Richard Matheson

Writing Style

Richard Matheson gets name-dropped in two distinct places on Reddit: post-apocalyptic reading lists and "best short story you've ever read" threads. The post-apocalyptic crowd knows him for I Am Legend (1954), which one commenter describes as "the last man alive fighting vampire-like mutants in a dead city — with a twist on the perspective of who is the real monster." That framing comes up consistently. It's not just a survival story. It's a story about what "monster" means when civilization is gone. The other thread appearance is for "Button, Button," a short story that shows up in company with Poe, Shirley Jackson, and Ray Bradbury — which tells you something about the range. Matheson also wrote What Dreams May Come, a metaphysical novel about a man who dies and navigates an afterlife built from belief and imagination, then goes after his wife into something darker. He researched it extensively and included a source appendix. Reddit mostly treats him as an undersung influence — the kind of writer whose ideas you can trace through horror and science fiction for the next sixty years.

Where to Start

I Am Legend is short and the obvious entry point — it's the book that keeps appearing in genre recommendation threads, and the premise is immediately gripping. What Dreams May Come is worth reading if you're interested in the metaphysical side of his work; it operates completely differently than I Am Legend but shares the same interest in what lies just past the edge of normal reality. "Button, Button" is the short story to seek out if you want to see what he could do in a handful of pages.

Similar Authors

Matheson surfaces in threads alongside Ray Bradbury and Arthur C. Clarke — the classic mid-century sci-fi/horror writers who shaped the genre before it split into hard SF and horror proper. Philip K. Dick is the natural comparison for the philosophical twist endings. Shirley Jackson appears in the same "best short story" threads. If you like the post-apocalyptic angle, the same Reddit lists that recommend I Am Legend tend to include Cormac McCarthy, George R. Stewart, and Neville Shute — writers interested in what happens to people after everything collapses.