U.S. science fiction writers have always gathered a huge audience of fans who have been eagerly awaiting the release of each book. This genre has always remained popular and loved by many readers. With the development of technology, fantastic works began to be made into films, which led to even greater success. Richard Matheson also became popular thanks to his key book and its film motives.
Meet the writer
Before learning about the work of the American writer, we will get acquainted with his biography. Richard Burton Matheson was born in 1926 in the United States. His parents were Norwegian immigrants who came to Allendale and decided to start a new life. New York City Brooklyn became the home of the future science fiction writer. Here, at only eight years old, the boy came up with his first story, which was later published in the local press.
Training
Before the war, Matheson studied at the Technical School, and then began to serve in the infantry. The Second World War impressed the young guy, which he later outlined in his novel Beardless Warriors. This work has become an autobiographical and major first work before a booming career.
Before the book was published, Richard Matheson went to the journalism department of a US university. In Missouri, in the late 40s, he received a bachelor's degree.
A family
After a couple of years, the writer moves to California and marries. Over time, he had four children. Three of them decided to follow in the footsteps of their father. The boys became writers and screenwriters.
Creation
The heyday of Richard's career began immediately after graduation. Thanks to his love of fairy tales and fantastic stories, the writer knew in which genre he would work. Already in 1950, he began to publish his short stories in magazines. The first was a frightening fantasy work - âBorn by a man and a womanâ. This story of a mutant boy scared and captivated the readership. Later that was what the storybook was called.
In California, Matheson continued to write his dark stories that chilled the heart and soul. Each of them was something rather unusual and new in the literature. They aroused interest along with horror, and new books were eagerly awaited. So, in 1951, they wrote: âWhite Silk Dressâ, âHouse of Massacreâ, âWitch's Warâ, âWet Strawâ, etc.
After a couple of years, the author paid attention to detectives as a genre of his works. The novels Someone Is Bleeding and Fury on Sunday were written right there.
Style
Of course, the science fiction author has his own style, which is mainly aimed at challenging the reader with goosebumps, fear and awe. Richard Matheson used in his works different techniques characteristic of him. For example, he had a series of stories with an original ending, there were also stories that resemble a psychological thriller more. Many of his stories were devoted to satire, stereotypes and genre cliches.
Film career
Activities as a screenwriter began by 1960. The first place of his work became the American company American International Pictures. They were involved in horror projects, so Matheson was the best complement to them. For a long time, a science fiction writer worked on adapting the works of Edgar Allan Poe to the scripts of films. Thanks to him, the films were created: "Raven", "The Fall of the House of Asher", etc.
Working on the novels of an American writer, Richard tried to make something of his own in their film adaptation, so that the film would be more vivid and memorable. The screenwriter tried to add a touch of comic, which later made Raven an excellent comedy.
After Matheson decided to turn to the works of Fritz Leiber and Jules Verne. He is attracted to their work, and the scripts are great. He does not leave the author's activity, continuing to create stories, collecting them in collections. So, 86 stories were included in the "Collection ..." of 1989.
Richard Matheson during his career managed to work with more than one great journalist. Of course, he managed to create a film together with Stephen Spielberg. "Duel" was released in 1971. The story of this film was somewhat autobiographical. Matheson, drawing on the situation from his life, wrote about a paranoid driver chasing a car and having a real duel.
The sci-fi writer also worked on the novel "The Night Stalker" (Jeff Rice), and also did not forget about the adaptation of his works. So, the film "The Legend of the Hell House" was released. The publication of the scripts of the series âTwilight Zoneâ became interesting. He regularly wrote scripts for episodes that became popular and exciting.
Last works
Richard worked a lot and hard. Thanks to him, a huge number of books and films in the genre of fiction and horror came out. In the early 90s, Matheson published a series of Western books. And at the end of the century, his book âWhere Dreams Bringâ is filmed, and it becomes one of the best films of the 20th century. Next came the film Echo of Echo, also filmed based on Matheson's book.
At the beginning of the 21st century, Richard Matheson, whose books were waiting for his fans and just lovers of science fiction, did not leave the work of the writer. He released opus for opus. His last work was the novel "Generation", published in 2012.
The author died at 87 in the United States, in Los Angeles.
Legendary romance
âI am a legendâ by Richard Matheson has come a long way from publication to film adaptation. The novel came out back in 1954 and forever formed in the minds of mankind the image of sinister zombies, vampires and other monsters. The main idea of ââthe novel is to popularize the very apocalypse that is sure to come to Earth.
The cause of the disaster was a pandemic. That is, vampirism is presented here as a disease. According to legend, Mathesonâs plan appeared after watching Dracula. Then he asked himself, if one vampire is terrible, then how terrible will the world inhabited by these creatures be? In 2004, giving an interview, Richard confidently said that, in his opinion, âI am a legendâ is the best novel in his work.
The plot of the book is quite simple. The hero of the novel was the only uninfected person on Earth. Most likely, the recent bite of Robert with an infected bat was the reason for this. Now, after he had been ill, immunity to the vampirism virus was formed in his blood. The hero hides in his armored house at night, and leaves in the morning and afternoon to remove the corpses of uninvited guests from his home and repair the shelter.
After experiencing depression, Robert decides to study this disease and takes up the research. One day he meets Ruth, who is supposedly not infected. Conducts an analysis, but still discovers that there is a virus in her blood. She runs away from him, but later warns of danger. He talks about the fact that there is a certain society such as it, which have not completely become vampires and are trying to restore the social system.
The book's ending is represented by the suicide of Robert, who swallows poison, realizing that he is not accepted by the new society because of its normality. The 2007 film is slightly different. It is adapted to current technologies, and the main character has a friend - a dog. The ending is also changed.
Famous stories
"Steel Man" also gained fame thanks to the film adaptation. But before it was published in 1956. The story of the battle of man with robots also at one time did not leave indifferent director Sean Levy. In 2011, a film was released with a different name - âLiving Steelâ. It is worth noting here that the similarity of the film and the story is small. We can say that the director was only inspired by the story of Matheson. Most likely, this is due to the fact that almost 60 years have passed since the writing of the story âSteel Manâ to the release of the film.
An interesting story in 1970 was written by Richard Matheson. âButton-buttonâ is a provocative story that will make anyone think. What to do if a box with a button gets into your house? Maybe this is an advertising move? Do you press a button to find out that you will receive 50 thousand dollars, but one stranger will die?
It is worth noting that the "Button-button" is filmed twice. At first it was a series of "Twilight Zone" in 1986, later, after 23 years - the film "Box". In Russian, the name of the story of Matheson sounds slightly different - "Click on the button, click."
Richard Matheson received the World Fantasy Award, the Bram Award and the Edgar Allan Poe Award. 3 years before his death, he was given a place in the Science Fiction Hall of Fame. His fan was Ray Bradbury, and Stephen King claimed that it was Richard's work that influenced his formation as a writer.