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Nightmare at 20,000 Feet

Horror Stories

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About this listen

One of the finest and most influential horror writers of the 20th century, Richard Matheson (I Am Legend, The Incredible Shrinking Man, Somewhere in Time) has left his stamp on the collective imagination. Here are more than 20 of Matheson's most memorable tales of fear and paranoia, personally selected by the author. Many of these stories have already entered into popular culture, including the title story, which became a landmark episode of The Twilight Zone, and "Duel", the nail-biting tale of man versus machine that inspired Steven Spielberg's first film.

Other stories include "First Anniversary", "Dress of White Silk", "Witch War", "Dance of the Dead", "Mad House", "Prey", "Blood Son", "Crickets", "Wet Straw", "The Children of Noah", "Through Channels", "Old Haunts", "Disappearing Act", "The Holiday Man", "Legion of Plotters", "The Distributor", "Long Distance Call", "Slaughter House", and "The Likeness of Julie".

Find out why Stephen King (who wrote the introduction) has called Matheson one of his favorite writers.

Narrated by Richard Powers, Malcolm Hillgartner, Arte Johnson, Jay Karnes, Ray Porter, Lawrence Pressman, Yuri Rasovsky, Lorna Raver, Ned Schmidtke, Conrad John Schuck, and Christine Williams.

©2002 RXR, Inc. (P)2009 Blackstone Audio, Inc. Anthologies Anthologies & Short Stories Fiction Horror Scary Short Stories Science Fiction

Critic reviews

"The well-known title tale about a nervous air traveler is a showcase for the author's trademark less-is-more prose style, which suspensefully delineates a psychological tug-of-war between man and a monster that may be purely imagined. Timeless in their simplicity, [Matheson's] stories are also relentless in their approach to basic fears." (Publishers Weekly)
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I enjoyed a lot of these stories, especially the title one. Some of them are more accessible than others, with some of them leaving me wondering what actually happened. There were just a couple which I did not reach the end of, skipping on to the next. as a big fan of the author, I would say his novels are better than his short stories, only because when he writes a full novel he is committing time and effort to a good idea from the start. With some of the shorts, you feel they are like 'fast-food' versions of his ability - knocked up over a day or so. The narrator does an excellent, expressive job of the stories.

Some good, some incomprehensible to me.

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The title says it all, the first one was an episode of the Twilight Zone movie, not recommended for those with a fear of flying!

A good few scares

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I found this fairly hit and miss at times, some of the stories are absolutely amazing and stayed with me long after reading, some were just ok but I still recommend a listen!

quite a good mix

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These stories are full of rage and horror. A story about a house that has absorbed a man's lifetime of anger; a story about a man who systematically provokes hatred and violence among neighbours for no apparent reason; a story about a writer so full of self-loathing and despair that he ceases to exist; a story about a tie salesman for whom other people are a perpetual hell of sound and slime. These stories are the essence of their author. Someone who understands human darkness very well.

They are, I believe, chronlogically ordered and so there is some variation in quality. Some readers are better than others but in general they are excellent. Conrad John Schuck may be an acquired taste...but I have come to like him best - especially reading "Wet Straw".

I think anyone who wants to understand modern horror writing should give this a chance and listen to every story carefully.

Great stories, well read

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A good set of stories, representing classic American horror. A good variety of voices, styles and tones in the readings.

A Nice Classic

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