New Releases by Richard Matheson

An essential collection of rare tales of terror from the multi-award-winning Twilight Zone scripter and I Am Legend author—only available in ebook format. A researcher encounters an exotic new strain of “Backteria” that causes the infected person to vanish—leading the doctor on a path of discovery deep into a past he should have left buried. A simple “Haircut” that starts off as a routine trim becomes a dark and terrifying experience when a barber is confronted with a sick customer who seems otherworldly. A case of mistaken identity leads to a darkly farcical story of marriage, murder, and a love that knows no bounds in “Getting Together.” Backteria & Other Improbable Tales gathers these and sixteen more uncanny short stories from master storyteller Richard Matheson, “one of the great names in American terror fiction” (The Philadelphia Inquirer). Stories include: “Backteria”, “He Wanted to Live”, “Life Size”, “Man with a Club”, “Professor Fritz and the Runaway House”, “Purge Among Peanuts”, “The Prisoner”, “The Last Blah in the ETC”, “Counterfeit Bills”, “1984 ½”, “Pride”, “Now Die In It”, “Leo Rising”, “Where There’s a Will” (written with Richard Christian Matheson), “Getting Together”, “Person to Person”, “CU: Mannix”, “Haircut”, “An Element Never Forgets” “The author who influenced me the most as a writer was Richard Matheson.” —Stephen King “Perhaps no other living author is as responsible for chilling a generation with tantalizing nightmare visions.” —The New York Times “Matheson’s a writer who just has the special knack, the deft skill to imagine terrifying scenarios on any scale, large and small, and give them chilling possibility.” —Los Angeles Times

The visionary first novel by the author of What Dreams May Come in which a man paralyzed by a gunshot reflects on his sordid past and hopes for redemption. Hunger and Thirst is Richard Matheson’s first and until now previously unpublished novel, written fifty-plus years ago when Matheson was only twenty-three-years-old. Matheson’s agent told him it was unpublishable due to its length and so to that end, Matheson put the manuscript in a drawer and left for California where his writing career changed dramatically. Hunger and Thirst centers around Erick, who lies paralyzed on his hospital bed after being shot during a botched bank robbery. Erick contemplates how his life became such a mess—from his childhood, to his service in the war, his romantic life, and now—and holds out hope to be saved… Perfect for fans of Stephen King’s Gerald’s Game Praise for Richard Matheson “One of the greatest writers of the twentieth century.”—Ray Bradbury “The author who influenced me the most as a writer was Richard Matheson.”—Stephen King

From the iconic author of I Am Legend: The fascinating, unfinished teleplay of a saga encompassing the Titanic, Jack the Ripper, and the paranormal. Richard Matheson, the celebrated Twilight Zone scripter, explored his interests in metaphysics, spiritualism, and parapsychology in such stories as Hell House, Somewhere in Time, and What Dreams May Come. In the early 1980s, he approached the ABC television network with a twenty-hour mini-series about such phenomena in contemporary times—and included two in-depth historical accounts of the psychic events related to the Jack the Ripper murders and in the Titanic disaster. Titled The Link, Matheson turned in a 557-page outline that ABC executives requested he condense into seven hour-long episodes. Unable to realize his original vision under such restrictions, Matheson abandoned the television project and attempted to novelize the outline. After writing 800 pages that only comprised the first part of the novel, he decided it was too unwieldy and moved on to other stories. Now, Matheson’s fans can discover what might have been with this publication of The Link, which includes the entire original outline as well as part of the teleplay. The story follows Robert Allright, a writer working with paranormal investigator Cathy Graves to decipher a mystery unearthed by his father in an Arizona archeological dig. Allright’s only clue is the mystifying crystal that his father believes is the key to a great discovery. “The author who influenced me the most as a writer was Richard Matheson.” —Stephen King “Matheson peppers [The Link] with innumerable historical incidents of supposed paranormal activity that make fascinating reading.” —Publishers Weekly

This tale of summer camp horror and mystery by the author of I Am Legend is “a deeply engaging story with a clear writing style that is a pleasure to read” (Publishers Weekly). Camp Pleasant is a place of natural beauty and campfire singalongs. But when Matt Harper arrives there to work as a counselor, he discovers it is also a place of unrelenting abuse and brutality. The new camp director “Big Ed” Nolan is such a bully that the bucolic paradise feels more like a miniature Third Reich . . . until someone finally has enough and kills Big Ed. The suspects include a troubled young camper, a counselor who quit in the face of homophobic humiliation, and Big Ed’s own wife, Ellen. “[This] minimalist plot would be inadequate in other hands, but Matheson—author of Somewhere in Time and Hell House as well as classic Twilight Zone teleplays—has such a command of his craft that this book is a pure pleasure . . .The simple style recalls Hemingway” (Publishers Weekly).

