A Stir of Echoes

By: Richard Matheson

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 6 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

Tom Wallace lived an ordinary life, until a chance event awakened psychic abilities he never knew he possessed. Now, he's hearing the private thoughts of the people around him - and learning shocking secrets he never wanted to know. But as Tom's existence becomes a waking nightmare, even greater jolts are in store, as he becomes the unwilling recipient of a compelling message from beyond the grave.

This eerie ghost story, by the award-winning author of Hell House and I Am Legend, inspired the acclaimed 1999 film starring Kevin Bacon.

©1986 Richard Matheson (P)2009 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Perhaps no author living is as responsible for chilling a generation with tantalizing nightmare visions." ( The New York Times)
"One of the most important writers of the twentieth century." ( Ray Bradbury)
"Matheson is one of the great names in American terror fiction." ( Philadelphia Inquirer)

Matheson is excellent

One of the subtle things I loved most about "Echoes" is how this starts to affect this man in his everyday life and his family/wife. And the unexpected turns things take. Twists and turns have become in a way cliche, but this is done well and predates so much of this "genre" of "esp" story. And you can see the groundwork for things like King's Dead Zone etc. Looking forward to more Matheson.

Narrator killed it for me

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

The summary sounded interesting, but the narrator's exaggerated, breathy style killed the story for me. I struggled to get to the end and wouldn't want to put anyone else through the pain.

Surprised me

The story was written in the 50’s so it was an interesting glimpse into married life back then. The story had some surprising twists, didn’t drag on, and a nice surprise at the end. Narrator fit perfectly.

Disappointing

I wanted to like this so badly. I never like to say negative things, but this one is definitely a struggle to get through. Though it was fairly well written the overall storyline was ultimately disappointing and didn’t really seem to go anywhere. The narration in the first few chapters was rather dull and reminded me of Jack Nicholson from his role in The Shining. This is one of the rare times when we can say “the movie was better” with full certainty.

Timeless - Written in 1958, Still Good Reading in 2020. Great narration and character personalization portrayal!

Well developed mystery with surprise ending.
Too bad the initial reason for this phenomenon was so simply presented. I would have given 5 stars except for Phil and Allen’s roles in the story. Way too simple and quite unbelievable.

great

completely different then the movie. but it was a great read. don't be afraid to get this one. well worth the money.

Story Good, Performance Excellent

It is hard to imagine this story being nearly as compelling and tense sitting on a page without the benefit of Brick's shatteringly great performance. His voice adds so much to the complexion of the piece, making the key moments truly terrifying.

Dragged in the middle

The beginning and the end were well-done, but it dragged on and on in the middle.

A big disappointment

Generally I like books which have this kind of plot. But not this one. The performance was over-the-top dramatic, with even the smallest event portrayed as a tragedy. I could go on, but writing negative reviews is not my favorite thing to do. So this is a rare one.

Good Story.

I had never read this before. I saw the film with Kevin Bacon in it. That is quite a suspenseful picture. I think it is an awesome movie.