Book Review: The Best of Richard Matheson

Award-winning author and editor Christopher Conlon returns to the Vortex to share his thoughts on a new career retrospective of Twilight Zone scribe Richard Matheson.

The Best, and the Rest

by Christopher Conlon

The Best of Richard Matheson. Victor LaValle, ed. New York: Penguin Classics, 2017.

Choosing the “best” of a writer—especially a prolific writer—is by its nature problematic. Once editors get past the obvious classics, their choices inevitably become subjective and thus open to criticism, especially from the writer’s most passionate and well-informed fans. In fact, even the inclusion of a writer’s classics can become a bone of contention, as happened two years ago with Penguin’s unfortunate Charles Beaumont volume, Perchance to Dream—an anonymously-edited “Selected Stories” in which the stories were mostly incompetently selected, reprinting numerous dated and unremarkable tales while inexplicably omitting much of Beaumont’s best work, including “The Hunger,” “The Crooked Man,” “Miss Gentilbelle,” and what many Beaumont fans consider his single greatest story, the astonishing “Black Country.” And so when Penguin announced The Best of Richard Matheson, fans couldn’t help but feel some trepidation. Would this volume, like the Beaumont, also be curated by some anonymous hack who clearly possessed little knowledge of the subject at hand?  What would the final result be like?

Happily—and perhaps due in part to the criticism the Beaumont book received—Penguin has chosen another tack with Matheson, whose oeuvre constitutes over sixty years of top-flight work in nearly every genre and whose short stories are considered among his finest accomplishments. As editor Penguin has enlisted the services of that fine fantasist Victor LaValle, perhaps best known for his wonderful short novel The Ballad of Black Tom, a variation on Lovecraft’s “The Horror at Red Hook.”

The vast majority of the stories editor LaValle has chosen will certainly be welcomed by any Matheson fan as representing this great writer’s “best.” Matheson’s first published tale, the groundbreaking “Born of Man and Woman,” is here, along with “Prey” (the TV movie version with Karen Black being chased by a Zuni fetish doll is as well-remembered as the story itself), “Duel” (filmed unforgettably by Steven Spielberg at the beginning of his career), and five pieces that were turned into memorable episodes of The Twilight Zone—“Death Ship,” “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet,” “Third from the Sun,” “Long Distance Call,” and “Mute.” “Button, Button” is here too, and “Witch War,” and “Dress of White Silk,” along with over twenty more tales—all wrapped up in a handsome package, with the distinguished Penguin Classics label lifting Matheson’s stories permanently out of the realm of mere pulp fiction and placing them where they have always really belonged, on the shelf marked American Literature. Could a Matheson fan possibly ask for anything more?

Well, as a matter of fact, yes.

To be clear: The Best of Richard Matheson is a fine collection, surely the best one-volume introduction available to Matheson’s stories—and it certainly beats Perchance to Dream by miles in terms of the wisdom and appropriateness of its selections.

And yet…the truth is, this book might have been better. For all his editorial acumen, LaValle has made a mistake by including several of the author’s “rarities”—i.e., trunk stories—that were not published until many decades after their original composition. In each case (“Man With a Club,” “The Prisoner,” “Haircut”) it’s quite obvious why these pieces went unpublished at the time. Simply put, they’re not very good. They certainly have no place in a volume purporting to represent the cream of Matheson’s particular crop, especially when by taking up space they bump other, far superior tales. Of course any editor is limited by a publisher’s maximum word count for a project, but it’s still a little startling to see a book called The Best of Richard Matheson that doesn’t include “The Distributor,” “The Children of Noah,” “Mad House,” or, most egregiously, what is perhaps Matheson’s single most emotionally wrenching story, “The Test.” Cutting the unimpressive “rarities” would have made room for at least one or two more of Matheson’s truly indispensable tales.

The editor’s introduction is also, unfortunately, something of a loss. While LaValle makes some perfectly valid points regarding Matheson’s influence—“He’s in the DNA of too many other writers to count”—a large chunk of the essay is taken up with a lengthy personal narrative about LaValle’s own youth, detailing a series of events which he claims led to his own “Matheson moment” but which in fact (spoiler alert) has absolutely nothing to do with Richard Matheson. This kind of self-indulgent logorrhea should have been removed by the publisher before the book ever went to press—and trimming this tedious, overlong piece might have made sufficient room for one more Matheson masterpiece.  

