RIP Richard Matheson

Aside from Ray Bradbury–who needless to say was in a class by himself–few authors are as associated in the broad public mind with golden age fantasy and science fiction as Richard Matheson. While there are many authors famous to sci-fi nerds, Matheson wrote novels like I Am Legend, Somewhere in Time and The Incredible Shrinking Man that were turned into successful, in some cases classic, movies. He also wrote a ton of short stories which also were adapted into movies and television work, often by himself. These include Prey, the tale which became the basis for the memorable Zuni Fetish Doll finale of Trilogy of Terror.

Mr. Matheson was for decades a extraordinarily busy scriptwriter. On TV he worked on many shows, but is best remembered for his scripts for 16 classic Twilight Zone episodes. These included Terror at 20,000 Feet, which saw William Shatner menaced by a in-flight gremlin. He also wrote The Enemy Within episode of Star Trek, which saw Kirk split into good and bad halves of himself. Matheson also basically ran the ’70s horror anthology Circle of Fear.

For the cinema, Mr. Matheson was a frequent collaborator with Roger Corman, scripting most of the Vincent Price films purportedly based on the works of E.A. Poe. Other films he wrote included Burn, Witch, Burn and The Devil Rides Out and Duel and The Night Stalker and The Night Strangler and The Legend of Hell House (based on his novel) and Scream of the Wolf and the Jack Palance TV Dracula movie and The Martian Chronicles mini-series and…well, a lot, lot more.

Mr. Matheson served as an infantry soldier in the European theater in World War II, which served as the basis of his novel The Beardless Warriors. He was 87 at the time of his passing.

  • David Fullam

    Truly a shame. There will will never be another master of fiction like him. Literature, film, TV. He literally did it all.

  • Cullen Waters

    He wrote some of the nastiest, most brilliant stories I’ve ever read. One of the best writers, period.

  • Rock Baker

    Yes, any time I saw his name in the credits of a film, I knew it was going to be a good script. One of my major influences as a screen-writer, in fact. A shame to lose such a dependable pro. Rest In Peace, Sir.

  • Gamera977

    Yeah. I’ve only read a few of his written stories but if his name was on the credits for a movie or TV show you knew the story would be good even if the rest of it was awful. RIP Mr Matherson.

  • Eric Hinkle

    Wow, I thought Mister Matheson left us a long time ago. RIP, sir.

  • zombiewhacker

    Dying Room Only is another great, unsung TV masterpiece written by Matheson, starring Cloris Leachman, Dabney Coleman, Ross Martin, and Ned Beatty. If it shows up on cable sometime, Tivo it.
    The Senator Richard Matheson character from The X Files was a Chris Carter shoutout.
    Fittingly, the Senator character was the only politician that Fox Mulder felt he could trust.
    RIP Mr. Matheson.

  • bgbear_rogerh

    Matheson was one of the earliest names I learned to recognize to indicate “Oh,
    I’ll probably like this”.

  • bgbear_rogerh

    I just wrote something similar. says a lot about a writer.