View source for Richard Matheson

{{Short description|American author and screenwriter (1926–2013)}}
{{For|his son|Richard Christian Matheson}}
{{Use American English|date = March 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2022}}
{{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox writer/doc]] -->
| name         = Richard Matheson
| image        = Richard Matheson.jpg
| caption      = Matheson in 2008
| pseudonym    = Logan Swanson
| birth_name   = Richard Burton Matheson
| birth_date   = {{Birth date|1926|02|20}}
| birth_place  = [[Allendale, New Jersey]], U.S.
| death_date   = {{Death date and age|2013|06|23|1926|02|20}}
| death_place  = [[Calabasas, California]], U.S.
| alma_mater   = [[University of Missouri]]
| occupation   = {{flatlist|
* Novelist
* short story writer
* screenwriter
}}
| period       = 1950–2013
| spouse       = {{marriage|Ruth Ann Woodson|1952<!--As marriage ended by death of Matheson, not by death of his spouse, the year 2013 is omitted here. See instructions on [[Template:Marriage]] for more info-->}}
| children     = 4, including [[Richard Christian Matheson|Richard Christian]] and [[Chris Matheson (screenwriter)|Chris]]
| genre        = {{hlist|Science fiction|fantasy|horror}}
| notableworks = {{ubli| ''[[I Am Legend (novel)|I Am Legend]]''|''[[The Shrinking Man]]''|''[[A Stir of Echoes]]''|''[[Hell House (novel)|Hell House]]''|''[[What Dreams May Come (Matheson novel)|What Dreams May Come]]''|''[[Bid Time Return]]''}}
| awards       = {{ubli|World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement|Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement|Science Fiction Hall of Fame}}
| signature    = RichardMatheson.png
}}
'''Richard Burton Matheson''' (February 20, 1926&nbsp;– June 23, 2013) was an [[Americans|American]] author and [[screenwriter]], who worked primarily in the fantasy, horror, and science fiction genres.

He is best known as the author of ''[[I Am Legend (novel)|I Am Legend]]'', a 1954 [[science fiction horror]] novel that has been adapted for the screen three times. Matheson himself was co-writer of the first film version, ''[[The Last Man on Earth (1964 film)|The Last Man on Earth]]'', starring [[Vincent Price]], which was released in 1964. The other two adaptations were ''[[The Omega Man]]'', starring [[Charlton Heston]], and ''[[I Am Legend (film)|I Am Legend]]'', with [[Will Smith]]. Matheson also wrote 16 television episodes of ''[[The Twilight Zone (franchise)|The Twilight Zone]]'', including "[[Nightmare at 20,000 Feet]]", "[[Little Girl Lost (The Twilight Zone)|Little Girl Lost]]" and "[[Steel (The Twilight Zone)|Steel]]", as well as several adaptations of [[Edgar Allan Poe]] stories for [[Roger Corman]] and [[American International Pictures]] – ''[[House of Usher (film)|House of Usher]]'', ''[[The Pit and the Pendulum (1961 film)|The Pit and the Pendulum]]'', ''[[Tales of Terror]]'' and ''[[The Raven (1963 film)|The Raven]]''. He adapted his 1971 short story "Duel" as a screenplay, directed by [[Steven Spielberg]] as [[Duel (1971 film)|the television film of the same name]] that year.

In addition to ''I Am Legend'' and ''Duel'', nine more of his novels and short stories have been adapted into movies: ''[[The Shrinking Man]]'' (filmed as ''[[The Incredible Shrinking Man]]''), ''[[Hell House (novel)|Hell House]]'' (filmed as ''[[The Legend of Hell House]]''), ''[[What Dreams May Come (Matheson novel)|What Dreams May Come]]'', ''[[Bid Time Return]]'' (filmed as ''[[Somewhere in Time (film)|Somewhere in Time]]''), ''[[A Stir of Echoes]]'', ''Steel'' (filmed as ''[[Real Steel]]''), ''[[Button, Button (The Twilight Zone)#Short story|Button, Button]]'' (filmed as ''[[The Box (2009 film)|The Box]]''), ''Ride the Nightmare'' (filmed as ''[[Cold Sweat (1970 film)|Cold Sweat]]''), and ''Someone Is Bleeding'' (filmed as ''Les Seins de glace'' (''[[Icy Breasts]]'')). Both ''Steel'' and ''Button, Button'' had previously been episodes of ''[[The Twilight Zone (franchise)|The Twilight Zone]]''.

==Early life==
Matheson was born in [[Allendale, New Jersey]], to Norwegian immigrants Bertolf and Fanny Matheson. They divorced when he was eight, and he was raised in [[Brooklyn, New York]] by his mother. His early writing influences were the film ''[[Dracula (1931 English-language film)|Dracula]]'' (1931), novels by [[Kenneth Roberts (author)|Kenneth Roberts]], and a poem which he read in the ''[[Brooklyn Eagle]]'',<ref name=biography.com>{{cite web| url=http://www.biography.com/people/richard-matheson-21265767| title=Richard Matheson Biography: Author, Screenwriter (1926–2013)| publisher=Biography.com (FYI and A&E Networks)| access-date=September 29, 2015| archive-date=September 13, 2015| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150913201352/http://www.biography.com/people/richard-matheson-21265767| url-status=dead}}</ref> where he published his first short story at age eight.<ref name="Guardian">{{cite news|url= https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/jun/25/richard-matheson-i-am-legend|title=Richard Matheson obituary|work=Guardian.co.uk|access-date=June 26, 2013|location=London|first=Christopher|last=Hawtree|date=June 25, 2013}}</ref> He entered [[Brooklyn Technical High School]] in 1939, graduated in 1943, and served with the [[United States Army|Army]] in Europe during [[World War II]]; this formed the basis for his 1960 novel ''[[The Beardless Warriors]]''.<ref name=biography.com /><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Sammon|first=Paul M.|date=October 1979|title=Richard Matheson: Master of Fantasy|url=https://archive.org/details/Fangoria_002_O_Quinn_1979/page/n27|journal=[[Fangoria]]|issue=2|pages=26–29, 52|via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref> Following his discharge, he received his undergraduate degree (via the [[G.I. Bill]]) from the [[Missouri School of Journalism]] at the [[University of Missouri]] in 1949 before moving to [[California]].<ref name=biography.com /><ref name="Guardian"/>

==Career==
===1950s and 1960s===
His first-written novel, ''Hunger and Thirst'', was ignored by publishers for several decades before eventually being published in 2010, but his short story "[[Born of Man and Woman]]" was published in ''[[The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction]]'''s summer 1950 issue, the new quarterly's third issue,<ref name=isfdb/> and attracted attention.<ref name="Guardian"/> It is the tale of a monstrous child chained by its parents in the cellar, written in the form of the creature's diary and using non-[[Idiom (language structure)|idiomatic]] English. Later that year, Matheson placed stories in the first and third issues of ''[[Galaxy Science Fiction]]'', a new monthly.<ref name=isfdb/> His first anthology of work was published in 1954.<ref name="Guardian"/> Between 1950 and 1971, he produced dozens of stories, frequently blending elements of the science fiction, horror, and fantasy genres.