But whatever this collection’s problems, they are relatively minor in comparison to the riches that await both experienced and novice readers of Richard Matheson in these pages. While it’s not quite all it could have been, The Best of Richard Matheson stands as a worthy tribute to a writer whose importance to the American literary landscape only seems to grow with each passing year.

______________________

The Best of Richard Matheson is available October 10. Get the book. 

Thanks again to Christopher Conlon. Visit Chris’s site. Buy Chris’s books.

The Best of Richard Matheson (Penguin Classics, 432 pages)

Table of Contents (date of story publication):

-Introduction by Victor LaValle

-Born of Man and Woman (1950)

-Prey (1969)

-Witch War (1951)

-Shipshape Home (1952)

-Blood Son (1951)

-Where There’s a Will (with Richard Christian Matheson) (1980)

-Dying Room Only (1953)

-Counterfeit Bills (2004)

-Death Ship (1953)

-Man with a Club (2003)

-Button, Button (1970)

-Duel (1971)

-Day of Reckoning (1960)

-The Prisoner (2001)

-Dress of White Silk (1951)

-Haircut (2006)

-Nightmare at 20,000 Feet (1962)

-The Funeral (1955)

-Third from the Sun (1950)

-The Last Day (1953)

-Long Distance Call (1953)

-Deus ex Machina (1963)

-One for the Books (1955)

-Now Die in It (1958)

-The Conqueror (1954)

-The Holiday Man (1957)

-No Such Thing as a Vampire (1959)

-Big Surprise (1959)

-A Visit to Santa Claus (1957)

-Finger Prints (1962)

-Mute (1962)

-Shock Wave (1963)

Here follows additional notes on select adaptations of the stories for those interested in such things.  –JP

--“Prey” was adapted by Matheson as the third and final segment of the 1975 television film Trilogy of Terror. The film was directed by Dan Curtis and featured Karen Black. Matheson’s friend William F. Nolan wrote a sequel to the story, “He Who Kills,” as a segment of the 1996 television film Trilogy of Terror II, directed by Dan Curtis.

--“Dying Room Only” was adapted by Matheson into a 1973 television film directed by Philip Leacock and featuring Twilight Zone actors Ross Martin and Cloris Leachman.

--“Death Ship” was adapted by Matheson as the 108^th episode of The Twilight Zone, the 6^th episode of the fourth season. The hour-long episode was directed by Don Medford and featured Jack Klugman and Ross Martin.

--“Button, Button” was adapted as a segment of episode 20 of the first season of The Twilight Zone revival television series. Matheson adapted his short story but, dissatisfied with changes made to his teleplay, placed his pseudonym “Logan Swanson” on the work instead. The segment was directed by Peter Medak and featured Mare Winningham. The short story was also the basis of a 2009 film, The Box, written and directed by Richard Kelly and featuring James Marsden, Cameron Diaz, and Frank Langella.

--“Duel” was adapted by Matheson for a 1971 television film directed by Steven Spielberg and featuring Twilight Zone actor Dennis Weaver.

--“Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” was adapted by Matheson as episode 123 of The Twilight Zone, episode 3 of the fifth season. It was directed by Richard Donner and featured William Shatner. Matheson also adapted his story for the 1983 film Twilight Zone: The Movie. The segment was directed by George Miller and featured John Lithgow.

--“The Funeral” was adapted by Matheson as a segment of episode 15 of the second season of Rod Serling’s Night Gallery. The segment was directed by John Meredyth Lucas.

--“Third from the Sun” was adapted by Rod Serling as episode 14 of the first season of The Twilight Zone. It was directed by Richard L. Bare and featured Fritz Weaver and Edward Andrews.

--“Long Distance Call” was adapted by Matheson as “Night Call,” episode 139 of The Twilight Zone, episode 19 of the fifth season. It was directed by Jacques Tourneur and featured Gladys Cooper.

--“One for the Books” was adapted by Matheson for episode 23 of the first season of Steven Spielberg’s Amazing Stories television series. The episode was directed by Lesli Linka Glatter and featured Leo Penn and Joyce Van Patten.

--“Now Die in It” was expanded into a 1959 novel titled Ride the Nightmare. This novel was adapted by Matheson for the first season of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. It was directed by Bernard Girard and featured Hugh O’Brian, Gena Rowlands, and Twilight Zone actor John Anderson. The novel was also the basis for a loose adaptation as the 1970 film Cold Sweat, directed by Terence Young and starring Charles Bronson.

