Matheson's work has also blended everyday life with the supernatural to disquieting effect; an excellent example is the underrated Stir of Echoes (69 percent). This ghost story, based upon Matheson's 1958 novel, had the misfortune of being released around the same time as, and sharing similar elements with, The Sixth Sense, but it stands on its own as a creepy, achingly poignant document of a solid, average guy's descent into madness. Kevin Bacon plays Tom, a phone company employee and amateur musician, who's not very happy with the routine his life has fallen into. On a lark at a neighborhood party, Tom convinces his sister-in-law (Illeana Douglas) to hypnotize him. Soon after, he experiences a series of troubling visions: the spectral presence of a teenage girl seems to be trying to communicate with him, and he finds he has strange powers that help him tap into the spirit world. Even more disturbing is the fact that his young son seems to be experiencing the same things with even greater clarity. As Tom pieces things together, he discovers the spirits may be giving him the clues to solving a murder.

Some of the Echoes' supernatural elements may not tie together seamlessly, and the ending doesn't quite do justice to the deliciously sharp setup. But Stir of Echoes is still worlds richer than many horror flicks. It draws much of its power from its well-developed sense of place; one gets the sense that the characters have lived on the same block and breathed the same air for a long time, which adds heft to the horrifying things taking place around them. There are a number of seemingly mundane moments that throb with an undercurrent of terror. And Bacon is excellent as a decent family man who has become obsessed with the strange visions in his head. "Stir of Echoes gives a classic ghost story extra zip by insisting on the reality of the characters and their place," wrote Susan Stark of the Detroit News.

Scene from Stir of Echoes