“Devastating . . . a masterly fable, told with insight, wit, and welcome venom . . . this is Hollywood Hell.”—Clive Barker Alan White is a hot young writer-producer looking for the one megahit every Hollywood writer dreams about. He thinks he’s found it with a new TV show called The Mercenary. The network has never seen anything like it. Sex. Violence. Nudity. This time they’re taking it to the max and the Nielsen ratings are shooting through the roof. Alan couldn’t be happier. Until the morning’s headlines start to read like a rerun of last night’s episode. Until The Mercenary begins to take on a terrifying life of its own. Until it becomes chillingly clear that Alan must cancel his creation—before it cancels him. “[Created By] gets the reader into a wrestler’s grip and will not let him go.”—Peter Straub

Arriving in a pastoral English village to recover from his experiences in World War I, a young American soldier ignores rumors about malevolent spirits in a nearby wood until a frightening encounter leads him into the arms of an alluring red-haired woman believed to be a witch. By the award-winning author of I Am Legend. 50,000 first printing.

Together in one volume, the epic stories of two legendary gunfighters! Journal of the Gun Years Winner of the Spur Award for Best Western Novel Back East, they told tall tales of Marshal Clay Hauser, the steely-eyed Civil War veteran who became known as the "Hero of the Plains" for his daring exploits in the raucous cow towns of the frontier. But fame proves to be the one enemy he can never outdraw–and a curse that haunts him to his violent end . . . . The Memoirs of Wild Bill Hickok James Butler Hickok was a celebrity before there was a Hollywood. As a gunfighter and U.S. marshal, he carved out a legend greater than any fictional hero. Now read the unforgettable story of the man behind the myth. "Matheson excels at the depiction of one man alone, locked in a desperate struggle against a force or forces greater than himself." --Stephen King At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

The bestselling author of such classic novels as I Am Legend and What Dreams May Come, Richard Matheson is one of the twentieth century''s acknowledged masters of suspense. Hunted Past Reason is a major literary event: Matheson''s first new novel in seven years-and a gripping tale of madness, paranoia, and murder. It''s supposed to be just an ordinary camping trip, two old acquaintances hiking through the wilderness toward a remote cabin in the woods of northern California. Bob Hansen, a middle-aged family man and author, isn''t anticipating anything worse than sore muscles and maybe a few chilly nights. But the enforced isolation of the hike soon exposes long-hidden rivalries and resentments between Bob and his guide through the forest, a fading TV actor whom Bob has known for several years. The deeper they get into the primeval wilderness and the farther from civilization, the greater the tension between the two men becomes-until the simmering hostility erupts into a terrifying life-or-death struggle for survival. Two men entered the woods, but only one may emerge alive. Hunted Past Reason is a nail-biting thriller in the classic Matheson tradition. At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Wild Bill Hickok was a celebrity before there ever was a Hollywood. And he was dead before he was forty. Now Richard Matheson, Spur Award-winning author of Journal of the Gun Years, delves into the life and times of James Butler Hickok . . . gunfighter, U.S. marshal, legend. The cruelty that turned him violent. The fears that drove him. And the historic events that cause his name to live on more than century later. A compelling vision of the man behind the myth--and an unforgettable journey into the American frontier. At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Back East, they told tall tales about Marshall Clay Halser, the fearless Civil War veteran who became known as the "Hero of the Plains" for his daring exploits in the Wild West. But the truth, as revealed in his private journals, is even more compelling. A callow youth in search of excitement, Halser travels to the raucous cow towns of the frontier, where his steady nerve and ready trigger finger soon mark him as a gunfighter to be reckoned with. As both an outlaw and a lawman, he carves out a legendary career. But fame proves to be the one enemy he can never outdraw–and a curse that haunts him to the bitter end . . . . At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