--“No Such Thing as a Vampire” was adapted by Hugh Leonard as an episode of the anthology series Late Night Horror. It was directed by Paddy Russell. Matheson adapted the story as a segment of the 1977 television film Dead of Night, directed by Dan Curtis.

--“Big Surprise” was adapted by Matheson as a segment of episode 8 of the second season of Rod Serling’s Night Gallery. The segment was directed by Jeannot Szwarc and featured John Carradine.

--“Mute” was adapted by Matheson as episode 107 of The Twilight Zone, episode 5 of the fifth season. It was directed by Stuart Rosenberg and featured Frank Overton, Barbara Baxley, and Oscar Beregi, Jr.

--One final note: Both “Finger Prints” and “Mute” originally appeared in the 1962 anthology The Fiend in You, edited by Matheson’s close friend and fellow Twilight Zone writer Charles Beaumont.

A Conversation with William F. Nolan

Recently, we were fortunate enough to correspond with legendary author William F. Nolan. Nolan was a core member of the Southern California School of Writers in the 1950s and 1960s, having collaborated on numerous occasions with his close friends and Twilight Zone writers Ray Bradbury, Charles Beaumont, Richard Matheson, George Clayton Johnson, and John Tomerlin.

Nolan is the author of the 1967 dystopian novel Logan’s Run (written with George Clayton Johnson), which has been adapted into a film, a television series, multiple comic books series, and followed by two Nolan-penned sequels, Logan’s World (1977) and Logan’s Search (1980). He is the author of a highly regarded body of short fiction, primarily in the horror, fantasy, science fiction, and suspense genres, which have been collected across several volumes including Impact-20 (1963), Alien Horizons (1974), Things Beyond Midnight (1984), Night Shapes (1995), Dark Universe (2001), and Like a Dead Man Walking (2014). His novels include The Black Mask series, the Sam Space series and the horror novel Helltracks (1991), among many others.

Nolan’s work in film and television is showcased in his collaborations with director Dan Curtis, which includes screenplays for The Turn of the Screw (1974), Trilogy of Terror (1975), Burnt Offerings (1976), and Trilogy of Terror II (1996). 

Nolan is also an accomplished editor, having compiled such anthologies as The Pseudo-People (1965), Man Against Tomorrow (1965), A Wilderness of Stars (1969), A Sea of Space (1970), and, with Martin H. Greenberg, Urban Horrors (1990) and The Bradbury Chronicles: Stories in Honor of Ray Bradbury (1991). With William Schafer, Nolan compiled the essential Group anthology, California Sorcery (1999). In recent years, Nolan has worked closely with author, editor, and filmmaker Jason V. Brock on such projects as William F. Nolan: A Miscellany (2011), The Bleeding Edge: Dark Barriers, Dark Frontiers (2009), The Devil’s Coattails: More Dispatches from the Dark Frontier (2011), and the comic book series Tales from William F. Nolan’s Dark Universe.

Nolan’s work in non-fiction fields is equally accomplished and includes such essential volumes as The Ray Bradbury Companion (1975), The Work of Charles Beaumont: An Annotated Bibliography & Guide (1986; 2^nd ed. 1990), and Nolan on Bradbury (2013). He has written essays on such science fiction luminaries as Theodore Sturgeon, Alfred Bester, Chad Oliver, and Philip K. Dick, as well as book-length biographies of Dashiell Hammett, Steve McQueen, and John Huston, among others. He is the author of two books on writing, How to Write Horror Fiction (1990) and Let’s Get Creative: Writing Fiction That Sells (2006).

Nolan’s output also includes poetry, art, articles, teleplays, and books on a variety of subjects. Of particular interest are his two books on automobile racing compiled with Charles Beaumont, The Omnibus of Speed (1958) and When Engines Roar (1964). Nolan has won multiple Bram Stoker Awards from the Horror Writers Association, including a Grand Master Award in 2014. He won the International Horror Guild’s Living Legend Award in 2001 as well as the World Horror Society Grand Master Award in 2015. Nolan’s accolades also include awards from the Mystery Writers of America, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and the World Fantasy Convention.

Mr. Nolan was kind enough to talk to us about his time with the Group, his assessment of The Twilight Zone, and his long and successful writing career.

 -JP

Vortex: You were a core member of the creative group which produced so much of the material seen on The Twilight Zone. What was the feeling amongst members of that group during production of the series?

Nolan: They were proud to be a part of what they came to realize was a unique series. Everyone admired Rod Serling, but none of us realized the impact that the show would have. We just thought it was another TV series. At the time, they greatly appreciated having their scripts shot exactly as written. Most shows would make significant changes, but most of the Twilight Zone episodes were shot pretty much as they were imagined by the writers.

