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The Box: Uncanny Stories Audiobook
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(3.01) - 480 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
What if you were told that you could make a fortune just by pushing a button on a box? But pressing this button will simultaneously cause the death of another human being somewhere in the world . . . someone you don't know. Would you still push the button? "Button, Button," Richard Matheson's chilling tale of greed and temptation, is now the basis of The Box, the new film from the director of Donnie Darko. In addition, this outstanding collection also contains many other unforgettable stories by Matheson, the award-winning author of I Am Legend and What Dreams May Come. "The inventive plots and spare but convincing portraits of ordinary men and women caught up in forces beyond their control demonstrate why Stephen King has called Matheson his most significant influence."
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"I checked this out along with Nightmare at 20,000 Feet. This is more like bizarre and unusual tales, instead of horror tales. A Flourish of Strumpets, Mute, Creeping Terror, Pattern for Survival, and Clothes make the Man. I think I liked this book better that Nightmare. "
— Andrew (4 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
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“Some of these tales are just plain weird and require an experienced reader who knows when to insert humor and when to ramp up the horror. Grover Gardner does just that, holding listeners in thrall as he brings to life the quirky characters populating the often squirmy plotlines.
— Library Journal, Starred Review -
The twelve stories rapidly fall upon each other and hold the reader in pleasant suspense throughout. Grover Gardner, with an almost incredible range of completely convincing accented and gendered voices, performs the stories to a tee.
— Sound Commentary -
Grover Gardner, an audio-voice stalwart, does a fine job of posing...Mathesonian moral dilemmas.
— Winston-Salem Journal -
His stories not only entertain, but touch the mind and heart.
— Dean Koontz -
Perhaps no other author living is as responsible for chilling a generation with tantalizing nightmare visions.
— The New York Times -
Richard Matheson is one of the great names in American terror fiction.
— The Philadelphia Inquirer -
Matheson is the master of paranoia--pitting a single man against unknown horrors and examining his every slow twist in the wind.
— San Jose Mercury News
The Box Listener Reviews
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" Some of the short stories were very good, some were dumb. "
— Julie, 2/16/2014 -
" So far I'm enjoying the short stories and I'm about half way through. They're perfect for a short break at work "
— Bev, 1/29/2014 -
" Richard Matheson is hit (I Am Legend>) and miss (Hell House>). This is a bit of both with mostly misses. The stories are all short, which gets the reader to the gag more quickly but it doesn't allow for any real character development or long form tension building. The stories are all based around "what if?" ideas--what if your wife could foretell deaths in her dreams? what if a man offered to give you a lot of money to press a button, killing someone you didn't know? and so on. But a successful "what if?" story should still have characters worthy of the premise, but these are just sketches and, as such, are never really satisfying. "
— Laura, 1/22/2014 -
" quick and easy plane read short stories ala twilight zone haven't seen the movie so don't know how compares "
— lynn, 1/16/2014 -
" This book is a collection of short stories by Richard Matheson. Some are very good and some...not so much. "
— Charlene, 1/4/2014 -
" A mixed bag of short stories--some, like the title story--are very well executed and engaging. Others, like a story about a post-apocalyptic future proposal--far less so. Overall, the highs outweigh the lows, and I'd give it 3.5 stars. "
— Roy, 12/9/2013 -
" It was a mixed collection. Some great stories but, some stories were so-so. The frist story didn't work for me. It felt flat. Been awhile since I read but, I it wasn't as sharp as the Steele or Twenty Thousand Feet collections. "
— Pandora, 11/3/2013 -
" A great collection of short stories by one of the masters of creepiness! I really enjoyed these stories--each one for different reasons, but not a bad one in the bunch. "
— Kristy, 8/3/2013 -
" Button, Button is the only story worth reading. "
— Chantay, 11/28/2012 -
" THe stories in this book never had enough detail, I never understood what was happening I did enjoy a couple of the stories, but overall I disliked the book. "
— Emily, 2/5/2012 -
" a lot of these stories are great because of Matheson's writing. When summarized they sound like poorly thought up short stories with cheesy Shyamalan twists. even when I could see the ending coming, Matheson has a way of making it still surprising and the entertaining "
— Tom, 1/21/2012 -
" This book feels like watching a Twilight Zone (original version) marathon. Some stories are better than others but none are bad.All that is missinf is Rod introducing them. "
— David, 7/29/2011 -
" I picked this up for a plane trip because I love short stories and Matheson is a masterful, spare writer who can really weave a weird tale. How they are turning the 10 page story originally called "Button, Button" into a full-length movie is beyond me. "
— Ellen, 5/25/2011 -
" Very interesting stories. "
— Lawrence, 5/17/2011 -
" ANYTHING by Richard Matheson is gold. He wrote I am Legend, The Box, What Dreams may Come, Nightmare at 20,000 feet. A lot of his stuff messes with your head, in the best way possible. READ HIM!!! "
— Kelly, 5/10/2011 -
" enjoyed these short, edge of your seat stories. "
— Sam, 4/6/2011 -
" Things aren't what you think them to be with Richard Matheson. Stories that will make you laugh and make you think. Loved it. "
— Sarah, 3/25/2011 -
" I didn't finish this as I found it dated and kind of boring. Perhaps I'll try some of his other stuff some other time. "
— Shylina, 11/1/2010 -
" "The Box", 2009 movie, was based on "Button, Button", the first story in this collection. Whether or not you'll like it is a matter of taste, I guess--I loved most of the stories, while my mom only liked two or three. "
— Barbara, 8/23/2010 -
" I was extremely disappointed by this book of short stories. Matheson would present an interesting premise but then had no follow-through or development. The ideas behind the first few stories sparked my interested but, like I said, were undeveloped. The rest of the stories were painful to read. "
— Sarah, 6/2/2010 -
" I read the first 3 stories... I intend to finish the rest of them in the future but liked the ones I read. "
— Amber, 4/17/2010 -
" Button,Button <br/>Girl of my Dreams, <br/>Dying Room Only <br/>A Flourish of Strumpets <br/>No Such Thing as a Vampire <br/>Pattern for Survival <br/>Mute <br/>The Creeping Terror <br/>Shock Wave <br/>Clothes Make the Man <br/>The Jazz Machine <br/>Tis the Season to be Jelly "
— Alannah, 3/30/2010
About Richard Matheson
Richard Matheson (1926–2013) was born in New Jersey and started living and working in California in 1951. In addition to novels in the mystery, science fiction, horror, fantasy, and western fields, he wrote many film and television scripts, including “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” from The Twilight Zone. He also wrote episodes of Have Gun, Will Travel, Night Gallery, and Star Trek. Several of his novels and stories have been made into movies, including The Shrinking Man, I Am Legend, and What Dreams May Come (starring Robin Williams). Over the course of his career he won the World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement Award, the Bram Stoker Award for Life Achievement, the Hugo Award, the Edgar Allan Poe Award, the Golden Spur Award, and the Writer’s Guild Award.
About Grover Gardner
Grover Gardner (a.k.a. Tom Parker) is an award-winning narrator with over a thousand titles to his credit. Named one of the “Best Voices of the Century” and a Golden Voice by AudioFile magazine, he has won three prestigious Audie Awards, was chosen Narrator of the Year for 2005 by Publishers Weekly, and has earned more than thirty Earphones Awards.