Offbeat
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By:
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Richard Matheson
About this listen
In the aptly titled Offbeat, Richard Matheson, a modern master of strange fiction, offers 13 excursions into the unsettling and bizarre. In these stories you will encounter a major league pitcher with a horrific secret for his astonishing success; an ordinary man who wakes to find himself in a silent, empty world; a death row prisoner with an extraordinary explanation for his innocence; and a novelist whose fictional creations transcend the printed page.
Originally published as a limited edition hardcover, now long out of print, the remarkable and rare tales offered in Offbeat display the brilliant imagination that gave birth to such classics as I Am Legend and Hell House.
Narrated by Elizabeth Wiley, William Dufris, Scott Brick, Peter Berkrot, R. C. Bray, Anna Parker-Naples, Eric Martin, Jeffrey Kafer, Sean Runnette, Caitlin Davies, Mike Ortega, and Matt Godfrey.
©2002 Richard Matheson (P)2017 Valancourt BooksListeners also enjoyed...
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Hell House
- By: Richard Matheson
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
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For over 20 years, Belasco House has stood empty. Regarded as the Mt. Everest of haunted houses, its shadowed walls have witnessed scenes of unimaginable horror and depravity. All previous attempts to probe its mysteries have ended in murder, suicide, or insanity.
But now, a new investigation has been launched, bringing four strangers to Belasco House in search of the ultimate secrets of life and death. A wealthy publisher, brooding over his impending death, has paid a physicist and two mediums to establish the facts of life after death once and for all. For one night, they will investigate the Belasco House and learn exactly why the townsfolk refer to it as the Hell House.
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Hell House is like Hill House, but fiercer
- By Phebe on 08-13-12
By: Richard Matheson
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The Best of Richard Matheson
- By: Richard Matheson, Victor LaValle - editor/introduction
- Narrated by: Donald Corren, Peter Berkrot, Richard Powers, and others
- Length: 15 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Among the greats of 20th-century horror and fantasy, few names stand above Richard Matheson. Though known by many for novels like I Am Legend and his 16 Twilight Zone episodes, Matheson truly shines in his chilling, masterful short stories. Since his first story appeared in 1950, virtually every major writer of science fiction and fantasy has fallen under his influence, including Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Peter Straub, and Joe Hill, as well as filmmakers like Stephen Spielberg and J. J. Abrams.
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Rich and thrilling storytelling
- By Arthur on 10-24-17
By: Richard Matheson, and others
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Nightmare at 20,000 Feet
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- By: Stephen King - introduction, Richard Matheson
- Narrated by: Julia Campbell, Richard Powers, Malcolm Hillgartner, and others
- Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins
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Story
Much of Richard Matheson's work has found its way into pop culture: The title story became a memorable episode of television's The Twilight Zone, and more recently, Will Smith starred in the blockbuster movie I Am Legend. Stephen King has declared Matheson to be one of his favorite writers. Find out why as you listen to the classic horror story of a man who peers out of his airplane window to see a gremlin destroying the wing.
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Waste of a credit
- By Randall on 01-10-10
By: Stephen King - introduction, and others
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I Am Legend and Other Stories
- By: Richard Matheson
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean, Yuri Rasovsky
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In Matheson's vampire classic I Am Legend, a plague has decimated the world and transformed the unfortunate survivors into bloodthirsty creatures of the night. Robert Neville is the last living man on Earth. Every other man, woman, and child has become a vampire hungry for Neville's blood. By day he is the hunter, stalking the sleeping undead through the abandoned ruins of civilization. By night he barricades himself in his home and prays for the dawn. How long can one man survive in a world of vampires?
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Fun & thrilling story
- By Jeff on 11-30-19
By: Richard Matheson
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A Stir of Echoes
- By: Richard Matheson
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 6 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Tom Wallace lived an ordinary life, until a chance event awakened psychic abilities he never knew he possessed. Now, he's hearing the private thoughts of the people around him - and learning shocking secrets he never wanted to know. But as Tom's existence becomes a waking nightmare, even greater jolts are in store, as he becomes the unwilling recipient of a compelling message from beyond the grave.
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Damn you, David Koepp!
