The Shores of Space

A classic Matheson collection. The title misleadingly suggests something extraplanetary. There is some SF (science loosely defined) but it's more horror and fantasy. This shows Matheson's productivity -- 13 stories, all copyrighted between 1951 and 1954. Only a few original publication venues are given in my copy and those are from the magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. Two of the stories were adapted for The Twilight Zone: Steel (from F&SF), about an aging robot boxer and the manager that refuses to give up, Little Girl Lost (from Amazing), about a child who somehow enters another dimension from her bedroom. Those are two of the better stories. Also strong is Being (from IF), a horror novel of a couple and a "zoo" in the middle show more of nowhere, with an alien, that reads like vintage Stephen King. Pattern for Survival (from F&SF) is a short-short a la Fredric Brown. The others are OK though once the premise is given, you know where things are going to go. The weakest for me was Trespass (original to this collection), where a man who has been away for 6 months struggles to believe his wife's pregnancy is not due to her being unfaithful. This drags on for way too long before an alternative answer is given, and that answer is unconvincingly arrived at.

Recommended, especially for Twilight Zone fans. show less

As break from another book I am reading I read the short story collection De laatste dag (with stories from The Shores of Space and Shock!) by Richard Matheson. The stories are science fiction and horror stories. Most of them seem pretty normal, taking place in the nineteen-fifties on earth, and then take a turn for the weird, horrific or futuristic.
The stories range from weird aliens on earth, strange space-travel, a 2003-way of dealing with over-population, stories dealing with identity and straight-up horror stories. The book doesn’t really show it’s age (if you ignore the smoking going on in the future). Most stories seem familiar because they have been done many times, but those were original back then.
It is a great read, a show more classic collection. Four out of five stars. show less

Great short stories -- each one with a different tone and style. Some authors have a set tone of voice that all their stories take. Some authors are more flexible with their craft. Matheson appears to be one of the flexible ones, willing to treat each story as an experiment.

If you've read "I am Legend" then you know Matheson writes as much horror as he does SF. This collection of stories is a mix of the two. Perhaps more horror then science fiction. I liked most of the stories though I don't enjoy creepy tales as much as I used to. Several had surprise endings and at least one was amusing. All of these are from the 1950s but hold up well today. Good writer.

What was I thinking... this is horror, not SF. I did like [b:I Am Legend|1056014|I Am Legend|Richard Matheson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1408927588s/1056014.jpg|19273256], surprisingly enough, but generally I have no interest in horror. I did read a few of the stories in here, based on other reviewers' recommendations, but am skipping the rest and moving on. tyvm