Well, I couldn’t have said it any better. Richard Matheson is one of the enduring influences on my writing (and reading). My introduction was watching ‘The Last Man on Earth’ in the late 60’s / early 70’s with Vincent Price. It was the best of the I Am Legend movie efforts, but no film has really captured that novel yet.
Anyway, thanks Richard, you will be sorely missed.
Written by: Matt Molgaard
Brilliant minds seem few and far between. There are a lot of powerful thinkers out there in the world, but few with the drive, determination and consistent showings of talent to earn the term legendary. Richard Matheson was one of the really rare individuals who not only deserved, but totally and completely earned that title. The man was absolutely brilliant, one of the strongest minds to ever dip his hands in the pot.
If you haven’t followed Matheson’s work over the years, you’ve been missing something truly special. Then again, if you’ve never read or seen any of Matheson’s material, maybe you’re anti-entertainment, in which case, you probably wouldn’t be reading this to begin with. Richard ruled the world of printed fiction for years, and he took that talent right to the screen. Big and small alike, Matheson wrote some amazing tales. His work on…
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Sitting in Darkness 
June 25th, 2013 at 6:43 pm
A couple of my favorites (in text and on the screen) are What Dreams May Come, and Somewhere in Time. And then Stir of Echoes, and The Incredible Shrinking Man, and… Sad to hear that Mr. Matheson is no longer writing for us, but I’m sure the angels are lined up waiting for his next heavenly story.
June 25th, 2013 at 10:24 pm
Hi SuzanneG-
Yes, he was an amazing writer. Inventive, but always imbuing his stories with a humane slant. Truly a giant.
June 26th, 2013 at 1:59 pm
Hell House. Definitely my Matheson favorite. I liked this quote I saw in an online piece today: “Asked if his father had a motto or a saying that he lived by, R. C. Matheson said that he had kept a sign above his desk that read, “That which you think becomes your world.”
June 26th, 2013 at 4:47 pm
Hi Annie – great quote.
My fav is still “I Am Legend” just because it messes with that whole good guy/bad guy thing and demonstrates so clearly how the side we’re on so totally informs what we believe to be so.
Plus Matheson mashes up zombie and vampire tropes and then ties it all up into a tight, post-apocalyptic bundle…well, what’s not to like?
June 26th, 2013 at 5:01 pm
Agreed.
“Robert Neville looked out over the new people of the earth. He knew he did not belong to them; he knew that, like the vampires, he was anathema and black terror to be destroyed.”
June 26th, 2013 at 5:12 pm
Right. Neville was the bogey man, hunting down and killing the new people while they slept through the day and then hunkering down and cowering when they rose to take the evening. Simply brilliant. And, keeping with the mood, you’ll notice how spare the narration is. It just underscores the bleak outlook for Neville’s future (not to mention his nasty present life!)