Rating: 
Summary: Original Story of it's Time.
Review: As usual Matheson creates a story that was completely original for it's time. I've seen people say he copied other stories like Return of the Living Dead,,etc. etc. But they fail to realize that this story was written in 1958. There was nothing like it at the time. It's not so much of a vampire story as it is a story of humanity and loneliness. The main character is the only survivor of a plague that turns people into vampires. He's the only human left and he has to find ways of surviving while not going to far from his Shelter-Like home. The story also proposes some interesting viewpoints on how the vampires were started. It's not really scary at all but haunting in that you feel a sense of doom for the main character. Really, How long can someone survive in an enviroment like that completely alone.
I gave it three stars because the story was actually written in the future from the original copywright,, 1976. Matheson didn't really attempt to forecast any changes in the world between 1958 and 1976. He pretty much assumed everything would be the same including cars being started with a ignition button and black people still being called Negroes.:) Other than that it is a great and quick (178 pgs.) Novel.
Rating: 
Summary: Neville, get with the program and Step Outside!
Review: This book has nothing to do with vampires. To me, it's a tale spun around a man who has nothing to interact with other than a bottle of boze and Ottorino Repshigi recordings. This man knew 'lonesome'. And the ending was one of the most FABULOUS i've come across. Forgot King, or whomever else. Carrere, Kressing, and this man are horror.
Rating: 
Summary: Not very unique in my experience
Review: Kind of a combination of Dawn of the Dead meets Dracula. I was so not ready for the ending I kept turning the page, like what happened. It just ends, that's it? I didn't like it at all, although I will say at times I found it disturbing. Short story material, not a novel.
Rating: 
Summary: A good single afternoon read
Review: I picked this book up a couple of days ago and read all of "I am Legend" in one sitting yesterday. To sum it up, one man is the lone survivor of a plague which causes people to turn into living vampires. As the plague progresses, those vampires die but their bodies are still animated by the disease (yes... I said disease). According to the story it is a bacteria that causes the condition. This story is credited by several people as THE story that started the whole "Survival Horror" genre which has been seen in movies such as The Omega Man (based on I am Legend), Night of the Living Dead, and Resident Evil. That is only half of the story. The whole point of the story is that throughout history it was the vampire that was the "boogey man" in a world where Man was the dominant and more numerous species. With the last sentance in the story Neville states that "I am Legend". He understands that HE has become the "boogey man" of the vampire society. He is the one who creeps out in the day to slay the vampires in their beds while they sleep.
On the way in to work today I was thinking about this statement of role-reversal. Given that this story was originally published in 1954 I was wondering what inspired Matheson to write this story. Instead of taking it at face value I wondered if he was making a statement that following the bombing of Pearl Harbor (13 years before the book was published) we made the Japanese out to be our society's boogey man but in the end when we dropped the atom bombs if we ourselves (Americans) had not become the boogey man we all feared. Then again, maybe I am reading too deep into the story.
I gave it 4 stars because most this story could have been acted out on stage by one person. Neville hardly ever leaves his house and when he does Matheson really doesn't provide a lot of detail into the state of the world. I'm sure it was intentional. If Matheson had made this into a novel instead of a short story I'd have rated it a 5... I just felt like there was so much more that could have been done with the story.
Rating:
Summary: 4.5 stars. what legends are made of...
Review: upside: i usually dont go for the supernatural/horror genre, but this book hooked me. i was studying at borders and someone left this book at the table i was sitting at. read the back cover and the rest is history. im a sucker for these "survival" stories, man vs _________________. in this case, its vampires and matheson breaks it down to a science. downside: theres a collection of short stories written by matheson that disappoints following the conclusion of this book. after enjoying "i am legend" so much, it was such a letdown. highly recommended to all.
Rating:
Summary: A Riveting, Horrifying Tale
Review: If Bram Stoker had been a middle class American in 1976, this would have been Dracula. Judging solely on the cover and maybe what somebody told you about I Am legend, you might assume that this is a straightforward horror read, a pulp 10 cent-er from the fifties. What this novel really does well is lull the reader into thinking the hero, Robert Neville, is totally safe in his baricaded house, which is what Neville seems to think. How wrong he was.
