tale is uncanny. I have read many vampire books and i think "I Am Legend" is by far the best i have read to date. Do yourself a favor and get a copy of this book, I can't recommend it more.

A novel about vampires taking over the Earth at first sounds incredibly hokey and stupid. Trust me folks, I Am Legend is anything but that. It is not your typical vampire story. Forget all the others. This is a master writer of science fiction and horror at work, and this is easily his best. I have read I Am Legend so many times, I've lost track. It is absolutely spellbinding, mezmerizing, and riveting. The book has been turned into motion pictures twice.. once about 40 years ago with Vincent Price in the lead. That one is far superior to the 1970s remake "The Omega Man" with Charlton Heston. The plot of the remake is so terribly twisted, that anyone seeing it, if they can withhold laughing at its stupidity, would certainly never pick up this book to read if they thought it was the same as that film. Just forget "The Omega Man." Pretend you never heard of it. Matheson is one of the legendary kings of science fiction, right up there alongside Ray Bradbury. He wrote the screenplays for about a quarter of the original Twilight Zone series shows. His writing style is fluid, literate, and very easy to read. "I Am Legend" is about Robert Neville, a regular but smart kinda guy in the 1970s who watches the population of Earth die around him, infected by a world-wide plague which cannot be stopped. Somehow, he's not sure, he is immune. His friends and family die. Bodies are burned in huge pits until even those doing the burning die. Society shuts down. Some of the dead return as living zombies, who hide and sleep during the day and come out at night to raise Hell.. He spends his days combing the empty streets of Los Angeles for clues, for supplies, food, gasoline, to take back to his suburban home which he's turned into a sealed fortress, and looking for the undead into whose hearts he drives wooden stakes that he tediously grinds himself on a lathe. He rummages libraries to read medical texts for clues as to what it all means. At night when the undead come out to taunt him, he hides in his home, cranking up his hifi to shut out the noise of their howling. He's the last man on Earth, as far as he knows. How long can he last? How long can he keep his sanity in this totally insane world? Are there any other normal people out there or is he totally alone? Read this short novel and you will never forget it. Perhaps it'll become your favorite, as it became mine the first time I picked it up in the 1960s.

I am astonished at the fact that this novel recieved any bad reviews. I can understand the fact that some readers felt cheated by the fact that the book included short stories after the novel, but this was simply an added bonus for any Matheson fans. Enough about other ratings, now I'll explain why I feel the book deserves five stars.

The idea of the book alone is enough to make you try reading it. A plague has turned the Earth's humans into vampires, and there is only one man left.

After hearing this idea some readers may be thinking that it sounds silly, or has been done before, but belive me; nothing like this has ever been done before. For many vampire novels, the author simply gives the vampires the traditional powers and weaknesses, (crosses, garlic, etc.) but Richard Matheson goes so far as to explain why all this is true. The explanations he gives, though they may seem far-fetched, are extremely plausible when Matheson describes them. It seems as if Matheson did a lot of scientific research for this novel, because his explanations of DNA are terrific.

Finally, don't read this novel if you're just looking for a normal horror novel. Read it if you're looking for an intelligent, suspenseful tale of a world overtaken by vampires.

I really would like to avoid being lynched. That said, here's my history. I first heard about Somewhere in Time in an article in a newspaper about 8 years ago. I noticed the actual filming was done at Macinac Island, a place I had visited as a child. Fascinated, I rented the movie and fell in love with it. I've watched it several times and recently introduced a friend to it who hunted down the book.

After finishing it and discussing it with her, I came to this conclusion: while the book was more intellectually satisfying, it was a failure as a romance. I never believed Elise's emotions, but maybe I can't really connect to a 1896 mind. Intellectually it's a better conundrum; the mystery and the mechanics of the time travel are explored more fully but at the sacrifice of the emotional story.

I have read books with a much more engaging, endearing romance portrayed than Elise and Richard's quiet desperation. Somehow in the process of making the time travel more believable, for me at least, Matheson lost the emotional truth. The characters seemed confined and two-dimensional. I think the book and movie together are a beautiful complete picture, but the romance for me will always be in the movie.

It's 1971, and 36 year-old Richard Collier, dying of a brain tumor, decides to spend his final days traveling the country. On the flip of a coin, he travels toward San Diego, and happens upon an old hotel. There he finds the captivating photograph of a young actress, Elise McKenna, who performed at the hotel in 1896. "... the most gloriously lovely face I have ever seen in my life. I've fallen in love with her." He decides to research everything he can about her, and the more he learns, the more deeply he falls in love with her, and the more deeply convinced he is that; he has been to her time, and that he has had a relationship with her. The 1980 movie, Somewhere In Time, starring Christopher Reeve, Jane Seymour, and Christopher Plummer, was based upon this 1975 novel by Richard Matheson. Though the dates and locations have been changed in the screenplay, also written by Matheson, the movie pretty much follows the book. The novel's pulls on the heartstrings, however, is even more intense, and the ending to the novel is much more tragic. For those who like romantic tragedy, this could possibly be the greatest ever written.

