There is a strong literary feel to the novel without most of the trappings of science fiction and we learn about the daily life of the last man in the world, fighting to stay alive and surrounded by the undead hordes. The Vampires portayed here are very different to the Dracula style Romantic shape shifting types, here they are virus stricken hosts (in both alive and undead varieties) who mostly behave in a subhuman manner and on many occasions could be mistaken for a modern interpretation of a zombie. It was actually the later film that encouraged me to buy the novel, I loved the film and although I realise it is vastly different to the book (as most films based on novel's are), it is in my opinion a very powerful and gripping movie.īlending aspects of horror within a science fiction setting, the book is based in the relative future of 1976 but apart from the date there are no other science fiction tropes used. The novel has been made into films on a number of occasions including "The Last Man on Earth" starring Vincent Price and filmed in 1964, "The Omega Man" starring Charlton Heston and released in 1971 and more recently "I am Legend" in 2007, starring Will Smith. It is widely regarded as being a major influence of the zombie genre and popularized the concept of a worldwide disease apocalypse. In many ways this novel has been seen as the catalyst that re-invigorated the tired and dying genre that was horror of the 1950's, re-engineering a well known horror subject and yet written in a mainstream almost literary voice. Part of the Gollancz SF Masterworks collection, the novel has received critical acclaim from many authors including Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Brian Lumley and Ray Bradbury.
I am Legend is a post apocalyptic vision by Richard Matheson, created in 1954 it tells the story of Robert Neville, the last surviving human in the world, surrounded by bloodthirsty vampires - both living and undead.
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