- By Roland Greaves on 03-11-18
By: Richard Matheson
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Shadow on the Sun
- By: Richard Matheson
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 5 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Southwest Arizona, a century ago: an uneasy truce exists between the remote frontier community of Picture City and the neighboring Apaches. That delicate peace is shredded when the bodies of two white men are found hideously mutilated. The angry townspeople are certain the “savages” have broken the treaty, but Billjohn Finley, the local Indian agent, fears that darker, more unholy forces may be at work. There’s a tall, dark stranger in town, who rode in wearing the dead men’s clothes. A stranger who may not be entirely human.
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Matheson Western Horror Novel
- By William on 04-15-12
By: Richard Matheson
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Hell House
- By: Richard Matheson
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For over 20 years, Belasco House has stood empty. Regarded as the Mt. Everest of haunted houses, its shadowed walls have witnessed scenes of unimaginable horror and depravity. All previous attempts to probe its mysteries have ended in murder, suicide, or insanity.
But now, a new investigation has been launched, bringing four strangers to Belasco House in search of the ultimate secrets of life and death. A wealthy publisher, brooding over his impending death, has paid a physicist and two mediums to establish the facts of life after death once and for all. For one night, they will investigate the Belasco House and learn exactly why the townsfolk refer to it as the Hell House.
-
-
Hell House is like Hill House, but fiercer
- By Phebe on 08-13-12
By: Richard Matheson
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The Best of Richard Matheson
- By: Richard Matheson, Victor LaValle - editor/introduction
- Narrated by: Donald Corren, Peter Berkrot, Richard Powers, and others
- Length: 15 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Among the greats of 20th-century horror and fantasy, few names stand above Richard Matheson. Though known by many for novels like I Am Legend and his 16 Twilight Zone episodes, Matheson truly shines in his chilling, masterful short stories. Since his first story appeared in 1950, virtually every major writer of science fiction and fantasy has fallen under his influence, including Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Peter Straub, and Joe Hill, as well as filmmakers like Stephen Spielberg and J. J. Abrams.
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-
Rich and thrilling storytelling
- By Arthur on 10-24-17
By: Richard Matheson, and others
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Nightmare at 20,000 Feet
- Horror Stories
- By: Stephen King - introduction, Richard Matheson
- Narrated by: Julia Campbell, Richard Powers, Malcolm Hillgartner, and others
- Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
-
Story
Much of Richard Matheson's work has found its way into pop culture: The title story became a memorable episode of television's The Twilight Zone, and more recently, Will Smith starred in the blockbuster movie I Am Legend. Stephen King has declared Matheson to be one of his favorite writers. Find out why as you listen to the classic horror story of a man who peers out of his airplane window to see a gremlin destroying the wing.
-
-
Waste of a credit
- By Randall on 01-10-10
By: Stephen King - introduction, and others
-
I Am Legend and Other Stories
- By: Richard Matheson
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean, Yuri Rasovsky
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Matheson's vampire classic I Am Legend, a plague has decimated the world and transformed the unfortunate survivors into bloodthirsty creatures of the night. Robert Neville is the last living man on Earth. Every other man, woman, and child has become a vampire hungry for Neville's blood. By day he is the hunter, stalking the sleeping undead through the abandoned ruins of civilization. By night he barricades himself in his home and prays for the dawn. How long can one man survive in a world of vampires?
-
-
Fun & thrilling story
- By Jeff on 11-30-19
By: Richard Matheson
-
A Stir of Echoes
- By: Richard Matheson
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 6 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tom Wallace lived an ordinary life, until a chance event awakened psychic abilities he never knew he possessed. Now, he's hearing the private thoughts of the people around him - and learning shocking secrets he never wanted to know. But as Tom's existence becomes a waking nightmare, even greater jolts are in store, as he becomes the unwilling recipient of a compelling message from beyond the grave.
-
-
Damn you, David Koepp!
- By Roland Greaves on 03-11-18
By: Richard Matheson
-
Shadow on the Sun
- By: Richard Matheson
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 5 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Southwest Arizona, a century ago: an uneasy truce exists between the remote frontier community of Picture City and the neighboring Apaches. That delicate peace is shredded when the bodies of two white men are found hideously mutilated. The angry townspeople are certain the “savages” have broken the treaty, but Billjohn Finley, the local Indian agent, fears that darker, more unholy forces may be at work. There’s a tall, dark stranger in town, who rode in wearing the dead men’s clothes. A stranger who may not be entirely human.