Vortex:  Can you talk about your Twilight Zone story, “Dreamflight,” written with George Clayton Johnson?  What was it about and why did it go unproduced? Were there any other Twilight Zone stories which you wrote but were never produced?

Nolan: It was a modern version of Sleeping Beauty. In our take, an airliner suddenly lost all four engines and was headed down for a fatal crash. Then, at the last minute, a young man stepped up to a still sleeping girl and kissed her goodbye. Instantly, all four engines roared back to life, and the plane was saved. Saved by a magic kiss.

Rod liked it, paid us for it, and I’m sure would have produced it. But by that time, Twilight Zone was headed into its next season with hour long episodes. Written to a half-hour format, “Dreamflight” didn’t fit. “Dreamflight” did get printed in the 2006 anthology, Forgotten Gems from the Twilight Zone, Volume 2. This was my one and only teleplay for the series. Alas, I was too busy to write other episodes for the show.

Vortex: One of distinguishing characteristics of the Southern California Group of Writers was the willingness to collaborate on a variety of creative projects, from novels and anthologies, to television and film scripts. What fostered this desire to work together? How did close friendship affect the creative process?

Nolan: We in the Group were all close friends: Ray Bradbury, Robert Bloch, Charles Beaumont, Chad Oliver, Richard Matheson, George Clayton Johnson, John Tomerlin – all of us were close. We enjoyed working with one another, as we felt we were getting a bonus in doing this; that two sets of imagination added to every collaborative project. After all, two heads are better than one. Logan’s Run was better with Johnson’s contribution.

We also criticized each other’s work relentlessly, sometimes spending all night at a coffee shop doing so. But it made us each a stronger writer than we would have been alone.

Vortex: How would you describe your style of writing?

Nolan: It varies considerably. My Logan novels are swift and direct, never a wasted word. Extremely fast-paced. Hard edged. I’ve used many styles over the years with my work. Depending on the kind of story I’m telling. Plot and character dictate how I write. To sum up: I have no primary writing style. This way I stay fresh. My cardinal rule: never bore the reader. I do my best to follow this rule.

Vortex: Your best known work is the novel Logan’s Run but a large portion of your career has been dedicated to the short story form, including much of your finest work. What continues to draw you to the short story form and how has your approach to short story writing changed over the course of your career?

Nolan: The short story is, to my mind, the purest form of fiction. They demand a tight structure, sharp dialogue, and a clear beginning, middle, and end. They are direct, akin to a one round knockout punch in a fifteen-round bout. With each new story, I attempt to “push the envelope” – to do things I’ve never done before. I love writing them.

Vortex: You produced an influential body of work for film and television, particularly your work with producer/director Dan Curtis. Can you talk about how you broke into film and television? What do you feel are your most successful forays into those mediums?

Nolan: Back in 1959, Charles Beaumont and John Tomerlin both allowed me to co-write teleplays with them under their by-line. That’s how I learned how to write for television. By 1971, I was able to strike out on my own when I adapted my story “The Joy of Living” for Norman Corwin’s Canadian television series, Norman Corwin Presents. Among my most successful projects for television: The Norliss Tapes, The Turn of the Screw, Trilogy of Terror – and for film Burnt Offerings – all with my friend, the late Dan Curtis, who produced and directed them. Dan was a very talented guy, and I was recommended to him by another good friend, the late Richard Matheson.

Vortex: Another interesting aspect of your career is the large body of essays, biographies, catalogues, and bibliographies you’ve produced, much of it exploring the careers of your contemporaries in science fiction and fantasy. Can you tell us about this dedication to cataloguing and commenting upon the work of your contemporaries?

Nolan: I’ve always been very interested in what my fellow writers do. I enjoy exploring their output in bibliographic form. Very satisfying, and I feel of real value. Plus, it offers a nice break from my fiction.

I guess I’ve always had a preoccupation with list making. In the Group, they called me “the old indexer.” I felt it was important to record people’s accomplishments, even when they didn’t think so themselves at the time. Sometimes, when asked about when a certain story appeared and where, even Richard Matheson would say, “Go ask Bill. He knows more about my work than I do.” I’d always have the answer.

This interest also led me to create the Ray Bradbury Review, the first critical treatment of Bradbury’s work. I went on to do other bibliographies and several full biographies. I have even kept a month-by-month journal of my own life since my birth in Kansas City. Right now, I am working on my memories as I push 90 years of age.

