Nightmare at 20,000 Feet: Horror Stories by Richard Matheson Read Free Book Online Page A

or…
      Dead quiet.
      Yeah. Dead quiet.
      Did you go down then?
      L-later I went. I was goin' to bed. I figured I…
      You wanted to say goodnight.
      Yeah. I…

    Swish

      You went down and opened the living room door?
      Yeah, I… yeah.
      What did you see?
      I… I… Oh, can't ya… I want my ma. Lemme alone. I want her!
      Kid! Hold him, Sergeant. Take it easy!

    Swish swish

      I'm sorry, kid. Did it hurt? I had to calm you. I know…how you feel, Leo. We saw it too. We feel sick and… awful too.

    Swish

      Just a few more questions and we'll take you to your aunt's. Now first. The television set. Was it on?
      Yeah. It was on.
      And you… smelled something?
      Yeah. Like in the hall. Only worse. Only lots worse.
      That smell.
      That smell. Dead. A dead stink. Like a pile o' dead… dead… I don't know. Garbage. Piles of it.
      No one was talking?
      No, there was no thin'. 'Cept the TV.
      What was on it?
      I already told ya.
      I know, I know. Tell us again. For the record.
      It was… like I said…just them letters. Great big letters.
      What were they?
      F… uh… F-E-E-D.
      F-E-E-D?

      Y-yeah. Big crooked-like letters.
      You'd seen them before?
      Yeah. I told ya. They was on our set all the time… Not all the time. Plenty though.
      Your parents never wondered about it?
      No. They said… they figured it was a sort of commercial. You know.
      But the things you saw.
      I don't know. Ma said… it was for kids. Some, I mean.
      What-did you see?

    Swish swish swish

      Sort of… mouths. Big ones. Wide. Open, all open. They wasn't p-people.

    Swish

      What did it look like? I mean, couldn't you tell what it was?
      No. I mean… they was like… bugs, maybe, or maybe… w-worms. Big ones. All mouths. Wide open.
      All right.

    Swish

      You, uh, said the letters flashed on, then off and you saw the… mouths, and then the letters again?
      Yeah. Like that.
      This happen every night?
      Yeah.
      Same time?
      No. Different times.
      Between programs?
      No. Anytime.
      Was it always on the same channel?
      No. All different ones. No matter which one we had… we seen them.
      And…
      I wanna go. Can't I… Ma! Where is she? I want her. I want her.

    Swish click

    Click
      A few more questions, Leo, and that's it. Now, you said your parents never had the set checked.
      No, I told you. They thought it was-
      All right.

    Swish

      You went in the living room. You said something about slipping, didn't you?
      Yeah. On that stuff.
      What stuff?
      I don't know. Greasy stuff. Like hot grease. It stunk awful.
      And then you… you found…

    Swish

      I found them. Ma. And Pa. And the Lenottis. They was… Ohhh, I wanna…
      Leo! What about the set, Leo? What about it?
      Huh, what?
      The picture on the set. You said something about it.
      I, yeah… I…
      It was the letters, wasn't it, Leo?
      Yeah, yeah. Them letters. Them big crooked letters. They was up there. On the set. I seen them. And… and…
      What?
      One of the E's. It kinda… faded. It went away. And… and…
      What, Leo?
      The other letters. They come together. So… so there was only three.
      And it was a word.

    Swish swish swish

      Take him to his aunt, Sergeant.
      And the tube went black…
      All right, Leo. The sergeant'll take you ho-to your aunt's.
      I turned on the lights.
      All right, Leo.
      I turned on the light! Ma! MAMA!
    Click

    5 - WITCH WAR

      Seven pretty little girls sitting in a row.
      Outside, night, pouring rain-war weather. Inside, toasty warm. Seven overalled little girls chatting. Plaque on the wall saying: P.G. CENTER. Sky clearing its throat with thunder, picking and dropping lint lightning from immeasurable shoulders. Rain hushing the world, bowing the trees, pocking earth. Square building, low, with one wall plastic. Inside,