The world of fantasy fiction lost a true giant with the passing of Richard Matheson earlier this week at the age of 87. It's impossible to try and list all of Matheson's achievements and creative high points in a single paragraph, but amongst many other things he wrote the classic paperback novels The Shrinking Man (1956, filmed in 1957 as The Incredible Shrinking Man, with Matheson providing the screenplay) and the science fiction vampire tale I Am Legend (1954, filmed as The Last Man on Earth in 1964, The Omega Man in 1971, and I Am Legend in 2007). Matheson also wrote 14 episodes of the original Twilight Zone series (including some of the show's best remembered stories), adapted Edgar Allan Poe tales into screenplays for Roger Corman (and Dennis Wheatley's The Devil Rides Out for Hammer), penned the script for The Night Stalker television pilot movie, and adapted one of his own short stories into the script for Steven Spielberg's legendary high-tension 1971 telemovie Duel.
Whew...one doubts that Richard Matheson will be forgotten anytime soon.
Whew...one doubts that Richard Matheson will be forgotten anytime soon.
