Somehow, what terrifies Tom the most are the lascivious thoughts emanating from his “plump” neighbor, Elsie, who always seems to greet him in a clingy blouse, revealing bikini, or peek-a-boo housecoat. Tom’s belligerent landlord, Harry Santas, lives across the street with his rich wife, whose sister disappeared under somewhat mysterious circumstances. Tom’s co-worker, Frank Wanamaker, and his wife, Elizabeth, are expecting their first child, but the happiness at a prospective new family is overshadowed by Frank’s cruelty and exposed adultery. Neighborhood gossip Elsie projects an innocent facade, while controlling her weak husband, Ron. The early chapters serve as much a critical peek under the surface of post-war American life as a ghost story, hammering home the book’s theme of “ We are all monsters underneath.” Peeling away the superficial banalities of his suburban southern California home, he gains insight into the true thoughts and feelings of those around him, people he previously thought he understood. Stricken with this spectral vision and unable to sleep, Tom also begins to register impressions of the private thoughts of his neighbors.
Waking in the middle of the night, Tom encounters the ghostly presence of a woman in a black dress and pearls, who appears to be trying to communicate with him.
Richard Matheson | Avon Books | 1969 (originally published 1958) | 160 pagesĪfter his psychology student brother-in-law hypnotizes him as a challenge at a party, Tom Wallace begins to see things.
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