What do you think?
Rate this book
Dress of White Silk
A short story originally published in the October 1951 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.
9 pages, ebook
First published January 1, 1951
About the author
Richard Matheson
721 books4,456 followersBorn in Allendale, New Jersey to Norwegian immigrant parents, Matheson was raised in Brooklyn and graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School in 1943. He then entered the military and spent World War II as an infantry soldier. In 1949 he earned his bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Missouri and moved to California in 1951. He married in 1952 and has four children, three of whom (Chris, Richard Christian, and Ali Matheson) are writers of fiction and screenplays.
His first short story, "Born of Man and Woman," appeared in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1950. The tale of a monstrous child chained in its parents' cellar, it was told in the first person as the creature's diary (in poignantly non-idiomatic English) and immediately made Matheson famous. Between 1950 and 1971, Matheson produced dozens of stories, frequently blending elements of the science fiction, horror and fantasy genres.
Several of his stories, like "Third from the Sun" (1950), "Deadline" (1959) and "Button, Button" (1970) are simple sketches with twist endings; others, like "Trespass" (1953), "Being" (1954) and "Mute" (1962) explore their characters' dilemmas over twenty or thirty pages. Some tales, such as "The Funeral" (1955) and "The Doll that Does Everything" (1954) incorporate zany satirical humour at the expense of genre clichés, and are written in an hysterically overblown prose very different from Matheson's usual pared-down style. Others, like "The Test" (1954) and "Steel" (1956), portray the moral and physical struggles of ordinary people, rather than the then nearly ubiquitous scientists and superheroes, in situations which are at once futuristic and everyday. Still others, such as "Mad House" (1953), "The Curious Child" (1954) and perhaps most famously, "Duel" (1971) are tales of paranoia, in which the everyday environment of the present day becomes inexplicably alien or threatening.
He wrote a number of episodes for the American TV series The Twilight Zone, including "Steel," mentioned above and the famous "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet"; adapted the works of Edgar Allan Poe for Roger Corman and Dennis Wheatley's The Devil Rides Out for Hammer Films; and scripted Steven Spielberg's first feature, the TV movie Duel, from his own short story. He also contributed a number of scripts to the Warner Brothers western series "The Lawman" between 1958 and 1962. In 1973, Matheson earned an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for his teleplay for The Night Stalker, one of two TV movies written by Matheson that preceded the series Kolchak: The Night Stalker. Matheson also wrote the screenplay for Fanatic (US title: Die! Die! My Darling!) starring Talullah Bankhead and Stefanie Powers.
Novels include The Shrinking Man (filmed as The Incredible Shrinking Man, again from Matheson's own screenplay), and a science fiction vampire novel, I Am Legend, which has been filmed three times under the titles The Omega Man and The Last Man on Earth and once under the original title. Other Matheson novels turned into notable films include What Dreams May Come, Stir of Echoes, Bid Time Return (as Somewhere in Time), and Hell House (as The Legend of Hell House) and the aforementioned Duel, the last three adapted and scripted by Matheson himself. Three of his short stories were filmed together as Trilogy of Terror, including "Prey" with its famous Zuni warrior doll.
In 1960, Matheson published The Beardless Warriors, a nonfantastic, autobiographical novel about teenage American soldiers in World War II.
He died at his home on June 23, 2013, at the age of 87
http://us.macmillan.com/author/richar...
His first short story, "Born of Man and Woman," appeared in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1950. The tale of a monstrous child chained in its parents' cellar, it was told in the first person as the creature's diary (in poignantly non-idiomatic English) and immediately made Matheson famous. Between 1950 and 1971, Matheson produced dozens of stories, frequently blending elements of the science fiction, horror and fantasy genres.
Several of his stories, like "Third from the Sun" (1950), "Deadline" (1959) and "Button, Button" (1970) are simple sketches with twist endings; others, like "Trespass" (1953), "Being" (1954) and "Mute" (1962) explore their characters' dilemmas over twenty or thirty pages. Some tales, such as "The Funeral" (1955) and "The Doll that Does Everything" (1954) incorporate zany satirical humour at the expense of genre clichés, and are written in an hysterically overblown prose very different from Matheson's usual pared-down style. Others, like "The Test" (1954) and "Steel" (1956), portray the moral and physical struggles of ordinary people, rather than the then nearly ubiquitous scientists and superheroes, in situations which are at once futuristic and everyday. Still others, such as "Mad House" (1953), "The Curious Child" (1954) and perhaps most famously, "Duel" (1971) are tales of paranoia, in which the everyday environment of the present day becomes inexplicably alien or threatening.
He wrote a number of episodes for the American TV series The Twilight Zone, including "Steel," mentioned above and the famous "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet"; adapted the works of Edgar Allan Poe for Roger Corman and Dennis Wheatley's The Devil Rides Out for Hammer Films; and scripted Steven Spielberg's first feature, the TV movie Duel, from his own short story. He also contributed a number of scripts to the Warner Brothers western series "The Lawman" between 1958 and 1962. In 1973, Matheson earned an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for his teleplay for The Night Stalker, one of two TV movies written by Matheson that preceded the series Kolchak: The Night Stalker. Matheson also wrote the screenplay for Fanatic (US title: Die! Die! My Darling!) starring Talullah Bankhead and Stefanie Powers.