Vortex: One of the writers to whom you dedicated your career retrospective, Dark Universe, was Charles Beaumont. Beaumont’s work has been kept alive largely through his association with The Twilight Zone but also by a dedicated group of readers and by Beaumont’s close friends such as Ray Bradbury and yourself. With his inclusion into the Penguin Classics line of books, Beaumont’s work has reached new heights of accessibility and respectability. How did Beaumont’s work strike you at the time it was being written and what do you feel is the quality of the work which elicits such devotion from its readers?

Nolan: Charles Beaumont was indeed a fine writer. One of the trailblazers. His work had a lyrical quality and always dealt with humanistic concerns. He was a superb storyteller, and my dear pal. In many ways, I owe my career to him. I speak about him at length, and so does Bradbury, Matheson, Johnson, and others, in the documentary Charles Beaumont: The Life of Twilight Zone’s Magic Man. Of everything out there, I think that film most closely captures the essence of why Beaumont was an important figure in all our lives.

Vortex:  Charles Beaumont’s excellent fourth season episode “Miniature” related to your own life at that time. Could you tell us the story behind that episode?

Nolan: Well for one thing, the character was shy around women and Chuck (which is what we called Beaumont) was well aware of this. It was partly his way of ribbing me, but I also have always had a thing for miniature figures and models. Maybe it’s because my eyesight – I am near-sighted in one eye, and far-sighted in the other – prevents me from really seeing large objects in 3D. But a small object that I can hold up in front of my face can become a whole world to me.  I can see it in its totality and study it. It fascinates me. Chuck was one of the only people who knew me well enough to pick up on this and used it in the story.

Vortex:  You recently won a Bram Stoker Award for your book, Nolan on Bradbury: Sixty Years of Writing about the Master of Science Fiction. Before that you created publications such as The Ray Bradbury Review and The Ray Bradbury Companion. Although Bradbury only saw one teleplay produced on The Twilight Zone, his influence can be felt in everything seen on the series. Can you tell us what Bradbury’s work and friendship meant to you personally and to the Group as a collective?

Nolan: Well of course, Bradbury was the master, the role model for us all. He had a tremendous influence on modern literature around the world. To the Group, he was our mentor. To me, a deeply valued friend as well. Bradbury was generous to all of us. He spent time with us and helped us with our problems. Even when we interrupted his writing, he was never angry or impatient. He gave his time and advice freely and he helped all of us with our careers.

Vortex:  I feel that The Twilight Zone was the purest creative expression of the Southern California Group. What do you feel are the qualities of the series which causes it to endure and renew itself with each succeeding generation?  

Nolan: The Twilight Zone told human stories, no matter how fantastic the basic concept might be. It used fantasy and fable to illumine human character. Rod Serling deserves much credit for the creation of a truly memorable series.

Thank you again to William F. Nolan and a special thanks to Sunni Brock. 

Visit William F. Nolan’s official website

View William F. Nolan’s listing on the Internet Speculative Fiction Database

A William F. Nolan cover gallery:

Rodman Edward Serling (December 25, 1924 - June 28, 1975)

On this day forty-two years ago the television industry lost one of its creators and the American audience lost its voice. From its inception Rod Serling was television’s moral compass. Whether exploring the social and political landscape of the time or penning touching stories of unlikely heroes, Serling was always concerned with our well-being. He may be the most humanitarian writer to ever work in the field of television. That the world lost him in 1975 at the mere age of fifty is a loss felt by anyone who has ever seen or read a Rod Serling script.

The Twilight Zone was different from other fantasy and science fiction shows of the time. For one, it looked different. It didn’t possess the awkward ornamentation found in shows like The Outer Limits or Star Trek. It looked more like a film noir, lots of shadows and interesting camera angles. The acting was also usually a notch above other programs, with actors delivering genuinely moving performances which made it easy to care about the characters, or despise them, whichever the case. But the writing was what really set the show apart. This was Serling’s greatest contribution to the show. On The Twilight Zone the writer was the star. He was given no restrictions and his work was rarely changed without his consent. Few shows, then or now, allow for that level of creative freedom.

Each writer brought their own personality to the show. Serling’s episodes usually fell into one of two categories: stories with a social conscience dealing with the uglier aspects of humanity—prejudice, war, greed—and stories that showed us that perhaps humanity is not yet lost, that there is greatness and compassion in the world if we are simply willing to work for it. He wrote about the downtrodden of the world, the forgotten, the misrepresented, the tragic, and he gave them as much integrity as he would any other character.

