A Stir of Echoes

I won't be satisfied until I've read every single word that Richard Matheson has written. He makes every story seem plausible, yet keeps you seated in the fantastic. A Stir of Echoes is an excellent story of two ordinary people trying to grasp the unbelievable without losing themselves in madness. it's a great book.

I saw Kevin Bacon in Stir of Echoes years ago and really enjoyed the movie as a slow boil horror/mystery. I’d known Richard Matheson, a renowned writer who produced tales of horror, science fiction, fantasy, and penned more than a few Twilight Zone episodes, had written the book the movie was based on, but I’d never read it.I wanted something different to read in the middle of all the Dray Prescot books I’m reading over the Christmas break, happened across this one on Amazon, and downloaded it on a whim. Then I sat down to read.Richard Matheson was an excellent storyteller. It doesn’t matter what medium he worked in: novel, short story, television. He just introduced you to a character and a situation, and then he got on with it. A Stir of Echoes (notice that the book is titled differently than the movie) starts out calmly, just a dinner date that includes a brother-in-law who gets along well with his sister and Tom Wallace, the narrator of this tale.After getting hypnotized, Tom starts seeing a mysterious woman in his house and becomes convinced she is a ghost. This book was written back in 1958 (I was actually surprised by the copyright date) and talk of medium and séances had kind of faded, although SF had picked up the “wild talents” theory (basically psi powers like telepathy, precognition, and psychometry, etc.).Matheson’s story is a quick, gripping read. Although I had seen the movie, I was delighted to learn that the book was not the same story. Most of it is there, but the tension ratchets up in different ways and the ending is much different.The thing I liked the most is the fact that Tom Wallace just seems like an everyday guy, a buddy you could hang with at work, a friend who has a family life and problems similar to yours. It’s that everyman feel that really sets off this book. I was swept away by the story, by Tom’s problems and his efforts to handle them for himself and his family. I was so caught up in them that I forgot that I wasn’t reading about the 21st century. The absence of computers and cell phones never really touched me because I was so firmly entrenched in Tom’s world.The book does take a weird twist at the end, and that bothered me somewhat. Although Tom is on hand for the finale, he’s not really cognizant of the action. I didn’t much care for that, but the whole confrontation that takes place proceeds at a blistering pace and turns so unexpectedly I was caught flatfooted.This is a good book for a weekend read. Dedicated readers can probably knock it out in a night or two. Rest assured, if you’ve seen the Kevin Bacon movie (also good!), you haven’t seen everything Matheson has to offer. Pick up a copy for a slow, dark weekend and enjoy being captivated

I found all the characters in this book to be thoroughly disagreeable if not dreary That being said, I found it an interesting story not to be confused with the excellent movie. For me the story had a surprising twist at the very end. I enjoyed the short read even though some of the dialog was a bit Young Adult. But then, I'm old.

A Stir of Echoes the novel is a far stranger story than the Kevin Bacon movie that was made from the book (both are good in different ways). The theme of the bizarre acceptance (and perpetration) of abuse of women by their husbands as part of the social mores of the times lends a darkness to the tale and the surprise ending dares to upend that acceptance. Additionally, the way that couples hang out together in the novel, not because there is friendship or caring there, but because everyone's marriage is a prison and it's like they all get together as though they were talking through the bars of their adjacent jail cells.

The plot is ok, but all the melodrama, needless hysteria in characters takes way ,too much out of the story. Not much spine in hero of story or his wife. Too much passivity, indeciciveness, self reprocation. Makes all the characters weak-willed or negative. Too much denial in many of the characters. I got fed up. It was not enjoyable to read the story as every other sentence someone was whining. Couldn't stand it

I saw the movie based on this book (Stir of Echoes) first and wanted to complete the experience by reading the original novel. Richard Matheson is a wonderful author and conveys feeling and tone very effectively in his work. Although written in the 50's the story has a contemporary feel with only a few nods to the time period it takes place. It differs greatly from the film adaptation as is often the case but the core premise is the same.