Novels include The Shrinking Man (filmed as The Incredible Shrinking Man, again from Matheson's own screenplay), and a science fiction vampire novel, I Am Legend, which has been filmed three times under the titles The Omega Man and The Last Man on Earth and once under the original title. Other Matheson novels turned into notable films include What Dreams May Come, Stir of Echoes, Bid Time Return (as Somewhere in Time), and Hell House (as The Legend of Hell House) and the aforementioned Duel, the last three adapted and scripted by Matheson himself. Three of his short stories were filmed together as Trilogy of Terror, including "Prey" with its famous Zuni warrior doll.
In 1960, Matheson published The Beardless Warriors, a nonfantastic, autobiographical novel about teenage American soldiers in World War II.
He died at his home on June 23, 2013, at the age of 87
http://us.macmillan.com/author/richar...
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
April 27, 2019
3.2 stars average??????
This is what I meant when I said people celebrate mediocre shit and ignore what's good! A fantastic tale of innocence and evil...
This is what I meant when I said people celebrate mediocre shit and ignore what's good! A fantastic tale of innocence and evil...
January 15, 2023
Audiobook. Book (story) 4 stars, narration by Robertson Dean or Yuri Rasovsky 5 stars.
So what does Richard Matheson have against little girls...?
So what does Richard Matheson have against little girls...?
November 14, 2019
Relato cortito en el que se puede entrever lo que va a pasar al final pero practicamente lo deja a la imaginación del lector.
November 15, 2019
Pues... es tan corto y tan meh, que no le ha dado tiempo a gustarme.
Es un poco confuso (supongo que ese es su propósito), la niña da grima. Y ser... podría ser cualquier cosa. Vampiro, poseída, psicópata...
Eso es lo que tienen los relatos, que aveces el lector tiene que imaginar demasiado del giro final. Y esta vez mi imaginación se ha quedado a medias o ha dado para un montón de cosas.
En fin, 2 estrellas de 5 y gracias.
Es un poco confuso (supongo que ese es su propósito), la niña da grima. Y ser... podría ser cualquier cosa. Vampiro, poseída, psicópata...
Eso es lo que tienen los relatos, que aveces el lector tiene que imaginar demasiado del giro final. Y esta vez mi imaginación se ha quedado a medias o ha dado para un montón de cosas.
En fin, 2 estrellas de 5 y gracias.
October 14, 2023
Horror by suggestion instead of blood tsunami.
December 24, 2023
This one is told from the point of view of a child who gets upset and hurts someone. Hearing a narrator attempt to act like a child definitely made this a worse experience, but still, nothing interesting really happens. It feels as though it was written by a child and I have no need for that.
July 2, 2018
Quiet is here and all in me.
White silk dresses can be creepy, if you've ever dressed as a ghost for Halloween. While silk dresses kept lovingly for years in a dresser can be even creepier, particularly when they belong to a dead mother of our narrator, a creepy, not-quite-right daughter. The narrator spends her days indoors, apparently not allowed out by her grandmother. She loves to play in her mom's room with her things, when grandma takes a nap. She's allowed to have a playmate over, and one day, when her friend opines on the narrator's beloved treasures, things take a turn for the worse.
White silk dresses can be creepy, if you've ever dressed as a ghost for Halloween. While silk dresses kept lovingly for years in a dresser can be even creepier, particularly when they belong to a dead mother of our narrator, a creepy, not-quite-right daughter. The narrator spends her days indoors, apparently not allowed out by her grandmother. She loves to play in her mom's room with her things, when grandma takes a nap. She's allowed to have a playmate over, and one day, when her friend opines on the narrator's beloved treasures, things take a turn for the worse.
February 23, 2018
I found this story a little strange. She ate her friend at the end. I am assuming from what the grandmother said that her mother ate people too.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 1, 2022
This short story seems to be written in the same vein as Born of Man And Woman. A young girl is telling us that she's in her room being punished. It's not till near the end that we seem to understand what she did. Her mother's dress is all she has left of her and when a neighbor girl tells her it's ugly she finds out what ugly can be.
I'm participating in the Book Tube event Horror Mayhem and the goal is to read short horror fiction the entire month. I'll be reading short stories along with a few novels.
I'm participating in the Book Tube event Horror Mayhem and the goal is to read short horror fiction the entire month. I'll be reading short stories along with a few novels.
October 14, 2024
El Vestido de seda blanca es relato muy corto, pero sorprende. Una niña está obsesionada con el vestido blanco de su madre fallecida, su abuela le prohíbe entrar a la habitación de su madre y tocar el vestido. Aunque la niña la desobedece, es su única conexión con su madre. Un día, la niña invita a una amiga a jugar, y esa amiga la reta, le dice que no tiene mamá, que lo pruebe...la niña la lleva a la recamara de su madre y ocurre un evento inesperado.
June 29, 2022
This story is great for the things that are not said and need to be imagined. It is a story of a barrator obsessed with the memory of his or her absent and probably deceased mother. The white dress is key to the narrator in how the mother is imagined and how the narrator takes on similarities to her. It is unclear whether these similarities are good or evil.
November 23, 2018
A creepy kid invites a friend over to play. This one is good, but strange... what happened is mainly left to the reader's imagination.
March 9, 2021
Creepy and vague.
September 27, 2022
Any horror story with a young child is especially creepy.
December 31, 2022
What a strange, creepy story about a little girl that isn't quite right. Some parts are a little too vague for me, so I wasn't completely sure what was going on.
November 14, 2023
Tremendo. Me encantó la prosa, muy acertada al vocabulario infantil. El final... Excelente
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews