The Best of Richard Matheson by Richard Matheson

"Groundbreaking for its time, Matheson's stories still hold their horror and suspense even into the 21st century. He's a truly master at suspense and leaving you feeling helpless and alone, which is exactly what you're hoping for when reading Horror Fiction."

4 Stars.

Pros: There were definitely some stand out stories in this collection and I can see why Matheson has a reputation for being groundbreaking in the Horror fiction genre.

Cons: The problem with collections of short stories, is near the end, it all starts to feel similar.

Full Review:

I've always heard of Richard Matheson but have never taken the time to read any of his works. I'm glad I finally did. He was and still is, ground breaking for his time. His works, dealing mainly with Science Fiction, space travel and a smattering of horror, are all original, eerie, spine chilling and some even manage to pull at your heartstrings and make you teary eyed.

A few stand outs in this collection were Where There's A Will, Dance of the Dead, The Last Day, Long Distance Call and No Such Thing as a Vampire. Many people know some of Matheson's works, since at least two of his short stories, "Third from the Sun" and "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" were made into "Twilight Zone" episodes.

He's not afraid to dig into the arcane, the obscure, the stranger, darker parts of human life and explore what it is that makes us tick, or more accurately, what it is that scares us and makes us feel helpless and alone. Though by the end of the book, I was ready for it to be done, since you can only read so many short stories at once before they all start kind of blurring together, overall I really enjoyed this collection. It was good to sit and read and be truly, properly terrified. It was fun, in a dark and twisted sort of way, which I'm sure is exactly what Matheson was aiming for.

Comments

Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury

"Obviously targeted to writers but honestly, anyone could benefit from Bradbury's practical yet poetic advice, this was a collection of esasys by Bradbury about his writing process and reflections on some of his greatest works." ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Pros: Bradbury, duh, though I'm biased, to me, the man's prose is pure poetry, every word beautiful/Since writing is not my career, it was an interesting way to view Bradbury's life. Writing was his job and he was the only income. If he did not produce material, he would not get paid. It help put things into perspective. Cons: The man can go on for a bit 😂/Bradbury's insane work ethic and endless endurance to just produce story after story seems insane and overwhelming but then again, this was his livelihood, so I'm sure it was insane and overwhelming. If he didn't write and get paid, they'd starve, so, it was a life or death situation. Full Review: This was essentially a collection of essays written by Bra...

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick

“Rick Deckard is a Bounty Hunter who's on the trail of six "Andys" (Androids) who have come to Earth illegally. His job is to track them down and "retire" them. Something he found easy to do until he met her, Rachael Rosen. The Android that does the impossible, passes the "Voight-Kampff" test. The story quickly devolves into a slow, drawn out and frankly boring mystery that was putting me to sleep by the end." ⭐⭐ Pros: I was more interested in comparing it to the film, "Bladerunner."/At first I kind of liked the drab, dreary atmostphere but it soon became soporific. Cons: I had no real idea what was going on with Mercerism/The end there had me blinking in bewilderment, like with Herbert's 29th Dune Book/There was a lot of idle chit-chat while they were in murderous/intense situations, it just seemed odd. Full Review: Rick Deckard, a Bounty Hunter, contracted with the San Francisco Police Department hunts down and retires rogue ...

Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King

“The tale of Andy Dufresne and how he served his time at Shawshank prison, as told through the eyes of his friend and fellow inmate, Red. Dark and disturbing but also compulsively readbale. I finished it in 2 days. Also enjoyable is Frank Darabont's 1994 film adaptation, "The Shawshank Redemption." ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Pros : Red has a soothing, drawl, making the reading easy and flowing/Since I saw the film first, I couldn't help but compare the book though I was pleased to find that the two were very similar. Cons : Things got a bit rambling a bit at the beginning/Since I saw the film first I couldn't help but compare the book but this ended up not being a con. Full Review: The state of Maine has a prison. Shawshank Redemption. And Red is the guy that can get you things. He also happens to be the only guilty man in Shawshank but that's netiher here nor there. He meets Andy Dufresne for business purposes at first and he finds him to be a calm, cool man and Red likes him i...

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