This is the place for your thoughts......................Discussion Group Read for April 8, 2020-- Nightmare at 20,000 feet by Richard Matheson
- Thread starter Spideyman
- Start date
-
This message board permanently closed on June 30th, 2020 at 4PM EDT and is no longer accepting new members.
This is the place for your thoughts......................
Here's the link
http://graemearkell.weebly.com/uploads/3/8/4/8/38485229/nightmare_at_20000_feet.pdf
And if there are any young ones reading this today - yes, people used to smoke on airplanes.
http://graemearkell.weebly.com/uploads/3/8/4/8/38485229/nightmare_at_20000_feet.pdf
And if there are any young ones reading this today - yes, people used to smoke on airplanes.
Last edited:
I like the twilight zone adaptation, despite the dated monster costume
I think it would've been far more scary if they kept it obscured in the storm. The atmosphere and acting were good as far as I remember, though
I think it would've been far more scary if they kept it obscured in the storm. The atmosphere and acting were good as far as I remember, though
and yes, you could carry a hand gun on a plane.Here's the link
http://graemearkell.weebly.com/uploads/3/8/4/8/38485229/nightmare_at_20000_feet.pdf
And if there are any young ones reading this today - yes, people used to smoke on airplanes.
Weighing in early, won't be around later.
This is one of those stories many of us probably saw first as a Twilight Zone episode with William Shatner.
I didn't realize what a bare bones story it was. Definitely the seed, but I think the visual is so much better. Which I never say. I always feel the source written material is better, but not in this case. I may be speaking through nostalgia and a little girl's curiosity. Totally enthralled in the power of horror. I didn't think the writing was particularly great. It was serviceable and a great idea though. And the potential was right there.
What I also find interesting is that Matheson's version doesn't give us the ending most of us know. The story ends with the question, is he really seeing something? or is he just off his rocker?
Both visual versions of the story, the one with Shatner and the one with John Lithgow, give us the ending that there was something on that wing. And I think that makes it an even better story than Matheson originated.
This is one of those stories many of us probably saw first as a Twilight Zone episode with William Shatner.
I didn't realize what a bare bones story it was. Definitely the seed, but I think the visual is so much better. Which I never say. I always feel the source written material is better, but not in this case. I may be speaking through nostalgia and a little girl's curiosity. Totally enthralled in the power of horror. I didn't think the writing was particularly great. It was serviceable and a great idea though. And the potential was right there.
What I also find interesting is that Matheson's version doesn't give us the ending most of us know. The story ends with the question, is he really seeing something? or is he just off his rocker?
Both visual versions of the story, the one with Shatner and the one with John Lithgow, give us the ending that there was something on that wing. And I think that makes it an even better story than Matheson originated.
Neesy
#1 fan (Annie Wilkes cousin) 1st cousin Mom's side
Here's the link
http://graemearkell.weebly.com/uploads/3/8/4/8/38485229/nightmare_at_20000_feet.pdf
And if there are any young ones reading this today - yes, people used to smoke on airplanes.
How things have changed (and for the better in this case)
Like Wayoftheredpanda says, I remember the TV adaptation (wasn't William Shatner in it?) - Good story - I read it online yesterday and you do get the impression at the end that the guy was probably hallucinating
or was he? mwahaha
William Shatner was in one and John Lithgow was in another and I think there is at least one more adaptation.
Neesy
#1 fan (Annie Wilkes cousin) 1st cousin Mom's side
Thanks - I know someone posted a video here quite a while back
I have never seen any adaption of this. As for the story i think it is of medium Matheson quality. He was a rather , i think, uneven aurhor with high highs and low lows. He lets us decide if the man is real or imaginery. I think it is about one mans slip into madness, not a real thing.
I agree when it comes to the written story. It's madness. But in the two adaptations I mention above, they gave us a very clear ending that he did see something and he was validated for his behavior.
It's interesting that both onscreen stories chose to follow that path and not the path Matheson laid out.
Isn't that often the case with adaptations though?? And when it comes to the choice.... . Dont you think it can have something to do with it being easier both to sell and to visualize with the main character being at least something of a hero instead of a mad man??
