The origins of the vampires in mathesons i am legend are also slightly different than those of the darkseekers in the movie. If he had been more analytical, he might have calculated the approximate time of their arrival. I am legend is very short, not novel length, only 159 pages long, out of the 312 pages in the book. Its a 1950s era book when the zombies as we know them today didnt even exist. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Warner brothers has owned the rights to the book since 1970, and. Richard mathesons novel i am legend 20011954 portrays a world in which a mys. Some readers find it implausible that neville would be able to conduct so many complex experiments with the vampiresand indeed, in most of the film versions of mathesons book, neville is a. I am legend is based on the book i am legend by richard matheson. The book was published in multiple languages including english, consists of 160 pages and is available in paperback format. It was also an inspiration behind night of the living dead.
I am legend is a novel by richard matheson in which robert neville struggles to survive as the sole remaining human in a world overrun by vampires robert neville is the only. Attributing minds to vampires in richard mathesons i am legend. An immune survivor, neville spends his days hunting vampires, scavenging and struggling with loneliness, and the nights being taunted by undead vampires that keep swarming outside his house. Thus, if a vampire is cut deep enough, the bacteria will. January 1976 chapter one on those cloudy days, robert neville was never sure when sunset came, and sometimes they were in the streets before he could get back. But the current version of i am legend nonetheless had a long road to the screen. Neither movie was anything like this book and this book was bad. The rest of the book is a collection of short horror stories and not very good ones either. The last man on earth from 1964, with vincent price, sticks with the plot of the book, and more importantly, it sticks to the mood and feel of the book, and is a very well done film. Oakes, 2000 robert neville, the novels main protagonist, is. People who love the book like being in nevilles head. I am meant to be writing a blog about how i am legend, by the late, immensely great, richard matheson, is the king of vampire novels. Richard mathesons novel i am legend portrays a world in which a mysterious virus has transformed the population into murderous vampires. This paper will focus on three vampires from the following books.
Til, in the novel i am legend, the vampires fear crosses. The vampires of richard mathesons story i am legend are very similar to vampires of myth and folklore, but whereas classic vampires are believed to be related to demons and have magical qualities about them, the origins of mathesons vampires are based in the realm of science. Vampires have inherited the earth in richard mathesons i am legend at one time, the vampires were normal people who were infected by a bacteria later dubbed vampiris, by matheson. The novels main character is robert neville, apparently the sole survivor of a pandemic the symptoms of which resemble vampirism.
Told mostly in flashback, we learn that a plague caused humans to turn into vampires. Whats the difference between i am legend the book and i am legend the movie. I enjoyed it at the time, never knowing i was going to write a book about vampires and certainly not that it would be derived from the idea i had. Free download or read online i am legend pdf epub book. I am legends biggest change from the book broke the movie.
They are disgusting creatures who smell bad and are revolting in every way. They had all the traditional weaknesses of vampires like garlic, fear of holy symbols, stake through the heart, sunlight, etc. I am legend is not necessarily a book about vampires. I am legend is a 1954 postapocalyptic horror novel by american writer richard matheson that was influential in the modern development of zombie and vampire literature and in popularizing the concept of a worldwide apocalypse due to disease.
Set after an outbreak of a viral plague that turns both living and dead into creatures resembling vampires, the plot follows last of his kind robert neville. Directed by francis lawrence, the film stars will smith as us army virologist robert neville set in new york city after a virus, which was originally created to cure cancer, has wiped out most of mankind, leaving neville as the last human in new york, other than. This reality is displayed in the novel i am legend which was written by richard matheson in 1954. Comparing dracula, and i am legend by richard matheson. The 2007 film was partially based on the 1971 film as well as the original source.
In the book, humanity is all but wiped out when the population becomes infected by a form of bacteria, transforming. And yet the core characteristics of the nightwalkers in the 2007 film are relatively true to one strand of what we see in the 1950s story. Even in the will smith movie, the creatures are vampiric and referred to as such, i think they hide from the. But it is the book i am legend by richard matheson, first published in 1954, that really changed the way in which we viewed vampires. Set in 1977, the omega man depicts the story of robert neville the same character used in both the original book and i am legend living in a.
They are humans, both living and undead, who were infected with vampiris. The two earlier films are the last man on earth 1964 and the omega man 1971. The i am legend novel community note includes chapterbychapter summary and analysis, character list, theme list, historical context, author biography and quizzes written by community members like you. I am legend novel vampedia fandom powered by wikia. Had the i am legend movie portrayed the darkseekers more like the vampires of the book, this would have been a much easier idea for audiences to go along with. Pdf i am legend book by richard matheson free download. Attributing minds to vampires in richard mathesons i am. The aftereffects of a nuclear war mutated the human gene and made them what robert calls vampires, dead creatures that inhabit the. Its about relativity, points of view and the meaning of evil and it should be read by those who believe we are the good guys. I am legend novel essay aspects of mathesons monsters. There was very little semblance of the film in the book, and honestly thats a good thing. Matheson includes realistic, believable details in plot to give the reader a more realistic feeling towards.
