Nightmare at 20'000 Feet, A Review

Nightmare at 20'000 Feet: Horror Stories

by Richard Matheson

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" But it's so hard to make things simple and so easy to make them complicated." - Matheson

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This was a strange book to review, as it's a collection of short stories. And as with a lot of collections, it was very hit and miss. Overall, I would say this was a very worthy purchase and a lot of fun to read. The stories each had their own charm and positive points, but some, in an Orwellian manner, were more positive than others. I'll go over them individually, providing a mini review of them and their own star rating! As an exercise, and to better rate them by testing their impact on me, I am writing this months after completion and without the book next to me, relying only on the titles of the stories. A true test, of either Matheson's prowess or my memory...

Blood Son ⭐⭐

I wasn't too sure about this one. It didn't really hit the spot for my tastes and so it is heavily influenced by my preferences. It was, nonetheless, a good story! There's a good chance it hit home for me as annoying, because I recognise that weird kid who drinks tomato juice in lieu of blood and pretends he's weak when it's sunny outside. Bad memories.

The Children of Noah ⭐⭐⭐⭐

A surprise twist, Matheson's thing! This one gave me a fair bit of fear and heartache as it went on. The tension created is palpable and almost too hard to handle given the circumstances of the situation the main character is placed in. It mirrors contemporary society's behaviours well, compounding the terror.

Crickets ⭐⭐⭐

This one was weird, but chilling. Definite sci-fi vibes so if that's your thing, open with this one! Despite what might seem a basic concept, there's something about secret messages and codes that freak me out. Even Morse code is oddly terrifying and I've never really thought about why...

Dance of the Dead ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I liked this story a lot. It's set in the future and tells a not-all-that bizarre story in circumstances I can imagine passing as acceptable either now or in some not too distant year. It passed the retro-futurism vibe-check, covering the exact horror sub-genres I am very much into. All the characters simultaneously managed to piss me off and garner my sympathies. Very good!

Disappearing Act ⭐⭐

I felt that this one was ok. Not great. Not of note. Others seem to marvel at the psychological fear that Matheson embeds into this story, but I don't like ambiguity and this was full of it, as far as my untrained eye could see. Although, I will admit that the fear of everything you know slowly unravelling in front of you is pretty terrifying.

The Distributor ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Needful Things is the long-winded, more complicated, and, in all honesty, worse version of this story. Matheson does it so well! The insidious nature of suburban neighbours. People are just bad sometimes, and this story does a good job of capturing that element of our nature.

Dress of White Silk ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Creepy kids? Check. Dead people? Check. Weird chilling situation? Check. This was one of the better ones in my mind out of this collection. It felt all the right kinds of tense throughout. I think I knew what was coming next, but I don't know that I actually did. It all happened so fast that it was hard to tell by the end.

Duel ⭐

To be very honest, I don't remember this story. Was it even in the book? It must have been, because there were "more than 20" stories advertised on the front cover...I'm not big on trucks or cars or roads etc. (see Christine) and google assures me that this was the central plot of this particular story. Has to be a low rating for potential contact and complete forgetability.

First Anniversary ⭐⭐

Similarly, this story did not strike a chord with me. It was a bit too depressing, and I might have missed the point. I was trained to read films, and I found even that too pretentious to give over much of my effort to. I'm a little down on heterosexual marriages being portrayed as somewhat resentful, even if this could be described as 'of it's time'. Straight people: we do not have to get married if we don't want to. Spurn the societal norms, and take this couple as a warning.

The Holiday Man ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I didn't really expect the ending of this one. Am I dim? I don't know, but this one was cruel and a bit of punishment for the reader. This could be an intentional echo of how the main character's life must seem to him.

The Legion of Plotters ⭐⭐⭐

A cautionary tale? Definitely an insight into what the paranoid mind can be like when in overdrive. I liked this one because i related to it, having suffered from severe paranoid episodes due to my anxiety.

The Likeness of Julie ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Exactly up my street. This was written for me. It was quite accurate for a fictional tale. A creepy, weirdly intimate view point of the main character that could have come from a true crime article. Perfect!

Long Distance Call ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Seems to be one thing, then another, and then when you finally find out, it;s not comforting to know. I don't like ambiguity, as previously mentioned, but I could have done without learning the truth here. A sentiment I imagine that is shared by the poor woman who answered the call.

Mad House ⭐⭐⭐

I read this story once about a man who was super mad, and everything in his house and his life made him mad, and the more he got mad, the more likely he was to get madder in the future. I think it was called...

Nightmare At 20'000 Feet ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The daddy, the star of the show. Parodied in The Simpsons, so you know it's part of the collective conscience. Pop culture royalty. This is the classic "there's a gremlin on the side of the plane" tale and honestly, as goofy as it sounds this is still scary. You're trapped, with no control, and no one around you is listening to you. Terrifying.

Old Haunts ⭐

Did not like it at all. Maybe I missed the point, sometimes I do that. But I hate a tale that's atmospheric in order to compensate for little to no story. I get the idea, you long for something but once it's gone, it's gone. We can't revisit our past. But this was very uneventful.

Prey ⭐⭐⭐

I wasn't sure about this one. The story is ridiculous. But it's 80s creature feature. An episode of Creepshow. Ridiculous. I still think about it, it still makes me giggle. And it still manages to infuriate me. I don't know why you can't just kick a killer doll, how hard is that? You have legs don't you? This main character definitely had legs. And i'm sure different bodies would be able to defend themselves from a tiny doll through another method.

Slaughter House ⭐⭐

Creepy. Weird. Not good weird. It just didn't hit the way I wanted it to. To be fair to this story, I had high expectations as I love a haunted house tale.

Through Channels ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Another excellent offering in the collection. It speaks as a true crime story. There are elements of the interview room conversations gripped me. This is definitely not one to miss as the ending is exciting!

Wet Straw ⭐⭐⭐

You get what you deserve, an adage proven by this tale.

Witch War ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This story had a really strong premise, but the execution left a lot to be desired and wasn't to my tastes. Still, I would rate this highly. Gruesome, horrifying and truly scary if you push past the horror tropes and closely look at the real world portrayal here.