Richard Matheson

Richard Matheson was among the most prolific and recognizable authors of science fiction short stories, novels and screenplays.  

Matheson’s work displays themes of alternate realities, the paranormal, terror, survival and ardor. His first short story, Born of Man and Woman, was published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1950. The story was written as a simple tale of terror but was lauded as a great work of science fiction, earning Matheson immediate fame.

Transitioning to television and film writing in the late 1960s, Matheson began adapting a number of his stories and novels for the screen. Among his most notable adaptations are his first novel I Am Legend (1954); filmed as The Last Man on Earth (1964), The Omega Man (1971) and I Am Legend (2007), The Shrinking Man (1956); filmed as The Incredible Shrinking Man, (1957) for which he earned a Hugo award, Bid Time Returns (1975); filmed as Somewhere in Time (1980) for which he earned a World Fantasy Award, and What Dreams May Come (1978; film, 1998).

Starting in 1959, Matheson produced 14 original scripts for the television series The Twilight Zone, including the unforgettable episode “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet.”