Nightmare at 20,000 Feet
by Richard Matheson
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One of the finest and most influential horror writers of the twentieth century, Richard Matheson has left his stamp on the collective imagination. Here are more than twenty of Matheson's most memorable tales of fear and paranoia, personally selected by the author himself. Many of these stories have already entered into popular culture, including the title story, which became a landmark episode of The Twilight Zone, and "Duel," the nail-biting tale of man versus machines that inspired Steven show more Spielberg's first film.Other stories include "First Anniversary," "Dress of White Silk," "Witch War," "Dance of the Dead," "Mad House," "Prey," "Blood Son," "Crickets," "Wet Straw," "The Children of Noah," "Through Channels," "Old Haunts," "Disappearing Act," "The Holiday Man," "Legion of Plotters," "The Distributor," "Long Distance Call," "Slaughter House," and "The Likeness of Julie." Find out why Stephen King (who writes the introduction) has called Matheson one of his favorite writers.
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Todavía recuerdo aquella película de los 80 que vi siendo un niño, ‘En los límites de la realidad’, dividida en cuatro episodios, el último de los cuáles estaba basado en un relato de Richard Matheson. Esa escena en la que el pasajero protagonista descubre a un extraño ser sobre el ala del avión en el que viaja, me dejó realmente impactado. Pero también me vienen a la mente otras películas en las que el talento de Matheson estaba muy presente, como el primer film de Steven Spielberg, ‘El diablo sobre ruedas’, y ese terrorífico camión que no dejaba de perseguir a otro coche. O aquellas viejas películas dirigidas por Roger Corman basadas en los relatos de Edgar Allan Poe, con un enorme Vincent Price como malvado, que show more fueron adaptados para la pantalla por Matheson. O esa otra película, ‘El increíble hombre menguante’, basada en su novela, con esa escena en la que el protagonista luchaba contra una araña “gigante” con una aguja como única arma. Y es que Matheson fue una gran influencia para un buen puñado de autores, tanto en el género fantástico, como, sobre todo, en el de terror.
En palabras de Stephen King: ”El género de horror, es el equivalente literario del rock and roll, un porrazo rápido en la cabeza que te altera los nervios y hace que se queden agradablemente doloridos”. Y esto es lo que nos ofrece la antología ’Pesadilla a 20.000 pies y otros relatos insólitos y terroríficos’, un buen montón de relatos donde la maestría de Matheson queda muy patente. Matheson no nos abruma, y va al grano en sus cuentos, perfectamente hilvanados para provocar estupor y desasosiego, las más de las veces en un golpe de efecto final que te deja impactado, y otras veces por el desarrollo propio de la historia, que te va envolviendo.
En los cuentos de Matheson encontramos fantasmas, brujas, seres sobrenaturales, vampiros y otras historias más atípicas y misteriosas, a veces cotidianas. En ‘Llamada a larga distancia’ y ‘La casa Slaughter’ nos encontramos con espíritus, siendo historias de corte más clásico. Relatos como ‘Una casa enloquecida’ o ‘Viejos territorios’, nos acercan más la parte psicológica e introspectiva de los protagonistas. Otros cuentos, como ‘Legión de conspiradores’ y ‘El número de la desaparición’, con una construcción y desarrollo geniales, reflejan los miedos interiores y las obsesiones, mostrándonos que lo cotidiano puede verse invadido por lo sobrenatural en cualquier momento.
Estos son los 20 relatos incluidos en ’Pesadilla a 20.000 pies y otros relatos insólitos y terroríficos’:
- Pesadilla a 20.000 pies
- Vestido de seda blanca
- Hijo de sangre
- A través de los canales
- Guerra de brujas
- Una casa enloquecida
- El número de la desaparición
- Legión de conspiradores
- Llamada a larga distancia
- La casa Slaughter
- Paja húmeda
- El baile de los muertos
- Los hijos de Noah
- El hombre de las fiestas
- Viejos territorios
- El distribuidor
- Grillos
- Primer aniversario
- El semblante de Julie
- Presa
En fin, nos encontramos ante una recopilación excelente, que hará las delicias de cualquier aficionado al género. show less
En palabras de Stephen King: ”El género de horror, es el equivalente literario del rock and roll, un porrazo rápido en la cabeza que te altera los nervios y hace que se queden agradablemente doloridos”. Y esto es lo que nos ofrece la antología ’Pesadilla a 20.000 pies y otros relatos insólitos y terroríficos’, un buen montón de relatos donde la maestría de Matheson queda muy patente. Matheson no nos abruma, y va al grano en sus cuentos, perfectamente hilvanados para provocar estupor y desasosiego, las más de las veces en un golpe de efecto final que te deja impactado, y otras veces por el desarrollo propio de la historia, que te va envolviendo.