-
-
Matheson Western Horror Novel
- By William on 04-15-12
By: Richard Matheson
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The Incredible Shrinking Man
- By: Richard Matheson
- Narrated by: Yuri Rasovsky
- Length: 7 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Inch by inch, day by day, Scott Carey is getting smaller. Once an unremarkable husband and father, Scott finds himself shrinking with no end in sight. His wife and family turn into unreachable giants, the family cat becomes a predatory menace, and Scott must struggle to survive in a world that seems to be growing ever larger and more perilous, until he faces the ultimate limits of fear and existence.
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Outstanding.
- By Andrew on 09-09-06
By: Richard Matheson
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Nightmare at 20,000 Feet
- The Twilight Zone Radio Dramas
- By: Richard Matheson
- Narrated by: Stacy Keach, John Schneider
- Length: 38 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
A newly released mental patient is the only one able to see a gremlin ripping up the wing of his airliner.
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Agree with Duck, with Exception
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 06-20-17
By: Richard Matheson
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The Best Horror of the Year, Volume 4
- By: Ellen Datlow - author/editor, Stephen King, Peter Straub
- Narrated by: Meredith Mitchell, Rebecca Mitchell, Michael Healy, and others
- Length: 16 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
With tales from Laird Barron, Stephen King, John Langan, Peter Straub, and many others, and featuring Datlow’s comprehensive overview of the year in horror, now, more than ever, The Best Horror of the Year provides the petrifying horror fiction readers have come to expect - and enjoy.
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Only a few decent stories in this bunch.
- By Jerry on 12-06-14
By: Ellen Datlow - author/editor, and others
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This Thing Between Us
- A Novel
- By: Gus Moreno
- Narrated by: Robb Moreira
- Length: 5 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
It was Vera’s idea to buy the Itza. The “world’s most advanced smart speaker!” didn’t interest Thiago, but Vera thought it would be a bit of fun for them amidst all the strange occurrences happening in the condo. It made things worse. The cold spots and scratching in the walls were weird enough, but peculiar packages started showing up at the house - who ordered industrial lye? Then, there was the eerie music at odd hours, Thiago waking up to Itza projecting light shows in an empty room.
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Unsure what I feel but it’s a lot
- By Liv Templeton on 12-01-21
By: Gus Moreno
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Corpsemouth and Other Autobiographies
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- Narrated by: Matt Godfrey
- Length: 13 hrs
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
John Langan, author of the Bram Stoker Award-winning novel The Fisherman, returns with ten new tales of cosmic horror in Corpsemouth and Other Autobiographies. In these stories, he continues to chart the course of twenty-first century weird fiction, from the unfamiliar to the familial, the unfathomably distant to the intimate.
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Finally more John Langan in audiobook form
- By Anonymous User on 09-10-23
By: John Langan
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Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
- A Harry Potter Hogwarts Library Book
- By: J.K. Rowling, Newt Scamander
- Narrated by: Eddie Redmayne
- Length: 1 hr and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
An approved textbook at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry since its first publication, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is an indispensable guide to the magical beasts of the wizarding world. It showcases a menagerie of magical creatures, explained enchantingly by noted magizoologist, Newt Scamander, who you may remember from the film series of the same name.
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whoops
- By A. Bunnell on 04-19-17
By: J.K. Rowling, and others
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In That Endlessness, Our End
- By: Gemma Files
- Narrated by: Deanna Anthony, Neil Hellegers, Steven Jay Cohen, and others
- Length: 14 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Hot on the heels of her 2018 This Is Horror Award–winning short story collection Spectral Evidence, critically horror author Gemma Files compiles fifteen more of her most startling recent nightmares—a creepily seductive downward spiral of dark poetry and existential dread, entirely suitable to the slow apocalypse going on all around us. So take your mind off your troubles and send it somewhere the rules still operate, if only to punish those who violate them.
