Nightmare at 20,000 Feet

Horror Stories

By: Stephen King - introduction, Richard Matheson

Narrated by: Julia Campbell, Richard Powers, Malcolm Hillgartner, Arte Johnson, Jay Karnes, Ray Porter, Yuri Rasovsky, Lorna Raver

Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

One of the finest and most influential horror writers of the 20th century, Richard Matheson (I Am Legend, The Incredible Shrinking Man, Somewhere in Time) has left his stamp on the collective imagination. Here are more than 20 of Matheson's most memorable tales of fear and paranoia, personally selected by the author. Many of these stories have already entered into popular culture, including the title story, which became a landmark episode of The Twilight Zone, and "Duel", the nail-biting tale of man versus machine that inspired Steven Spielberg's first film.

Other stories include "First Anniversary", "Dress of White Silk", "Witch War", "Dance of the Dead", "Mad House", "Prey", "Blood Son", "Crickets", "Wet Straw", "The Children of Noah", "Through Channels", "Old Haunts", "Disappearing Act", "The Holiday Man", "Legion of Plotters", "The Distributor", "Long Distance Call", "Slaughter House", and "The Likeness of Julie".

Find out why Stephen King (who wrote the introduction) has called Matheson one of his favorite writers.

Narrated by Richard Powers, Malcolm Hillgartner, Arte Johnson, Jay Karnes, Ray Porter, Lawrence Pressman, Yuri Rasovsky, Lorna Raver, Ned Schmidtke, Conrad John Schuck, and Christine Williams.

©2002 RXR, Inc. (P)2009 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"The well-known title tale about a nervous air traveler is a showcase for the author's trademark less-is-more prose style, which suspensefully delineates a psychological tug-of-war between man and a monster that may be purely imagined. Timeless in their simplicity, [Matheson's] stories are also relentless in their approach to basic fears." (Publishers Weekly)

Great book!

I loved the collection of stories, as if I was listening to episodes of the twilight zone. Some stories were great other just left you puzzled. Great one to add to your collection. This book introduced me to many more. Very Pleased! Definitely suggest others as well. Stir of echoes, is another good book by Matheson.

Some Horror Classics by a Master

Real gems here including stories you've seen on Twilight Zone and Trilogy of Terror.

The OG Master of Horror

You simply can’t get better than Richard Matheson. I’m glad King recognizes what an influence he was on his own work, because the similarities between “The Distributor” and “Needful Things” are so profound that one can’t help but wonder if Matheson’s estate shouldn’t get a cut of every copy of NT that King sells.

The stories are brilliant, obviously, and the narrators are perfectly chosen. This is my favorite Audible purchase ever, in so many downloads I can’t begin to count them. If you’re wondering if you’ll be entertained, just stop wondering. But be wary if you’re home alone, on a dark night. Sleep might not come easily after these tales!

If you like feeling uncomfortable, this is the book for you.

Richard Matheson was an author that knew what it meant to be human, that to feel life you must also be touched by fear and paranoia. These stories will get under you skin and come home with you. If you enjoy the original “Twilight Zone,” you’ll feel right at home. The performances where all well done. Overall, I came out of this anthology craving more Matheson stories.

Some good, some bad.

Any additional comments?

There was a number of really good stories in here, some a bit dated but still very good.
Some were not so good. The stories which concern one man's descent into madness, usually written in the first person, and ending with the reader wondering wether the events described had actually taken place, or were in the narrator's mind. Kind of like ending a story with '' It was all just a dream'' I've always thought that stories like that are a bit of a cop out. Still worth the time and the credit.
There wer a couple of stories i recognized from T.V. and movies. The Gremlin, of course from the twilight zone. The distibutor very likely inspired Stephen King to write Needful things. (one of his best in my opinion) And One year aniversary was used for an episode of The outer limits.

A great collection. Matheson is a master of horror

Firstly, the overall score given to this book is an average of The enjoyment factor found from each individual story.

I've always wanted to read Matheson's "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet". I enjoyed the story, and although it wasn't spectacular, it was worth the read. A true classic. Having said that, I found that certain stories in this collection were even more enjoyable. I absolutely LOVED "Disappearing Act".

Some of the stories were just plain terrible to listen to, but I would put that more on the narration then anything else. The narrators for this book mostly did a very good job. I loved Jay Carnes in particular. But I found Yuri Rasovsky frustratingly annoying. His narration of "Dress of White Silk" was terrible. If you're going to have someone narrate a story from a child's POV in a child's voice, particularly if the child is a girl, don't get a guy who sounds like he is talking through a mouthful of porridge.

This book is well worth the price of the credit I spent. Before Stephen King, there was Matheson. A master of the genre, these stories shouldn't be missed.

Oldies but goodies

I knew most of these stories (or versions of) but still found them enjoyable. I would definatley recommend it to the younger generaton who may not know the old sstories and like fiction. Despite the age, the stories are well written and still relatable.

These stories will haunt me for a long time.

Matheson has the power to construct a plausible reality, set up our expectations, and then put the pedal to the metal and run us down. We are caught in the headlights, unnerved and frozen, until the inevitable strikes, and we've been dragged a quarter mile down the road. Then he turns around for another pass. The most memorable stories: the one about the guy who gets angry all the time; the one about the bed-ridden lady (excellent reader!); and the one about the new guy in the neighborhood.

Good classic horror stories

A man Stephen King credits with many of the foundations of the horror genre. Think twilight zone material.

Classic

This is a great collection of classic tales by a great old-school horror author.

Most of the 1 star reviews are from people who don't realize how old his works are, have never heard of him, and/or don't even comprehend that all of the stories are by the same person.