En los cuentos de Matheson encontramos fantasmas, brujas, seres sobrenaturales, vampiros y otras historias más atípicas y misteriosas, a veces cotidianas. En ‘Llamada a larga distancia’ y ‘La casa Slaughter’ nos encontramos con espíritus, siendo historias de corte más clásico. Relatos como ‘Una casa enloquecida’ o ‘Viejos territorios’, nos acercan más la parte psicológica e introspectiva de los protagonistas. Otros cuentos, como ‘Legión de conspiradores’ y ‘El número de la desaparición’, con una construcción y desarrollo geniales, reflejan los miedos interiores y las obsesiones, mostrándonos que lo cotidiano puede verse invadido por lo sobrenatural en cualquier momento.
Estos son los 20 relatos incluidos en ’Pesadilla a 20.000 pies y otros relatos insólitos y terroríficos’:
- Pesadilla a 20.000 pies
- Vestido de seda blanca
- Hijo de sangre
- A través de los canales
- Guerra de brujas
- Una casa enloquecida
- El número de la desaparición
- Legión de conspiradores
- Llamada a larga distancia
- La casa Slaughter
- Paja húmeda
- El baile de los muertos
- Los hijos de Noah
- El hombre de las fiestas
- Viejos territorios
- El distribuidor
- Grillos
- Primer aniversario
- El semblante de Julie
- Presa
En fin, nos encontramos ante una recopilación excelente, que hará las delicias de cualquier aficionado al género. show less
this is maybe the second or third time i've read this collection, though individual stories have warranted numerous perusals. i like richard matheson, a lot. there is a mindset necessary to read some of his stories, though -- when you think "i've seen this plot device/story idea/character before," you have to remember that wherever you saw it, it was probably being ripped off from matheson.
trigger warning -- the likeness of julie. it's the last story, so you can easily skip it. it has a nice twist to it, though, but it could be inappropriate for some readers.
Edit 2021 -- i don't know if I have a different edition this time around, but "the likeness of Julie" is not the last story, "prey" is. "prey" is one of those stories that has show more elements that didn't age well. Still, an important story later rewritten by Stephen King. show less
trigger warning -- the likeness of julie. it's the last story, so you can easily skip it. it has a nice twist to it, though, but it could be inappropriate for some readers.
Edit 2021 -- i don't know if I have a different edition this time around, but "the likeness of Julie" is not the last story, "prey" is. "prey" is one of those stories that has show more elements that didn't age well. Still, an important story later rewritten by Stephen King. show less
Loved this collection of stories. It was the perfect thing to read to get into the Halloween spirit! The stories are well written, creepy and often haunting.
What are you afraid off? Flying? Children? A doll? New neighbour? Heck, what about the guy sitting next to you on the bus and sniffing? In the hands of Richard Matheson, paranoia hits an all time high. He doesn't need to conjure up ghosts, monsters or aliens to scare you. Some of his best works are showcased in these short stories. Some chilling, some just disturbing, but all of them will get under your skin ... just because it may just happen.
