“Duel” (1971)

This story by Richard Matheson is a classic that served as the source for a TV movie directed by Steven Spielberg early in his career, which itself is considered a kind of classic. And it is pretty much for the same reasons as the story, which is that it only tells you what you have to know, and all the action is concrete, visual or easily describable, and almost unbearably tense. It’s in anthologies all over the place. I read it in Foundations of Fear, edited by David G. Hartwell, whose preface to the story says, “Without a hint of science fiction or an overt whiff of the supernatural, ‘Duel’ manages to invoke both the science fiction tradition of the menace of the intelligent machine and the monster tradition of the horror genre. It is a psychological monster story, subtly shocking, compelling, fantastic.” ISFDB confirms in a general way, classifying the story into its “non-genre” basement, but three voters and I have combined to rate it an 8.25 of 10. That means it’s good. It’s also very scary and induces feelings of frustration and helplessness. You probably know the story: a guy is driving a two-lane highway west to San Francisco for an important meeting that afternoon. He encounters a semitruck tanker with a trailer whose driver evidently gets mad when our guy passes him. He begins to toy with him and even threaten his life using the truck. Whenever our guy pulls off to let the truck get some miles down the road, he always finds the truck parked on the shoulder a mile or two down, waiting for him. Lots of strong elements showing Matheson at his best. The facelessness and anonymity of the truck driver makes it all seem more effective. The fact that so many of us know road rage from both sides is used well here (even if 1971 somehow seems early for road rage). Hartwell is right that Matheson makes the truck itself a terrible thing to see, though I was always aware there was a driver and he was the aggravating factor. I see the problem in calling this story horror, yet I think you have to. It raises profound anxiety and dread. In many ways that’s what horror is—all it is. This story is a prime exhibit in that argument. The human cruelty is tempered and deliberate, rather than a moment’s impulse. That also makes this story insanely creepy. Have to look at the movie again.

Foundations of Fear, ed. David G. Hartwell
The Best of Richard Matheson, ed. Victor LaValle
A Century of Horror 1970-1979, ed. David Drake
Read story online.
Listen to story online.