I first read the paperback version of "Bid Time Return" in the mid to late 70's when I was sick in bed with a fever, which may have affected my delusion that this was an actual biography - not a novel. Mr. Matheson had me completely enthralled, and wanting to believe that this story had really happened. Disappointed to learn that this was merely fiction, my next goal was to perpetuate this wonderful dream by actually visiting Hotel Del Coronado, which I did - several times. Being there only added to the wonderful atmosphere established by the book. I was thrilled when I learned that it would be made into a movie, but disappointed when I actually saw it. The main problem was that it was set in Michigan, not Coronado Island. And though the hotel was beautiful, it was just not the same. After all, Hotel del Coronado was obviously well loved and researched by Mr. Matheson and was perhaps a distant third in importance after the two main characters, Richard and Elise. Also the movie was set roughly 10 years after the novel's time period. I did love the musical score, but felt Mahler's compositions should have been included, as detailed in the book. After this book, I wanted to learn all I could about Richard Matheson, and later bought "What Dreams May Come", and liked it too, but nothing could match "Bid Time Return". I never read "The Shrinking Man", but understand that in this case the movie did live up to the book. (I remember seeing that and being deeply impressed by it back in the '50's when I was a teenager.) While searching the internet, I see there are many fans of "Somewhere in Time" and can't help but wonder how many of them read the original book. I'm interested in reading "Memories of Elise", as I would naturally want to know what happened to her after Richard disappeared before her eyes. (He touched on it when he saw her as an old woman at a small party when he was in college.) But again, since it was patterned after the movie, and not the book, I'm not sure what my response would be. I agree with Mr. Matheson, there couldn't ever be a sequel, as much as his readers would long to keep the story going somehow.

"Hell House" is you typical haunted house story. A reclusive millionaire hires a group of 3 people to investigate a huanted house. A physicist and his wife, a physical medium, and a mental medium. The group soon begins to discover that something is going on within the walls of this house. The group slowly begins to loose cohesion and the evil of the house begins to attack them.

I picked up "Hell House" because I loved "I Am Legend" so much i thought I'd give Matheson another try. I can't say I did'nt enjoy the book but i was dissapointed. The book is very well writen and keeps you reading page after page with anticipation. The one and only complaint I have about "Hell House" is the ending. I agree with another reviewer that it feels as though Matheson simply ran out of ideas and scrapped something together. Despite the bad ending i recommend this book to anyone who is not easily offended, as there are parts involving graphic sexual descriptions and a rather sick afront of christianity and the crucifix.

I was in the mood for some nostalgia the other day and remembered a fantastic scary movie I'd seen when I was about twelve starring Roddy McDowell and the perpetually naked Pamela Franklin called 'The Legend of Hell House'. Since it's nearly impossible to find in video stores I decided to read the book it was based on instead and picked this up. Granted, my inner child is not the most reliable source of information (I caught 'Jack the Giant Killer', what it rated as my 'favorite' childhood movie, on tv the other day and was so appalled we're still not on speaking terms) so I didn't open up the cover with the highest of expectations.

Fan-freaking-tastic is all I have to say. Now I'm not rating this as how it compares to Shakespeare, but rather judging it on what it is: pulp. And as pulp horror goes this is a fun jaunt through scary house land. All the requisite elements are here: creepy fog, seance gone wrong, spirit-sensitive cat, sole survivor of previous attempted exorcism, and the paranormally clueless character that gives the author a reason to explain everything to you. Plus, it being the seventies and all, you get the added sex and open perversion earlier books of this kind had to leave out.

I know most horror connouseurs consider 'The Shining' as the book by which all other haunted house tales are judged but I never liked that novel much anyway ('Blasphemy!' The review readers cry. 'Burn the heretic!'). When I pick up a horror novel I want to be scared or uncomfortable or made to feel at least *something* and when you pick up a hefty Stephen King you have to break it into pieces which ruins any suspense you might get. With Hell House you can just dive in, get your scares, and crawl out again all in the space of a single sitting. No fuss, no muss, and the intended impact stays intact.

So four stars for Hell House and all its' campy, seventies pulp-porn glory. It might not make anyone's top horror list (myself included) but it will give you a few hours of rainy-day/snowed in/beach weekend entertainment and for that you will be grateful.

'Hell House' is, oddly enough, a psychological horror with a healthy amount of blood loss mixed in. The reader is immersed with the mystery of the Belasco house and, more importantly, the quirks of its late, sadistic owner. Matheson provides a rich, in-depth history of the house which pulls in the reader and provides just enough clues to incite conclusions, but not enough to reveal the ending.

To summarize, the story encircles the excursion of a skeptical doctor, his wife, a devout religious medium, and a survivor of the Hell House and their personal pursuits within the walls of Belasco's playpen. The house itself has had a terrible history involving everything from sexual immorality, twisted menageries, disease, torture, suicide, and the occult. Our four heroes enter the house with little intrusions and are introduced to the typical haunts: rocking chairs, jangling lights, closing windows, and cryptic words. However, Belasco is a far more sophiscated ghost and, eventually, tears the the characters' confidence into shreds via psychological corruption and manipulation, leaving them open to self-destruction.

A thrill to read, but one finds little time to relate to characters in the pace Matheson has set, and the momentum the author starts off with dies out far too quickly near the end, almost making the suspense before not worth it. As a side note, this book is not for the faint of heart or light of stomach.