A crushing, tragic masterpiece, “Born of Man and Woman” is the short story that introduced the world to Richard Matheson. In the July 1950 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, readers were treated to the debut of a new twenty-three year old author who would soon become one of the titans of 20th century horror, science fiction and fantasy. Printed above the title was an editor’s note which read: “Mr. Richard Matheson lives in Brooklyn, is 23 years old, and has never published a story before. These simple, direct facts we can tell you about the author. Nothing so simple could be said of his story or the protagonist who tells it with a mind such as you have never met, housed in a body you have never imagined. Read on … and learn to know your not inconceivable kinsman.” The tale of an uneducated and abused child chained in its parents’ cellar, “Born of Man and Woman” is the child’s internal diary, written in poignantly broken English. In just a few pages, Richard Matheson delivers a story packed with powerful imagery so haunting and heartbreaking, it is unforgettable. For years following its release, it would continue to be critically acclaimed as one of the prolific writer’s greatest of short stories and was selected in 1970 by the Science Fiction Writers of America as one of the best science fiction short stories published before the creation of the Nebula Awards. As such, it was published in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Volume One, 1929-1964. Matheson first submitted “Born of Man and Woman” to The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in December 1949. The magazine responded enthusiastically, with an interest in purchasing the story, provided that the publication lived to see its third issue. Editor Anthony Boucher wrote in his response letter, “We do hope that you will let us hold ‘Born’ and that it will be far from the last Matheson story we’ll publish.” Matheson replied: “Dear Mr. Boucher, I hope it won’t shock you to learn it is the first story I ever sold in my life. I have written for years, of course. I can only suggest that my lack of success, until now, has been due to a very limited effort at marketing my work.” Within a year of publishing “Born of Man and Woman,” Matheson had nine more short stories published in various magazines, and by 1954 the author would publish his first novel, I Am Legend. Matheson would go on to publish countless short stories and novels, while adapting many of his works for film and television. In 1984, Matheson was awarded the World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement, and in 1991 the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement. But it all began with “Born of Man and Woman.” Frightening, mysterious and emotional, Matheson’s debut is as disturbing and deserving of praise today as it was nearly 75 years ago.
Author
Born in Allendale, New Jersey to Norwegian immigrant parents, Matheson was raised in Brooklyn and graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School in 1943. He then entered the military and spent World War II as an infantry soldier. In 1949 he earned his bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Missouri and moved to California in 1951. He married in 1952 and has four children, three of whom (Chris, Richard Christian, and Ali Matheson) are writers of fiction and screenplays. His first short story, "Born of Man and Woman," appeared in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1950. The tale of a monstrous child chained in its parents' cellar, it was told in the first person as the creature's diary (in poignantly non-idiomatic English) and immediately made Matheson famous. Between 1950 and 1971, Matheson produced dozens of stories, frequently blending elements of the science fiction, horror and fantasy genres. Several of his stories, like "Third from the Sun" (1950), "Deadline" (1959) and "Button, Button" (1970) are simple sketches with twist endings; others, like "Trespass" (1953), "Being" (1954) and "Mute" (1962) explore their characters' dilemmas over twenty or thirty pages. Some tales, such as "The Funeral" (1955) and "The Doll that Does Everything" (1954) incorporate zany satirical humour at the expense of genre clichés, and are written in an hysterically overblown prose very different from Matheson's usual pared-down style. Others, like "The Test" (1954) and "Steel" (1956), portray the moral and physical struggles of ordinary people, rather than the then nearly ubiquitous scientists and superheroes, in situations which are at once futuristic and everyday. Still others, such as "Mad House" (1953), "The Curious Child" (1954) and perhaps most famously, "Duel" (1971) are tales of paranoia, in which the everyday environment of the present day becomes inexplicably alien or threatening. He wrote a number of episodes for the American TV series The Twilight Zone, including "Steel," mentioned above and the famous "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet"; adapted the works of Edgar Allan Poe for Roger Corman and Dennis Wheatley's The Devil Rides Out for Hammer Films; and scripted Steven Spielberg's first feature, the TV movie Duel, from his own short story. He also contributed a number of scripts to the Warner Brothers western series "The Lawman" between 1958 and 1962. In 1973, Matheson earned an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for his teleplay for The Night Stalker, one of two TV movies written by Matheson that preceded the series Kolchak: The Night Stalker. Matheson also wrote the screenplay for Fanatic (US title: Die! Die! My Darling!) starring Talullah Bankhead and Stefanie Powers. Novels include The Shrinking Man (filmed as The Incredible Shrinking Man, again from Matheson's own screenplay), and a science fiction vampire novel, I Am Legend, which has been filmed three times under the titles The Omega Man and The Last Man on Earth and once under the original title. Other Matheson novels turned into notable films include What Dreams May Come, Stir of Echoes, Bid Time Return (as Somewhere in Time), and Hell House (as The Legend of Hell House) and the aforementioned Duel, the last three adapted and scripted by Matheson himself. Three of his short stories were filmed together as Trilogy of Terror, including "Prey" with its famous Zuni warrior doll. In 1960, Matheson published The Beardless Warriors, a nonfantastic, autobiographical novel about teenage American soldiers in World War II. He died at his home on June 23, 2013, at the age of 87 http://us.macmillan.com/author/richar...
