Richard Matheson: Collected Stories: Volume 1 [Paperback]

Finally a means to own all of Matheson's short stories in three TPB collections without having multiples of the same story. I've held off buying any of the other short story collections because I hate having the same story be in different books. I can't wait to get volumes 2 and 3.

There would be no Stephen King without Richard Matheson. This statement alone should be enough to convince you to read Matheson's work.

Matheson's short stories have been immeasurably influential and are an excellent place to start if you are unfamiliar with his work (though, in fact, you probably are familiar with his work, you just don't know it yet).

A few highlights in Collected Stories: Volume 1:

"Born of Man and Woman" - His first published work and it is fantastic. It has been spoofed and copied a dozen times over and is an absolute must read.

"Clothes Make the Man" - Darkly funny and weirdly creative.

"Witch War" - Might seem a little dated today, but the concept behind this story has been revisited countless times and continues to tug at the imagination.

"Shipshape Home" - Another cool concept that has been revisited by more recent authors, but I'm willing to bet Matheson was the first.

"Disappearing Act" - Truly fun story about a man losing not his memory, but the things he remembers.

Highly recommended, as are all of Matheson's novels and short stories.

This little delicacy is the first of three collections of Matheson stories picked and arranged chronologically by publication date by Matheson himself. This volume covers 1950-1953 and contains 29 fabulous mind twisting and thought provoking stories from this writing icon. For a special splash of color, these are not just collected famous works, but also lesser known works from Matheson, which gives you a full course of Matheson for your palate.

Included in this book are two introductions (1989 & 2003) from the author. The reason is that the collection was first printed in 1989 as a limited hardcover edition. It wasn't until recent times that the idea of a trade paperback came into fruition. Also included are tributes to Matheson by the following authors: Ray Bradbury, Robert Bloch, and William F. Nolan.

Matheson has a knack of making you come full circle when reading his stories, and giving you that ending shock factor in a subtle way. The crème de la crème however, is that for the first time, after each of these fabulous stories, there are personal comments to the editor. I really enjoyed this aspect of the book, as you get to hear the story behind the story. Leave it to Matheson to give 110%

Within each story is a different pace, atmosphere, characters, settings, and plots. As stated before, there are 29 different adventures that Matheson takes you through, so to give a general overview of these criteria would not be conducive to this review. I will say however, that in general you get the fill you are craving after reading each story.

This book definitely gets 5 stars from me, Each story gives you an adventure that leaves you wanting more. The price on this baby is quite reasonable, so there is no excuse why you shouldn't run and buy it now. And just for the record, the other two vols. to follow will range through 1971. After you read this book, you will want more! I know I do!