Links to the works of Richard Matheson in television shows, short stories, books and movies.
Posted: February 21, 2014 Filed under: *Macabre Media, Books & Authors, Courting Creepy Posts, Movies & Films, TV: Broadcast & Cable | Tags: Hell House, horror, horror films, horror movies, horror writer, I Am Legend, Kolchak the Night Stalker, Renae Rude, Richard Matheson, Stephen King, Stir of Echoes, The Paranormalist, What Dreams May Come 14 CommentsEighty-eight years ago yesterday, on February 20th, 1926, Richard Matheson was born. In 1950, his story, Born of Man and Woman, was published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. It garnered a great deal of attention and his literary career was launched. He died on June 23rd, 2013. Between those dates, he changed everything in the field of horror. (He also wrote sci-fi, fantasy, westerns and mysteries, but I think his greatest contribution was to my own beloved genre.) To read a simple but complete biography of his life, visit Bio.
If you are a casual horror / sci-fi fan, you may not realize just how influential this writer was in his lifetime. Stephen King is frequently quoted as saying “[Richard Matheson is the] author who influenced me most as a writer.” Just days after Matheson’s death, King posted a tribute, at StephenKing.com, which you can read HERE.
Right now, I want to celebrate this man’s life by getting some of his brilliance into your head. I’ve collected the most easily accessible works in the lists below. Please note that I’ve NOT seen or read everything here. Those pieces that I especially recommend are highlighted in green text. (Please also know that seeing any adaptation of I Am Legend is going to be frustrating. None of them do it justice. In the video interview at the bottom of this post, Matheson says so himself.)
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TELEVISION SERIES
It’s possible at hulu.com to stream all episodes of the original Twilight Zone series on your computer for free. This is what Matheson contributed to that series:
THE TWILIGHT ZONE:
S1 E11 And When the Sky Opened
S1 E14 Third From the Sun
S1 E18 The Last Flight
S1 E23 A World of Difference
S1 E36 A World of His Own
S2 E7 Nick of Time
S2 E15 The Invaders
(This is, perhaps, the most memorable episode from my childhood, when I’d sneak to turn the TV on the middle of the night, when everyone else was asleep.)
S3 E13 Once Upon a Time
S3 E26 Little Girl Lost
S3 E34 Young Man’s Fancy
S4 E5 Mute
S4 E6 Death Ship
S5 E2 Steel
S5 E3 Nightmare at 20,000 Feet
S5 E19 Night Call
S5 E21 Spur of the Moment
NIGHT GALLERY (1971):
S2 E8 (segment The Big Surprise)
S2 E22 (segment The Funeral)
STAR TREK:
S1 E5 The Enemy Within (You must be a subscriber to watch Star Trek on hulu.)
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SHORT STORIES
Like so many authors of his generation, Matheson wrote for periodicals, and in his time there were many wonderful, inexpensive pulp-style magazines to host his creativity. At unz.org, you will find “A Free Website for Periodicals, Books, and Videos” where you can view PDFs of certain stories, just as they appeared when they were published.
FROM STARTLING STORIES:
Miss Stardust (March, 1955)
Witch War (July, 1951)
FROM THRILLING WONDER STORIES:
Return (October, 1951)
The Foodlegger (April, 1952)
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BOOKS
Of course, Matheson was an author of books too … many of them horror. I believe you will (always and forever) find him on the shelves of any decent bookstore, but a lot of us have switched to e-books. Here’s what I found at Amazon:
KINDLE EDITIONS
The Memoirs of Wild Bill Hickok $6.64
The Gun Fight $5.98
Legends of the Gun Years $8.89
Other Kingdoms $7.59
The Path: A New Look At Reality $7.59
Shadow on the Sun $6.83
Duel: Terror Stories by Richard Matheson $8.89
The Beardless Warriors: A Novel of World War II $7.59
Hunted Past Reason $8.89
Steel: And Other Stories $6.95
A Stir of Echoes $8.89
What Dreams May Come: A Novel $8.89
Hell House $8.89
The Box: Uncanny Stories $6.83
Nightmare At 20,000 Feet: Horror Stories By Richard Matheson $8.89
Somewhere In Time $5.98
I Am Legend (RosettaBooks into Film) $6.09
… but as for that last one, if you are a horror fan, you should own the most beautiful copy of the bound book you can afford. It IS canon.
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MOVIES
When it comes to the movie adaptations of Matheson’s work, I’ve gathered a few resources for you. I’ve provided the IMDb listing for all of them, and the Netflix listing where I could. Any movie that is available on streaming is generally available on disc too. If I did not provide a Netflix link, that means it’s not available NOW, but many are expected to become available eventually.
