Richard Burton Matheson (born February 20, 1926) is an American author and screenwriter, primarily in the fantasy, horror, and science fiction genres. He is perhaps best known as the author of What Dreams May Come, Bid Time Return, Duel, and I Am Legend, all four of which have been adapted as major motion pictures. Matheson has also written for several The Twilight Zone television show episodes such as Nightmare at 20,000 feet.
Matheson was born in Allendale, New Jersey, the son of Norwegian immigrants Fanny (née Mathieson) and Bertolf Matheson, a tile floor installer. Matheson was raised in Brooklyn and graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School in 1943. He then entered the military and spent World War II as an infantry soldier. In 1949 he earned his bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Missouri and moved to California in 1951. He married in 1952 and has four children, three of whom (Chris, Richard Christian, and Ali Matheson) are writers of fiction and screenplays.
His first short story, "Born of Man and Woman", appeared in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1950 and is the tale of a monstrous child chained in its parents' cellar told in the first person as the creature's diary (in poignantly non-idiomatic English). Between 1950 and 1971, Matheson produced dozens of stories, frequently blending elements of the science fiction, horror and fantasy genres, making important contributions to the further development of modern horror.
Several of his stories, like "Third from the Sun" (1950), "Deadline" (1959) and "Button, Button" (1970) are simple sketches with twist endings; others, like "Trespass" (1953), "Being" (1954) and "Mute" (1962) explore their characters' dilemmas over twenty or thirty pages. Some tales, such as "The Funeral" (1955) and "The Doll that Does Everything" (1954) incorporate zany satirical humour at the expense of genre clichés, and are written in an hysterically overblown prose very different from Matheson's usual pared-down style. Others, like "The Test" (1954) and "Steel" (1956), portray the moral and physical struggles of ordinary people, rather than the then nearly ubiquitous scientists and superheroes, in situations which are at once futuristic and everyday. Still others, such as "Hell House" (1953), "The Curious Child" (1954) and perhaps most of all, "Duel" (1971) are tales of paranoia, in which the everyday environment of the present day becomes inexplicably alien or threatening. "Duel" was adapted for Steven Spielberg's first feature, the TV movie of that name.
He wrote 13 episodes for the American TV series The Twilight Zone, including "Steel" (mentioned above), and the famous "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet", plus "Little Girl Lost", a story about a young girl tumbling into the fourth dimension; adapted the works of Edgar Allan Poe for Roger Corman and Dennis Wheatley's The Devil Rides Out for Hammer Films. He also contributed a number of scripts to the Warner Brothers western series Lawman between 1958 and 1962. He wrote the Star Trek episode "The Enemy Within", considered one of the best. In 1973, Matheson earned an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for his teleplay for The Night Stalker, one of two TV movies written by Matheson that preceded the series The Night Stalker. Matheson also wrote the screenplay for Fanatic (US title: Die! Die! My Darling!) starring Talullah Bankhead and Stefanie Powers.
Matheson's first novel, Someone Is Bleeding, was published in 1953. His novels include The Shrinking Man (filmed as The Incredible Shrinking Man, again from Matheson's own screenplay), and a science fiction vampire novel, I Am Legend, (filmed as The Last Man on Earth (1964), The Omega Man (1971), and I Am Legend (2007)). Other Matheson novels turned into notable films include What Dreams May Come, Stir of Echoes, Bid Time Return (as Somewhere in Time), and Hell House (as The Legend of Hell House), the last two adapted and scripted by Matheson himself. Three of his short stories were filmed together as Trilogy of Terror (1975), including "Prey" (initially published in the April 1969 edition of Playboy magazine) with its famous Zuni warrior doll.Matheson's short story "Button, Button", was filmed as "The Box" (2009), and was also adapted for a 1986 episode of The Twilight Zone.
In 1960, Matheson published The Beardless Warriors, a nonfantastic, autobiographical novel about teenage American soldiers in World War II. It was filmed in 1967 as The Young Warriors though most of Matheson's plot was jettisoned. During the 1950s he published a handful of Western stories (later collected in By the Gun); and during the 1990s he published Western novels such as Journal of the Gun Years, The Gunfight, The Memoirs of Wild Bill Hickok and Shadow on the Sun. He has also written a blackly comic locked-room mystery novel, Now You See It..., aptly dedicated to Robert Bloch, and the suspense novels 7 Steps to Midnight and Hunted Past Reason.
Matheson cites specific inspirations for many of his works. Duel derived from an incident in which he and a friend, Jerry Sohl, were dangerously tailgated by a large truck on the same day as the Kennedy assassination. (However, there are similarities with a William M Robson script of the July 15, 1962 episode of the radio drama, Suspense: Snow on 66.) A scene from the 1953 movie Let's Do It Again in which Aldo Ray and Ray Milland put on each other's hats, one of which is far too big for the other, sparked the thought "what if someone put on his own hat and that happened," which became The Shrinking Man. Bid Time Return began when Matheson saw a movie poster featuring a beautiful picture of Maude Adams and wondered what would happen if someone fell in love with such an old picture. In the introduction to Noir: 3 Novels of Suspense (1997), which collects three of his early books, Matheson has said that the first chapter of his suspense novel Someone is Bleeding (1953) describes exactly his meeting with his wife Ruth, and that in the case of What Dreams May Come, "the whole novel is filled with scenes from our past."
