A Collection that is, in certain pieces, absolutely riveting

books:


	• Nightmare At 20,000 Feet: Horror Stories By Richard Matheson Richard Matheson Tor Books, 2002 - 336 pages average customer review:based on 17 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Timeless Tales

Most of these stories have stood and will continue to stand the test of time. "Nightmare at..." is still scary.

Matheson was (and maybe still is, haven't read his recent work to be perfectly honest) a master of creating creepy tales using a very simple, minimalist approach. His writing was not overly descrpitive, and he always managed to create suspense and hook the reader.

Some gems include, "The Distributor," "The Disappearing Act," and "Dance of the Dead."

A must have in any horror aficionado's collection.

Great short stories!

I wasn't aware of how much of Richard Matheson's short stories had percolated into my life until I read this book. Then I realized that he'd written one of the scariest segments on the original Twilight Zone, the movie.

That being said, I did enjoy this book a lot. The short stories reminded me of some of the early Stephen King short story collections like Nightshift. The stories here are dark, twisted and well executed.

The only reason why I didn't give this a 5 star was that some of the short stories are also published in "I Am Legend". I was disappointed to find several stories that I'd already read.

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Nightmare at 335 pages

The horrors conjured by Matheson - many of which spring from life's mundane, everyday elements - are perfectly represented in this collection. Stephen King's introduction says that Matheson came onto the scene "like a bolt of pure ozone lightning", and it's true - almost every story is a breathless, take-no-prisoners ride that reads quickly and delivers the goods.

From paranoia to depression to lust, Matheson knows how to quickly set the mood and draw the reader in. Every story here accomplishes that.

I was only disappointed that the collection didn't include "Duel", as the back cover claims.

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A Collection that is, in certain pieces, absolutely riveting

Richard Matheson penned strikingly resonant short fictions of horror, fantasy, and science fiction, the best of which he produced during the 1950s up until the early 1960s. During this period of production, Matheson's themes of alienation and of a method, through alienation, in which our perception of reality can be blurred or transfigured to the point that nightmarish improbabilites manifest themselves as physical forces that are very real and very threatening.

This collection showcases some of Matheson's best short fiction but is certainly not "all thriller and no filler". I rate the collection five stars because the stories that are worthy of considerable attention are some of best examples of American short fiction in any genre or study. Half of the stories, however, fall incredibly short of the same worthiness.

The best of the collection showcases Matheson's ability to transcend the horror genre to illustrate the dreadful aspects of the American experience.
"The Distributor" is the finest story in the collection. Published in 1958, it still grips the reader today. Matheson utilizes a minimalist writing style to brilliant effect in a story about the random element of a disciplined sadist named Theodore disrupting the rational order of a typical American neighborhood when his small, purposeful actions cull much larger prejudices and hidden hatred from the neighborhood residents.

"Legion of Plotters" is on an equal level with "The Distributor" in written execution. It deals directly with alienation as a solitary man is driven to unreasonable means of explaining the common, everyday annoyances of American life. Like "The Distributor", the story is carried swiftly to a perfectly executed climax and an ending expression that our lives are, in fact, governed by forces beyond our control.

"The Likeness of Julie", "First Anniversary" and "Disappearing Act" round out the best stories in the collection. All three explore a character's struggle once beset by an unexplainable set of circumstances. Unlike "Legion of Plotters" or "The Distributor", these stories use supernatural reasoning to explain the improbable circumstances. All three feature male protagonists that, in "The Likeness of Julie", force themselves to act upon buried desires; or, in "First Anniversary", are confronted by a discovery that living the dream of the good life may, in fact, be a nightmare; or, in "Disappearing Act", the existential terror of falling out of existence alltogether.

The other notable stories of the collection are: The title story, "Prey", "Mad House", "Blood Son", and "Long Distance Call". Though these stories may seem standard or tired today, it must be remembered that Matheson was the spark that initiated the countless imitations on these themes and plot elements.

The title story is the strongest of this final group. It is related to "The Likeness of Julie" in that it concerns a protagonist that is confronted with the unexplainable and is provoked to fateful action on account of it.
"Prey" is effective in evoking horror but falls short of transcending to greater thematic heights.
"Mad House" is not only horrifies but packs a considerable emotional punch by the final portion of the story. The only flaw is that the story is much too long as well as "Disappearing Act" displaying the common theme more powerfully.
"Blood Son" is original and well written but builds to a predictable and unwarranted ending.
"Long Distance Call" is very well written and builds on themes of alienation and isolation as well as any other Matheson fiction. The story feels very much like a Bradbury tale, "The Emissary" perhaps, and builds to a shocking and sudden ending that has been shamelessly ripped by subsequent writers countless times.