Serling’s harshest critic was always himself. He often claimed that he had written nothing that would be remembered a hundred years from now. He was wrong, of course. He is still, forty-two years after his death, one of the most distinguished television writers in the history of the medium. In an era that saw the birth of the game show and the popularization of mindless situational comedies and derivative police dramas, Serling attempted to hold a place for intellectual material on television. He brought the fiction that had influenced him as a young writer—fantasies, westerns, the supernatural—into the same arena as serious dramatic television. His efforts eventually helped to bridge the gap between dramatic literature and fantasy, something he is rarely given credit for. He created a show that has inspired countless writers-this author included-to pick up a pen and say something constructive. This is Rod Serling's legacy, and it is one that will unquestionably be around a hundred years from now.

 

--Brian

Remembering Richard Matheson (1926-2013)

Matheson with his son Richard Christian Matheson
on the cover of the June, 1986 issue of
Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone Magazine

On this day in 2013 we lost the astonishingly talented and influential writer Richard Matheson, whose fiction has enthralled and inspired so many readers and writers over the course of his sixty-plus year career. Besides penning some of the finest horror, science fiction, fantasy, western, and mystery fiction of the 20^th century (not to mention his underappreciated war novel The Beardless Warriors), Matheson was one of the key creative pillars of The Twilight Zone, responsible for such signature episodes as “Nick of Time,” “The Invaders,” and “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet.” Sixteen episodes of the series were either written by Matheson or were adapted from his work by series creator Rod Serling.

Thankfully, much of Matheson’s work remains in print and a great deal has been adapted to the large and small screens. To fully explore Matheson’s career, we recommend two volumes: The Twilight and Other Zones: The Dark Worlds of Richard Matheson, edited by Stanley Wiater, Matthew R. Bradley, and Paul Stuve (Citadel, 2009), and Richard Matheson On Screen: A History of the Filmed Works by Matthew R. Bradley (McFarland, 2010). Matheson’s Collected Stories are available in three paperback volumes from Edge Books (Gauntlet Press), as are his Twilight Zone scripts (in two volumes). Tor Books has released collections of Matheson’s short fiction as well. The first two volumes of the Tor series, Nightmare at 20,000 Feet: Horror Stories (2002) and Duel: Terror Stories (2003), are particularly strong as the contents of both were selected by Matheson himself. An award-winning collection of original stories inspired by Matheson’s work, He is Legend: An Anthology Celebrating Richard Matheson, edited by Christopher Conlon (Gauntlet Press, 2009), is available in paperback from Tor and features the work of William F. Nolan, Stephen King, Joe R. Lansdale, Richard Christian Matheson, and many others, all providing interesting variations on classic Matheson stories. In October of this year Matheson's work will join that of his friend and fellow Twilight Zone writer Charles Beaumont with inclusion in the prestigious Penguin Classics line of paperback books. The volume, titled The Best of Richard Matheson, will be a career retrospective of Matheson's short fiction. The contents are selected by novelist Victor LaValle and will undoubtedly contain some if not all of his stories later adapted for The Twilight Zone.

Be sure to revisit Brian's original post on Matheson's legacy and I’ve included some quick jumps to Matheson’s episodes we’ve covered here in the Vortex as well as a look ahead to the episodes we will be covering in the future. Below that you can view a selection of covers from Matheson's well-regarded works, courtesy of the Internet Speculative Fiction Database, which also provides a bibliography of Matheson's speculative fiction.

-JP

-Season One, Episode 11: "And When the Sky Was Opened," adapted by Rod Serling

-Season One, Episode 14: "Third from the Sun," adapted by Rod Serling

-Season One, Episode 18: "The Last Flight"

-Season One, Episode 23: "A World of Difference"

-Season One, Episode 36: "A World of His Own"

-Season Two, Episode 43: "Nick of Time"

-Season Two, Episode 51: "The Invaders"

-Season Three, Episode 78: "Once Upon a Time"

-Season Three, Episode 91: "Little Girl Lost"

-Season Three, Episode 99: “Young Man’s Fancy”

-Season Four, Episode 107: “Mute”

-Season Four, Episode 108: “Death Ship”

-Season Five, Episode 122: “Steel”

-Season Five, Episode 123: “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet”

-Season Five, Episode 139: “Night Call”

-Season Five, Episode 141: "Spur of the Moment"