According to film critic Roger Ebert, Matheson's scientific approach to the supernatural in I Am Legend and other novels from the 1950s and early 1960s "anticipated pseudorealistic fantasy novels like Rosemary's Baby and The Exorcist."
In 2010, Matheson was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame
Stephen King has listed Matheson as a creative influence and his novel Cell is dedicated to Matheson, along with filmmaker George A. Romero.
In the August 7, 2009, issue of Entertainment Weekly devoted to vampires, Anne Rice stated that when she was a child, Matheson's short story "A Dress Of White Silk", was a prime early influence on her interest in vampires and fantasy fiction.
Richard's son, Richard Christian Matheson, wrote a novel Created By, in which the hero's father is named Burt, a reference to Matheson senior's middle name.
Richard Christian Matheson adapted his father's short story "Dance of the Dead" for the TV series Masters of Horror. It was directed by Tobe Hooper and starred Robert Englund and Ryan McDonald.
He Is Legend: An Anthology Celebrating Richard Matheson edited by Christopher Conlon was released in a limited hardcover edition in February 2009. This book is an anthology of 16 original stories inspired by Matheson's works. Contributors include Nancy A. Collins, Joe R. Lansdale, Whitley Strieber, F. Paul Wilson, and Stephen King collaborating with his son, horror author Joe Hill. On Sept. 14, 2009, it was released in paperback.
In films
Richard Christian Matheson penned the screenplay for "Battleground" for the first segment of Stephen King's Nightmares & Dreamscapes. He paid homage to his father by including the Zuni fetish doll from the last segment of Trilogy of Terror in a scene.
M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening, about inexplicable mass suicide, has a parallel with Matheson's short story Lemmings, which is also about inexplicable mass suicide.
In television
A character named "Senator Richard Matheson" appeared in several episodes of The X-Files. The series' creator, Chris Carter, was a fan of Matheson's work on two series that influenced The X-Files (The Twilight Zone and The Night Stalker). Also, the TV series adaptation of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids had the Szalinski family relocating to the town of Matheson, Colorado.
In the Babylon 5 TV series, the episode "A Spider in the Web" mentions a ship called the Matheson as one of many requesting permission to leave the station.
The telepath "John Matheson" in Crusade was named in honour of Matheson.
A villain of the week on Burn Notice was named after Matheson.
Season 8 of Family Guy featured an episode titled The Splendid Source. Family Guy writer Mark Hentemann stated that the episode's plot was based on Matheson's short story of the same name.
In games and rides
Matheson St. in the Konami game Silent Hill, was named in his honour.
Homage to Matheson is paid daily by Disney Imagineers who distinctly included the chalk markings (which marked the portal wall from The Twilight Zone episode "Little Girl Lost") in the boiler-room area of the famous Disney thrill-ride "The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror".
I Am Legend (1954) filmed as The Last Man on Earth, The Omega Man & I Am Legend
The Shrinking Man (1956); filmed as The Incredible Shrinking Man and subsequently reprinted under that title; also the basis of the film The Incredible Shrinking Woman
A Stir of Echoes (1958); filmed as Stir of Echoes
Ride the Nightmare (1959); adapted as an episode of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
The Beardless Warriors (1960); filmed as The Young Warriors
Comedy of Terrors with Elsie Lee (1964); filmed as The Comedy of Terrors
Hell House (1971); filmed as The Legend of Hell House
The Night Stalker (1972); written with Jeff Rice
The Night Strangler (1973)
Bid Time Return (1975); filmed as Somewhere in Time and subsequently reprinted under that title
What Dreams May Come (1978); filmed as What Dreams May Come
Earthbound (editorially abridged version published under the pseudonym "Logan Swanson" 1982; restored text published under Matheson's own name 1989)
Journal of the Gun Years (1992)
The Gunfight (1993)
7 Steps to Midnight (1993)
Shadow on the Sun (1994)
Now You See It... (1995)
The Memoirs of Wild Bill Hickock (1996)