He was a member of the "Southern California Sorcerers" group in the 1950s and 1960s, an informal collective of West Coast-based writers which included [[Charles Beaumont]], [[Ray Bradbury]], [[George Clayton Johnson]], [[William F. Nolan]], [[Jerry Sohl]], and others; collectively, these writers shared an affinity for an allegorically numinous storytelling approach that bridged the heretofore persistent lacuna between the relatively cloistered, professionally interlocked world of print science fiction (and such critical derivations as contemporaneous [[amateur press association]]-oriented [[science fiction fandom]]) with the "mainstream" [[New York City]]-based publishing industry (in particular, Bradbury was championed by the likes of [[Christopher Isherwood]] and [[Truman Capote]]) and the broader milieux of film and television (culminating in their recognition as a kind of informal [[brain trust]] retained by creator/showrunner [[Rod Serling]] on ''[[The Twilight Zone]]'').<ref>{{cite web |url=https://rodserling.com/southern-california-sorcerers/ |last=Conlon |first=Christopher |title=Southern California Sorcerers |website=[[Rod Serling]] Memorial Foundation |date=October 31, 1999 |access-date=October 31, 2012}}</ref>

Matheson's first novel to be published, ''Someone Is Bleeding'', appeared from Lion Books in 1953.<ref name=isfdb/> In the 1950s, he published a handful of [[Western (genre)|Western]] stories (later collected in ''By the Gun''), and in the 1990s, he published Western novels such as ''Journal of the Gun Years'', ''The Gunfight'', ''The Memoirs of [["Wild Bill" Hickok|Wild Bill Hickok]]'', and ''Shadow on the Sun''.

His other early novels include ''[[The Shrinking Man]]'' (1956, filmed in 1957 as ''[[The Incredible Shrinking Man]]'', again from Matheson's own screenplay) and a science fiction [[vampire]] novel, ''[[I Am Legend (novel)|I Am Legend]]'' (1954, filmed as ''[[The Last Man on Earth (1964 film)|The Last Man on Earth]]'' in 1964, ''[[The Omega Man]]'' in 1971, and ''[[I Am Legend (film)|I Am Legend]]'' in 2007). In 1960, Matheson published ''The Beardless Warriors'', a non-fantastic, autobiographical novel about teenage American soldiers in [[World War II]]. It was filmed in 1967 as ''[[The Young Warriors (film)|The Young Warriors]]'', though most of Matheson's plot was jettisoned. 

Matheson wrote teleplays for several television programs, including the [[Western fiction|Westerns]] ''[[Cheyenne (1955 TV series)|Cheyenne]]'', ''[[Have Gun – Will Travel]]'', and ''[[Lawman (TV series)|Lawman]]''.<ref name="NYTObit">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/26/books/richard-matheson-writer-of-haunted-science-fiction-and-horror-dies-at-87.html?_r=0|title=Richard matheson, Writer of Haunted Science Fictionand Horror, Dies at 87|newspaper=New York Times|access-date=June 26, 2013|first=Bruce|last=Weber|date=June 25, 2013}}</ref> He also wrote the ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek]]'' episode "[[The Enemy Within (Star Trek: The Original Series)|The Enemy Within]]" (1966). However, he is most closely associated with the American TV series ''[[The Twilight Zone]]'', for which he wrote more than a dozen episodes,<ref name="NYTObit"/> including "[[Steel (The Twilight Zone)|Steel]]" (1963), "[[Nightmare at 20,000 Feet]]" (1963), "[[Little Girl Lost (The Twilight Zone)|Little Girl Lost]]" (1962), and "[[Death Ship (The Twilight Zone)|Death Ship]]" (1963). For all of his ''Twilight Zone'' scripts, Matheson wrote the introductory and closing statements spoken by creator [[Rod Serling]].<ref>
{{cite journal
 | last = Alexander
 | first = Chris
 | date = March 2011
 | issue = 301
 | title = The Legend of Richard Matheson
 | journal = Fangoria
 | location = New York City
 | page = 47
 | publisher = The Brooklyn Company, Inc. | quote = ...&nbsp;the things Serling said at the beginning and the end, in the wraparounds, which I wrote. I wrote all the wraparounds to my ''Twilight Zone'' episodes.}}</ref> He adapted five works of [[Edgar Allan Poe]] for [[Roger Corman]]'s Poe series, including ''[[House of Usher (film)|House of Usher]]'' (1960), ''[[The Pit and the Pendulum (1961 film)|The Pit and the Pendulum]] (1961)'', and ''[[The Raven (1963 film)|The Raven]]'' (1963).<ref name="Guardian"/> He was one of the key screenwriters in Corman's career.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/top-ten-corman-part-two-top-ten-screenwriters/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR2clQTrE4m5rieOcOGakJeraw6OnWdGitJp93Oe43GbNSsr8HqWOaOovEU_aem_AS2WH4eyyMsN5rT26gUjr-Xlwt06QIcwdteDnernKsa_FHY9LMUa56xblcdZO-wi66tDIp_SjgoEH_f1ZBKBWDhp|first=Sephen|last=Vagg|website=Filmink|date=13 May 2024|title=Top Ten Corman – Part Two: Top Ten Screenwriters}}</ref>

