Duel: Terror Stories by Richard Matheson

by Richard Matheson

Book Overview

Duel, Stephen Spielberg's terrifying first film, was adapted by Richard Matheson from his nail-biting short story of the same name.

But "Duel" is only one of the many classic tales in this outstanding collection of stories by the award-winning author of I Am Legend, Somewhere in Time, What Dreams May Come, and The Incredible Shrinking Man.

Remember that murderous semi chasing a driver down...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312878265
• ISBN13: 9780312878269
• Release Date: January 2003
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 1.01 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.5" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

These ARE Great Stories

I don't understand the lukewarm reception this book has received from many reviewers. These are entertaining and well written stories, and are perfect if you want to relax and let your imagination take over. Matheson is a very creative and fertile writer. The prose is vivid and the dialogue is crisp. He paints pictures in your mind expertly; he creates fantastic scenarios effortlessly. These stories are mini page-turners and Matheson's imagination coupled with his obvious talent for colorful writing make this a highly recommended book. I don't know if it's better or worse than such-and-such; but i do know this: If you like Matheson's work, you will like this book, simple as that.

Duel is the Best, Some Others Good

I agree with some of the other reviewers here. The story Duel is a work of genius (which could actually happen). I even watched the movie again after reading it. The stories in the collection which were made into Twilight Zone episodes were also good, such as Little Girl Lost (with an original explanation). Most of the other stories, however, were typical 1950s sci-fi tales involving flying saucers, invasions by the Martians, rocket ships and all the other cliches. If these stories were all that Matheson had written, I dont know that he would be considered great. One possible exception is the story Shipshape House, which builds the suspense to a really horrifying ending. I found most of this collection pretty dated, but the good stories made getting the book worthwhile. I do recommend the movie Duel, the first one directed by Steven Spielberg. It is too bad the collection wasnt more uniform in quality; I hesitate to pick up his other books after this. Duel is the only story written after the early 1950s, so you know what to expect.

Outstanding collection of terror and science fiction

"Duel" the title story of this terrific collection of terror, horror and science fiction stories, became the basis for Steven Spielberg's marvelous TV movie of the same name (by the way just released to DVD after a long, long delay by Universal). David Mann becomes involved in an increasingly dangerous game of cat and mouse with a truck driver. Their road rage leads to more and more dangerous confrontations until it's clear that the truck driver wants to kill Mann. A marvelous suspense story, "Duel" is the blueprint for Matheson's script to the movie of the same name. We also get "Little Girl Lost", "Death Ship", "Steel", "Third from the Sun" and "Born of Man & Woman"(all of which were adapted by Matheson and/or Rod Serling for the classic "Night Gallery" and "Twilight Zone" series) with 12 other stories of terror and science fiction. Like Matheson's novels I Am Legend and The Incredible Shrinking Man, the author likes to mix equal elements of terror, science fiction and intelligent character studies in this collection of classic stories from the 50's ("Duel" is the lone story from the 70's). You may ask yourself what the difference is between horror and terror? Well Boris Karloff stated that terror is anticipating the monster behind the door while horror is actually seeing it in all its gruesome glory. The former creates considerably more suspense and anxiety while the latter is a shock to the system that doesn't last very long (like the murder scene in "Psycho" as compared to the scene where Cary Grant is being pursued by the crop duster in "North by Northwest"). It also can be reduced to semantics. Either way, this collection will provide interesting thrills and chills. Even if you've seen the films adapted from Matheson's work (or TV programs), you'll still enjoy Matheson's fluid writing style and pacing. There's more here than meet the eye and it's well worth investigating.

short stories

I was first introduced to Matheson through his famous novel, I am Legend. That novel and the short stories included with it impressed me very much. That impression has continued to grow as I've read books like Duel. Matheson writes very competently and always manages to surprise you as he displays his monsters, aliens, and human madmen. This book is well worth your time. It's one I know I will read over and over again.

absolutely fantastic

richard matheson seems to have been sadly forgotten amongst the horror writers of today. while this may be so, it is also true that he transcends a good deal, if not all, of these writers. "duel" and the collection of stories (many of which were used for twilight zone episodes) that follow are only an appetizer for this legendary author's incredible variety of inspiration. it seems that matheson's formula is as follows:take a perfectly ordinary situation, ordinary life, and throw a javelin of the irrational into it using the supernatural, extraterrestrial, et al. "Duel" is perhaps the best example of this: a simple car ride involving an ordinary man turns into a terrifying struggle for existence, revealing the calm facade of civilization for what it really is--a facade. In "Third From the Sun" Matheson tells a sad tale of a family trying to escape a planet about to self destruct. This really is horror in its purest form: it reflects the quakes and ruptures beneath everyday life without making them look absurd, costume like, or obvious. It is subtle and disturbing. Spielberg's film was great, but it is nothing compared to the story. Although he has stopped writing horror (for some philosophical reason, from what I've read (yawn) his work speaks for itself.