Little of the positive can be said of the remaining stories in the collection.
"Dress of White Silk" is generally uninteresting and Matheson's style of a child narrating the horror was more skillfully achieved in the earlier "Born of Man and Woman", a piece found in his other collection, Duel.
Several stories are ideas or situations that are never fully realized in the light of Matheson's short narratives. As a result, the stories seem terribly formula-based and contrived. Among these are "The Holiday Man", "Wet Straw", "Crickets", "Old Haunts", "Witch War" and "The Children of Noah".

"Slaughterhouse" is an uninspired effort in the tradition of H.P. Lovecraft. "Through Channels" and "Dance of the Dead" are stylish pieces that lack tension due to their sylish construction.

On a final note, many of these stories inspired subsequent writers to the point that it is often forgotten that Matheson was the original seed. Stephen King borrowed endlessly from Matheson, most notably from "The Distributor" for his long novel, Needful Things. The killer fetish doll, from "Prey", is generally responsible for any killer doll treatment that followed. A final interesting observation is that Rod Serling, who borrowed greatly from Matheson for The Twilight Zone adaptations, took great liberties in adapting Matheson stories, like "Disappearing Act", for Twilight Zone episodes, like "And When the Sky Was Opened", but still credited Matheson except in the one case where it seemed to be the most obvious borrowing. The second season Twilight Zone episode "A Thing About Machines" is nearly identical to Matheson's "Mad House" but is not credited to the writer. This has always seemed odd to me since, by that point, Serling and Matheson were friends and frequent collaborators for the show. Anyway . . .

Though only half of the stories are truly worthy, the stories that are good are not only good, they are fantastic. Matheson's writing, at its best in many of these stories, is terse and effective. I highly recommend the collection for any reader looking for horror/suspense fiction that is thoroughly American, where the mundane of everyday life turns savage and dangerous, and transcendant of the genre itself. Though some of the themes and plots seem cliche by today's standards, the reader will soon discover that Matheson handled these better than anyone else.

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Wonderful

Richard Matheson's collection of stories in "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" is a wonderful journey into the weird and the strange. The majority of these stories were published in the 1950's, early in his career, and found in magazines such as Fantasy and Science Fiction and Weird Tales. The stories are still fresh and each has their own style and voice, making each story feel vibrant. Matheson has a unique ability to develop his characters very quickly and create believable situations out of the unbelievable.

Most of the stories in this collection use plots that rely on very ordinary and common elements that Matheson twists into anything but ordinary. Televisions are not what they seem, telephones become mediums for the dead, razors and dolls sometimes have minds of their own, and crickets can tell us something if anyone takes the time to listen. Even ordinary lives take on very disturbing action in terrific stories like Legion of Plotters and The Distributor. In Legion of Plotters, the daily annoyances of life take on frightening dimensions to one man who believes he is targeted by things such as a baby crying or a man sniffling on a bus. Matheson continues to break down the illusion of normalcy of life in my favorite story The Distributor. A quite functional suburban neighborhood will never be the same when the new neighbor moves in to distribute fear, mistrust and hatred.

The horrors in these stories are not overt, except for a few stories such as Blood Son, Slaughter House and First Anniversary. The stories are bizarre turns of the ordinary and the obsessions of Matheson's characters. Matheson's use of dialogue is terrific and he has a great ability to make us believe that these characters are not just losing their minds, but have stumbled upon some sort of cosmic abnormality in life that most of us can't see.

Breezy reading that keeps you guessing, from a really talented author that knows how to write one hell of a short story. My favorites in this collection include: Dress of White Silk (creepy), Disappearing Act (what if you never existed?), Legion of Plotters (is that sniffling man out to get you?), Long Distance Call (the telephone can be a menace), Dance of the Dead (Can you do the Loopy?), The Distributor (distributing misery) and First Anniversary (Do we know our spouses?). All good stuff.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4

Remember that monster on the wing of the airplane? William Shatner saw it on The Twilight Zone, John Lithgow saw it in the movie-even Bart Simpson saw it. "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" is just one of many classic horror stories by Richard Matheson that have insinuated themselves into our collective imagination.

Here are more than twenty of Matheson's most memorable tales of fear and paranoia, including:

"Duel," the nail-biting tale of man versus machines that inspired Steven Spielberg's first film;

"Prey," in which a terrified woman is stalked by a malevolent Tiki doll, as chillingly captured in yet another legendary TV moment;

"Blood Son," a disturbing portrait of a strange little boy who dreams of being a vampire;

"Dress of White Silk," a seductively sinister tale of evil and innocence.

Personally selected by Richard Matheson, the bestselling author of I Am Legend and What Dreams May Come, these and many other stories, more than demonstrate why he is rightfully regarded as one of the finest and most influential horror writers of our generation.

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