This is a marvelous collection of 20 short horror stories by a master of the form. Fans of this genre will recognize the title piece as the story about an airline passenger having a psychotic breakdown as he sees a bizarre creature ripping apart the wing of plane he's flying on. That was turned into a 1963 episode of the classic Twilight Zone TV series, starring William Shatner, and was later included in the Twilight Zone: The Movie, which starred John Lithgow in the same role. For me, that story is arguably the best in the collection, but there are many others here worth recommending. Matheson does a great job of finding horror in the ordinary. His protagonists are typical "everymen". The settings are not gothic and spooky, but rather show more are the house next door, or your typical office complex. Of the stories in this collection, I would highly recommend "Mad House", "Legion of Plotters", "The Children of Noah", and "First Anniversary". The final story, "Prey" will also be recognizable to long-time TV and horror fans -- it was the basis one of the tales included in 1975's Trilogy of Terror, in which a Zuni doll comes to life and terrorizes Karen Black in her apartment. Note: Oddly, although the back cover of this book says the collection includes the story "Duel", which was turned into a creepy TV-movie starring Dennis Weaver and a semi, and ws the first feature film directed by Steven Spielberg, that story does NOT actually appear in the collection!
Originally reviewed for my local library's website: http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/depts/bookguide/srec/staffrec10-10.htm show less
Originally reviewed for my local library's website: http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/depts/bookguide/srec/staffrec10-10.htm show less
Richard Matheson is a master at his craft. While some of his stories aren't quit as spell-binding as the others his writing is remarkable.
A superb collection of stories. It reads more like an anthology of different authors, the subjects and writing styles are so varied. Lots of unexpected twists.
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Author Information
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Richard Matheson was born on February 20, 1926 in Allendale, New Jersey. He was eight when his stories appeared in a local newspaper, the Brooklyn Eagle. He served during World War II. He received a degree in journalism from the University of Missouri in 1949. In 1950 he first was noticed as an upcoming writer-to-watch, starting with the short show more story Born of Man and Woman. He wrote numerous novels and short stories during his lifetime including I am Legend, The Shrinking Man, What Dreams May Come, and Hell House. He won the World Fantasy Convention's Life Achievement Award, the Bram Stoker Award for Life Achievement, the Hugo Award, the Golden Spur Award, and the Writer's Guild Award. He also was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2010. When Hollywood approached him for the rights to his novel The Shrinking Man, he negotiated the chance to write the screenplay. This began a long career in screenwriting and adapting. He wrote the screenplay for Steven Spielberg's Duel and 16 episodes of the television series The Twilight Zone. He won an Edgar Allan Poe Award in 1973 for The Night Stalker. He died on June 23, 2013 at the age of 87. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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- Canonical title
- Nightmare at 20,000 Feet
- Original publication date
- 2002
- Related movies
- Trilogy of Terror (1975 | IMDb | stories "The Likeness of Julie" and "Prey"); Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983 | IMDb); The Twilight Zone (1959 | IMDb); Masters of Horror: Dance of the Dead (2008 | IMDb | Story "Dance of the Dead"); The Twilight Zone: Season 5, Episode 3: Nightmare at 20,000 Feet (1963 | IMDb); The Twilight Zone: Season 1, Episode 11: And When the Sky Was Opened (1964 | IMDb) (show all 7); The Twilight Zone: Season 5, Episode 19: Night Call (1964 | IMDb)
- Dedication
- TO Cornell George Hopley-Woolrich
1903-1968 - First words
- To say that Richard Matheson invented the horror story would be as ridiculous as it would be to say that Elvis Presley invited rock and roll - what, the purist would scream, bout Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Stick McGhee, The... (show all) Robins, and a dozen others? The same is true in the horror genre, which is the literary equivalent of rock and roll - a quick hit to the head that bops your nerves and makes them hurt so good. -Introduction, Stephen King
"Seat belt, please," said the stewardess cheerfully as she passed him.
Almost as she spoke, the sign above the archway which led to the forward compartment lit up - FASTEN SEAT BELT - with, below, its attendant caution... (show all) - NO SMOKING. Drawing in a deep lungful, Wilson exhaled it in bursts, then pressed the cigarette into the armrest tray with irritable stabbing motions. -Nightmare at 20,000 Feet - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)He Who Kills sat, cross-legged, in the corner, in the darkness, waiting for the prey to come.
- Original language*
- Inglés
- Canonical DDC/MDS
- 813.54
- Canonical LCC
- PS3563.A8355 N54
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
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