He Is Legend: An Anthology Celebrating Richard Matheson - Edited by Christopher Conlon

Beware of found books. 

I found this book in our office kitchen area. Was it discarded - was someone hoping to rid themselves of a unwanted burden? Or was it someone, like me, who likes to leave reading material around when I'm finished in case someone else finds themselves in need? 

So this book sat in the drawer of my desk until I was abruptly called to a doctor's appointment and this went along as some last minute waiting room material. I've heard of Richard Matheson in the way that I was vaguely aware that I am Legend, the movie with Will Smith, was based on a book. I had no idea he was a well-known (by others) horror genre writer. 

Reading some of the stories in this book made me more familiar with his writing. This anthology is a collection of short stories inspired by his other works. The collection includes sequels, prequels and some others just along the same concepts as previous stories. 

The first story in the collection, Throttle, written by Stephen King and his son, Joe Hill, is about a biker gang that becomes the target of revenge. It is inspired by a Matheson story. 

Each short story is introduced by a short paragraph which details which Matheson story was the inspiration. These blurbs made me want to check out some of Matheson's original work.

As a collection, the anthology feels uneven. Some stories are superbly written and wickedly frightening, like Return to Hell House, which doesn't spare on graphic details but actually haunting scenes that was a bad choice to read right before bed. This and Throttle, really made the book. Others, including a take on the "Somewhere in Time" time travelling theme in which a man goes back in time to prevent his wife's suicide, were interesting and thought-provoking, if not exceptionally well written. 

Others, like the last story, Cloud Riders, were poorly written and seemed more like poor fan fiction than the worthy efforts of the authors who worked on the stories. 

I'll definitely be picking up some of Matheson's original work in the future, but for an already established Matheson fan, only a few of the stories included will probably do the man justice.

2/5 Stars.