Shadow on the Sun

By: Richard Matheson

Narrated by: Mark Bramhall

Length: 5 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

Southwest Arizona, a century ago: an uneasy truce exists between the remote frontier community of Picture City and the neighboring Apaches. That delicate peace is shredded when the bodies of two white men are found hideously mutilated. The angry townspeople are certain the “savages” have broken the treaty, but Billjohn Finley, the local Indian agent, fears that darker, more unholy forces may be at work. There’s a tall, dark stranger in town, who rode in wearing the dead men’s clothes. A stranger who may not be entirely human.

Originally published as a mass-market Western in 1994, Shadow on the Sun has been largely overlooked by horror fans and general readers. But this tale of supernatural terror is sure to chill the blood of Matheson’s many fans.

©1994 RXR, Inc. (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Perhaps no other author living is as responsible for chilling a generation with tantalizing nightmare visions.” ( New York Times)

This Horror/Western is classic Matheson

A pretty straightforward horror/western: the gruesome murders of two white men threaten a treaty between a band of warlike Apaches and the U.S. before the ink has even dried, but when Indian agent Billjohn Finley investigates, he discovers that the murderer may be supernatural.

Matheson's writing is pure story: he doesn't set up more than he needs to, and his characters get only as much detail as they need. This would make a good movie, though unlike many of Matheson's other stories, it hasn't been turned into a film, probably because Westerns are so out of fashion.

3.5 stars. This is a decent yarn, though even the ending is scripted like a Hollywood movie. Definitely worth reading or listening to for a few hours of entertainment, though it's not likely to rank as one of your all-time favorites.

The performance by Mark Bramhall is good, if perhaps a bit overacted at times, but it fits the melodramatic plotting.

Excellent!

Excellent audio performance, marvelous writing and story, a true poet of terror. I didn't know this author existed, listened because it was free, great decision.

intriguing

Loved it, amazing story that is like most Native American lore, truly unique and beautiful has fantasy, real life, feeling, and superior illustrations

The story needed some oomph

The narrator did a good job with what he had to work with.
I think the story had some really good detail and ok character development. I think the author did a good job of setting the scenes and did a good job with historical and Native American aspects.
The thing that needed oomph was the horror part of the story.
The author told us how horrified characters were but I didn’t feel the horror based on the text, which I think you should if it’s well written. This story would have been a decent drama.

A Somewhat Lost Gem

I had never heard of this story before and assumed it was from his early body of work in the 50's and 60's (and I thought the Western setting was well commented on in that context), this thing was written in the 90's!?

Overall it moves at an excellent pace, has tense moments, some good commentary on westerns as a setting/genre, and does not overstay its welcome. I would recommend this to Stephen King fans, and I am sure King would enjoy and recommend this story.

A compelling story

This was a really well done story. it was full of sorrow, pride, arrogance, greed and redemption. The story never lagged and was well thought out

Legendary Creatures in the Old West

This is just a fun listen with an Old West feel. The snake bite remedy will be something you look up on Google.

INCREDIBLE TALE OF HORROR

Definitely an A+ tale, in my book! The late Richard Matheson definitely can spin a good yarn. I only regret it's abrupt ending. Fans of Mr. Matheson will not be disappointed with the results. More than Worth the listen! Just make sure you're not alone outdoors in the wild at night when you listen, especially where you can hear birds screech! 😱

absolutely wonderful!

i just finished the cold millions by jess walter and wanted something exactly like that. this was nothing like it. but it was great. this should be a movie. something between johnny depp's "lone ranger" and johnny depp's "dead man." a western with cowboys and indians and a very dark and mysterious individual who appears out of nowhere and immediately threatens the hard-won, fragile peace that newly exists between the settlers and the indians. the rest has to do with an anthropologist named dodge, the local indian agent, a young army officer, the indian chief, the night doctor (indian shaman) and the mysterious individual himself. whose actual provenance or species remains very much to be seen. loved every minute of it! richard matheson was just so freakin good...

Not What I Was Expecting

I'm a fan of a lot of Richard Matheson's stories...this is not one of them. Overall I thought it was okay. The narrator did a good job, and his voice suited the story. It was a different sort of story compared to Matheson's other works. This one is set in the Wild West and our hero of the story is a government official, who must figure out who is killing people in the town. It is a supernatural story, so if that isn't your thing then don't get this book!