Richard Matheson has certainly written some of the most classic and well known masterpieces throughout his career, many of which are short stories. Usually with a Matheson anthology the title story is superb (such as with
Duel: Terror Stories By Richard Matheson) and the rest are just fillers and to be honest are very average stories. Those coming across Button, Button Uncanny Stories will be pleased to know that the majority are of not only readable but fairly high quality. The only thing though this collection lacks is a masterpiece, there's nothing of the quality of Duel, or
The Shrinking Man,
I Am Legend or
Nightmare At 20,000 Feet in this collection.
All short stories within, with the exception of Button, Button, (this anthology's title story) were all originally published in the 1950s or early 1960s. Button, Button is no new work either it first appeared in 1970. Trying to track down a lot of these Matheson gems today would be pretty difficult and expensive so it's good to see publishers republishing old work together for the first time in new anthologies.
So what are the stories about?
Button, Button - is more of a philosophical question than a story as other than the characters coping with the dilemma of being asked if they would push the button on a device delivered to their home which will give them $50 000 at the expense of someone they don't know being killed every time they push it. There is really not much substance to this story, it is actually one of the weaker stories of this collection simply because other than the what would you do aspect, nothing much happens after that.
Girl of My Dreams - has a woman who can see the future deaths of people. A loser guy sees her as his ticket to wealth and hot women by blackmailing those close to those she sees to hand over cash in exchange for the information so they can protect the ones they love.
Dying Room Only - is an interesting little tale. A married couple stop in an isolated town's service station to get something to eat. Both use the bathrooms as their food is cooking but the husband never comes out. What happened to him? You'll need to read and find out.
A Flourish of Strumpets - does show its age a bit but remembering when it was written (1956) and picturing that time period as the setting makes it brilliant. A conservative husband and wife answer the door to a prostitute who is bringing herself to her customers rather than wait on street corners and is after business. Appalled this couple ring the police who aren't that helpful. The husband soon learns his neighbours aren't as appalled by the daily visits of a different woman each day as he and his wife are.
No Such Thing as a Vampire - is certainly no I am Legend quality wise but still a worthwhile read. A women awakens to find puncture marks on her neck. No matter what vampire remedies and precautions are taken she is still bitten every night. Servants leave, the town fears they will be next when the vampire has finished with her. The husband is an unbeliever in vampires, there is no such thing as vampires surely!
Pattern for Survival - I reread this three and half page story twice and still have no idea what the point of it is. A popular writer gets another story published in a magazine, that's it.
Mute - Fire destroys an isolated house. A boy is later found to have in the woods having escaped. Remarkably he cannot speak. How did he escape the fire and why can he not speak? One of the few average reads in this anthology.
Creeping Terror - LA is alive! Citrus trees start growing where they shouldn't be, people dress for and start heading to the beach on foot in places where there is no beach. This story of LA expanding and taking over the world is written in the style of a paper written for assessment in a university class complete with footnotes. Easily other than Pattern for Survival the most average story in here.
Shock Wave - About an organ in a church which is old and some want to destroy and get rid of. An old man is infuriated that they want to get rid of his old girl which he knows is alive.
Clothes Make the Man - A man who is really into clothes finds that one day his clothes went to work without him. Also to his dismay his wife finds his clothes without him hold more sex appeal than he does inside them.
The Jazz Machine - is a story written as lyrics justifying why they broke a white man's jazz machine.
Tis the Season to be Jelly - A family talks as they begin to melt, their noses fall off and they fall apart.
