Author Richard Matheson has passed away at the age of 87. Born in New Jersey in 1926 and raised in Brooklyn, Matheson published his first piece of science fiction in 1950 and from then went on to be one of the century’s most significant writers of fantastical fiction. He got his start writing novels and short stories, including The Shrinking Man and I Am Legend. He then transitioned into writing TV and movies, most notably on The Twilight Zone. While working on the seminal Rod Serling show, he wrote classics like “The Invaders,†and “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet,†in which a young William Shatner plays a plane passenger who notices a gremlin on the wing. In 1971, he adapated his short story “Duel†into a film directed by a novice Steven Spielberg. His work influenced and continues to influence anyone who’s ever written horror, fantasy, or science fiction