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


Review
"The most clever and riveting vampire novel since Dracula." --Dean Koontz

"I think the author who influence me the most as a writer was Richard Matheson. Books like I Am Legend were an inspiration to me." --Stephen King

"One of the Ten All-Time Best Novels of Vampirism." --Fangoria



Review
"The most clever and riveting vampire novel since Dracula." --Dean Koontz

"I think the author who influence me the most as a writer was Richard Matheson. Books like I Am Legend were an inspiration to me." --Stephen King

"One of the Ten All-Time Best Novels of Vampirism." --Fangoria



Book Description
Robert Neville is the last living man on Earth...but he is not alone. Every other man, woman, and child on Earth has become a vampire, and they are all hungry for Neville's blood.

By day, he is the hunter, stalking the sleeping undead through the abandoned ruins of civilization. By night, he barricades himself in his home and prays for dawn.

How long can one man survive in a world of vampires?



From the Publisher
9 1.5-hour cassettes


About the Author
Richard Matheson is The New York Times bestselling author of I Am Legend, Hell House, Somewhere in Time, The Incredible Shrinking Man, A Stir of Echoes, The Beardless Warriors, The Path, Seven Steps to Midnight, Now You See It . . . , and What Dreams May Come. A Grand Master of Horror and past winner of the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement, he has also won the Edgar, the Hugo, the Spur, and the Writer's Guild awards.

He lives in Calabasas, California.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

From out of the night came the living dead with one purpose: destroy Robert Neville, the last man on earth. A mysterious plague has swept the planet leaving in its wake this one survivor. But there is still life of a sort--vampires, the strengthless half-dead who press on Neville from every side. He is almost tempted to join them in I AM LEGEND.

It started simply enough in THE SHRINKING MAN. One moment Scott Carey was in the sunlight, the next he was being soaked by a warm, glittering spray. His skin tingled, and soon he began to change, to grow smaller and smaller, until his mere existence was at stake.

"Not for the squeamish. Richard Matheson brings vividly to life that ancient terror of the unknown." (Publisher's Source)

FROM THE CRITICS

Gale Research

Two film versions of I Am Legend have already been made, including The Last Man on Earth, a low-budget Italian picture starring Vincent Price, and The Omega Man, a 1971 Warner Bros. release that featured Charlton Heston in the title role.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

I think the author who influenced me the most as a writer was Richard Matheson. Books likeI Am Legendwere an inspiration to me.
 — Stephen King