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Solid collection, if a bit repetitive
- By DP on 08-13-24
By: Gemma Files
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The Imago Sequence
- And Other Stories
- By: Laird Barron
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 14 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The title story of this collection - a devilishly ironic riff on H. P. Lovecraft's "Pickman's Model" - was nominated for a World Fantasy Award, while "Probiscus" was nominated for an International Horror Guild award and reprinted in The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror 19. In addition to his previously published work, this collection contains an original story.
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Agonizingly Dull and Meaningless
- By Zachary on 03-14-20
By: Laird Barron
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The Colour of Magic
- Discworld, Book 1
- By: Terry Pratchett
- Narrated by: Colin Morgan, Peter Serafinowicz, Bill Nighy
- Length: 7 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Somewhere on the frontier between thought and reality exists the Discworld, a parallel time and place that might sound and smell very much like our own, but which looks completely different. Particularly as it’s carried though space on the back of a giant turtle (sex unknown). It plays by different rules. But then, some things are the same everywhere. The Disc’s very existence is about to be threatened by a strange new blight: the world’s first tourist, upon whose survival rests the peace and prosperity of the land.
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TERRIBLE Narration!
- By Kayla I on 07-08-22
By: Terry Pratchett
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The Wide, Carnivorous Sky and Other Monstrous Geographies
- By: John Langan
- Narrated by: Eric Martin
- Length: 12 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
John Langan has, in the last few years, established himself as one of the leading voices in contemporary horror literature. Gifted with a supple and mellifluous prose style, an imagination that can conjure up clutching terrors with seeming effortlessness, and a thorough knowledge of the rich heritage of weird fiction, Langan has already garnered his share of accolades. This new collection includes nine of his substantial stories.
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Forgot the Horror
- By Dylan on 10-04-18
By: John Langan
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World War Z: The Complete Edition
- An Oral History of the Zombie War
- By: Max Brooks
- Narrated by: Max Brooks, Alan Alda, John Turturro, and others
- Length: 12 hrs and 9 mins
- Abridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
World War Z: The Complete Edition features 21 additional Hollywood A-list actors and sci-fi fan favorites performing stories not included in the original edition. New narrators include Academy Award-winning director Martin Scorsese, Spiderman star Alfred Molina, The Walking Dead creator Frank Darabont, rapper Common, Firefly star Nathan Fillion, Shaun of the Dead’s Simon Pegg, and members of the casts of Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Heroes and more!
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Will never pre-order again
- By Ignatz on 05-18-13
By: Max Brooks
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Perchance to Dream
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- By: Charles Beaumont
- Narrated by: J. Paul Boehmer, Gabrielle de Cuir, Harlan Ellison, and others
- Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins
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Overall
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Performance
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The profoundly original and wildly entertaining short stories of a legendary Twilight Zone writer. It is only natural that Charles Beaumont would make a name for himself crafting scripts for The Twilight Zone - for his was an imagination so limitless it must have emerged from some other dimension. Perchance to Dream contains a selection of Beaumont's finest stories, including five that he later adapted for Twilight Zone episodes.
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Contents
- By Ralph Freaster on 06-22-16
By: Charles Beaumont
Critic reviews
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Gripping until the very last word.
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Born into a family of modest means and respectability, Danny Fisher was gradually driven downward into the world of crime, racketeering and poverty. His bitterness, his homesickness over the loss of the house in Brooklyn that was given to him for his eighth birthday, and his feud with his harsh father, pulled him one way; his natural decency and his love for a sweet Italian girl, Nellie Petito, pulled him another.
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My teenage read.
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For over 20 years, Belasco House has stood empty. Regarded as the Mt. Everest of haunted houses, its shadowed walls have witnessed scenes of unimaginable horror and depravity. All previous attempts to probe its mysteries have ended in murder, suicide, or insanity.
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They're watching. They've wiretapped the apartment. They've got their daughter. They told them they'd hurt her if they spoke about it. They told them, "Don't say a word...." Or else....
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The profoundly original and wildly entertaining short stories of a legendary Twilight Zone writer. It is only natural that Charles Beaumont would make a name for himself crafting scripts for The Twilight Zone - for his was an imagination so limitless it must have emerged from some other dimension. Perchance to Dream contains a selection of Beaumont's finest stories, including five that he later adapted for Twilight Zone episodes.
