Many horror critics have argued that the genre needed strict rules to ensure that no children came into contact with a film so inappropriately frightening. However, screenwriter Richard Matheson seemed to argue otherwise.

Matheson was a prolific screenwriter within the horror genre. The author of the horror novel I Am Legend, Matheson also adapted Edgar Allen Poe works for film, including House of Usher (1960) and The Raven (1963). In television, Matheson would also write several episodes for the popular sci-fi series, The Twilight Zone.

During an interview with The Daily Press, director Dan Curtis called Matheson “the master of his form.”

“He has the genius to build terror out of ordinary situations,” said Curtis of the writer.

In 1972, Curtis and Matheson worked together when Matheson wrote the teleplay for The Night Stalker. A made-for-television film, The Night Stalker gained a cult-like status, with many horror fans flocking to the film in more recent years. Matheson, himself a father, agreed that some horror films could certainly shake a child.

“No, I don’t think such stories are harmful to children,” the writer said during an interview with the Chicago Daily News. “Although my 12-year-old watched Night Stalker, then had to go to bed with the lights on.”

However, Matheson argued that the measured frights in a horror film were necessary in a world filled with much greater terrors and uncertainty. “We need an escape valve for some of the terror inside us,” said the writer.