What Dreams May Come

A classic novel of love after death, from one our greatestfantasy writers. The premise is deceptively simple: Chris Neilsonhas died in a car accident, but his life-force--his spirit--isstill conscious of this plane of reality. And he is still too inlove with his wife, Ann, to completely let go. She in turn doesnot want to go on living without him, as each regards the other astheir soul mate. What Chris will do to get back with Ann aftershe dies makes for one of the most unusual love stories ever told.Even though the story can be enjoyed as pure fantasy, what makesWhat Dreams May Come unique is how the author spent yearsresearching the subject of life after death. (An exhaustivebibliography is included to verify this.) And while Mathesonadmits that the characters are of course fictional, he also statesthat "With few exceptions, every other detail is derivedexclusively from research." Whether, after reading this novel, onebelieves in life after death is of course a matter of opinion. Atleast you''ll entertain the possibility that, even though we maynot live forever, true love can be eternal. --StanleyWiater

Richard Matheson was born February 20th, 1926 in New Jersey. He started writing at the age of eight, and earned a degree in journalism in New York and Missouri and saw action during World War II. In 1950 he first was noticed as an upcoming writer-to-watch, starting with the short story Born of Man and Woman. He went on to produce seven novels and a large collection of short stories for various magazines, including some for Weird Tales and a lot of new Science Fiction magazines that were growing in popularity after the War, includingThe Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. Hollywood approached him, asking for rights to his novel The Shrinking Man. Seizing the chance he negotiated the chance to write the screenplay, and he began a long career in screenwriting and adapting. Matheson also scripted some of the best regarded episodes of The Twilight Zone and won an Edgar Allan Poe Award in 1973 for The Night Stalker. He has also won the World Fantasy Convention's Life Achievement Award, the Bram Stoker Award for Life Achievement, the Hugo Award, the Golden Spur Award, and the Writer's Guild Award. Several of Matheson's novels and stories have been made into films, including The Shrinking Man (filmed as "The Incredible Shrinking Man" in 1957), I Am Legend (filmed twice, once as "The Last Man on Earth" starring Vincent Price in 1964, and again as "The Omega Man" starring Charlton Heston in 1971), and Bid Time Return (filmed as "Somewhere in Time" starring Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour in 1980). Matheson also wrote the scripts for Stephen Spielberg's first feature film, Duel; the TV-movie The Night Stalker; and several of Roger Corman's Edgar Allan Poe films, including House of Usher (1960), The Pit and the Pendulum (1961), and The Raven (1963). He also wrote the screenplay for Stir of Echoes with Kevin Bacon and What Dreams May Come with Robin Williams.