A Stir of Echoes is a 1958 novel

Novel

A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....

 by Richard Matheson

Richard Matheson

Richard Burton Matheson is an American author and screenwriter, primarily in the fantasy, horror, and science fiction genres. He is perhaps best known as the author of What Dreams May Come, Bid Time Return, A Stir of Echoes, The Incredible Shrinking Man, and I Am Legend, all of which have been...

 that served as the inspiration for the 1999 film, Stir of Echoes

Stir of Echoes

Stir of Echoes is a supernatural horror / thriller released in the United States in 1999, starring Kevin Bacon and directed by David Koepp. The film is loosely based on the novel of the same name by Richard Matheson.-Plot:...

.

Plot synposis

Tom Wallace lived an ordinary life, until a chance event awakened psychic abilities he never knew he possessed. Now he's hearing the private thoughts of the people around him-and learning shocking secrets he never wanted to know. But as Tom's existence becomes a waking nightmare, even greater jolts are in store as he becomes the unwilling recipient of a compelling message from beyond the grave!

Reception

Galaxy

Galaxy Science Fiction

Galaxy Science Fiction was an American digest-size science fiction magazine, published from 1950 to 1980. It was founded by an Italian company, World Editions, which was looking to break in to the American market. World Editions hired as editor H. L...

 reviewer Floyd C. Gale praised the novel, saying "Matheson expertly builds a mood of horror and terror that only on one occasion exceeds credulity." Damon Knight

Damon Knight

Damon Francis Knight was an American science fiction author, editor, critic and fan. His forte was short stories and he is widely acknowledged as having been a master of the genre.-Biography:...

, however, dismissed it as "a thin and banal ghost story with psi trimmings, written in a Chippendale Chinese

Chinese Chippendale (architecture)

The term Chinese Chippendale in architecture is applied to a specific kind of railing or balustrade that was inspired by the "chinese Chippendale" designs of cabinetmaker Thomas Chippendale...

style."