For [[Hammer Film Productions]], he wrote the screenplay for ''[[Fanatic (film)|Fanatic]]'' (1965; US title: ''Die! Die! My Darling!''), starring [[Tallulah Bankhead]] and [[Stefanie Powers]] and based on the novel ''Nightmare'' by [[Elizabeth Linington|Anne Blaisdell]]; he also adapted for Hammer [[Dennis Wheatley]]'s ''The Devil Rides Out'' (1968).<ref name="Guardian"/>

===1970s and 1980s===
In 1971, Matheson's short story "Duel" was adapted into the [[Duel (1971 film)|TV movie of the same name]]. In 1973, Matheson earned an [[Edgar Award]] from the [[Mystery Writers of America]] for his teleplay for ''[[The Night Stalker (1972 film)|The Night Stalker]]'' (1972), one of two TV movies written by Matheson for producer [[Dan Curtis]], the other being ''[[The Night Strangler (film)|The Night Strangler]]'' (1973), which preceded the TV series ''[[Kolchak: The Night Stalker]]''. Matheson worked extensively with Curtis; the 1977 television [[anthology film]] ''[[Dead of Night (1977 film)|Dead of Night]]'' features three stories written for the screen by Matheson: "Second Chance" (based on the story by [[Jack Finney]]); "No Such Thing as a Vampire" (based on Matheson's story of the same name); and "Bobby", an original script written for this anthology by Matheson.

Three of his short stories were filmed together as ''[[Trilogy of Terror]]'' (1975), including "Prey" (initially published in the April 1969 issue of ''[[Playboy]]'' magazine), a tale of a [[Zuni people|Zuni]] warrior fetish doll. The doll later reappeared in the final segment of the belated sequel to the first movie, ''[[Trilogy of Terror II]]'' (1996), and "Bobby" from ''Dead of Night'' was refilmed with different actors for the second segment of the film.

Other Matheson novels adapted into films in the 1970s include ''Bid Time Return'' (1975, released as ''[[Somewhere in Time (film)|Somewhere in Time]]'' in 1980), and ''[[Hell House (novel)|Hell House]]'' (1971, released as ''[[The Legend of Hell House]]'' in 1973), both adapted and scripted by Matheson himself.

In the 1980s, Matheson published the novel ''[[Earthbound (novel)|Earthbound]]'', wrote several screenplays for the TV series ''[[Amazing Stories (1985 TV series)|Amazing Stories]]'', and continued to publish short fiction.

===1990s===
Matheson published four Western novels in this decade, as well as the suspense novel ''Seven Steps to Midnight'' (1993) and the darkly comic [[locked-room mystery]] novel ''Now You See It&nbsp;...'' (1995), dedicated to [[Robert Bloch]].

He also wrote the screenplays for several movies, including the comedy ''[[Loose Cannons (1990 film)|Loose Cannons]]'' (1990) and the television [[biographical film|biopic]] ''[[The Dreamer of Oz: The L. Frank Baum Story]]'' (1990), as well as a segment of ''[[Twilight Zone: Rod Serling's Lost Classics]]'' (1994) and segments of ''Trilogy of Terror II''. Matheson continued to write short stories, and two more of his novels were adapted by others for the big screen: ''[[What Dreams May Come (1978 novel)|What Dreams May Come]]'' (1998) and ''[[A Stir of Echoes]]'' (1999, as ''[[Stir of Echoes]]''). In 1999, Matheson published a non-fiction work, ''The Path'', inspired by his interest in psychic phenomena.<ref name="Guardian"/>

===21st century===
Many previously unpublished novels by Matheson appeared late in his career, as did various collections of his work and previously unpublished screenplays. He also wrote new works, such as the suspense novel ''Hunted Past Reason'' (2002)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://bloody-disgusting.com/news/17958/ |last=Miska |first=Brad |title=What Screams May Come: A Look at the Legendary Richard Matheson |website=[[Bloody Disgusting]] |date=November 4, 2009}}</ref> and the children's illustrated fantasy ''[[Abu and the 7 Marvels]]'' (2002).

==Style==
{{Unreferenced section|date=February 2023}}
Several of Matheson's stories, including "[[Third from the Sun]]" (1950), "Deadline" (1959), and "Button, Button" (1970), are simple sketches with [[twist ending]]s; others, like "Trespass" (1953), "Being" (1954), and "Mute" (1962), explore their characters' dilemmas over 20 or 30 pages. Some tales, such as "The Doll that Does Everything" (1954) and "The Funeral" (1955), incorporate [[satire|satirical]] humor at the expense of genre clichés, and are written in bombastic prose that differed from Matheson's usual pared-down style. Others, like "The Test" (1954) and "Steel" (1956), portray the moral and physical struggles of ordinary people, rather than those of scientists and superheroes, in situations which are at once futuristic and quotidian. Still others, such as "Mad House" (1953), "The Curious Child" (1954) and "Duel" (1971), are tales of [[paranoia]], in which the commonplace environment of the present day becomes inexplicably alien or threatening.

===Sources of inspiration===
Matheson cited specific inspirations for many of his works. ''Duel'' was derived from an incident in which he and friend Jerry Sohl were dangerously tailgated by a large truck on the same day as the [[assassination of John F. Kennedy]].<ref name="Guardian"/> <!--A scene from the 1953 movie ''[[Let's Do It Again (1953 film)|Let's Do It Again]]'', in which [[Aldo Ray]] and [[Ray Milland]] put on each other's hats, one of which is far too big for the other, sparked the thought, "What if someone put on his own hat and that happened", which became ''The Shrinking Man''. ''Bid Time Return'' began when Matheson saw a movie poster featuring a beautiful picture of [[Maude Adams]] and wondered what would happen if someone fell in love with such an old picture. In the introduction to ''Noir: 3 Novels of Suspense'' (1997), which collects three of his early books, Matheson said the first chapter of his suspense novel ''Someone Is Bleeding'' (1953) describes exactly his meeting with his wife Ruth, and in the case of ''What Dreams May Come'', "the whole novel is filled with scenes from our past".-->

According to [[Film criticism|film critic]] [[Roger Ebert]], Matheson's scientific approach to the supernatural in ''I Am Legend'' and other novels from the 1950s and early 1960s "anticipated pseudorealistic fantasy novels like ''[[Rosemary's Baby (novel)|Rosemary's Baby]]'' and ''[[The Exorcist (novel)|The Exorcist]]''."<ref>{{cite book |last=Ebert |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Ebert |title=Roger Ebert's Movie Home Companion |edition=1990 |publisher=[[Andrews McMeel Publishing]] |isbn=978-0836262407 |year=1989 |page=419] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/rogerebertsmovie00eber/page/419}}</ref>

