
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, the result of exposure to a radioactive cloud. He becomes a national spectacle, a freak that is bullied by teenagers and disrespected by everyone. 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. This is the terrifying novel that inspired the classic Hugo Award-winning motion picture, also written by Richard Matheson.
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1926–2013
Richard Matheson was born in Allendale, New Jersey, the son of Norwegian immigrant parents. He was raised in Brooklyn and started writing at age eight. He graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School in 1943. He served as an infantry soldier in World War II. He earned his bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Missouri in 1949. His first short story, "Born of Man and Woman," appeared in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1950. Between 1950 and 1971, he wrote dozens of stories, frequently blending elements of science fiction, horror and fantasy. In 1951 he moved to California and became a screenwriter, writing episodes for The Twilight Zone, Lawman, and Star Trek, and screenplays for horror movies such as The Devil Rides Out and Steven Spielberg's Duel. During the 1950s he published a handful of Western stories. His autobiographical war novel The Beardless Warriors was published in 1960.
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