It has been a long time since I have read a book in a single evening, but I did this one and it felt like a whoosh when I was finished. I love the movie loosely based on this book but the book stands on its own. It is smooth and flowing told in an easy feel of the old style ghost story. Can't wait to read other Matheson stories. Recomended for the reader who enjoys the original ghost stories told without the gory effects today's stories carry. More like a Vincent Price feel.

I became a fan of Matheson after reading “I Am Legend”; “A Stir of Echoes” did not disappoint.I saw the film, “Stir of Echoes”, years ago when it was released. I enjoyed the movie, but had no idea it was based on a book. Like most adaptations, there was some departure from the novel. I think that allowed me to still be engaged in the book, as I didn’t quite know where it would lead.

After being hypnotised by his brother in law at a party Tom Wallace realises that not only can he read the minds and emotions of his neighbours, wife, and child; but he's being contacted from beyond the grave!You may have heard of Stir of Echoes, in 1999 it was made into a film starring everyone's favourite gymnast Kevin Bacon. What you probably didn't know that the film was an adaptation of a fantastic book.This is the second Matheson book I've read (the other being the amazing I Am Legend, possibly one of the best books ever written) and I loved it. It's a bite sized 256 pages and reads very much like an episode of the Outer Limits, and is one of those most comfortable reads you long for, when you have a hectic life.Matheson has this uncanny ability to write timeless classics which manage to truly capture the human spirit. You can't put the book down, not only because it's thrilling but because you feel a real connection to the protagonist. Its hard to believe this was written in 1958.

I would have preferred that the book had got to the point of the main character being hypnotised in more acceptable manner - the film handled this quite well however. The build up to this left me feeling a little wanting but once this episode was out the way the book was quite enjoyable. Providing it is accepted that the book was written 50 years ago it should prove an agreeable read to all those Matheson fans.

I was eager to read this book because I loved Matheson's 'Somewhere In Time' and the reviews were pretty good on this one.I must say it held me all the way through and I was keen to find out the answers to Tom Wallace's incredible psychic abilities. On reflection I wouldn't label it a 'must read' book, but it did keep me on the hook right the way through.

After seeing the brilliant Film of this story, I was super excited to read the book, I imagined it to be as scary and thrilling as the DVD was. However, I can't help feeling a little let down by this.Tom Wallace lives with his wife Anne and their young son Richard, a perfectly normal family in a perfectly normal, friendly neighbourhood. The neighbours and the Wallace family are close-knit and they have frequent get togethers, and one in paticular will stand out in Toms mind forever. Anne's Brother is learning Hypnotism and, since Tom is the hardline-skeptic of the group, her brother encourages Tom to be hypnotised. The hypnotism goes successfully (in a strange way) and Tom spills out all sorts of revelations about his life, impressing the group, however it doesn't end there as Tom awakens out of the trance to find everyone has unknowingly and very suddenly become an open book to him, even in their futures. And it isn't just the living who want to share their secrets with Tom... is his neighbourhood as quaint and perfect as it seems? Will his family suffer in his quest to find truth in all the madness he's experiencing as a result of the hypnotism? You'll have to read the Book to find out!This book is quite a speedy read, it's quite short and is written attractively and simply so I read it in about 2 days. But even the way that it's written doesn't do the story much justice, I found that not a great deal happens, there seems to be more filler than anything exciting or thrilling happening to Tom. Whatever does happen happens very quickly, almost blink-and-you'll-miss-it, I think it would have made the story better to drag it out a bit more. Also SOE came across as a very scattered and uneven read. It's okay, not brilliant.

Great novel for the horror genre fan

se tardo un poco , pero llego dos días antes de lo que habían marcado , me encanto esta muy bien cuidado super esta nuevo , rápido y bonito

This story really got under my skin. I felt it was all too close to reality. If you like suspense and ghost stories, you will really get a kick out of this novel.