"The Box: Uncanny Stories" By Richard Matheson

Title:The Box: Uncanny Stories
Author: Richard Matheson
Published Year: 2008
Pages: 258

My Take:

Richard Matheson is an amazing author, and this book showcases his awesome abilities. The following short stories are included in this book:

• "Button, Button" 1970
• "Girl of My Dreams" 1963
• "Dying Room Only" 1953
• "A Flourish of Strumpets" 1956
• "No Such Thing as a Vampire" 1959
• "Pattern for Survival" 1955
• "Mute" 1962
• "The Creeping Terror" 1959
• "Shock Wave" 1963
• "Clothes Make the Man" 1950
• "The Jazz Machine" 1962
• " 'Tis the Season to Be Jelly" 1963

I have been addicted to Matheson's works since I originally read Hell House and Nightmare at 20,000 Feet. He has a knack for taking ordinary human fears and turning them into extraordinary works of fiction. There will be at least one short story in this collection, if not more that the reader will be able to identify with. Some are hilarious, while others are just plain cunning and smart.

My warning for this collection is to look at the years that the stories were originally written and published in first. There are references within each one that are no longer part of our times (at least in the majority) and the reader should be prepared for this before they read these short stories.

If you have seen the movie "The Box" with Cameron Diaz, you will notice that the first short story in the novel is the premise for this movie. Many of his other works have been made into movies, and it would not surprise me if even more in the future years will be made into movies as well.