I'm a bit of a romantic in my own private world. My workload is hectic and insane. So, when I get home after a long and tiring day, one of my favorite things to do is cuddle with a good romantic book and imagine myself in a different place. I have two favorite authors and I will be writing about one – Richard Matheson.
Richard Matheson wrote such books as I am Legend, Hell House, and Stir of Echoes, and many episodes of “The Twilight Zone”. Now you’re thinking, “What?! Those are suspense. None of those are romantic at all!” Yes, you’re right. In addition to being a horror novelist (who incidentally, inspired the likes of Stephen King, George Romero, and Anne Rice), Matheson was also a romance author. He wrote What Dreams may Come. My favorite novel of his though is Bid Time Return. Matheson himself said that What Dreams may Come is a love story that transcends death and Bid Time Return is a love story that transcends time.
Bid Time Return is a romance sci-fi novel, but not in the cheesy, B-movie sense. At its core, it’s a love story about two people who can’t be together. Richard Collier is a writer from the 1970s who has an inoperable brain tumor. On a whim, he decides to go to Hotel del Coronado (which is a real location in San Diego, CA and where Matheson wrote the entire novel). There, he becomes obsessed with an actress from the late 1800s named Elise McKenna. He develops a time traveling method which transports him to 1896. There he meets Elise and they fall in love.
I don’t want to spoil the ending for those who are interested, but suffice to say, it is one of the most romantic stories I have ever read. At the end of the novel, I couldn’t stop bawling. The novel moved me, and to this day, my eyes tear up every time I think about Richard, Elise, and their love.
-V
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