Richard Matheson devoted fifty years to literature, was awarded the most prestigious awards and acquired a reputation as a “destroyer of genres.” His works combine mysticism, horror, fantasy, science fiction and even detective stories in the most incredible way. The “king of horror” Stephen King considers him his teacher. Steven Spielberg made his first feature film based on his story “Duel.” The cult novel “I Am Legend” was filmed twice and served as a model for writers developing the “vampire” theme. Many of the stories included in this volume were published in Russian for the first time.