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Richard Matheson

リチャード・バートン・マセソン

Richard Burton Matheson

Pen Names: Logan Swanson（Pseudonym used on some publications (e.g., certain magazine or editorially abridged appearances)）

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1926-02-20 （Allendale, New Jersey, U.S.）
Died
2013-06-23 （Calabasas, California, U.S.） age 87
Nationality
American
Languages
English
Residence History
Allendale, New Jersey, U.S. — birthplace → Brooklyn, New York, U.S. — childhood and upbringing → Missouri (attended University of Missouri) → California, U.S. — long-term residence and professional base

Career

Occupations
novelist, short story writer, screenwriter
Active Years
1950-2013
Affiliations
Southern California Sorcerers (informal writers' group)
Influenced By
Edgar Allan Poe, Kenneth Roberts, Dracula (1931 film)
Influenced
Stephen King, George A. Romero, Steven Spielberg, Anne Rice, Roger Corman, Richard Kelly, Edgar Wright
Nominations
Bram Stoker Award nomination (Work for Young Readers): 'Abu and the Seven Marvels' (2002)

Education

University of Missouri (Missouri School of Journalism)
Journalism
Period: 1946–1949
Year of Graduation: 1949
Country: United States
Graduated using the G.I. Bill

Awards

World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement
1984
Organization: World Fantasy Convention
Result: 受賞
Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement
1991
Organization: Horror Writers Association
Result: 受賞
World Horror Convention Grand Master Award
1993
Organization: World Horror Convention
Result: 受賞
Inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame
2010
Organization: Science Fiction Hall of Fame (EMP Museum)
Result: 殿堂入り
World Fantasy Award - Best Novel
1975
Work: Bid Time Return
Category: 最優秀長編
Organization: World Fantasy Convention
Result: 受賞
World Fantasy Award - Best Collection
1989
Work: Richard Matheson: Collected Stories
Category: 最優秀短編集
Organization: World Fantasy Convention
Result: 受賞
Bram Stoker Award - Best Fiction Collection
1989
Work: Richard Matheson: Collected Stories
Category: 最優秀フィクション・コレクション
Organization: Horror Writers Association
Result: 受賞
Spur Award - Best Western Novel
1991
Work: Journal of the Gun Years
Category: 最優秀西部小説
Organization: Western Writers of America (Spur Awards)
Result: 受賞
Geffen Award (Science Fiction category)
2008
Work: I Am Legend
Organization: Geffen Award (Israel)
Result: 受賞
Tähtivaeltaja Award (for I Am Legend)
2008
Work: I Am Legend
Organization: Tähtivaeltaja (Finland)
Result: 受賞
Saturn Award — Visionary Award (posthumous)
2013
Organization: Saturn Awards (Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films)
Result: 追贈（没後授与）

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

I Am Legend

1954 Science fiction, horror 160 pages

A 1954 novel in which Robert Neville, seemingly the last uninfected man, struggles to survive in a world overtaken by a vampiric pandemic while attempting to understand the disease scientifically. Themes include isolation, the collapse of society, and otherness.

isolationsurvivalscience vs. superstitionotherness and societal collapse
Adaptations
  • [film] The Last Man on Earth / Ubaldo Ragona (1964)
  • [film] The Omega Man / Boris Sagal (1971)
  • [film] I Am Legend / Francis Lawrence (2007)

The Shrinking Man

1956 Science fiction

A novel about a man who begins to shrink inexplicably, forcing him to confront the dangers of an ordinary world that becomes gigantic. Deals with fear, isolation, and human vulnerability.

vulnerabilityscale and perspectivesurvival
Adaptations
  • [film] The Incredible Shrinking Man / Jack Arnold (1957)

A Stir of Echoes

1958 Horror, suspense

A novel in which a man, affected by hypnosis, begins experiencing voices and visions that alter his life and relationships; a supernatural suspense exploring perception and obsession.

supernatural experiencepsychological explorationmemory and guilt
Adaptations
  • [film] Stir of Echoes / David Koepp (1999)

Hell House

1971 Horror

A gothic-style horror about investigators invited to study the haunted 'Hell House' and the terrifying events that follow, blending spiritual phenomena with human desires.

hauntingsinvestigation of horrordesire and corruption
Adaptations
  • [film] The Legend of Hell House / John Hough (1973)

Bid Time Return

1975 Fantasy, romance

A time-travel love story about a man who travels back to reunite with a lost love, exploring fate, sacrifice, and the pull of memory.

time travellove and lossfate
Adaptations
  • [film] Somewhere in Time / Jeannot Szwarc (1980)

