I Am Legend

DIVDIVRobert Neville may well be the last living man on Earth . . . but he is not alone.BR /DIVDIVAn incurable plague has mutated every other man, woman, and child into bloodthirsty, nocturnal creatures who are determined to destroy him./DIVDIV /DIVDIVBy day, he is a hunter, stalking the infected monstrosities through the abandoned ruins of civilization. By night, he barricades himself in his home and prays for dawn.... /DIV/DIV

One of the most influential vampire novels of the 20th century, II Am Legend/I 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. I--Stanley Wiater/I