Most of the begining of the book is Neville skulking around his empty house drinking lots of whiskey and mourning the death of his wife and daughter. Its only when he can shrug the booze off and venture outside that things actually take a turn for the worse. if he had stayed in his house and got drunk non-stop, he would only become victim to crippling depression and a burnt out liver, instead of the undead and the suffering living preying on him.
one thing this novel does that no other Vampire book I've ever read is to inject some science into Vampires, the victims of a horrid plague that makes them feast on blood and avoid sunlight. A good portion of Neville's time is spent trying to understand the plague, and for a while it helps keep his mind off of his problems and he actually learns lots about vampires.
In conclusion, this is an amazing novel that I had trouble putting down. If you are a fan of movies like night of the living dead or 28 days later you owe it to yourself to read the inspiration. BUY THIS BOOK!
Rating:
Summary: Obviously You Are Intersted In Vampires and Zombies...
Review: SO BUY THIS BOOK! This is where it all started. The pioneering work that later inspired George Romero's "Night Of The Living Dead" and Stephen King's "Salem's Lot" and every other tale of a normal human being fighting against the odds in a world gone mad with the hungry hordes of the undead.
Matheson, a TV writer (most notable work, "The Twilight Zone"), places us in a world where a mysterious virus has not only killed off virtually ever other man, woman and child but causes them to return as zombielike vampires intent on only one thing... to drain the blood of the living. Matheson's hero holds up in his old family home, now a battered fortress assaulted nightly by what were once his friends and neighbors and who have become the walking dead intent on taking hold and devouring him. He, in turn, waits until the morning light and searches out there hiding places in order to destroy the revenants when they are at their most vulnerable. A one man army, who is patiently, skillfully ridding his world of this vermin.
Fortunately, in one of his sweeps he finds that there is another who is doing the same thing. He is not alone in the world afterall.
Unfortunately, this other wants to destroy him as well. Matheson wrote a thinking man's horror novel. He touches on that feeling of alienation and loneliness that pervades so much of our modern world. A world that places us as pawns, used (and often victimised) by the science and technologies of our own creation. However, Matheson also inspires in the reader a feeling of hope and fighting back even if the odds are staggeringly against us. He appeals to the survivalist instincts that every healthy, normal man and woman possess. He builds the anger in us to strike back and overcome the menace to our existence.
Two movies made were based on "I Am Legend": "The Last Man On Earth", starring Vincent Price and the classic, "Omega Man", starring Charleton Heston. Neither of these came close to the quality of this novel. This book is essential reading and keeping for every horror fan, especially us zombie fanatics. Now go order this book!
Rating:
Summary: Classic, but overrated
Review: Good story, but the style was quite dry. Certainly creative but lacked a spark to make it completely entertaining. The investment in the story you make as the reader is never paid off by Matheson. It's like reading the newspaper; sometimes riveting, usually mildly interesting, but rarely entertaining. One other HUGE point I'd like to make that seems neglected by all other descriptions and reviews of this book. Only two-thirds of this book's length are taken up by "I Am Legend", the rest is a bunch of short stories, which aren't very good either in my humble opinion. I wish someone had told _me_ that before I bought it.
Rating:
Summary: Not up to King caliber
Review: Although I did enjoy this novel, I dont understand how it is even comparable to Stephen King horror books. Yes this book was exciting yet I dont think it had the true horror that exists in most of King's novels. I must say though, I truly enjoyed the last chapter very much. It made a lot of great, horrifying points about humanity in general. There were also a couple of other short stories by Matheson in this book. I did not feel any of them were up to the same caliber as "I am Legend." "Prey" and "Mad House" were somewhat unique yet overall short stories do not appear to be Matheson's forte. Overall this book was unique in its plot and an enjoyable read
Rating:
Summary: decent horror book
Review: Not comparable to King novels yet still very exciting and unique in its own right
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