What Dreams May Come

1978 Drama, fantasy

A story about the afterlife and love, following a protagonist who, after death, searches for his wife in a vision of the beyond; themes of redemption and reunion.

afterlifelove and redemptionreincarnation/renewal
Adaptations
  • [film] What Dreams May Come / Vincent Ward (1998)

Duel

1971 Suspense

A short story about a man relentlessly pursued on the highway by a mysterious truck; a tense, existential suspense exploring modernity and fear.

paranoiapursuitordinary-threats
Adaptations
  • [television film] Duel / Steven Spielberg (1971)

Steel

1956 Science fiction, drama

A short story about a future in which robot boxing exists; human pride and struggle are central in the narrative, later loosely inspiring a major film.

technology vs humanitysportsmanshiphonor
Adaptations
  • [film] Real Steel / Shawn Levy (2011)

Bibliography

  • Someone Is Bleeding (1953)
  • Fury on Sunday (1953)
  • I Am Legend (1954)
  • The Shrinking Man (1956)
  • A Stir of Echoes (1958)
  • Ride the Nightmare (1959)
  • The Beardless Warriors (1960)
  • The Comedy of Terrors (1964)
  • Hell House (1971)
  • Bid Time Return (1975)
  • What Dreams May Come (1978)
  • Earthbound (1982) — as Logan Swanson (abridged/editorial appearance)
  • Journal of the Gun Years (1992)
  • The Gunfight (1993)
  • 7 Steps to Midnight (1993)
  • Shadow on the Sun (1994)
  • Now You See It... (1995)
  • The Memoirs of Wild Bill Hickok (1996)
  • Passion Play (2000)
  • Hunger and Thirst (2000)
  • Camp Pleasant (2001)
  • Abu and the Seven Marvels (2002)
  • Hunted Past Reason (2002)
  • Come Fygures, Come Shadowes (2003)
  • Woman (2005)
  • The Link (2006)
  • Other Kingdoms (2011)
  • Generations (2012)

Adaptations

  • The Last Man on Earth (film, 1964) — based on I Am Legend
  • The Omega Man (film, 1971) — based on I Am Legend
  • I Am Legend (film, 2007) — based on I Am Legend
  • Duel (television film, 1971) — from the short story 'Duel'
  • Stir of Echoes (film, 1999) — from A Stir of Echoes
  • The Legend of Hell House (film, 1973) — from Hell House
  • Somewhere in Time (film, 1980) — from Bid Time Return
  • Real Steel (film, 2011) — from the short story 'Steel'
  • The Box (film, 2009) — from the short story 'Button, Button'

Style & Themes

Literary Style
lean, direct proserealistic depiction centered on everyday characterspseudo‑scientific/pseudorealistic approach to the supernatural
Recurring Motifs
isolation and alienationparanoia and pursuittwist endingsdefamiliarization of ordinary settings

Legacy

Richard Matheson crossed the boundaries of SF, horror and fantasy with influential works adapted often for film and television. His stories (notably I Am Legend and Duel) became genre touchstones and his TV scripts for The Twilight Zone are highly regarded. He influenced many writers and directors, including Stephen King and George A. Romero.

Museums

  • Science Fiction Hall of Fame (EMP Museum) Seattle, Washington, U.S.

Archives

  • Archive of American Television: Richard Matheson interview
  • Internet Speculative Fiction Database (ISFDB)

In Popular Culture

  • Multiple Twilight Zone episodes (e.g., 'Nightmare at 20,000 Feet') remain iconic in TV history
  • 'I Am Legend' was adapted multiple times and influenced depictions of zombies and post‑apocalyptic fiction
  • Many of his short stories and screenplays (Real Steel, The Box, Duel, etc.) are frequently referenced

Quotes

  • Richard's accomplishments will live on forever in the imaginations of everyone who read or saw his inspired and inimitable work.
    Source: Robert Holguin (Academy president, Saturn Awards) (2013)
  • 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.
    Source: Steven Spielberg (director) (2013)
  • Richard Matheson was a close friend and the best screenwriter I ever worked with. I always shot his first draft.
    Source: Roger Corman (producer/director) (2013)

Trivia

  • Published a poem in a newspaper and a short story at age eight.
  • Served in World War II and used the G.I. Bill to attend the University of Missouri.
  • Published under the pen name 'Logan Swanson' for some works.
  • Wrote more than a dozen episodes of The Twilight Zone (also wrote Serling's wraparounds for his episodes).
  • Many novels and short stories adapted for film/TV (I Am Legend, Duel, Stir of Echoes, Real Steel, etc.).
  • Died in 2013 and was posthumously presented with the Saturn Awards' Visionary Award.