by Ray Wallace

Comes Fygures, Come Shadowes
By Richard Matheson
Gauntlet Press     


OVERVIEW: A previously unpublished Richard Matheson book that was to be the beginning of a much larger work centering around a very unwilling participant in the world of psychic phenomenon.

DETAILS: Well, it goes without saying that fans of Richard Matheson's work have got to be pleased with what Gauntlet Press has been up to over the past year or two. Let's see, among other works, they've released two collections of Mr. Matheson's Twilight Zone scripts, his previously unpublished first novel, Hunger and Thirst, an edition of A Stir of Echoes that also included the author's original screenplay, his illustrated children's novel, Abu and the Seven Marvels, and now they bring us another previously unpublished work entitled Come Fygures, Come Shadowes. Here we have a short novel that was supposed to be just the beginning of a planned 2,000-page book that never saw completion. The author explains in an afterword how he was talked out of finishing the extended version by his publisher at the time who thought that such a lengthy tale would be unmarketable. He also goes on to say how he deeply regrets never completing the epic work. So how does Come Fygures... hold up in its unfinished form? Does it leave the reader wanting more? A LOT more?

Come Fygures... tells the story of Claire Nielson, eldest daughter of spiritualist Morna Nielson, who is being forced to follow in her mother's footsteps as a medium. Morna sees her gift and the one that her daughter possesses as a direct connection to God, feels that there is no greater and holier calling in life than that of the medium. Claire sees it as a curse. She is terrified by her abilities, wants nothing to do with contacting the dead, with "sitting" for people so that they can communicate to their lost loved ones through her. Whenever she is in the presence of psychic phenomenon she does not feel the joy and rapture that her mother experiences, no, not by a long shot. All she feels is fear, a dread certainty that something terrible is going to happen, that whatever these forces are that attempt to control her when she sits, they are not in the least bit beneficent as her mother would have her believe.

For practically as long as Claire can remember the dead have spoken to her. The book opens with a scene on a beach when she was a young girl. She holds a shell to her ear and a disembodied voice calls her name. Startled and frightened she tosses the shell away. From that moment on "the Fear" is always with her. It is with her when she begins to notice the aura that surrounds people, when her aunt Evelyn visits her after dying earlier that day of a stroke, when she begins to hear funeral music before someone passes away. Years go by but familiarity with the strange and disturbing occurrences in her life do not lessen the Fear. It is as strong as ever after she graduates high school and is expected by her mother to embrace her birthright as a medium.

This is the time period covered by the majority of the book: Claire in her late teens as she begins to sit for clients, when she is to willingly allow the disembodied spirits of the dead to use her as a vessel so that they can communicate with the living. But she is a most unwilling medium for the Fear is always with her. Needless to say, her mother is not pleased. As far as she is concerned Claire's refusal to accept her legacy is an affront to God. How can she possibly feel anything but elation at being so blessed? There is no higher calling in life. One does not shun such a gift. And Morna is not a woman to be argued with. As far as she is concerned Claire will sit and she will accept her calling as a medium. And that, as they say, is that. Claire's father, a kind man with a liking for the bottle, does what he can to intervene, to save his daughter from this life of terror and danger, but it is pretty obvious early on that he is no match for the fanatical, the strong-willed and domineering Morna. Will Claire somehow find the strength to resist her mother's will, to lead her own life and find some semblance of happiness? Or will she do as she is told and face an existence dominated by the Fear?

Fans of Mr. Matheson's work will find the subject matter of Come Fygures, Come Shadowes familiar terrain. As in Hell House and A Stir of Echoes the author once again explores the world of spirits and psychic phenomenon, a world he obviously knows well. It's pretty apparent that the man does his research and it shows in his stories, gives them an edge of believability not present in a lot of other fiction of similar subject matter. I think this is what makes his stories so enjoyable to read. Even if one does not remotely believe in the possibility of life after death one cannot help but pause during certain passages and think, "Yeah, that's the way it would happen!"

Comes Fygures, Come Shadowes is a worthy addition to the growing list of Richard Matheson titles. As an unfinished work it holds up surprisingly well. Of course, one cannot help but wonder where a 2,000-page story with such an auspicious beginning would have eventually led. One thing's for certain, it would have been a trip well worth taking.

BOTTOM LINE: An unfinished story that stands quite well on its own which would have been only the beginning of an undoubtedly major piece of dark fiction. Leaves the reader wishing that the book had been written in its entirety, that the rest of the tale had been told.