And carry loaded guns, too.Here's the link
http://graemearkell.weebly.com/uploads/3/8/4/8/38485229/nightmare_at_20000_feet.pdf
And if there are any young ones reading this today - yes, people used to smoke on airplanes.
Give William Shatner a cigarette and he can do wonders. (It starts at 1:00 in.)
Can I suggest any readings? Must they be horror? If so to both, then I’d suggest three:
(1) It’s a Good Life (Jerome Bixby),
(2) The Words of Guru (Cyril Kornbuth), and
(3) Instructions (Bob Leman).
(1) It’s a Good Life (Jerome Bixby),
(2) The Words of Guru (Cyril Kornbuth), and
(3) Instructions (Bob Leman).
I agree. The story is kind of meh. The TZ episode with Shatner, however, is iconic. The public, whether reading or viewing, doesn’t take well to open questions. So the TV version sits better, and with me, too.
I also usually prefer source material, and Matheson has written some great SF and Spec-Fic, but the same thing happened to me when I read The Incredible Shrinking Man — I much preferred the film. It was enthralling, mind-expanding, and had a cat and an itsy bitsy spider … In fact, it too ended with an open-ended question, but in the film it totally worked. The book put me to sleep.
And you did not need to take your shoes off to board a plane.Here's the link
http://graemearkell.weebly.com/uploads/3/8/4/8/38485229/nightmare_at_20000_feet.pdf
And if there are any young ones reading this today - yes, people used to smoke on airplanes.
I liked the story but I think since a couple of the adaptations are so popular, it has taken a little umph out of the story.
I have an observation about the gun. I don't think it existed. Nobody on the plane ever saw the gun and at the very end of the story, Wilson pulled the gun out after he opened the door and was his arm was out of the plane. There was this line "He felt the pistol torn from failing fingers. The all was lost in the winter darkness." so I think no one saw the gun and it was just part of his madness.
I have an observation about the gun. I don't think it existed. Nobody on the plane ever saw the gun and at the very end of the story, Wilson pulled the gun out after he opened the door and was his arm was out of the plane. There was this line "He felt the pistol torn from failing fingers. The all was lost in the winter darkness." so I think no one saw the gun and it was just part of his madness.
.....I agree that Matheson is either hit or miss....the story was better served by the TV ending.....it needed resolution instead of the worn out trope of "is he nuts or not".....both actors played the character to the hilt....Lithgow with the better acting chops and old Billy Shatner overplaying as always.....
There’s a lovecraftian air to the story, but not quite as wordy. It was alright, and I can see where the Twilight Zone was coming from with that egregious costume, though the story had a slightly better description with its long fingers and hair. I still think it still would’ve been far more foreboding either way with a more shrouded appearance, but I’ll take a troll, which I would imagine what plane-tinkering World War era gremlins would like, over dollar store Bigfoot.
I think the story wants to make an unwilling antagonist out of its character while twilight zone goes for a misunderstood protagonist. Ironically I think the Simpsons Treehouse of Horror parody (one of my favorite Treehouse episodes) does the best of both worlds, and has the way better creature design out of the two
Not counting The Simpsons, I totally think the Twilight Zone episode was better. Although I appreciate what the story was trying to do, I think a visual format fits the story better, it makes a more interesting main character that you can understand the plight of, and makes a better antagonist of its walking carpet sample.
Poor gremlins have to file for unemployment now in a world where anybody can record their mischief in a second
I think the story wants to make an unwilling antagonist out of its character while twilight zone goes for a misunderstood protagonist. Ironically I think the Simpsons Treehouse of Horror parody (one of my favorite Treehouse episodes) does the best of both worlds, and has the way better creature design out of the two
Not counting The Simpsons, I totally think the Twilight Zone episode was better. Although I appreciate what the story was trying to do, I think a visual format fits the story better, it makes a more interesting main character that you can understand the plight of, and makes a better antagonist of its walking carpet sample.
Poor gremlins have to file for unemployment now in a world where anybody can record their mischief in a second