==Personal life and death==
In 1952, Matheson married Ruth Ann Woodson, whom he met in California. They had four children:<ref name=biography.com /> Bettina Mayberry, [[Richard Christian Matheson|Richard Christian]], [[Chris Matheson (screenwriter)|Christopher Matheson]] and Ali Marie Matheson. Richard, Chris, and Ali became writers of fiction and screenplays.{{cn|date=September 2024}}

Matheson died on June 23, 2013, at his home in [[Calabasas, California]], at the age of 87.<ref name=locus/><ref name=kellogg/><ref name=skynews/><ref name="washingtonpost/richard-matheson-87">{{cite news |last1=Bernstein |first1=Adam |title=Prolific author Richard Matheson, 87, wrote novels, screenplays, 'Twilight Zone' episodes |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/prolific-author-richard-matheson-87-wrote-novels-screenplays-twilight-zone-episodes/2013/06/25/a66ec2f8-ddb3-11e2-948c-d644453cf169_story.html |access-date=18 August 2023 |newspaper=Washington Post |date=18 May 2023}}</ref>

==Awards==
Matheson received the [[World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement]] in 1984<ref>{{cite web |title=Winners |url=https://worldfantasy.org/awards/winners/ |publisher=World Fantasy Convention |access-date=3 August 2025}}</ref> and the [[Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement]] from the [[Horror Writers Association]] in 1991.<!--the 1990 Award--><ref>{{cite web |title=Lifetime Achievement Award |url=https://www.thebramstokerawards.com/lifetime-achievement-award/lifetime-achievement-award-2/ |publisher=Bram Stoker Awards |access-date=3 August 2025}}</ref> In 1993, he won the [[World Horror Convention Grand Master Award]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Grand Master Award |url=https://worldhorrorconvention.com/whc2009/GrandMaster.html |publisher=World Horror Convention |access-date=3 August 2025}}</ref> The [[EMP Museum#Science Fiction Hall of Fame|Science Fiction Hall of Fame]] inducted him in 2010.<ref name=SFAwards/><ref name=sfhof2010/>

At the annual [[World Fantasy Convention]]s, he won two judged, annual literary awards for particular works: World Fantasy Awards for ''Bid Time Return'' as the best novel of 1975 and ''Richard Matheson: Collected Stories'' as the best collection of 1989.<ref name=SFAwards/><ref>{{cite web |publisher=World Fantasy Convention |title=Award Winners and Nominees |url=http://www.worldfantasy.org/awards/awardslist.html/ |access-date=February 4, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101201074405/http://worldfantasy.org/awards/awardslist.html |archive-date=December 1, 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 1989, he won the [[Bram Stoker Award]] for best Fiction Collection for ''Richard Matheson: Collected Stories'' & was nominated in 2002 for the Bram Stoker Award for Work for Young Readers for ''Abu and the 7 Marvels''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Matheson, Richard |url=https://www.thebramstokerawards.com/fiction-collection/matheson-richard/ |publisher=Bram Stoker Awards |access-date=3 August 2025}}</ref>

In 1991 he won the [[Spur Award]] for Best Western Novel for ''Journal of the Gun Years''.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Spur Awards |url=https://web.mnstate.edu/schwartz/spurawards.htm |publisher=Minnesota State University Moorhead |access-date=3 August 2025}}</ref>

In 2008, he won the [[Geffen Award]] for Science Fiction & the [[Tähtivaeltaja Award]] for ''I Am Legend''.

Matheson died just days before he was due to receive the Visionary Award at the 39th [[Saturn Award]]s ceremony. As a tribute, the ceremony was dedicated to him and the award was presented posthumously. Academy president Robert Holguin said, "Richard's accomplishments will live on forever in the imaginations of everyone who read or saw his inspired and inimitable work."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dreadcentral.com/news/45736/2013-saturn-awards-to-present-richard-matheson-s-visionary-award-posthumously/ |last=Barton |first=Steve |title=2013 Saturn Awards to Present Richard Matheson's Visionary Award Posthumously |website=[[Dread Central]] |date=June 25, 2013 |access-date=February 20, 2023}}

The tribute anthology ''He Is Legend'' was published by Gauntlet Press in 2009.{{cite web |url=https://www.gauntletpress.com/product/he-is-legend/ |title=He Is Legend: An Anthology Celebrating Richard Matheson |website=Gauntlet Press |access-date=February 20, 2023}}</ref>

==Influence==
===Other writers===
[[Stephen King]] has listed Matheson as a creative influence, and his novels ''[[Cell (novel)|Cell]]'' (2006) and ''[[Elevation (novella)|Elevation]]'' (2018) are dedicated to Matheson, along with filmmaker [[George A. Romero]]. Romero frequently acknowledged Matheson as an inspiration and listed the shambling vampire creatures that appear in ''The Last Man on Earth'', the first film version of ''I Am Legend'', as the inspiration for the zombie "ghouls" he envisioned in ''[[Night of the Living Dead]]''.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0oZIlm84F2oC&q=i+am+legend&pg=PA57 |last1=Christie |first1=Deborah |last2=Lauro |first2=Sarah Juliet |title=Better Off Dead: The Evolution of the Zombie as Post-Human |publisher=[[Fordham University Press]] |date=2011 |page=67 |isbn=978-0-8232-3447-9}}</ref>

[[Anne Rice]] stated that Matheson's short story "Dress of White Silk" was an early influence on her interest in vampires and fantasy fiction.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.mtv.com/news/xz5tnf/richard-matheson-obit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230221073309/https://www.mtv.com/news/xz5tnf/richard-matheson-obit |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 21, 2023 |last=Brettauer |first=Kevin |title='Entering the Unassailable Fortress of Forever': As a Writer, Richard Matheson Was 'One for the Books' |website=[[MTV]] |date=June 28, 2013 |access-date=February 20, 2023}}</ref>