The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957) Netflix Disc IMDb
The Pit and The Pendulum (1961) Netflix Disc IMDb
Burn, Witch, Burn (1962) IMDb
The Last Man on Earth (1964) IMDb
Die! Die! My Darling! (1965) IMDb
The Devil Rides Out (1968) IMDb
De Sade (1969) Netflix Streaming IMDb
Cold Sweat (1970) IMDb
The Omega Man (1971) Netflix Disc IMDb
Duel (1971) Netflix Disc IMDb
The Night Stalker aka The Kolchak Papers (1972) IMDb
The Night Strangler (1973) IMDb
Kolchak: The Night Stalker Series: Series on Netflix Streaming
The Legend of Hell House (1973) Netflix Disc IMDb
Dying Room Only (1973) IMDb
Scream of the Wolf (1974) IMDb
Trilogy of Terror (segment, Amelia – the Zuni fetish doll piece, of course, 1975) Netflix Disc IMDb
Dead of Night (1977) Netflix Disc IMDb
The Martian Chronicles (series – 3 episodes 1980) Netflix Disc IMDb
Somewhere in Time (1980) Netflix Streaming IMDb
The Incredible Shrinking Woman (comedy, 1981) IMDb
Twilight Zone: The Movie (segment, Nightmare at 20,00o Feet, 1983) Netflix Disc IMDb
Loose Cannons (comedy, 1990) Netflix Disc IMDb
What Dreams May Come (based on the novel, 1998) Netflix Disc IMDb
Stir of Echos (based on the novel, 1999) Netflix Disc IMDb
I Am Legend (based on the novel, 2007) Netflix Disc IMDb
The Box (based on the short story, Button, Button, 2009) Netflix Disc IMDb
Real Steel (based on the short story, Steel, 2011) Netflix Disc IMDb
Surviving the cold, part 2: movies & other indoor activities for paranormal people and horror fans.
Posted: January 30, 2014 Filed under: *Macabre Media | Tags: crafts, horror films, horror movies, Knitting, Renae Rude, spaceteam, The Paranormalist, Zombies Run! 2 CommentsThe polar vortices, repeatedly roaring down from the arctic, seem to be keeping us huddled under blankets on our sofas. Here at The Paranormalist, there’s been an uptick of hits on posts offering entertainment ideas for paranormal-type folks who can’t get outside to cryptid-hunt, UFO-watch, or graveyard-prowl.
Yesterday, I gave you the rundown on what’s happening on TV right now, and in coming weeks. Today, let me offer a few more suggestions.
WATCH A MOVIE:
The most popular post at the blog is: The 13 most haunting films, for ghost story lovers (and another 13+ worth watching.) I’m not surprised – it is a treasure trove of creepy ghost movies recommendations, thanks in large part to the fantastic comment thread, where folks have been chiming in with suggestions of their own.
If ghost stories aren’t the ideal movie entertainment for you, just pop over to the Courting Creepy section to find suggestions for scarier fare – films featuring writers or zombies. You can also shore up your knowledge of classic horror flicks or risk intensifying your cabin fever into full-blown insanity by exploring a selection of the best psychological horror films.
DO SOMETHING A BIT MORE ACTIVE:
If you’ve reached the point where you need to DO something other than sit passively on the couch, I’ve got a few options for you.
If you have access to a treadmill or indoor running track, check out Zombies, Run! a fitness app with a dark twist.
If all you’ve got is a cell phone (and a bored friend or two who also have cells,) look into the sci-fi techno-babble game Spaceteam.
If you want to have something to show for your isolation, review Halloween hobbies: monster models, knitting, cross stitch, paper cutting and more. Despite the Halloween-theme of the original post, there’s plenty of ideas there that can amuse a winter-trapped horror / paranormal fan.
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- freepatterns.com
When would YOU get the hell out of the house in The Conjuring?
Posted: July 28, 2013 Filed under: *Macabre Media, Ghosts & Hauntings, Movies & Films | Tags: Conjuring, ghost, Ghosts & Hauntings, haunt, haunted, haunted house, haunting, horror, horror films, horror movies, paranormal, Renae Rude, The Conjuring, The Paranormalist, The Perrons, The Warrens 44 CommentsNearly every haunted house movie begins the same way – a middle-class family invests every penny they have in an old fixer-upper. There is a married couple, a child (or children,) a cat and/or a dog. There is often (though not always) something a little dysfunctional or unusual about the family. Communication is these families is usually spotty at best. The husband and wife don’t confide in each other. The parents ignore unusual behavior by the kids or the animals, and don’t give credence to anything odd the kids say. The family is full of hope. It’s a brand-new, high-stakes, fresh-start for everyone.
Then bad things start to happen.
Ogre and I just got back from seeing The Conjuring. It’s a great movie in many ways, destined to become a horror classic.
But …
I could not help but ask myself the same question I always do when I see another haunted house movie:
- When, exactly, would I pack up my shit and get the hell out?
When you’ve see The Conjuring (and I recommend you do if you haven’t) PLEASE come here and tell me when YOU would flee. (Or, at the very least, seek out professional help.)
WARNING: If you click the following (READ THE REST OF THIS PAGE) link, you will see a detailed list of scary events that happen to the Perron family, leading up to the moment when they contact the Warrens.
SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!
Renae Rude - The Paranormalist 