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Forget the "Terror Stories..." subtitle on this book. It is primarily a collection of science fiction sories of a distinctly 1950s character. With the exception of the title story, "Duel", which was the seed for Spielberg's first film, it could all be called sci-fi, though in some cases sci-fi of a scary nature. Some are quite charming to read as period pieces that highlight themes popular in science fiction at the time

Many of these may read like old episodes of The Twilight Zone for reasons that go beyond the fact that at least three of them did become episodes of The Twilight Zone. Teleplay-like seems to be the nature of Matheson's writing style. It is almost as if he wrote them with the intent of eventually having them filmed. It's a style that treats the reader to a very smooth and professional feeling story, but which tends to lack that occasional raw edge that good thrillers sometimes have. If you prefer slick and well-polished to edgy Matheson is your kind of writer. If it's raw you want look elsewhere.

I most enjoyed the two stories that drifted furthest from this style, "The Last Day" and "The Test", in which the characters exhibit very human reactions to very extreme comditions.