===Directors===
After his death, several figures offered tributes to his life and work. Director [[Steven Spielberg]] said: {{Blockquote|Richard Matheson's ironic and iconic imagination created seminal science-fiction stories and gave me my first break when he wrote the short story and screenplay for ''Duel''. His ''Twilight Zone''s were among my favorites, and he recently worked with us on ''[[Real Steel]]''. For me, he is in the same category as [[Ray Bradbury|Bradbury]] and [[Isaac Asimov|Asimov]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/i-am-legend-writer-richard-matheson-dies-aged-87-8672342.html |last=Wilson |first=Bo |title=I am Legend writer Richard Matheson dies aged 87 |date=June 25, 2013 |website=[[Evening Standard]] |access-date=June 26, 2013}}</ref>}}

Another frequent collaborator, [[Roger Corman]], said: {{Blockquote|Richard Matheson was a close friend and the best screenwriter I ever worked with. I always shot his first draft. I will miss him.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-i-am-legend-writer-richard-matheson-scifi-20130624,0,1934802.story |title='I Am Legend' writer Richard Matheson's legacy of smart sci-fi |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |access-date=June 26, 2013 |last=Olsen |first=Mark |date=June 24, 2013}}</ref>}}

On Twitter, director [[Edgar Wright]] wrote, "If it's true that the great Richard Matheson has passed away, 140 characters can't begin to cover what he has given the sci fi & horror genre." Director [[Richard Kelly (director)|Richard Kelly]] added, "I loved Richard Matheson's writing and it was a huge honor getting to adapt his story 'Button, Button' into a film. RIP."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/showbiz/news/a492902/richard-matheson-dies-tributes-paid-to-i-am-legend-twilight-zone-icon.html?rss |title=Richard Matheson dies:Tributes paid to I am Legend, Twilight Zone Icon |last=Tobin |first=Christian |date=June 24, 2013 |website=[[Digital Spy]] |access-date=June 26, 2013}}</ref>
<!-- Moved here from Infobox writer, because "influenced" is an unrecognized parameter in the template:
| influenced  = [[Stephen King]], [[Richard Christian Matheson]], [[Joe Hill (writer)|Joe Hill]], [[Chris Carter (screenwriter)|Chris Carter]] -->

=={{anchor|Bibliography}} Works==
===Novels===
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
*''Someone Is Bleeding'' (1953); filmed as ''[[Icy Breasts]]''
*''Fury on Sunday'' (1953)
*''[[I Am Legend (novel)|I Am Legend]]'' (1954); filmed as ''[[The Last Man on Earth (1964 film)|The Last Man on Earth]]'' (1964), ''[[The Omega Man]]'' (1971), ''[[I Am Omega]]'' (2007) and ''[[I Am Legend (film)|I Am Legend]]'' (2007)
*''[[The Shrinking Man]]'' (1956); filmed as ''[[The Incredible Shrinking Man]]'' (1957) and subsequently reprinted under that title; also the basis of the film ''[[The Incredible Shrinking Woman]]'' (1981)
*''[[A Stir of Echoes]]'' (1958); filmed as ''[[Stir of Echoes]]'' (1999)
*''Ride the Nightmare'' (1959); adapted as an episode of ''[[The Alfred Hitchcock Hour]]'' and later filmed as [[Cold Sweat (1970 film)|''Cold Sweat'']] (1970)
*''[[The Beardless Warriors]]'' (1960); filmed as ''[[The Young Warriors (film)|The Young Warriors]]'' (1967)
*''The Comedy of Terrors'' (1964); adapted by Elsie Lee from Matheson's screenplay, filmed as ''[[The Comedy of Terrors]]'' (1963)
*''[[Hell House (novel)|Hell House]]'' (1971); filmed as ''[[The Legend of Hell House]]'' (1973)
*''[[Bid Time Return]]'' (1975); filmed as ''[[Somewhere in Time (film)|Somewhere in Time]]'' (1980) and subsequently reprinted under that title
*''[[What Dreams May Come (1978 novel)|What Dreams May Come]]'' (1978); filmed as ''[[What Dreams May Come (film)|What Dreams May Come]]'' (1998)
*''Earthbound'' (Playboy Publications, 1982), as by Logan Swanson<ref name=isfdb/>&nbsp;– editorially abridged version; restored text published as by Richard Matheson, UK: Robinson Books, 1989
*''Journal of the Gun Years'' (1992)
*''The Gunfight'' (1993)
*''7 Steps to Midnight'' (1993)
*''Shadow on the Sun'' (1994)
*''Now You See It&nbsp;...'' (1995)
*''The Memoirs of Wild Bill Hickok'' (1996)
*''Passion Play'' (2000)
*''Hunger and Thirst'' (2000)
*''Camp Pleasant'' (2001)
*''[[Abu and the Seven Marvels]]'' (2002) (with [[William Stout]])
*''Hunted Past Reason'' (2002)
*''Come Fygures, Come Shadowes'' (2003)
*''Woman'' (2005)
*''The Link'' (2006)
*''Other Kingdoms'' (2011)
*''Generations'' (2012)
*''[[Kolchak: The Night Stalker]]: Nightkillers'' (2017); co-written by Chuck Miller, based on an unfilmed teleplay for the TV series 
{{div col end}}

