Richard Matheson (1926-2013)

If it wasn't for Richard Matheson...

...zombies would not be rampaging across movie and TV screens today!

His novel, I am Legend, and the first movie adaptation, The Last Man on Earth, were the inspiration for George Romero's Night of the Living Dead....

...which redefined "zombies" in pop culture.
In addition, Matheson was one of the three major contributors to the original Twilight Zone (along with creator Rod Serling and Charles Beaumont) with his most famous story, "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" filmed twice.
When the leads of the two versions met up in Third Rock from the Sun, they commented on their airline troubles...

Add to that a plethora of novels and short stories, most of which were adapted into tv episodes and movies, plus his own screenplay adaptations of other authors' works (including Edgar Allan Poe), and his own original scripts for shows like Star Trek...
 ...and you have an amazing, creative, talent who will be missed.

Captain's Library: PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES Conclusion

When Last We Left Our Zombies...

The inhabitants of a Cornish village during the mid-1800s are dying from a mysterious plague.
The local doctor, Peter Thompson sends for outside help from his scientist friend Sir James Forbes, who arrives with his daughter Sylvia.
Sir James and Dr. Thompson disinter the corpses that were recently buried, except all the coffins are empty!
The duo encounter zombies walking near an old, deserted tin mine on the estate of Squire Clive Hamilton, escape, then learn that the squire lived in Haiti for several years and practiced voodoo rituals, as well as black magic!
Later that evening, Squire Hamilton pays Sylvia a visit.
Purposely, Hamilton manages to shatter a wine glass, and Sylvia cuts her finger on one of the sharp edges.
The Squire conceals that piece and then uses his voodoo magic to lure the heroine into venturing in the dark woods near the mine...

This movie was shot back-to-back with another Hammer movie, The Reptile, using the same sets and exteriors as well as some of the other film's cast, including Jacqueline Pierce, who played the female lead in Reptile and the second lead here!

Though the  tale was written for the screen, it was adapted into a novelette published in the second volume of a HTF series called the Hammer Horror Film Omnibus.

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Captain's Library: PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES Part 1

In 1966, Hammer released one of the last "traditional" zombie movies...

...before Night of the Living Dead forever changed how the undead would be portrayed on the silver screen!

(For the record, the Spanish Blind Dead series, which ran from 1971-1975, was the "old-style" zombie films' last gasp.)

Be here tomorrow for the blood-chilling conclusion!

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