I Am Legend
3.48/5.00
Published: 1954
Genre: Horror
Goodreads
If you’re
expecting a resemblance to the movie, you will be disappointed.
Is it
particularly horrifying? Not really.
Is it
interesting? Yes.
First off,
this book is told in these small, unrelated installments. The part with Robert
Neville, the I Am Legend part familiar to most is just one section, albeit the
longest. As with any anthology, some stories are more enjoyable than others.
From one about a man who hears a ringing in his head and a voice at the end of
a mental telephone to a killer spirit possessing a doll to witch-like girls
using their powers to tear apart an army.
The main tale tells
of survivor Robert Neville navigating a world plagued by a vampirism disease.
People put it in the sci-fi genre, and though it incorporates some physiology here
and there, this story is as sci-fi as Supernatural.
I didn’t find it particularly science-y, though it is possible being a biochem
undergrad influenced that.
Hollywood
seems to like the story of a lone hero facing the apocalypse, whether by
zombies, plague, vampires, what-have-you. The horror aspect relies on a subtler
disturbing quality than jump scares or gross outs and heavy action.
This wouldn’t
be the first book I would recommend to anyone, but for avid horror fans, it
would probably be a nice addition to the collection.
Richard
Matheson was an American author and screenwriter, passing in 2013. Though best
known for I Am Legend, he has written
other screenplays and stories adapting to film.
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