In the post-World War Two era, the mythologies that horror fiction had previously been founded upon underwent a radical shift. After all, “a world forced to contend with the war’s very real legions of the dead and the unalleviated apprehensions of the dawning nuclear age demanded horrors that were more believable, rather than more fantastic” (“Contemporary Horror Fiction 1950-1998”, 1999). As a result, from the mid 1940s onwards, horror fiction increasingly assumed forms that embodied the most powerful anxieties of twentieth century life. A pivotal figure in this transition, Richard Matheson was one of the most important figures in modern American horror fiction. Matheson’s work typically explored the psychological processes of the put-upon suburban male, the alienated…
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Citation: Murphy, Bernice. "Richard Matheson". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 28 June 2004; last revised 18 June 2022. [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=2989, accessed 25 April 2024.]