The Path: A New Look at Reality (1999)
Passion Play (2000)
Hunger and Thirst (2000)
Camp Pleasant (2001)
Abu and the 7 Marvels (2002)
Hunted Past Reason (2002)
Come Fygures, Come Shadowes (2003)
Woman (2006)
Short stories
"Born of Man and Woman" (1950)
"Third from the Sun" (1950); adapted as a Twilight Zone episode (1960)
"The Waker Dreams" (AKA "When the Waker Sleeps") (1950)
"Blood Son" (1951)
"Through Channels" (1951)
"Clothes Make the Man" (1951)
"Return" (1951)
"The Thing" (1951)
"Witch War" (1951)
"Dress of White Silk" (1951)
"F---" (AKA "The Foodlegger") (1952)
"Shipshape Home" (1952)
"SRL Ad" (1952)
"Advance Notice" (AKA "Letter to the Editor") (1952)
"Lover, When You're Near Me" (1952)
"Brother To The Machine" (1952)
"To Fit the Crime" (1952)
"The Wedding" (1953)
"Wet Straw" (1953)
"Long Distance Call" (AKA "Sorry, Right Number") (1953)
"Slaughter House" (1953)
"Mad House" (1953)
"The Last Day" (1953)
"Lazarus II" (1953)
"Legion of Plotters" (1953)
"Death Ship" (1953); adapted as a Twilight Zone episode (1963)
"Disappearing Act" (1953)
"The Disinheritors" (1953)
"Dying Room Only" (1953)
"Full Circle" (1953)
"Mother by Protest" (AKA "Trespass") (1953)
"Little Girl Lost" (1953); adapted as a Twilight Zone episode (1962)
"Being" (1954)
"The Curious Child" (1954)
"When Day Is Dun" (1954)
"Dance of the Dead" (1954)
"The Man Who Made the World (1954)
"The Traveller" (1954)
"The Test" (1954)
"The Conqueror" (1954)
"Dear Diary" (1954)
"The Doll That Does Everything" (1954)
"Descent" (1954)
"Miss Stardust" (1955)
"The Funeral" (1955) Adapted as story segment for Rod Serling's Night Gallery
"Too Proud to Lose" (1955)
"One for the Books" (1955)
"Pattern for Survival" (1955)
"A Flourish of Strumpets (1956)
"The Splendid Source" (1956); The basis of the Family Guy episode The Splendid Source.
"Steel" (1956); adapted as a Twilight Zone episode (1963)
"The Children of Noah" (1957)
"A Visit to Santa Claus" (AKA "I'll Make It Look Good," as Logan Swanson) (1957)
"The Holiday Man" (1957)
"Old Haunts" (1957)
"The Distributor" (1958)
"The Edge" (1958)
"Lemmings" (1958)
"Mantage" (1959)
"Deadline" (1959)
"The Creeping Terror" (AKA "A Touch of Grapefruit") (1959)
"No Such Thing as a Vampire" (1959)
"Big Surprise" (AKA "What Was In The Box") (1959)
"Crickets" (1960)
"Day of Reckoning" (AKA "The Faces," "Graveyard Shift") (1960)
"First Anniversary" (1960)
"From Shadowed Places" (1960)
"Finger Prints" (1962)
"Mute" (1962); adapted as a Twilight Zone episode (1963)
"The Likeness of Julie" (as Logan Swanson) (1962)
"The Jazz Machine" (1963)
"Crescendo" (AKA "Shock Wave") (1963)
"Girl of My Dreams" (1963)
"'Tis the Season to Be Jelly" (1963)
"Deus Ex Machina" (1963)
"Interest" (1965)
"A Drink of Water" (1967)
"Needle in the Heart" (AKA "Therese") (1969)
"Prey" (1969) (Later adapted to the Zuni Fetish Doll, in the Trilogy of Terror)
"Button, Button" (1970); filmed as The Twilight Zone episode in 1986; filmed as The Box (2009)
"'Til Death Do Us Part" (1970)
"By Appointment Only" (1970)
"The Finishing Touches" (1970)
"Duel" (1971); filmed as Duel (1971)
"Big Surprise" (1971) Adapted as story segment for Rod Serling's Night Gallery
"Where There's a Will" (with Richard Christian Matheson) (1980)
"And Now I'm Waiting" (1983)
"Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" (as The Twilight Zone episode in 1963; as segment four of The Movie, 1983; first published in 1984)
"Getting Together" (1986)
"Buried Talents" (1987)
"The Near Departed" (1987)
"Shoo Fly" (1988)
"Person to Person" (1989)
"Two O'Clock Session" (1991)
"The Doll" (as Twilight Zone episode, published as story in 1993)
"Go West, Young Man" (1993)
"Gunsight" (1993)
"Little Jack Cornered" (1993)
"Of Death and Thirty Minutes" (1993)
"My Ambition" (2006)
Short story collections
Born of Man and Woman (1954)
The Shores of Space (1957)
Shock! (1961)
Shock 2 (1964)
Shock 3 (1966)
Shock Waves (1970) Published as Shock 4 in the UK (1980)
Button, Button (1970) adapted as a Twilight Zone episode (1986), filmed as The Box (2009)
Richard Matheson: Collected Stories (1989)
By the Gun (1993)
Nightmare at 20,000 Feet (2000)
Pride with Richard Christian Matheson (2002)
Duel (2002)
Offbeat: Uncollected Stories (2002)
Darker Places (2004)
Unrealized Dreams (2004)
Duel and The Distributor (2005) Previously unpublished screenplays of these two stories
