Nightmare
at 20,000 Feet is a collection of some of Richard Matheson’s
wonderfully creepy horror and suspense short stories, written between 1953 and
1969. Some of them, including the titular tale, were the inspiration for several
episodes of the popular TV series The
Twilight Zone, which first aired in the late 50’s and early 60’s. The
episodes of The Twilight Zone were
often a mix of horror, suspense, psychological thriller and science fiction,
and this collection of short stories adheres to this mélange of genres as well.
I love a good short story, but more often than not they
aren’t executed very well, and end up failing to meet my expectations. There is
no such worry with this particular collection however, as almost all of the
stories kept me captivated and shared the common element of impending terror,
building to an often shocking climax. Matheson clearly has a brilliant imagination
for shock-horror stories. Many of them are preoccupied with madness and there
are several instances when the reader wonders whether the characters are really
enduring what they describe or if they have simply lost their minds. Sometimes
the endings are vaguely ambiguous - although not in a totally random and
confusing way as with Jackson's The Lottery and Other Stories - and you as the reader are expected to fill in the blank,
as is the case with ‘Through Channels.’
Except for a couple, all of the stories in this volume were
extremely good, but a few really stood out for me:
Nightmare
at 20,000 Feet: The first tale of the collection throws you
in at the deep end, and it was probably my favourite story in the entire
collection. Matheson succeeds in building suspense, tension and a sense of
rising dread as the story progresses. A nervous flyer embarks on a flight and
becomes convinced that a ‘gremlin’ is attempting to sabotage the plane! The
trouble is, only he seems to be able to see the malignant creature...
Dress
of White Silk: In this disturbing tale, a creepy little
girl becomes obsessed with her dead mother’s possessions, including the titular
silk dress. This one was very short and intense - just what a decent horror
piece should be.
Blood
Son:
In ‘Blood Son’, we meet another apparently mentally disturbed child, who after
reading Dracula becomes obsessed
with vampirism to the extent that he decides he wants to become one himself. It
provides the reader with an interesting and more realistic take on the tired
vampire genre that has become consumed by the stigma of ‘supernatural romance’
in recent years.
Through
Channels: The epitome of ‘the reader fills in the blank’ category of
story, the ambiguous events of the tale are slowly revealed, although not in
full, through a conversation between investigating policemen and a young boy
who have witnessed a horrific crime-scene.
Legion
of Plotters: This story has that shock factor that
Matheson executes so skilfully. A man becomes so irritated with all the little
things that people do around him - such as coughing - that he begins to believe
that the world is conspiring against him. It is quite comical how angry such
tiny things cause him to become, which serves as a stark contrast to the more
serious, latter events of the story.
There are other brilliant stories in the collection, but
these five really shone. If you enjoy The
Twilight Zone then I would definitely recommend this collection, since the
stories have very much the same feel. Furthermore, this would make a great read
for those of you who enjoy shocking finales, as well as fans of horror and
science fiction. The tales are mostly very short, intense and gripping and I
enjoyed them very much.
Rating: 8/10
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