Second only to Gibran’s The Prophet, Richard Matheson’s What Dreams May Come is my favorite book. A lot of you have probably seen the (also awesome) film starring Robin Williams (Chris) and Annabella Sciorra (Annie), in which they both die and find one another in the afterlife because they are soulmates, proving that not even death can end true love. Chris goes on a journey to save Annie from the Hell she’s created for herself by committing suicide. “Across whatever distance there is, I send you my love.”
A lot of people don’t know that Matheson’s book is primarily a work of non-fiction. That is, everything in the book is based on research and extensive anecdotal reports. At the end of What Dreams May Come, Matheson lists a very thorough bibliography of all his books, and encourages us to read every one (there are A LOT). I have decided to do just that, starting with Appleman’s Your Psychic Powers and Immortality, which I just got in the mail today. It was hard to find this book, published in 1968, but it came from this little private bookstore in Tennessee and the author actually signed the front cover. Books are always better if they have a history.
I’ve always been interested in the supernatural and spirituality. I definitely recommend reading What Dreams May Come – the story goes so much deeper than the film and explains so much about the afterlife and what it means for all of us. Reading between the lines, there is also an important message about living life to the fullest as well, and that we create our own destinies with the choices we make. If you’re a heavy reader like me, you’ll also want to work your way through Matheson’s bibliography the way I have begun. Below is a direct excerpt from his prologue:
“Because its subject is survival after death, it is essential that you realize, before reading the story, that only one aspect of it is fictional: the characters and their relationships. With few exceptions, every other detail is derived exclusively from research. For that reason, I have added, at the conclusion of the novel, a list of the books used for this research. As you will see, they are many and diverse. Yet, despite their wide variation with regard to authors and times and places of publication, there is a persistent, unavoidable uniformity to their content. You would, of course, have to read them all to prove this to yourself. I urge you to do so. You will find it an enlightening–and extraordinary–experience.”