In the book, they are much more explicitly vampires. In the book, robert discovers that the source of the disease that turns people into vampires is a germ carried by dust storms and mosquitoes that plagued the world in the wake of a recent wars bombings. The story has seen numerous film adaptations, including the omega man and i am legend, and is often regarded as a significant milestone in horror and gothic fiction clasen, 2010. Get everything you need to know about vampires in i am legend. At one time, the vampires were normal people who were infected by a bacteria later dubbed vampiris, by matheson. Rather, it could be considered a book about men, written for vampires. Patterson reads i am legend as an uneasy attempt to negotiate racial anxieties and the vampires as thinly disguised africanamericans. In the book, humanity is all but wiped out when the population becomes infected by a form of bacteria, transforming them into bloodthirsty creatures of the night. All these books, he thought, the residue of a planets intellect, the scrapings of futile minds, the leftovers, the potpourri of artifacts that had no power to save men from perishing. I am legend gravedigger july 2, 2012 when i was a young gravedigger, i remember vampires depicted on the screen and in novels as unclean, unholy beings on par with demons. And, true, if you are seeking sexy vampires, you can skip richard mathesons book.
The omega man from 1971, with charlton heston, isnt too bad either, though the story is changed from the book. Robert nevilles struggle to survive in a world of vampires robs him of his humanity, transforming him into a legndary boogyman, who stalks and murders the planets new nocturnal citizens. The story stops annoyingly suddenly, as if the rest of it has been missed off. The novel was a success and was adapted into the films the last man on earth, the omega man, and i am legend. I am certainly honoured and delighted that you have chosen i am legend as the vampire novel of the century, which is a rather dubious but interesting distinction, said the author. The 1956 i am legend book is a vampire story inspired by dracula. I am legend is a 1954 scifihorror novel by richard matheson which is credited with inventing a scientific approach to vampirism synopsis edit. Although the creatures depicted in the outbreak are technically vampires, mathesons original work is considered by many science fiction and horror fans to be the impetus for the modern zombie horror genre entire, introducing many of its core themes well before night of the living dead. I am legend is a 2007 american postapocalyptic thriller film based on the 1954 novel of the same name by richard matheson. Outside of its hosts, the bacteria sporulates into dust and escapes into the air.
This detailed literature summary also contains topics for discussion and a free quiz on i am legend by richard matheson. Since reading the book, i have collected all of richard mathesons other novels and short story collections, but i am legend remains my personal favorites. This article is about the 2007 movie i am legend based on the book by the same name, written by richard matheson. In the original book they were definitely vampires. Thus, if a vampire is cut deep enough, the bacteria will escape into the air, reducing its former host to powder. I am legend changed the vampires of the novel to the mindless darkseekers, a big change that made the original ending not work at all. The novel i am legend 1954, written by american author richard matheson, was adapted for the movie by screenwriters akiva goldsman and mark protosevich. The main characters of this horror, science fiction story are robert neville. Entire books have been written about what, exactly, the vampires in i am legend symbolize. I am legend, and the everevolving vampire the writer. The movie adaptation, also i am legend, was directed by francis lawrence and released in 2007. The symbol of vampires in i am legend from litcharts the.
To which another chimed in i am legend has vampires. Neville, a workingclass man, gradually morphs into a sophisticated scientist. The thing is, i am legend isnt supposed to refer to him being a legend for the remaining humans, as the final cut shows, but rather to him being a legend to the darkseeker, being the monster that haunts their nightmares. Dracula by bram stoker, and i am legend by richard matheson. Unlike neville, they had no immunity to the virus and subsequently became creatures previously known only in legend as vampires. This version of i am legend is the third movie adaptation of mathesons novel. I am legend is named vampire novel of the century horror. 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. I am legend, and the everevolving vampire the writers voice. The book is full of silly superstitions and legends about vampires, but its basic premise is. Differences between i am legend book vs movie page 1.
In this novel, the protagonist, robert neville, is seemingly the only survivor of a plague that has converted the rest of humanity to vampires. I am legend is a 1954 scifihorror novel by richard matheson which is credited with inventing a scientific approach to vampirism. This novel, i am legend, a perfect little bricolage of apocalyptic, dystopian, scifi, horror, vampire, zombie, is probably his best known work, although im partial to somewhere in time bid time return being such a romantic. They are cannibalistic zombies who have an aversion to light. Vampiris is a bacillus form of anaerobic bacteria, that can infect humans and bats. The first, the true vampires, are corpses reanimated by vampiris. The story in i am legend is one in which a society completely transforms. The first edition of the novel was published in 1954, and was written by richard matheson. They are mostly mindless creatures, searching for blood to drink and even resorting to cannibalism when other prey is scarce. Swarms of vampires surround his house nightly and try to find ways to get inside, which includes the females exposing themselves.
Vampires have inherited the earth in richard mathesons i am legend. Richard mathesons novel, i am legend, displays a great deal of horror, presented in a magnificent way. In the book they are basically vampires, he uses mirrors, crosses, garlic, stakes and the like to ward them off. Vampirism and science fiction in i am legend naomi elisabeth pruitt college. As she writes, the novel contains a very clear, racially charged subtext that makes racial difference and vampiricism synonymous. Turning female vampires into sexy creatures is absurd. Bacillus vampiris is a fictional disease in the 1954 novel, i am legend. Vampires as depicted in the eclipse comics adaptation. I am legend author richard matheson was himself a real. I am legend is named vampire novel of the century horror books.