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By: Charles Beaumont
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In the heat of the city, a man is out of time: speeding in a beat-up Ford Tempo, blasting easy-listening music. Reporter Steve Everett drinks too much, makes love to his boss' wife, and has just stumbled upon a shocking truth: A convicted killer is about to be executed for a crime he didn't commit. In the cold confines of Death Row, Frank Beachum is also out of time. Ready to say good-bye to the wife and child he loves and hello to the God he still believes in, Beachum knows he did not kill a convenience store clerk six years ago.
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Gripping until the very last word.
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By: Andrew Klavan
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A Stone for Danny Fisher
- By: Harold Robbins
- Narrated by: Charles Leggett
- Length: 15 hrs and 57 mins
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Born into a family of modest means and respectability, Danny Fisher was gradually driven downward into the world of crime, racketeering and poverty. His bitterness, his homesickness over the loss of the house in Brooklyn that was given to him for his eighth birthday, and his feud with his harsh father, pulled him one way; his natural decency and his love for a sweet Italian girl, Nellie Petito, pulled him another.
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My teenage read.
- By A. Mitchell on 11-11-11
By: Harold Robbins
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Hell House
- By: Richard Matheson
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
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Overall
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For over 20 years, Belasco House has stood empty. Regarded as the Mt. Everest of haunted houses, its shadowed walls have witnessed scenes of unimaginable horror and depravity. All previous attempts to probe its mysteries have ended in murder, suicide, or insanity.
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Hell House is like Hill House, but fiercer
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That there is darkness at the heart of the Yuletide season should not surprise. Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol is filled with scenes that are unsettling. The hideous children - Want and Ignorance - beneath the robe of the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. In the finest versions of this story, the best parts are the terrifying parts. Best-selling author and editor Christopher Golden shares his love for Christmas horror stories with this anthology of all-new short fiction from some of the most talented and original writers of horror today.
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Martha Macnamara knows that her daughter, Elizabeth, is in trouble; she just doesn't know what kind. Mysterious phone calls from San Francisco at odd hours of the night are the only contact she has had with Elizabeth for years. Now, Elizabeth has sent her a plane ticket and reserved a room for her at San Francisco's most luxurious hotel. Yet she has not tried to contact Martha since she arrived, leaving her lonely, confused, and a little bit worried. Into the story steps Mayland Long, a distinguished-looking and wealthy Chinese man who lives at the hotel and is drawn to Martha's good nature and ability to pinpoint the truth of a matter.
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My favorite dragon book
- By Ellenaeddy on 08-08-15
By: R. A. MacAvoy
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Perfect Nightmare
- A Novel
- By: John Saul
- Narrated by: Dick Hill, Susie Breck
- Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Every parent's nightmare becomes a reality for Kara Marshall when her daughter, Lindsay, vanishes from her bedroom during the night. The police suspect that the girl is just another moody teenage runaway, angry over leaving behind her school and friends because her family is moving. But Lindsay's recent eerie claim - that someone invaded her room when the house was opened to prospective buyers - drives Kara to fear the worst.
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A little bit predictable
- By FoCoBuzz on 04-05-11
By: John Saul
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Reunion
- By: Sharon Sala
- Narrated by: Jane Sefton
- Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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The facts are public knowledge: five people have been murdered. Each has died from a blow to the head. And the media-dubbed Prince Charming killer has left a “calling card” with each victim. A single thornless rose. But there’s another fact...one that the police haven’t made public. Something no one, except the killer and the police, should know. But Gabriel Donner does - and he can’t figure out why. All he knows is that he’s begun hearing voices, sleepwalking and dreaming vividly of the murders...as they happen.
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Good book....Depressing Somewhat
- By M. Davis on 08-09-13
By: Sharon Sala
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Laughter in the Dark
- By: Vladimir Nabokov
- Narrated by: Luke Daniels
- Length: 5 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Albinus, a respectable, middle-aged man and aspiring filmmaker, abandons his wife for a lover half his age: Margot, who wants to become a movie star. When Albinus introduces her to Rex, an American movie producer, disaster ensues. What emerges is an elegantly sardonic and irresistibly ironic novel of desire, deceit, and deception, a curious romance set in the film world of Berlin in the 1930s.
