It seems like this year is determined to take all my heroes and inspirations away from me. Richard Matheson was one of the greats of science fiction and fantasy, a true giant of the genre and one of those writers whose work you will have encountered far more often than you realise.
His most famous work is, of course,
I Am Legend, a seminal work in the sf-horror genre that influenced no end of later material. Seriously, if it features vampires, zombies or rampaging ghouls, then Matheson's 1954 novella is its ultimate source. This truly powerful work was adapted for film in 1964 as
The Last Man on Earth, then as
The Omega Man in 1971 and under its original title for the 2007 Will Smith vehicle (plus the inevitable Asylum rip-off,
I Am Omega). Romero's
Night of the Living Dead was also inspired by the book, inspiring a plethora of later walking dead films itself.
The Last Man on Earth was the only adaptation with which Matheson was involved; the later versions were only very loosely based on the novella, with the 2007 blockbuster being a particularly good example of a good, fun film that spectacularly misses the point of its source material.
I Am Legend is an astonishing examination of the nature of monstrousness, and a must-read for any genre fan (and happens to be my flatmate's favourite book ever).
While
I Am Legend will rightfully be the work for which Matheson is most remembered, he was the author of various other works for prose, film and television.
The Shrinking Man, an examination of man's place in the world and the plight of the little man against greater powers, was adapted by Matheson himself into a screenplay for Universal Pictures, filmed as the true sci-fi classic
The Incredible Shrinking Man. He also adapted his own novel
Hell House to become the movie
The Legend of Hell House, an acclaimed horror. Another novel,
A Stir of Echoes, was adapted for film in 1999 (I'm afraid I've neither seen nor read this one, so I cannot comment on it).
Not all of his work was gruesome or horror-based. Matheson also wrote the lengthy examination of life after death
What Dreams May Come. Having developed from his own Christian Scientist background his own faith that incorporated elements of spiritualism, astrology and Theosophy,
What Dreams May Come was Matheson's opportunity to explore his own feelings on the nature of life, death and love. The novel is sometimes described as part of the Bangsian genre of fantasy, and it can also be considered an update of Dante's
The Divine Comedy, shorn of its Christian bias. It was adapted for film in 1998 and starred Robin Williams; this version of the story is overly sentimental but, I feel, unfairly maligned.
Another Matheson prose work adapted for film is
Bid Time Return, which became the sappy but frankly beautiful
Somewhere in Time, starring the late Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour. I am unashamed to call myself a fan of this film, credibility be damned.
Bid Time Return, which was also printed under the film's title, was Matheson's favourite of his own novels, and can be considered a companion piece to
What Dreams May Come, the two novels depicting love persisting through death and time. Matheson's grimly pessimistic
I Am Legend and reputation as a horror writer have overshadowed this far more hopeful side to his work.
Matheson is also remembered for
The Beardless Warriors, his fictionalised memorial of his time in the armed forces, which was very loosely adapted as
The Young Warriors; for the short story and screenplay
Duel, which was filmed by Stephen Spielberg and is considered one of the greatest feature length TV productions; and for numerous other short stories, novels and scripts, many, but not all of which were of the horror genre.
As well as these standalone works, Matheson contributed to several TV series during the twentieth century, sometimes under the pen name Logan Swanson. He wrote no fewer than fourteen episodes of
The Twilight Zone, including such seminal stories as 'Button, Button,' and the Shatner acting masterclass that is 'Nightmare at 20,000 Feet,' itself adapted for a later update and parodied so memorably by
The Simpsons and many others. He also wrote the short story 'First Anniversary,' which was adapted as a peculiar episode of the nineties revival of
The Outer Limits. He was responsible for the hugely influential
The Night Stalker, the supernatural thriller that spawned a sequel and a spin-off series and was the primary inspiration for
The X-Files. He even wrote for the original
Star Trek, responsible for yet more Shatner histrionics with the classic episode '
The Enemy Within.'
May you enjoy afterlife, Mr Matheson. You are legend.
Under the break - Matheson's first short story sale, 'Born on Man and Woman,' written when he was 22 years old.
