I Am Legend (1954)

The titular story was great, but I wasn't quite sure about the other stories that were included in this collection. Some of them were original, but they didn't quite hit the right notes with me. Nevertheless, the titular story is well worth reading and this was a fairly good display.

3 stars. ( )

The Vincent Price Version is very close to the book. I've read some of the reviews and most don't seem to appreciate the fact that the book was published in 1954 when thoughtful horror stories were few and far between. It is a classic. ( )

This is another "end of the world" type of story. There has been an illness that is causing people to turn into vampires. (I know - for real). The main character's name is Robert. He is pretty sure he is the last man on earth that isn't a vampire. During the day time, he goes out into the city hunting vampires who sleep like the dead (and won't attack him) and hunt for food and supplies. At night he has to hole up in his house to try and keep the vampires out. They know he is in there, and are constantly trying to break in. He can't get away from the city where he is because once the sun goes down, he has to be back in the safety of his house.

Robert also spends a lot of time at the library trying to figure out if there can be a cure for the people who are not "too far gone".

This is a really short story. The book has many short stories in it, and this is just one of them. I have seen the movie "I am Legend" and it is nothing like this book. Well - almost nothing. Yes there are vampires and yes there is Robert, but that is where the similarities end. So I was shocked when I read it - expecting it to be similar.

The story holds its own. Robert is very infested in finding a cure. He is desperate for human contact. He hardly sleeps because at night the vampires scream for him to come out and join them.

The ending was the same as the movie (if you have seen it - no spoilers if not), but it just happens in a different way.

You could try this book. It wasn't really my cup of tea.....maybe because it was so short. I never really got as invested in the characters as I would have liked. ( )

I read I am Legend decades ago, long before seeing any of the myriad film adaptations of the book, and I was somewhat underwhelmed by the experience. I’ve since seen two film versions of I am Legend and can confirm that in both cases, the film outshines the book.

I am Legend is not much more than a novella but it tends to drag in places, (you’ll soon tire of the section featuring like the dog). Ultimately, what kept me reading was not the prose but the premise of a lone man fighting off pseudo-vampires who becomes the nightmare bogeyman of pseudo-vampire children. ( )

I've never seen any of the movie adaptations, and went in to this blind. A post-apocalyptic story, a vampire story, and ultimately a sad story of a man all alone in a world completely changed and absolutely terrifying. Really good writing and a haunting ending. ( )