I Am Legend and Other Stories (1954)

Decent collection of horror stories; the strongest is the title story, a nerve wracking tale of vampires and paranoia. Some stories are lackluster, a few had been published in other collections, and some are rather problematic in content (see "From Shadowed Places"). The wrap-up story would have made a killer episode of "Tales From The Darkside". Overall, Matheson at his peak and also at some of his lows. ( )

I got this on audio to read "I Am Legend" but I enjoyed the short stories too. All of it felt kind of dated, reminded me of writing from Bradbury or Frederic Brown.

In "I Am Legend" the sex-deprived thing seemed like a strange thing to be brought up as many times as it was. I mean I like sex a lot more than the next guy, but I think I'd get over it if the only women available were killer zombie-vampires. Also this kind of normal joe, deciding that he's going to read a couple library books and figure out the vaccine for the vampire plague seemed pretty unrealistic.

My favorite of the short stories was "Witch War", definitely cool and creepy. It should have been a Twilight Zone episode. There's also one with the best line. In response to "When did she die?" - the answer, "As soon as I get home." ( )

9/10

I Am Legend was absolutely amazing, I just wish it were longer. I love the inner struggles that Robert Neville goes through. Despite the fact that this book creates all the typical zombie tropes (survival in a house, scavenge for supplies, defend house against evil of the night), the book does not feel tropey in the slightest. This is definitely due to the large focus on the internal conflict, rather than the external conflict. And obviously, (to anyone that has read it, it goes without saying) the ending is incredible and gives a ton of meaning to the title of the book. ( )

These are not the kind of stories you want to be reading when the power is out and you live in the attic of a creaky old Victorian house with only one exit. ( )

Clever! Unlike the film. ( )