Best Selling Books by Richard Matheson

Richard Matheson''s bestselling novel, What Dreams May Come, the basis for the hit movie starring Robin Williams, touched numerous readers with its convincing portrait of life after death, based on years of research and personal reflection. Like that earlier book, The Path is a work of inspirational fiction that comes straight from Matheson''s own deeply held beliefs about spirituality and true nature of existence. The story of one man''s encounter with an enigmatic stranger who imparts to him ten lessons about the true realityof the soul; The Path is not so much a novel as a philosophical dialogue about life and the afterlife. Everyone who read What Dreams May Come and wants to know more about Matheson''s personal philosophy should take a walk along . . . The Path.

Richard Matheson''s censor and unproduced script for his classic novel I AM LEGEND.

The year is 1890 and Woodrow Mulligan, a janitor, (portrayed by silent film star Buster Keaton) uses a time helmet invented by his boss to travel ahead to 1962. After deciding 1962 is no better than 1890, he attempts to return but realizes the helmet has been damaged. Rollo, an electronic scientist, offers to help by taking the helmet to a repair shop. However, after it is fixed, Woodrow realizes that Rollo wants to use the helmet himself... This popular long-running series centered around paranoia, uncertainty and bizarre events, often with a wicked sense of humor and an unexpected twist. Series creator Rod Serling called The Twilight Zone, "a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man... a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It lies between the pit of man''s fears, and the summit of his knowledge".

Three space travelers investigate a strange reflection only to discover their own crashed ship.

Businessman Arthur Curtis finds his phone dead. He is then surprised to hear a voice yell, "Cut!" and see that his office is just a set on a soundstage. Everyone tells him that he is Jerry Raigan, a drunken movie star on the decline, and "Arthur Curtis" is a character Raigan is playing. Curtis drives to where his home should be, but finds no evidence of his life. Raigan''s agent, thinking his client is having a nervous breakdown, tells Curtis not to worry about returning to the set, the picture has been cancelled and the sets are being dismantled. Curtis realizes that the last link to his world is about to be destroyed... This popular long-running series centered around paranoia, uncertainty and bizarre events, often with a wicked sense of humor and an unexpected twist. Series creator Rod Serling called The Twilight Zone, "a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man... a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It lies between the pit of man''s fears, and the summit of his knowledge".

Reproductions of scripts and screenplays, short stories, and a novel, along with introductions, photos, cast, and credits.

"Sports item, circa 1974: Battling Maxo, B2, heavyweight, accompanied by his manager and handler, arrives in Maynard, Kansas, for a scheduled six-round bout. Battling Maxo is a robot, or, to be exact, an android, definition: ''an automaton resembling a human being.'' Only these automatons have been permitted in the ring since prizefighting was legally abolished in 1968. This is the story of that scheduled six-round bout, more specifically the story of two men shortly to face that remorseless truth: that no law can be passed which will abolish cruelty or desperate need - nor, for that matter, blind animal courage. Location for the facing of said truth a small, smoke-filled arena just this side of the Twilight Zone". This popular long-running series centered around paranoia, uncertainty and bizarre events, often with a wicked sense of humor and an unexpected twist. Series creator Rod Serling called The Twilight Zone, "a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man... a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It lies between the pit of man''s fears, and the summit of his knowledge".

After her parents are killed in a fire, Ilse (portrayed in the episode by a young Ann Jillian) is taken in by the town Sheriff and his wife. She was, it seems, an experiment to her parents and is believed to be mute. A teacher eventually discovers that Ilse is telepathic and conducts an unusual experiment where her entire class thinks the same thoughts directed at Ilse... This popular long-running series centered around paranoia, uncertainty and bizarre events, often with a wicked sense of humor and an unexpected twist. Series creator Rod Serling called The Twilight Zone, "a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man... a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It lies between the pit of man''s fears, and the summit of his knowledge".

Armchair Fiction presents classic mystery-crime double novels. The first novel is "Fury on Sunday" by Richard Matheson. It was an orgy of blood. He drove the jagged glass into Harry''s eyes. And he ran. He hadn''t wanted to kill Harry. But Harry was in his way. And nobody must be in his way. Not until he had got to Ruth, his Ruth. But before he found Ruth, there was the subway guard, and suddenly there was blood on both of them, and the guard was dead. He hadn''t wanted to kill the guard, but... But he had to kill them all. All the damnable interfering slime who kept pushing at him and telling him what to do and making him so confused and so mad. And then he had Ruth in front of him, in the bedroom, and he knew what he wanted, but they wouldn''t let him, they wouldn''t let him. And he had to kill again... The second novel is "The Agony Column" by Earl Derr Biggers. In this classic thriller by the man who gave us Charlie Chan, a young American visiting London, Geoffrey West, comes to a posh London hotel for breakfast. During his meal, West checks the personal ads in the London Daily Mail''s "Agony Column," which feature all sorts of over-the-top romantic correspondences. His breakfast is interrupted by the arrival of a beautiful American girl who is seated a few feet away from his table. He notices that the girl is also engrossed in the same column. Soon West has written a letter to the beautiful American, to be posted in the Agony Column in the hope of catching her eye and serving as the medium for their introduction. As luck will have it, she reads the letter and responds. A series of letters then commence between the two and before long a maze of perplexing circumstances arise, and soon interwoven into their writings is an all too real murder mystery.