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Death is often the point of life's joke
- By Darwin8u on 05-19-13
By: Vladimir Nabokov
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Fear
- By: L. Ron Hubbard
- Narrated by: Roddy McDowall
- Length: 2 hrs and 56 mins
- Abridged
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Professor James Lowry didn’t believe in spirits, or witches, or demons. Not until a gentle spring evening when his hat disappeared, and suddenly he couldn’t remember the last four hours of his life. Now, the quiet university town of Atworthy is changing - slightly at first, then faster and more frighteningly each time he tries to remember.
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The Best of Hubbard
- By JJ on 01-31-15
By: L. Ron Hubbard
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The Color of Light
- By: Helen Maryles Shankman
- Narrated by: Simon Slater, Jennifer Ikeda
- Length: 23 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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At the American Academy of Classical Art, popular opinion has it that the school's handsome and mysterious founder, Raphael Sinclair, is a vampire. It is a rumor Rafe does nothing to dispel. Scholarship student Tessa Moss has long dreamed of the chance to study at Rafe's Academy. But she is floundering amidst the ups and downs of a relationship with egotistical art star Lucian Swain. Then, one of Tessa's sketches catches Rafe's attention: a drawing of a young woman in 1930s clothing who is covering the eyes of a child.
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UGH... Will the Heroine Ever Grow Up?
- By Amazon Customer on 06-11-19
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The White Devil
- By: Justin Evans
- Narrated by: Christian Coulson
- Length: 12 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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The Harrow School is home to privileged adolescents known as much for their distinctive dress and traditions as for their arrogance and schoolboy cruelty. Seventeen-year-old American Andrew Taylor is enrolled in the esteemed British institution by his father, who hopes that the school's discipline will put some distance between his son and his troubled past in the States. But trouble - and danger - seem to follow Andrew. When one of his schoolmates and friends dies mysteriously of a severe pulmonary illness, Andrew is blamed and is soon an outcast....
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Eerie tale, well read
- By MJ on 12-21-11
By: Justin Evans
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The Unseen
- A Novel
- By: Katherine Webb
- Narrated by: Clare Wille
- Length: 15 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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A vicar with a passion for nature, the Reverend Albert Canning leads a happy existence with his naive wife, Hester, in their sleepy Berkshire village in the year 1911. But as the English summer dawns, the Cannings' lives are forever changed by two new arrivals: Cat, their new maid, a disaffected, free-spirited young woman sent down from London after entanglements with the law; and Robin Durrant, a leading expert in the occult, enticed by tales of elemental beings in the water meadows nearby.
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Great book!
- By Dana on 09-03-12
By: Katherine Webb
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The Vampire Diaries, Book 1
- The Awakening
- By: L. J. Smith
- Narrated by: Rebecca Mozo
- Length: 6 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Elena Gilbert is a high school golden girl, used to getting what she wants. And who she wants. But when the boy she's set her sights on - the handsome and haunted Stefan - isn't interested, she's confused. She could never know the real reason Stefan is struggling to resist her: Stefan is a vampire, and Elena's in danger just by being around him. What's more, Stefan's dark, dangerous vampire brother Damon has just arrived in town. And wherever Damon goes, trouble always follows.
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The Better Original
- By Breezybealle on 10-10-17
By: L. J. Smith
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Dear Amy
- By: Helen Callaghan
- Narrated by: Michelle Ford
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Margot Lewis is a teacher at an exclusive high school in the English university town of Cambridge. In her spare time, she writes an advice column, "Dear Amy", for the local newspaper. When one of Margot's students, 15-year-old Katie, disappears, the school and the town fear the worst. And then Margot gets a "Dear Amy" letter unlike any of the ones she's received before. It's a desperate plea for rescue from a girl who says she is being held captive and in terrible danger - a girl called Bethan Avery, who was abducted from the local area 20 years ago and never found.
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Stunning debut
- By Mystery Maven on 11-18-16
By: Helen Callaghan
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Whistleblower
- By: Tess Gerritsen
- Narrated by: Erin Yuen
- Length: 8 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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When Victor Holland came flying out of the night, he ran straight into the path of Catherine Weaver's car. Having uncovered a terrifying secret that leads all the way to Washington, Victor is running for his life - and from the men who will go to any lengths to silence him. Though Victor's story sounds like the ravings of a mad-man, the haunted look in his eyes - and the bullet hole in his shoulder - tell Cathy a different story.
