"SINGLE-HANDEDLY REGENERATED A STAGNANT GENRE": INTRODUCED BY STEPHEN KING, INSCRIBED BY A MASTER OF HORROR

MATHESON, Richard. Nightmare at 20,000 Feet. New York: Tor, (2002). Octavo, original black paper boards, original dust jacket. $450.

First edition, collecting 20 classic horror stories from a master of the genre, with an introduction by Stephen King, inscribed on the title page by the author: "To Delbert, Richard Matheson."

Richard Matheson (1926-2013) was "from the 1960s increasingly recognized as one of the most significant modern creators of terror and fantasy in both fiction and film" (Clute & Nicholls, 786). Highlights of his prolific career as an author and scriptwriter include The Incredible Shrinking Man, The Legend of Hell House, What Dreams May Come, Somewhere in Time and I Am Legend, along with episodes of The Twilight Zone and Star Trek. Stephen King's introduction to this collection of short stories notes that when the horror genre "was languishing… Richard Matheson came like a bolt of pure ozone lightning. He single-handedly regenerated a stagnant genre… without Richard Matheson, I wouldn't be around" (pp. 11-12). The legendary title story was filmed once as an original Twilight Zone episode (starring William Shatner) and once as a segment of the 1983 Twilight Zone movie (starring John Lithgow), and served as inspiration for an episode of Jordan Peele's 2019 Twilight Zone revival. Brooks C443.

A fine signed copy.