IDW brings you this lavishly illustrated adaptation of Richard Matheson''s tale of newspaper publisher Rudolph Deutsch facing his impending demise. To help Deutsch forestall his death and to learn the secrets of life after death, a team of experts must survive a night in Belasco House, a place known amongst the local townsfolk as "Hell House." The notorious Belasco House starts to exert its dark influence on the group of scientists and spiritualists as they unearth the perverse and wretched secrets from within its walls. Hell House has let them in... but will it ever let them leave?

Like What Dreams May Come, which inspired the upcoming movie starring Robin Williams, Somewhere in Time is the powerful story of a love that transcends time and space, written by one of the Grand Masters of modern fantasy. Matheson''s classic novel tells the moving, romantic story of a modern man whose love for a woman he has never met draws him back in time to a luxury hotel in San Diego in 1896, where he finds his soul mate in the form of a celebrated actress of the previous century. Somewhere in Time won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel, and the 1979 movie version, starring Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour, remains a cult classic whose fans continue to hold yearly conventions to this day. At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

This collection of stories features "Button, Button," the basis for the motion picture, "The Box," starring Cameron Diaz and James Marsden. Button, Button: Uncanny Stories contains a number of tales that were also adapted for television, as well as a new introduction by Richard Matheson himself. What if every time you pushed a button you received $50,000...but someone you didn''t know died? Would you still push the button? How many times? "Button, Button", which inspired a memorable Twilight Zone episode, is just one of a dozen unforgettable tales in this collection by Richard Matheson, the New York Times bestselling author of I Am Legend and What Dreams May Come. At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Personally selected by Richard Matheson, the bestselling author of I Am Legend and What Dreams May Come, the stories in Nightmare at 20,000 feet more than demonstrate why Matheson''s regarded as one of our most influential horror writers. Featuring the story "Duel," a nail-biting tale of man versus machines that inspired Steven Spielberg''s first film. Remember that monster on the wing of the airplane? William Shatner saw it on The Twilight Zone, John Lithgow saw it in the movie-even Bart Simpson saw it. "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" is just one of many classic horror stories by Richard Matheson that have insinuated themselves into our collective imagination. Here are more than twenty of Matheson''s most memorable tales of fear and paranoia, including: "Prey," in which a terrified woman is stalked by a malevolent Tiki doll, as chillingly captured in yet another legendary TV moment; "Blood Son," a disturbing portrait of a strange little boy who dreams of being a vampire; "Dress of White Silk," a seductively sinister tale of evil and innocence. At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

This special collection harks back to the best creepy, eerie horror comics of yesteryear, featuring stories from horror legends such as Robert Bloch, Richard Matheson, David J. Schow and Paul F. Wilson.

Reproductions of scripts and screenplays, short stories, and a novel, along with introductions, photos, cast, and credits.

Someone is Bleeding -- Fury on Sunday -- Ride the Nightmare.

The sanity and sexuality of the four Hell House investigators start to dramatically unravel as the unearthly presence within the Belasco House preys upon their bodies and minds. The House has killed before...is history about to repeat itself? IDW''s adaptation of Richard Matheson''s classic tale of terror continues here!

Remember that murderous semi chasing Dennis Weaver down a lonely stretch of desert highway? Duel, Steven Spielberg''s acclaimed first film, was adapted by Richard Matheson from his unforgettable story of the same name. But "Duel" is only one of the classic suspense tales in this outstanding collection of stories by the Grand Master of Horror, which also contains Matheson''s legendary first story, "Born of Man and Woman," as well as several stunning shockers that inspired memorable episodes of The Twilight Zone, including "Little Girl Lost," "Steel," and "Third from the Sun." Like Matheson''s previous collection, Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, this collection is an indispensable treasure trove of terror from the New York Times bestselling author of I Am Legend and What Dreams May Come.

To win the hand of the lonely princess Alicia, Abu is sent on a virtually impossible mission to bring back tokens of each of the Seven Marvels of the World.

Scripts of episodes of the television series.