===Short stories===
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
*"[[Born of Man and Woman]]" (1950)
*"Third from the Sun" (1950); adapted as a ''[[The Twilight Zone (franchise)|Twilight Zone]]'' [[Third from the Sun|episode]] (1960)
*"The Waker Dreams" (a.k.a. "When the Waker Sleeps") (1950)
*"Blood Son" (1951)
*"Through Channels" (1951)
*"Clothes Make the Man" (1951)
*"Return" (1951)
*"The Thing" (1951)
*"Witch War" (1951)
*"Dress of White Silk" (1951)
*"F---" (a.k.a. "The Foodlegger") (1952)
*[https://archive.org/stream/galaxymagazine-1952-07/Galaxy_1952_07#page/n85/mode/2up "Shipshape Home"] (1952)
*"SRL Ad" (1952)
*"Advance Notice" (a.k.a. "Letter to the Editor") (1952)
*[https://archive.org/stream/galaxymagazine-1952-05/Galaxy_1952_05#page/n75/mode/2up "Lover, When You're Near Me"] (1952)
*[https://archive.org/details/1952-11_IF/page/n57/mode/2up "Brother to the Machine"] (1952)
*"To Fit the Crime" (1952)
*"The Wedding" (1953)
*"Wet Straw" (1953)
*"Long Distance Call" (a.k.a. "Sorry, Right Number") (1953)
*"Slaughter House" (1953)
*"Mad House" (1953)
*"The Last Day" (1953)
*"Lazarus II" (1953)
*"Legion of Plotters" (1953)
*"Death Ship" (1953); adapted as a ''[[The Twilight Zone (franchise)|Twilight Zone]]'' [[Death Ship (The Twilight Zone)|episode]] (1963)
*"Disappearing Act" (1953); adapted as a ''[[The Twilight Zone (franchise)|Twilight Zone]]'' [[And When the Sky Was Opened|episode]] (1959)
*"The Disinheritors" (1953)
*"Dying Room Only" (1953)
*"Full Circle" (1953)
*"Mother by Protest" (a.k.a. "Trespass") (1953)
*"Little Girl Lost" (1953); adapted as a ''[[The Twilight Zone (franchise)|Twilight Zone]]'' [[Little Girl Lost (The Twilight Zone)|episode]] (1962)
*"Being" (1954)
*"The Curious Child" (1954)
*"When Day Is Dun" (1954)
*"Dance of the Dead" (1954); adapted as a ''[[Masters of Horror]]'' [[Dance of the Dead (Masters of Horror)|episode]] (2005)
*"The Man Who Made the World" (1954)
*"The Traveller" (1954)
*"The Test" (1954)
*"The Conqueror" (1954)
*"Dear Diary" (1954)
*"The Doll That Does Everything" (1954)
*"Descent" (1954)
*"Miss Stardust" (1955)
*"The Funeral" (1955); adapted as story segment for Rod Serling's ''[[Night Gallery]]'' (1972)
*"Too Proud to Lose" (1955)
*[https://archive.org/stream/galaxymagazine-1955-09/Galaxy_1955_09#page/n59/mode/2up "One for the Books"] (1955)
*"Pattern for Survival" (1955)
*"A Flourish of Strumpets" (1956)
*"The Splendid Source" (1956); adapted as a ''[[Family Guy]]'' [[The Splendid Source|episode]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://whatculture.com/film/10-best-richard-matheson-film-tv-adaptations?page=2 |last=Price |first=Alfred |title=10 Best Richard Matheson Film & TV Adaptations |website=[[WhatCulture]] |date=June 29, 2013 |access-date=February 20, 2023}}</ref>
*"Steel" (1956); adapted as a ''[[The Twilight Zone (franchise)|Twilight Zone]]'' [[Steel (The Twilight Zone)|episode]] (1963); loosely filmed as ''[[Real Steel]]'' (2011)
*"The Children of Noah" (1957)
*"A Visit to Santa Claus" (a.k.a. "I'll Make It Look Good", as Logan Swanson) (1957)
*"The Holiday Man" (1957)
*"Old Haunts" (1957)
*"The Distributor" (1958)
*"The Edge" (1958)
*"Lemmings" (1958)
*"Now Die in It" (1958)
*"Mantage" (1959)
*"Deadline" (1959)
*"The Creeping Terror" (a.k.a. "A Touch of Grapefruit") (1959)
*"No Such Thing as a Vampire" (1959); adapted as segment of the TV film ''[[Dead of Night (1977 film)|Dead of Night]]'' (1977)
*"Big Surprise" (a.k.a. "What Was in the Box") (1959); adapted as a ''[[Night Gallery]]'' short
*"Crickets" (1960)
*"Day of Reckoning" (a.k.a. "The Faces," "Graveyard Shift") (1960)
*"First Anniversary" (1960); adapted as an ''[[The Outer Limits (1995 TV series)|Outer Limits]]'' [[First Anniversary (The Outer Limits)|episode]] (1996)
*"[https://archive.org/details/Fantasy_Science_Fiction_v019n04_1960-10_PDF/page/n45/mode/2up?view=theater From Shadowed Places]" (1960)
*"Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" (1961); adapted as a ''[[The Twilight Zone (franchise)|Twilight Zone]]'' [[Nightmare at 20,000 Feet|episode]] in 1963, as segment four of ''[[Twilight Zone: The Movie]]'' in 1983, and as one of the Twilight Zone radio dramas. Loosely inspired "Nightmare at 30,000 Feet" in the 2019 revival series. Has also been parodied numerous times, most notably as a segment of the fourth installment of ''[[The Simpsons]]''' [[Treehouse of Horror]] series.
*"Finger Prints" (1962)
*"Mute" (1962); adapted as a ''[[The Twilight Zone (franchise)|Twilight Zone]]'' [[Mute (The Twilight Zone)|episode]] (1963)
*"The Likeness of Julie" (as Logan Swanson) (1962); adapted into "Julie" in the 1975 TV film ''[[Trilogy of Terror]]''
*"The Jazz Machine" (1963)
*"Crescendo" (a.k.a. "Shock Wave") (1963)
*"Girl of My Dreams" (1963); adapted by [[Robert Bloch]] and [[Michael J. Bird]] as an episode of the 1968 Hammer TV series ''[[Journey to the Unknown]]'' 
*"'Tis the Season to Be Jelly" (1963)
*"Deus Ex Machina" (1963)
*"Interest" (1965)
*"A Drink of Water" (1967)
*"Needle in the Heart" (a.k.a. "Therese") (1969); adapted into "Millicent and Therese" in the 1975 TV anthology film ''[[Trilogy of Terror]]''
*"Prey" (1969); adapted into "Amelia" in the 1975 TV anthology film ''[[Trilogy of Terror]]''
*"[[Button, Button (The Twilight Zone)#Short story|Button, Button]]" (1970); filmed as a ''[[The Twilight Zone (franchise)|The Twilight Zone]]'' [[Button, Button (The Twilight Zone)|episode]] in 1986; filmed as ''[[The Box (2009 film)|The Box]]'' (2009)
*"'Til Death Do Us Part" (1970)
*"By Appointment Only" (1970)
*"The Finishing Touches" (1970)
*"Duel" (1971); filmed as ''[[Duel (1971 film)|Duel]]'' (1971)
*"Leo Rising" (1972)
*"Where There's a Will" (with Richard Christian Matheson) (1980)
*"And Now I'm Waiting" (1983)
*"Blunder Buss" (1984)
*"Getting Together" (1986)
*"Buried Talents" (1987)
*"The Near Departed" (1987)
*"Shoo Fly" (1988)
*"Person to Person" (1989)
*"CU: Mannix" (1991)
*"Two O'Clock Session" (1991)
*"The Doll"; adapted as an ''[[Amazing Stories (1985 TV series)|Amazing Stories]]'' episode (1986)
*"Go West, Young Man" (1993)
*"Gunsight" (1993)
*"Little Jack Cornered" (1993)
*"Of Death and Thirty Minutes" (1993)
*"Always Before Your Voice" (1999)
*"Relics" (1999)
*"And in Sorrow" (2000)
*"The Prisoner" (2001)
*"Purge Among Peanuts" (2001)
*"He Wanted to Live" (2002)
*"The Last Blah in the Etc." (a.k.a. "All and Only Silence") (2002)
*"Life Size" (2002)
*"Maybe You Remember Him" (2002)
*"Mirror, Mirror..." (2002)
*"Phone Call From Across The Street" (2002)
*"Professor Fritz and the Runaway House" (2002)
*"That Was Yesterday" (2002)
*"Man With a Club" (2003)
*"Haircut" (2006)
*"Life Size" (2008)
*"An Element Never Forgets" (2010)
*"Backteria" (2011)
{{div col end}}

