# Richard Matheson Appreciation Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 12, 2004, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-matheson-appreciation-thread/264102 "2004-09-12T02:57:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ecks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bcef8e/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ecks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ecks)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2004, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-matheson-appreciation-thread/264102/1 "2004-09-12T02:57:53Z")
Discussion on the “Scariest Monster” thread made me decide to start this one. Who is Richard Matheson? He probably gave you nightmares and you don’t even know it- Who created that creepy fetish doll? Richard Matheson Who put the gremlin on the wing of the plane? Matheson Who wrote Steven Speilberg’s first film, Duel? Richard Matheson Remember Hell House? Matheson. Stir of Echos? Ditto Is that all? Heck no. Robin Williams did What Dreams May Come, a Matheson fantasy. The Incredible Shrinking Man was his, too. When they adapted The Martian Chronicals for TV, Matheson wrote the screenplay. I am Legend, a great Matheson short novel, has been turned into a movie twice- The Last Man on Earth, with Vincent Price, and The Omega Man with Charlton Heston. Neither version did the book justice- it’s truly scary on physical, psychological, and philosophical levels. It may be remade again. I could go on, but you get the idea. He’s still alive, still working. You’ve see his work on screen- now read the originals. You won’t be disappointed. ---
**Author:** ![Krisfer\_the\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Krisfer\_the\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krisfer_the_Cat)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2004, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-matheson-appreciation-thread/264102/2 "2004-09-12T03:25:14Z")
My father hunted for LITERALLY years to find a copy of Hell House. Which my illiterate little brother stole when he died and pawned, so I’ve not read it. BUT! I read _Graveyard Shift_ about a year ago and it still gives me nightmares. The format is fantastic : told completely in letters the story unfolds so gradually you don’t realize what has happened until the last paragraph when he drops a very carefully worded bomb on the readers head. There’s a thread on SDMB about how visceral Chuck Palaniuck’s writing is but this story got me in the gut in away Palaniuck didn’t and went straight to my soul in sheer horror. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Ed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Just\_Ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Ed)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2004, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-matheson-appreciation-thread/264102/3 "2004-09-12T04:47:10Z")
_I Am Legend_ was the first I’d read of his stuff - fantastic story. But I’ll always remember him as part of the holy trinity of _The Twilight Zone_, along with Charles Beaumont, and (of course) Rod Serling. ---
**Author:** ![rolandgunslinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cdc98d/32.png) [@rolandgunslinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rolandgunslinger)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2004, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-matheson-appreciation-thread/264102/4 "2004-09-12T05:45:21Z")
> [@Quixotic](#): > > _I Am Legend_ was the first I’d read of his stuff - fantastic story. But I’ll always remember him as part of the holy trinity of _The Twilight Zone_, along with Charles Beaumont, and (of course) Rod Serling. Ditto on _I am legend_ I loved that book! ---
**Author:** ![High\_Cheese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8797f3/32.png) [@High\_Cheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/High_Cheese)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2004, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-matheson-appreciation-thread/264102/5 "2004-09-12T05:50:07Z")
Oh. I so loved him in Fletch. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2004, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-matheson-appreciation-thread/264102/6 "2004-09-12T06:33:47Z")
He also wrote the first _Night Stalker_ movie, IIRC. I’ve got 8 of his anthologies, and two novels, and he’s well worth reading.