Among the greats of 20th-century horror and myth, few names stand above Richard Matheson. although recognized by means of many for novels like I Am Legend and his 16 Twilight Zone episodes, Matheson actually shines in his chilling, masterful brief tales. considering his first tale seemed in 1950, nearly each significant author of technology fiction, horror, and delusion has fallen lower than his impact, together with Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Peter Straub, and Joe Hill, in addition to filmmakers like Stephen Spielberg and J.J. Abrams. Matheson revolutionized horror by means of taking it out of Gothic castles and unusual cosmos and environment it within the darkened streets and suburbs we realize as our personal. He infused stories of the glorious and supernormal with darkish explorations of human nature, delving deep into the common dread of feeling on my own and threatened in a perilous global. The better of Richard Matheson brings jointly his maximum hits as selected by way of Victor LaValle, a professional on horror fiction and one among its brightest skills, marking the 1st significant evaluation of Matheson's mythical career.

"[Matheson is] the writer who encouraged me such a lot as a writer." -Stephen King

"Richard Matheson's ironic and iconic mind's eye created seminal science-fiction tales . . . For me, he's within the related class as Bradbury and Asimov." -Steven Spielberg

"He used to be a tremendous, and also you recognize HIS tales, whether you're thinking that you don't." -Neil Gaiman

For greater than seventy years, Penguin has been the top writer of vintage literature within the English-speaking international. With greater than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a world bookshelf of the simplest works all through historical past and throughout genres and disciplines. Readers belief the series to supply authoritative texts more advantageous by means of introductions and notes by way of individual students and modern authors, in addition to up-to-date translations via award-winning translators.