The Best of Richard Matheson (Penguin Classics)

He was a giant, and YOU KNOW HIS STORIES, even if you think you don't. -Neil Gaiman

Richard Matheson's ironic and iconic imagination created seminal science-fiction stories . . . For me, he is in the same category as Bradbury and Asimov. -Steven Spielberg

[I] never met Richard Matheson, but his stories have been life companions. Books are human souls, in analog form. Go read his. -Joe Hill

Perhaps no other author living is as responsible for chilling a generation with tantalizing nightmare visions. -The New York Times

Richard Matheson is one of the great names in American terror fiction. -The Philadelphia Inquirer

[Matheson has] been an inspiration to me and to so many. He is a legend himself. -Anne Rice

We're all a lot richer to have Richard Matheson. -Dean Koontz

[Matheson is] one of the most important writers of the 20th century. -Ray Bradbury

Matheson's horror is for grown-ups, those who have lost the easy credulity of the very young . . . He's an ideal writer to read right now, because -- as grown-ups know -- we live in unbelievable times. -Terrence Rafferty, New York Times Book Review

Indeed, it's very nearly impossible to overstate the importance of Matheson's contributions to popular culture and our modern perception of horror . . . The Best of Richard Matheson is a fine collection of some of the best short works from one of the great writers of the 20th (or any, really) century. -Pop Matters

One of my favorite writers of all time . . . If you love short stories, he was a master. -Joe R. Lansdale

Richard Matheson was quite simply one of the greatest genre writers of all time. Horror, mystery, suspense, western novels...television, film scripts...He was one for the ages. -Christopher Golden

If all we knew Richard Matheson for was his Twilight Zone episodes, he'd still be a writing legend. But he did so, so much more...It is impossible to overstate how important Richard Matheson is to postwar sci fi, fantasy & horror in prose, TV & film. -Zack Stentz, screenwriter of Thor and X Men: First Class

140 characters can't begin cover what [Richard Matheson] has given the sci fi & horror genre. -Edgar Wright, writer and director of Baby Driver

You could make a strong case for Richard Matheson as the most influential American writer of 'fantastika' between Lovecraft and Stephen King . . . I thought I knew most of Matheson's short fiction . . . and yet editor LaValle has chosen at least a dozen I can't remember ever having read. -Michael Dirda, Washington Post

Matheson's stories never shock viewers with gruesome effects or CGI wondrousness; instead, they worry them at the human level. And they never let a reader go until they're finished. -Los Angeles Times

Matheson is a master of horror, but moreso a master of incisive prose and skill. -Tor.com

Where Matheson shines is in his depictions of ordinary horror, the way strange goings-on affect everyday people, and his ambiguous endings leave plenty of room for further thought. . . . These chilling page-turners still hold up, serving as an excellent starting point for a new generation of readers. -Kirkus Reviews

[Matheson's] imagination and mastery of the short form cannot be denied, and this collection demonstrates the indelible influence he had on speculative literature -Publishers Weekly