Product Description Inch by inch, day by day, Scott Carey is getting smaller. Once an unremarkable husband and father, Scott finds himself shrinking with no end in sight, the result of exposure to a radioactive cloud. He becomes a national spectacle, a freak that is bullied by teenagers and disrespected by everyone. His wife and family turn into unreachable giants, the family cat becomes a predatory menace, and Scott must struggle to survive in a world that seems to be growing ever larger and more perilous—until he faces the ultimate limits of fear and existence. This is the terrifying novel that inspired the classic Hugo Award–winning motion picture, also written by Richard Matheson. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. The Incredible Shrinking ManBy Richard MathesonBlackstone AudiobooksCopyright © 2006Richard MathesonAll right reserved.ISBN: 9780786137923Chapter OneFirst he thought it was a tidal wave. Then he saw that the sky andocean were visible through it and it was a curtain of spray rushing atthe boat.    He'd been sunbathing on top of the cabin. It was just coincidencethat he pushed up on his elbow and saw it coming.    "Marty!" he yelled. There was no answer. He scuttled across thehot wood and slid down the deck. "Hey, Marty!"    The spray didn't look menacing, but for some reason he wantedto avoid it. He ran around the cabin, wincing at the hot planks underfoot.It would be a race.    Which he lost. One moment he was in sunlight. The next he wasbeing soaked by the warm, glittering spray.    Then it was past. He stood there watching it sweep across thewater, sun-glowing drops of it covering him. Suddenly he twitched andlooked down. There was a curious tingling on his skin.    He grabbed for a towel and dried himself. It wasn't so much painas a pleasant stinging, like that of lotion on newly shaven cheeks.    Then he was dry and the feeling was almost gone. He went belowand woke up his brother and told him about the curtain of spray thathad run across the boat.    It was the beginning.Chapter TwoThe spider rushed at him across the shadowed sands, scrabbling wildlyon its stalklike legs. Its body was a giant, glossy egg that trembledblackly as it charged across the windless mounds, its wake a score ofsand-trickling scratches.    Paralysis locked the man. He saw the poisonous glitter of the spidereyes. He watched it scramble across a loglike stick, body mounted highon its motion-blurred legs, as high as the man's shoulders.    Behind him, suddenly, the steel-encased flame flared into life witha thunder that shook the air. It jarred the man loose. With a suckinggasp, he spun around and ran, the damp sand crunching beneath hisracing sandals.    He fled through lakes of light and into darkness again, his face amask of terror. Beams of sunlight speared across his panic-driven path,cold shadows enveloped it. Behind, the giant spider scoured sand in itspursuit.    Suddenly the man slipped. A cry tore back his lips. He skidded toa knee, then pitched forward onto outstretched palms. He felt the coldsands shaking with the vibration of the roaring flame. He pushed himselfup desperately, palms flaking sand, and started running again.    Fleeing, he glanced back across his shoulder and saw that the spiderwas gaining on him, its pulsing egg of a body perched on runninglegs?an egg whose yolk swam with killing poisons. He raced on,breathless, terror in his veins.    Suddenly the cliff edge was before him, shearing off abruptly to agray, perpendicular face. He raced along the edge, not looking downinto the vast canyon below. The giant spider scuttled after him, thesound of its running a delicate scraping on the stone. It was closer still.    The man dashed between two giant cans that loomed like tanksabove him. He threaded, racing, in between the silent bulks of all theclustered cans, past green and red and yellow sides all caked with lividsmears. The spider had to climb above them, unable to move its s