"Button, Button", the chilling tale of greed and temptation, is now the basis for The Box, the new film from writer/director Richard Kelly. In addition, this outstanding collection contains many other unforgettable stories by Richard Matheson, the award-winning author of I Am Legend and What Dreams May Come.

Des enfants différents, vampires ou mutants, des maisons piégées, des jeux d''illusions mortels, une télévision qui ne se contente pas de manger votre temps... Ce premier des cinq volumes composant l''intégrale des nouvelles de Matheson - présentées dans l''ordre de leur composition et dans des traductions nouvelles ou soigneusement revues - correspond au tout début de la carrière de l''auteur. Il s''attaquait alors indifféremment au fantastique ou à la science-fiction, mais en leur imprimant sa marque : une concision qui transforme certains récits en véritables coups de poing, une recherche de variété dans les formes narratives, un investissement personnel dans les thèmes abordés (à la manière de Philip K. Dick qui débute à peu près à la même époque), une évacuation du surnaturel gothique au profit de celui qui naît de nos angoisses et de nos névroses, une vision du monde frappée au coin du macabre et du sarcastique. Avec ces textes naissait l''inventeur de la terreur moderne. Celui que Stephen King salue comme son maître.

Un bord de mer désert, hors saison, sur la côte est des Etats-Unis. Un chalet de vacances isolé. Un couple en crise venu là dans l''espoir de retrouver une harmonie. Ellen est nouée par la rancœur d''avoir été trahie, David est rongé par sa culpabilité : la comédie de la réconciliation est difficile à jouer. D''autant plus difficile qu''une mystérieuse beauté rôde dans les parages, sapant les bonnes intentions du mari repenti. Qui est cette Marianna dont chaque apparition fait flamber la sensualité de David ? Une voisine en quête d''aventure ? La projection des fantasmes érotiques d''un homme mal dans sa peau ? Ou une créature surnaturelle qui hante les lieux comme une araignée dans sa toile, attirant tous les hommes de passage dans un piège fatal ?

Un homme qui voit soudain s''effacer tous les repères de son existence, une brèche vers un autre univers sous le canapé du salon, de sournoises invasions extraterrestres, l''humanité face à son dernier jour, une voix d''outre-tombe au téléphone... Ce deuxième des cinq volumes composant l''intégrale des nouvelles de Matheson - présentées dans l''ordre de leur composition et des traductions nouvelles ou soigneusement revues - correspond encore aux débuts fort prolifiques de l''auteur, puisqu''il couvre les seules années 1952-1953. Que ce soit dans le domaine du fantastique, de la science-fiction ou du suspense (Matheson commence alors à écrire pour les revues policières), il s''impose comme un maître de l''inquiétude et de la terreur en des récits denses, très variés dans l''approche narrative, aux chutes qui laissent pantois. Il traduit surtout à merveille, déjà, la grande maladie des temps modernes : la paranoïa. Ray Bradbury, un connaisseur, le salue ici comme un écrivain qui " transcende toutes les étiquettes ".

"The best original anthology of the 1980s." --The Scream Factory Cimarron Street Books is please to bring SILVER SCREAM back into print for the first time in over 30 years! Please take your seat for the midnight show ... They''re all here from the heyday of splatterpunk, in the first and best anthology of cinema horror--the ultimate haunted theatre of the imagination, showcasing grindhouses, 3-for-1 fleapits, porn castles, werewolf-circuit drive-ins, snuff movies, peep shows, fly-by-night video rental shacks, has-been actors, never-was ingenues, Tinseltown burnouts, film cults, immortal stars, film school dorks, media mutants, and even that bastard little brother, television ... Edited by David J. Schow, with a Special Introduction by Tobe Hooper (Director of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), and featuring stories by: Mark Alan Arnold, Clive Barker, Robert Bloch, Steven R. Boyett, Edward Bryant, Ramsey Campbell, John M. Ford, Mick Garris, Ray Garton, Joe R. Lansdale, Richard Christian Matheson, Robert R. McCammon, Jay Sheckley, John Skipp, Craig Spector, Karl Edward Wagner, Chet Williamson, F. Paul Wilson and Douglas E. Winter! Here''s what reviewers are saying about SILVER SCREAM: "Schow has assembled an exceptional anthology--exceptional, excellent, clever, tense and well done. Among the very best!" --Publisher''s Weekly "It''s one of the most entertaining, stimulating and absolutely justified theme anthologies in years." --Locus "Bound to fulfill you no matter what your leanings. Not a lame (story) in the bunch, demonstrating Schow''s editorial eye is as sharp as his prose." --The Horror Show "Easily one of the best anthologies to come along in years." --Mystery Scene "This collection of movie-industry-related horror stories falls into the category of Things That, If They Did Not Exist, It Would Be Necessary to Invent ... if you''re tired of the same old creaking-straircase horror fiction, and want some stories with some meat in them (and I use that term unhesitantly), this is the anthology for you." --Midnight Grafitti "A fine mixture of 20 stories put together in such a way that the entire book reads like an anthology film, right from the introduction by director Tobe Hooper to the end credits and final dedication. For his first time out as an editor, award-winning short story writer and novelist David J. Schow scores a direct bull''s-eye with SILVER SCREAM." --Fangoria "One of the year''s best anthologies." --Castle Rock