===Short story collections===
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
*[[Born of Man and Woman (collection)|''Born of Man and Woman'']] (1954)
*''The Shores of Space'' (1957)
*''Shock!'' (1961)
*''Shock 2'' (1964)
*''Shock 3'' (1966)
*''Shock Waves'' (1970); published as ''Shock 4'' in the UK (1980)
*''Button, Button'' (1970); basis for the movie ''The Box'' (2009)
*''Richard Matheson: Collected Stories'' (1989)
*''By the Gun'' (1993)
*''Nightmare at 20,000 Feet'' (2002)
*''Pride'' (2002); co-written with Richard Christian Matheson
*''Duel'' (2002)
*''Offbeat: Uncollected Stories'' (2002)
*''Darker Places'' (2004)
*''Unrealized Dreams'' (2004)
*''Duel and the Distributor'' (2005); previously unpublished screenplays of these two stories
*''Button, Button: Uncanny Stories'' (2008)
*''Uncollected Matheson: Volume 1'' (2008)
*''Uncollected Matheson: Volume 2'' (2010)
*''Steel: And Other Stories'' (2011)
*''Bakteria and Other Improbable Tales'' (2011) (e-book exclusive)
*''The Best of Richard Matheson'' (2017)
{{div col end}}

===Films===
''For television films, see [[Richard_Matheson#Television|Television]] section below.''

{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
*''[[The Incredible Shrinking Man]]'' (1957)
*''[[The Beat Generation (film)|The Beat Generation]]'' (1959)
*''[[House of Usher (film)|House of Usher]]'' (1960)
*''[[Master of the World (1961 film)|Master of the World]]'' (1961)
*''[[The Pit and the Pendulum (1961 film)|The Pit and the Pendulum]]'' (1961)
*''[[Burn Witch Burn (film)|Burn Witch Burn]]'' (1962); a.k.a. ''[[Night of the Eagle]]'' (screenplay co-written with [[Charles Beaumont]] and [[George Baxt]], based on the novel ''Conjure Wife'' by [[Fritz Leiber]])
*''[[Tales of Terror]]'' (1962)
*''[[The Raven (1963 film)|The Raven]]'' (1963)
*''[[The Comedy of Terrors]]'' (1963)
*''[[The Last Man on Earth (1964 film)|The Last Man on Earth]]'' (as "Logan Swanson", based on his novel ''I Am Legend'') (1964)
*''[[Fanatic (1965 film)|Fanatic]]'' (1965)
*''[[The Young Warriors (film)|The Young Warriors]]'' (based on his novel ''The Beardless Warriors'') (1967)
*''[[The Devil Rides Out (film)|The Devil Rides Out]]'' (based on the novel by [[Dennis Wheatley]]) (1968)
*''[[De Sade (film)|De Sade]]'' (1969)
*''[[Cold Sweat (1970 film)|Cold Sweat]]'' (based on his novel ''Ride the Nightmare'') (1970)
*''[[The Omega Man]]'' (based on his novel ''I Am Legend'') (1971)
*''[[The Legend of Hell House]]'' (based on his novel ''Hell House'') (1973)
*''[[Icy Breasts]]'' (based on his novel ''Someone Is Bleeding'') (1974)
*''[[Somewhere in Time (film)|Somewhere in Time]]'' (based on his novel ''Bid Time Return'') (1980)
*''[[Twilight Zone: The Movie]]'': fourth segment, "[[Twilight Zone: The Movie#Fourth segment .28.22Nightmare at 20.2C000 Feet.22.29|Nightmare at 20,000 Feet]]" (1983)
*''[[Jaws 3-D]]'' (1983)
*''[[Loose Cannons (1990 film)|Loose Cannons]]'' (1990)
*''[[What Dreams May Come (film)|What Dreams May Come]]'' (based on his novel) (1998)
*''[[Stir of Echoes]]'' (1999) (based on his novel)
*''[[I Am Legend (film)|I Am Legend]]'' (based on his novel) (2007)
*''[[The Box (2009 film)|The Box]]'' (based on his short story "Button, Button") (2009)
*''[[Real Steel]]'' (based on his short story "Steel") (2011)
{{div col end}}

