The first book I read by Richard Matheson was I Am Legend, largely because they made a movie out of it. Oddly enough, I have yet to see said movie. Other Matheson books have also been made into movies and What Dreams May Come is one of them.

I first saw the movie when it came out in 1998 and I've loved it ever since. The only thing that most movie fanatics can agree upon about it is that it's a visual masterpiece. It brings together the mental images that Matheson's novel provokes along with some of the imagery described in Dante's Inferno. That's a winning combination right there.

But personally, I enjoy all aspects of the film. I've always thought Robin Williams is fully capable of playing a serious role and Chris Nielson is one of my favorites of his. I also didn't find the story to be too sappy or too much of an attempt at grabbing Oscars as some have claimed. I found it's look at death to be an intriguing one. It presents images and concepts unlike what you see most of the time.

And that's as good a place as any to hop into the book. Matheson wrote an introduction for it, which is unusual. The reason is that he claims the story told in the book is based completely on years of research through dozens of sources and even provides a bibliography. He says the only fictional parts of What Dreams May Come are the individual characters.

A cursory glance at the bibliography shows he sourced lots of books about paranormal activity, near death experiences, reincarnation, and other paranormal topics. These aren't the type of books you'll read in college. But even so, I think it's a very creative approach to look through as many paranormal texts as you can to find common threads. If there is any truth to them at all, it seems a safe conclusion to assume you're likely to find it in what's repeated the most.

Matheson comes to his own conclusions about death and what comes after and uses that as a basis for the story. Without giving away too much, the basis for almost all of What Dreams May Come is that it is your own mind that determines your afterlife. If you are tied too closely to things on Earth, you're likely to stick around for a while as a ghost. If you're mind is troubled about certain things, you are likely to be troubled by the same things when you die. At the same time, the things that bring you pleasure will continue to do so. Except in both cases, the affect is amplified.

And that's where the book's story comes. The main character, Chris, dies in a car accident. His wife is incredibly distraught but goes on. During the entire first half of the book, Chris learns all about what it means to die. It's quite pleasing. But at the halfway point, Chris's wife kills herself.

In Matheson's views, it's not exactly God's actions that put you in hell. It's the rules God put in place, but it's your own mind that brings you there. So everything Chris's wife felt sad about and is unable to cope with is amplified by death and there is no escaping it. Thus, somebody who killed themselves can't enjoy heaven because they have no concept of it. Instead, they only continue their suffering alone.

But Chris of course can't let that happen. He refuses to follow the rules and ventures into the depths of hell to try to save her. It's a very touching story. I love it. And I've always been fascinated and terrified about death. It's inevitability is nothing short of horrifying. I'm not sure if I believe in everything Matheson put in What Dreams May Come, but it certainly is a very interesting viewpoint on life and what comes after. I highly recommend giving it a read no matter what your beliefs are. But I recommend it more to people who are or have been in love.

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