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32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
After you read this book, you will want more!, May 29, 2004
This review is from: Richard Matheson: Collected Stories, Vol. 1 (Paperback)
This little delicacy is the first of three collections of Matheson stories picked and arranged chronologically by publication date by Matheson himself. This volume covers 1950-1953 and contains 29 fabulous mind twisting and thought provoking stories from this writing icon. For a special splash of color, these are not just collected famous works, but also lesser known works from Matheson, which gives you a full course of Matheson for your palate. Included in this book are two introductions (1989 & 2003) from the author. The reason is that the collection was first printed in 1989 as a limited hardcover edition. It wasn't until recent times that the idea of a trade paperback came into fruition. Also included are tributes to Matheson by the following authors: Ray Bradbury, Robert Bloch, and William F. Nolan. Matheson has a knack of making you come full circle when reading his stories, and giving you that ending shock factor in a subtle way. The crème de la crème however, is that for the first time, after each of these fabulous stories, there are personal comments to the editor. I really enjoyed this aspect of the book, as you get to hear the story behind the story. Leave it to Matheson to give 110% Within each story is a different pace, atmosphere, characters, settings, and plots. As stated before, there are 29 different adventures that Matheson takes you through, so to give a general overview of these criteria would not be conducive to this review. I will say however, that in general you get the fill you are craving after reading each story. This book definitely gets 5 stars from me, Each story gives you an adventure that leaves you wanting more. The price on this baby is quite reasonable, so there is no excuse why you shouldn't run and buy it now. And just for the record, the other two vols. to follow will range through 1971. After you read this book, you will want more! I know I do!
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29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Lots of classic stories, May 21, 2006
This review is from: Richard Matheson: Collected Stories, Vol. 1 (Paperback)
Yeah, some of these stories are undeniably dated and there are a few that are a bit on the silly side, but this has got too many classic stories to give it anything less than 5 stars: There's Matheson's classic first story, 'Born of Man and Woman', about a mutant child, intriguingly written in broken, invented English; 'Blood Son' about another mad child who wants to be a vampire; 'Witch War', about telekinesis and the use of little girls as weapons; 'Through Channels' an unusual, innovative horror story presaging the tech-horror trend of modern times; 'F-' a nominal sci-fi/time-travel tale with a very amusing central conceit which I won't reveal; 'Death Ship', the inspiration for the classic 'Twilight Zone' episode of the same name; 'The Disinheritors' a clever story about slipping from reality into something else, and so on. Beyond all those stories I have two particular favorites, 'Legion of Plotters' and 'The Last Day'. The former is, as Matheson described it, the ultimate in paranoia, as our protagonist slowly determines that all the minor annoyances that come upon him are part of a vast conspiracy against him. 'The Last Day' is probably my very favorite story in the collection, and truly depressing but also kind of touching story about, you guessed it, the end of the world.
Anyway, I could just keep going on and on with specifics as there are still quite a few great stories here that I haven't mentioned, (such as `Lover, When You're Near Me', `Mad House', `Little Girl Lost' etc.) but you get the idea. Very cool stuff, check it out. (The latter two Matheson collections are very good as well, though this one is probably my favorite of the 3. They're all worth getting, definitely)
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Nobody Does It Better, April 23, 2004
This review is from: Richard Matheson: Collected Stories, Vol. 1 (Paperback)
Richard Matheson -- He Is Legend! For those of us lucky enough to own the Dream Press edition of Matheson's collected stories, waiting for these new editions to come out has been relatively easy, but for everyone else, your dreams have come true. You'll find the source material for some of the most classic episodes of "The Twilight Zone" in these pages, as well as other stories that read as if they were written in the present, rather than forty or fifty years ago. Matheson frequently lives in his own genre, somewhere between horror, fantasy, and science fiction, and his short stories are truly priceless. Treat yourself to this book and relish in Matheson's ability to put normal people in strange and often chaotic situations. For the young writers out there, pull up a chair and study -- you'll learn much of the mechanics of good storytelling from one of the greats. Then check out "I Am Legend" and see a master running at top speed.
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