===Television===
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
*''[[Buckskin (TV series)|Buckskin]]'': "Act of Faith" (1959)
*''[[Wanted: Dead or Alive (TV series)|Wanted Dead or Alive]]'': "The Healing Woman" (1959)
*''[[The Twilight Zone]]'': (16 episodes) (1959–1964)
*''[[Have Gun Will Travel]]'': "The Lady on The Wall" (1960)
*''[[Bourbon Street Beat]]'': "Target of Hate" (1960)
*''[[Cheyenne (1955 TV series)|Cheyenne]]'': "Home Is the Brave" (1960)
*''[[Lawman (TV series)|Lawman]]'' (Six episodes) (1960–1962)
*''[[Thriller (U.S. TV series)|Thriller]]'': "The Return of Andrew Bentley" (1961)
*''[[Combat!]]'': "Forgotten Front" (as Logan Swanson) (1962)
*''[[The Alfred Hitchcock Hour]]'': "Ride the Nightmare" (1962)
*''The Alfred Hitchcock Hour'': "The Thirty-First of February" (1963)
*''[[The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.]]'': "The Atlantis Affair" (1966)
*''[[Bob Hope Presents The Chrysler Theater]]'': "Time of Flight" (1966)
*''[[Star Trek: The Original Series]]'': "[[The Enemy Within (Star Trek)|The Enemy Within]]" (1966)
*''[[Duel (1971 film)|Duel]]'' (1971)
*''[[The Night Stalker (1972 film)|The Night Stalker]]'' (1972)
*''[[Night Gallery]]'' (1972): "[[Night Gallery#Season 2|The Funeral]]" (1972)
*''[[The Night Strangler (film)|The Night Strangler]]'' (1973)
*''[[Dying Room Only]]'' (1973)
*''[[Ghost Story (TV series)|Circle of Fear]]'' (1973) (originally titled ''Ghost Story'')
*''[[Bram Stoker's Dracula (1973 film)|Bram Stoker's Dracula]]'' (1974)
*''[[Scream of the Wolf]]'' (1974)
*''[[The Morning After (1974 film)|The Morning After]]'' (1974)
*''[[Trilogy of Terror]]'' (1975) (TV anthology film, directed by [[Dan Curtis]])
*''[[Dead of Night (1977 film)|Dead of Night]]'' (1977) (TV anthology film, directed by Dan Curtis)
*''[[The Strange Possession of Mrs. Oliver]]'' (1977)
*''[[The Martian Chronicles (TV miniseries)|The Martian Chronicles]]'' mini-series (1979, 1980)
*''[[The Twilight Zone (1985 TV series)|Twilight Zone]]'': "[[Button, Button (The Twilight Zone)|Button, Button]]" (as Logan Swanson) (1986)
*''[[Amazing Stories (1985 TV series)|Amazing Stories]]'': "The Doll" (1986)
*''[[Amazing Stories (1985 TV series)|Amazing Stories]]'': "One for the Books" (1987)
*''[[The Dreamer of Oz: The L. Frank Baum Story]]'' (1990)
*''[[Rod Serling's Lost Classics]]'' (1994)
*''[[The Outer Limits (1995 TV series)|The Outer Limits]]'': "First Anniversary" (1996)
*''[[Trilogy of Terror II]]'' (1996) (TV anthology film, directed by Dan Curtis)
{{div col end}}

===Nonfiction===
*''The Path: Metaphysics for the 90s'' (1993)
*''The Path: A New Look at Reality'' (1999)

==Further reading==
*McGilligan, Patrick. ''[https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft138nb0zm Backstory 3: Interviews with Screenwriters of the 60s]''. Berkeley:  University of California Press, 1997. 
*''California Sorcery'', edited by [[William F. Nolan]] and William Schafer
*Jad Hatem, ''Charité de l'infinitésimal'', Paris, L'Harmattan, 2007

==References==
{{reflist |25em |refs=<ref name=isfdb>
{{isfdb name |531}} (ISFDB). Retrieved April 13, 2013.</ref>

<!-- some biographical refs --><ref name=locus>
{{cite web | url = http://www.locusmag.com/News/2013/06/richard-matheson-1926-2013/ | title = Richard Matheson (1926–2013) | date = June 24, 2013 | publisher = [[Locus Publications]] | access-date= June 25, 2013}}</ref><ref name=kellogg>
{{cite news |url=http://www.latimes.com/features/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-author-richard-matheson-has-died-20130624,0,2361027.story |title='I Am Legend' Author Richard Matheson Has Died at 87 |last=Kellogg |first=Carolyn |date=June 24, 2013 |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |access-date=June 24, 2013}}</ref><ref name=skynews>
{{cite web | url = https://news.sky.com/story/richard-matheson-sci-fi-author-dies-aged-87-10442054 | title = Richard Matheson: Sci-Fi Author Dies Aged 87 | date = June 25, 2013 | publisher = [[Sky News]]| access-date= June 25, 2013}}</ref>

<!-- some awards refs --><ref name=SFAwards>{{cite web |url= http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/NomLit86.html#3402 |title= Matheson, Richard |work= The Locus Index to SF Awards: Index of Literary Nominees |publisher= [[Locus Publications]] |access-date= April 13, 2013 |archive-date= August 4, 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110804012818/http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/NomLit86.html#3402 |url-status= dead }}</ref><ref name=sfhof2010>
{{cite web |url=http://www.empsfm.org/exhibitions/index.asp?categoryID%3D203 |title=Science Fiction Hall of Fame |publisher=Experience Music Project and Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100325043342/http://www.empsfm.org/exhibitions/index.asp?categoryID=203 |archive-date=March 25, 2010 |quote=EMP SFM is proud to announce the 2010 Hall of Fame inductees:&nbsp;...}}</ref>

==Appearances: Films, TV & Documentaries==
*Charles Beaumont: The Life of Twilight Zone's Magic Man (JaSunni Productions, LLC; 2010) as himself
*The AckerMonster Chronicles! (JaSunni Productions, LLC; 2012) as himself

}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
{{wikiquote}}
*{{isfdb name|531}}
*[http://www.tabula-rasa.info/DarkAges/RichardMatheson.html Matheson biography] at tabula-rasa.info
*[http://blogs.amctv.com/scifiscanner/2007/12/scifi-dept-i-am.html Richard Matheson] featured on AMC-TV's Sci-Fi Department webshow
*{{IMDb name|0558577}}
* {{Librivox author |id=16974}}
{{Memory Alpha}}
* {{discogs artist|Richard Matheson}}
*[http://www.emmytvlegends.org/interviews/people/richard-matheson Richard Matheson Archive of American Television Interview]
* {{sfhof |1481 | Richard Matheson}}

{{Richard Matheson}}
{{Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement}}
{{World Fantasy Award Best Collection}}
{{World Fantasy Award Life Achievement}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matheson, Richard Burton}}
[[Category:Richard Matheson| ]]
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