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Nightmare At 20,000 Feet: Horror Stories By Richard Matheson
Richard Matheson

Tor Books, 2002 - 336 pages

average customer review:based on 19 reviews
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   highly recommended  highly recommended






Good ideas, but occasionally the prose falls flat

Good storytelling involves a complex interplay between style and subject matter. As a writer, Richard Matheson often plays down stylistic considerations, telling his stories in a very straightforward tone that sometimes verges on the monotonous. His prose tends to short sentences and straight descriptions, bereft of additional detail and layers of meaning that can provoke the reader's imagination or hint at deep emotional undercurrents. Therefore, his imagery can be less striking and his atmospheres less pervasive than those crafted by writers who employ slightly more elaborate (though not necessarily "flowery") prose styles. Still, his stories are usually strong enough to succeed in spite of his occasionally unexciting writing--see the chilling and influential tale entitled "Mad House" for one stunning example, whose presence can be felt in the works of later master horror writers such as Ramsey Campbell and Stephen King.


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Essential Reading!

This anthology belongs on the bookself of any self-proclaimed fan of horror fiction. Using a spartan writing style free of the usual tepid writing conventions that mar most of the genre, Matheson's stories are quite effective and get under the skin.

Matheson's stories are original and unique - and frightening. Skip the works of Stephen King and Dean Koontz, these stories are the work of a master storyteller and writer. An essential collection that belongs on the bookself of every horror fan.









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Excellent, masculine stories of sparkling, brilliant logic

"Nightmare at 20.000 Feet" is best proof that good science fiction, perhaps the best science fiction that can be written does not require ornamentation of language, flowery descriptions of mind-numbing length, artificial archaisms and myth rip-off. Snip: (...).


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A classic collection

His name might not be as big as Stephen King's or Dean Koontz's, but Richard Matheson is nonetheless a master of horror fiction. Even if the name is not familiar, his works are: the title story has been shown in both Twilight Zone the TV show and movie and even been spoofed on the Simpsons. Another story in the collection, Prey, has also become a TV horror classic as part of the 70's movie, Trilogy of Terror. Matheson is also the author of the Incredible Shrinking Man, What Dreams May Come, Somewhere in Time, Stir of Echoes and I Am Legend.

In this set of short stories, Matheson shows he is worth all the praise he is given. The weakest of these stories are merely good and the best are not only great, but classics. Besides his talent to create fantastic horror scenarios and true suspense, he also can leave you thinking at the end of the story. In many of these tales, you are never quite certain if there is something supernatural going on or if it is all imagined by the main character. This intentional ambiguity, done incorrectly can frustrate the reader but in Matheson's hands, it adds an extra level of depth.

If you enjoy horror fiction, this collection is a must. It gives you an opportunity to read one of the most important and underrated persons in the genre.


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reviews: 1, 2, 3, page 4



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