"[Matheson is] the author who influenced me most as a writer." <b>-Stephen King</b><br /><br />"He was a giant, and YOU KNOW HIS STORIES, even if you think you don't."<b>-Neil Gaiman</b><br /><br />"Richard Matheson's ironic and iconic imagination created seminal science-fiction stories . . . For me, he is in the same category as Bradbury and Asimov." <b>-Steven Spielberg</b><br /><br />"[I] never met Richard Matheson, but his stories have been life companions. Books are human souls, in analog form. Go read his." <b>-Joe Hill<br /><br /></b>"Perhaps no other author living is as responsible for chilling a generation with tantalizing nightmare visions." <b>-<i>The New York Times</i></b><br /><br />"Richard Matheson is one of the great names in American terror fiction.” <b>-<i>The Philadelphia Inquirer</i></b><br /><br />"[Matheson has] been an inspiration to me and to so many. He is a legend himself." <b>-Anne Rice</b><br /><br />"We're all a lot richer to have Richard Matheson." <b>-Dean Koontz<br /><br /></b>"[Matheson is] one of the most important writers of the 20th century." <b>-Ray Bradbury <br /><br /></b>"Matheson’s horror is for grown-ups, those who have lost the easy credulity of the very young . . . He’s an ideal writer to read right now, because — as grown-ups know — we live in unbelievable times." -<b>Terrence Rafferty, <i>New York Times Book Review<br /><br /></i></b>"Indeed, it's very nearly impossible to overstate the importance of Matheson's contributions to popular culture and our modern perception of horror . . . <i>The Best of Richard Matheson</i> is a fine collection of some of the best short works from one of the great writers of the 20th (or any, really) century." -<b><i>Pop Matters</i></b><br /><br /><b>"</b>One of my favorite writers of all time . . . If you love short stories, he was a master." -<b>Joe R. Lansdale</b><br /><br />"Richard Matheson was quite simply one of the greatest genre writers of all time. Horror, mystery, suspense, western novels...television, film scripts...He was one for the ages." <b>-Christopher Golden<br /><br /></b>"If all we knew Richard Matheson for was his Twilight Zone episodes, he'd still be a writing legend. But he did so, so much more...It is impossible to overstate how important Richard Matheson is to postwar sci fi, fantasy & horror in prose, TV & film." <b>-Zack Stentz, screenwriter of <i>Thor</i> and<i> X Men: First Class<br /><br /></i></b>"140 characters can't begin cover what [Richard Matheson] has given the sci fi & horror genre." -<b>Edgar Wright, writer and director of </b><i>Baby Driver<br /><br /></i>"You could make a strong case for Richard Matheson as the most influential American writer of 'fantastika' between Lovecraft and Stephen King . . . I thought I knew most of Matheson’s short fiction  . . . and yet editor LaValle has chosen at least a dozen I can’t remember ever having read." -<b>Michael Dirda, <i>Washington Post</i></b><br /><br />"Matheson’s stories never shock viewers with gruesome effects or CGI wondrousness; instead, they worry them at the human level. And they never let a reader go until they’re finished." -<b>Los Angeles Times<br /><br /></b>"Matheson is a master of horror, but moreso a master of incisive prose and skill." -<b>Tor.com</b><br /><br />"Where Matheson shines is in his depictions of ordinary horror, the way strange goings-on affect everyday people, and his ambiguous endings leave plenty of room for further thought. . . . These chilling page-turners still hold up, serving as an excellent starting point for a new generation of readers.” <b>-<i>Kirkus Reviews</i><br /><br /></b>"[Matheson's] imagination and mastery of the short form cannot be denied, and this collection demonstrates the indelible influence he had on speculative literature"<b> -<i>Publishers Weekly</i><br /><br /><br /><br /></b>