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No the Tess Gerritson you know and love
- By Kschapter on 03-24-16
By: Tess Gerritsen
What listeners say about Offbeat
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Deedra
- 06-12-17
Offbeat
This is a wonderfully written book of short stories with not so ordinary endings.Narrated perfectly by : Peter Berkrot , R.C. Bray , Scott Brick , William Dufris , Matt Godfrey , Jeffrey Kafer , Mike Ortego , Anna Parker-Naples , Elizabeth Wiley.Hopefully people give it a try! I was given this book free for review by either the author, narrator or publisher.
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- Christian C.
- 04-05-17
A Fine Selection of Twisted Short Stories
I confess that short story collections like Richard Matheson's Offbeat are my literary guilty pleasure. Individually, each of the selections has been elegantly constructed and presented by a truly gifted writer. As a whole, it's a lovely mixed bag of little meaty morsels that I was disappointed to reach the end of. Most stories feature some degree of a suspenseful sci-fi bent and, at times, a dark and twisty conclusion. I'm a fan of apocalyptic/dystopian and select fantasy/horror genres, so Offbeat is more than just "my cup of tea", it's darn near perfection.
As an audiobook, Offbeat comes packed with top-notch narrators, some being familiar to me from other projects, like Eric Martin, R. C. Bray and Peter Berkrot. I highly recommend the audiobook because these folks quite superbly capture and amplify the written talent with their many voice talents. Seriously, don't miss this one.
(I was provided a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for my unbiased review. Many thanks to R. C. Bray for this opportunity!)
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4 people found this helpful
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- Kevin Young
- 11-16-17
a little dated
The stories are a little dated, with some of the premises coming off wildly difficult to identify with ("And In Sadness" in particular). Overall very Twilight-Zoney.
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1 person found this helpful
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- in1ear (John Row)
- 03-23-17
Offbeat: Do you know me?
What made the experience of listening to Offbeat the most enjoyable?
The short stories diversity. If you are a fan, the name Richard Matheson needs no introduction. The "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" episode on the old The Twilight Zone show and a dozen others. "Somewhere in Time" movie starring Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour, his story "I Am Legend" which was the movie "Omega Man" in the 1970's and most recently "I Am Legend"with Will Smith. And on and on. Sadly, these are lesser works.
How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?
The voice acting was fantastic across the board! The stories were open ended and some just ... odd. Not that odd is bad, but some just didn't work for me anyway.
What does the narrators bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
They were all very good to excellent. The stories had yelling and quiet parts that were handled well. But that may have been the downfall of the Audible edition. This may actually have worked better as a written work.
Any additional comments?
It wasn't bad but parts of it just weren't that entertaining to me. And I am a Richard Matheson fan.
And despite my criticisms, I do much appreciate the chance to have reviewed Offbeat.
This review copy audiobook was provided by the author, narrator or publisher at no cost. Which I can only assume was voluntary on their part. I am happy to give my honest review of it. I think I'm suppose to mention how reviewing this was voluntary on my part too.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Tracy64
- 03-23-17
Excellent! Something for everyone's tastes.
I loved these stories. These shorts have perfect narration. Reminiscent of Twilight Zone tales. Great!!!
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3 people found this helpful
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- zuulza
- 07-30-23
Nice compilation
A cool compilation of matheson stories but nothing particularly interesting to me personally. Don't listen to this hoping for horror.
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- G. Parlee
- 06-24-17
good collection
Mostly great stories read very well by their performers, some of whom are amongst my favorite narrators. I personally think more than a few of the stories were outstanding.
I enjoy most of Matheson's work, this book included.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Jolokia
- 01-12-21
OFFten Odd
I love story collections. This one was really different. Some were awesome, and a few OFFputting, but all of them created a great selection. Definitely ODD but palatable stories. I have listened to this book a few times.
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1 person found this helpful
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- timj26
- 04-15-21
Fans will enjoy
Some really good stories with a few entertaining fillers
I recommend the audiobook the cast of narrators was the highlight
I received a free review audiobook and voluntarily left this review
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- Eve F White
- 10-29-19
Uninteresting
Struggled to get through first 3 stories then gave up! Maybe the best ones were saved for last?
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1 person found this helpful