We finally have in hand Fangoria #301, emblazoned with a caricature of Matheson as the Mystic Seer fortune-telling machine from his Twilight Zone episode “Nick of Time” and the headline, “The Master of Terror Speaks.” In addition to discussing his new novel, Other Kingdoms (just out from Tor), Richard reveals in his six-page interview, “My son [Richard Christian] and I are starting a company called Matheson Entertainment, which will take a lot of [our] unused material for film and television…and adapt it.” They review his new Gauntlet book Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, as I will be for Tor.com, and the third-season Twilight Zone Blu-ray, although they err by claiming that he contributed only two episodes to that season, overlooking “Once Upon a Time.”
Last but, ahem, far from least, Fangoria reviews “writer, Matheson expert and occasional Fango contributor Matthew R. Bradley’s excellent recent tome Richard Matheson on Screen….Each picture is given due diligence, with Matheson appraisals, quotes from other journalists and thorough critical analyses by Bradley, making [this] a fantastic point of entry in understanding the author’s fascinating oeuvre.” (Amusingly, the literary and DVD reviews are respectively credited to “Ben Cortman” and “Janos Skorzeny,” two names that need no introduction for the serious Matheson scholar.) And, as a bonus, the issue also includes a chat with Matheson pal, fellow BOF interviewee and birthday boy William F. Nolan, so really, what’s not to like, guys?
Matthew – I had meant to mention that review to you after I saw it. I think you and I are amongst the few Fango readers to catch the byline references. I assume those are both by Chris Alexander as well.
I did think the Zuni caption was funny in the Nolan interview, as whoever wrote it clearly didn’t realize that Matheson scripted the one segment that made ToT unforgettable. We saw what Nolan was capable of using the material in the forgettable ToT2: Electric Boogaloo.
Thanks so much. I meant to mention the Trilogy of Terror gaffe, which slipped my mind. As I said in my book, I didn’t think there was anything really wrong with “He Who Kills” in Trilogy of Terror II except that, as with The Night Strangler, it perhaps modeled itself a little too closely on the original. But Nolan’s a pal of mine…