Stories(1994) and Famous Monsters(1995). Where
the Bodies Are Buried(2000) is a collection of inter-
related stories about a man who returns from the
dead. After a very promising start, Newman’s ca-
reer seems to have slowed considerably since 2000,
although he continues to write short fiction of un-
usually high quality.
“Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” Richard
Matheson(1961)
Many of the strongest and most effective horror
stories are those that exploit actual fears affecting
the reader—claustrophobia, the lurker in the dark-
ness, even the fear of death itself. Richard MATHE-
SONdraws on a modern preoccupation for this
classic story, the fear of flying. His protagonist,
Arthur Wilson, is forced to take an extensive air
trip to the West Coast, even though he is terrified
by the prospect. The motion makes him airsick,
and he spends much of his time imagining horrible
things that could happen to him or the airplane.
His condition is one that most readers can identify
with, at least to a degree, although his behavior is
exaggerated. Indicative of the changing times, one
element of the plot is no longer plausible—Wilson
carries a handgun in his carry-on.
The real trouble starts when he glances out
the window and sees what appears to be a living
creature moving on the wing. Initially, he wonders
if it could be a cat or dog caught there by accident,
but he quickly revises his opinion. The form ap-
pears to be that of a man, perhaps a mechanic
clinging for his life. Wilson calls the stewardess,
but there is nothing in sight when she looks
through the window. All he has accomplished is to
make her suspicious of his state of mind. Deciding
that he probably hallucinated the entire thing, he
closes the curtains and tells himself to forget about
it, but of course that is impossible. When he finally
gives in to temptation and opens the curtains
again, an inhuman creature is grinning through the
window at him, although it disappears immediately
when he calls for help. There follows a game of
hide-and-seek as Wilson tries to convince the air-
craft’s crew that there is a gremlin on the wing and
that the creature is attempting to sabotage one of
the engines.
Since the reader knows about the handgun,
Wilson’s eventual solution is not a great surprise.
He wrenches open the emergency door, nearly
causing the plane to crash in the process, and
shoots the gremlin before it can finish its sabotage.
He is then placed under restraints but is calm now,
convinced that when they land the maintenance
crew will find evidence to support his claim. Math-
eson leaves his ending somewhat ambiguous, how-
ever, and we can interpret the story literally or
assume that it was, in fact, a series of hallucina-
tions brought about by stress. The story is equally
chilling regardless of which interpretation the
reader prefers.The Night StalkerJeff Rice(1973)
This original vampire novel was written almost si-
multaneously with the production of the television
movie version, also by Rice, and can be thought of
either as the novel that provided the basis for the
movie, or the novelization of the author’s screen-
play. In either case, it is a surprisingly effective
work that fused a traditional, evil vampire with the
plot devices of a contemporary thriller, almost a
police procedural. The movie was popular enough
to spawn a sequel, The Night Strangler(1974) and a
short-lived but highly regarded television series,
Kolchak, the Night Stalker.It is interesting to note
that the night stalker of the title is not, in fact, the
vampire but rather Carl Kolchak, an ornery, dis-
reputable investigative reporter who has an affinity
for stories that involve the supernatural.
In the first novel police are puzzled by a series
of murders, all involving young women who have
lost massive amounts of blood from throat wounds
and some of whom have been killed under extraor-
dinary circumstances. Kolchak has the luck to be
present when they make their first attempt to ap-
prehend the killer and is as stunned as the police
when the suspect displays superhuman strength
and an apparent invulnerability to bullets during
the course of his escape. Although he remains skep-
tical, Kolchak gradually begins to believe that their
quarry is a genuine, supernatural vampire, but his
efforts to convince the authorities backfire, making
him even more unpopular than he already was. Ul-
timately he is forced to act on his own, succeeds inThe Night Stalker 257