I Am Legend

I Am Legend
by Richard Matheson

I Am Legend
List Price: $14.95
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions

Buy I Am Legend at Amazon.com
(Click here)
Buy this book at online book store in your country
Canada | UK | Germany | France

Book Summary Information

Author: Richard Matheson
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2007-10-30
ISBN: 0765318741
Number of pages: 320
Publisher: Tor Books
Product features:

Book Reviews of I Am Legend

Book Review: One of the original post-apocalyptic vampire novels
Summary: 5 Stars

Richard Matheson's I Am Legend is a short story about a man named Robert Neville, the last living human on the planet. To complicate things, due to a bacteria there are now vampires running amok who know where he lives. By day he hunts the vampires and kills them while they sleep, by night he inebriates himself and holes up in his house. He finds a dog, and another survivor, but both feed the fire of despair, loneliness and inebriation. And by day the legend grows.

Matheson weaves a compelling and frightening tale, and the emotions of Robert Neville are felt by the reader. The ending offers a wonderful twist, and the original story is far better than the recent Will Smith film of the same name. I Am Legend is such an influential story that it almost single-handedly invented the vampire/zombie apocalypse genre that is so prevalent in modern cinema.

This specific omnibus also features ten other short stories. A reader unfamiliar with Matheson may pass over them, or read them expecting very little compared to the titular story, but reading them will quickly change the readers mind. Several of the short stories are wonderfully frightening, and they all offer a horrific twist at the end. Highlights include Prey, Madhouse, and Person to Person, although each story is well written and highly entertaining.

Summary of I Am Legend

Robert Neville may well be the last living man on Earth . . . but he is not alone.
?An incurable plague has mutated every other man, woman, and child into bloodthirsty, nocturnal creatures who are determined to destroy him.?By day, he is a hunter, stalking the infected monstrosities through the abandoned ruins of civilization.?By night, he barricades himself in his home and prays for dawn....?Richard Matheson's classic novel has now been transformed by Warner Bros. into a major motion picture starring Academy Award nominee Will Smith.?Directed by Francis Lawrence ("Constantine"), the film opens nationwide in December 2007.
?

One of the most influential vampire novels of the 20th century, I Am Legend regularly appears on the "10 Best" lists of numerous critical studies of the horror genre. As Richard Matheson's third novel, it was first marketed as science fiction (for although written in 1954, the story takes place in a future 1976). A terrible plague has decimated the world, and those who were unfortunate enough to survive have been transformed into blood-thirsty creatures of the night. Except, that is, for Robert Neville. He alone appears to be immune to this disease, but the grim irony is that now he is the outsider. He is the legendary monster who must be destroyed because he is different from everyone else. Employing a stark, almost documentary style, Richard Matheson was one of the first writers to convince us that the undead can lurk in a local supermarket freezer as well as a remote Gothic castle. His influence on a generation of bestselling authors--including Stephen King and Dean Koontz--who first read him in their youth is, well, legendary. --Stanley Wiater

Matheson, Richard Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in No Damn Goth/Dreamy/Sparkly Vamps
Already Dead: A Novel ImageAlready Dead: A Novel
by Charlie Huston
Del Rey; Published: 2005-12-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.24
Price in other shops: $14.00
The Strain: Book One of The Strain Trilogy ImageThe Strain: Book One of The Strain Trilogy
by Guillermo Del Toro, Chuck Hogan
William Morrow; Published: 2009-06-02; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.83
Price in other shops: $26.99
Nightblood ImageNightblood
by T. Chris Martindale
Warner Books; Published: 1989-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $40.98
I Am Legend ImageI Am Legend
by Richard Matheson
Tor Books; Published: 2007-10-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.75
Price in other shops: $14.95
Varney The Vampire: Or "The Feast Of Blood" (Volume 1) ImageVarney The Vampire: Or "The Feast Of Blood" (Volume 1)
by Thomas Preskett Prest
CreateSpace; Published: 2008-11-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.99
Salem's Lot ImageSalem's Lot
by Stephen King
Pocket; Published: 2000-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.05
Price in other shops: $16.00
The Light at the End ImageThe Light at the End
by John Skipp, Craig Spector
Stealth Press; Published: 2000-12-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $39.99
Midnight Mass ImageMidnight Mass
by F. Paul Wilson
Tor Books; Published: 2005-11-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.75
Price in other shops: $6.99
Lot Lizards ImageLot Lizards
by Ray Garton
e-reads.com; Published: 2009-11-19; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.47
Price in other shops: $15.95
Night Life ImageNight Life
by Ray Garton
Leisure Books; Published: 2007-04-03; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.74
Price in other shops: $7.99
Similar Books and other products
Richard Matheson: Collected Stories, Vol. 1 ImageRichard Matheson: Collected Stories, Vol. 1
by Richard Matheson
Gauntlet Press; Published: 2003-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.99
Price in other shops: $16.95
The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead ImageThe Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead
by Max Brooks
Three Rivers Press; Published: 2003-09-16; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.94
Price in other shops: $13.95
Somewhere In Time ImageSomewhere In Time
by Richard Matheson
Tor Books; Published: 2008-07-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.16
Price in other shops: $6.99
The Incredible Shrinking Man ImageThe Incredible Shrinking Man
by Richard Matheson
Tor Books; Published: 2001-02-24; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.83
Price in other shops: $14.95
World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War ImageWorld War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War
by Max Brooks
Three Rivers Press; Published: 2007-10-16; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.74
Price in other shops: $14.95
Richard Matheson's I Am Legend (Graphic Novel) ImageRichard Matheson's I Am Legend (Graphic Novel)
by Steve Niles, Elman Brown
IDW Publishing; Published: 2005-11-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.49
Price in other shops: $19.99
A Stir of Echoes ImageA Stir of Echoes
by Richard Matheson
Tor Books; Published: 2004-07-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.24
Price in other shops: $13.95
Nightmare At 20,000 Feet: Horror Stories By Richard Matheson ImageNightmare At 20,000 Feet: Horror Stories By Richard Matheson
by Richard Matheson
Tor Books; Published: 2002-01-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.50
Price in other shops: $14.95
What Dreams May Come: A Novel ImageWhat Dreams May Come: A Novel
by Richard Matheson
Tor Books; Published: 2004-01-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.97
Price in other shops: $14.95
Hell House ImageHell House
by Richard Matheson
Tor Books; Published: 1999-10-13; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.00
Price in other shops: $14.95
Book store. Illustrated catalog of books on different categories