Review of ‘I Am Legend’ by Richard Matheson

It is the fault of writers like Richard Matheson that the vampire genre of horror novels became outmoded and cliché. But I cannot dislike him for that, because with ‘I Am Legend,’ Richard has done what I so love, in creating a cross-genre novel. Straddling horror and science fiction, I Am Legend tells the tale of Robert Neville, the last living man on Earth, when a plague has caused the spread of vampirism throughout the whole of humankind.

While I was constantly aware that, at the time, vampires had not been done to death, I always had it in the back of my mind that, whenever I read anything about what publishers want, they always say ‘no vampires’. Writing in the 50’s, Matheson was not to know the difficulty that modern authors would face when trying to bring an original slant to the vampire story. He had only Dracula, and one or two others, to draw on. It is rather amusing to think that, today, Matheson would probably not have got this book published, especially not as his first novel.

I am Legend contains many of the standard vampire myths, including the fear of mirrors, the cross, garlic. At the beginning it seems that the science fiction element is missing, and it concentrates on the horror. It paints a tale of loneliness, of survival, of one man’s struggle to come to terms with a world that has become completely alien to him. Robert Neville is the face of humanity in this story. He has found some solace in routine, and in hunting by day, killing the living dead that walk at night. He struggles with his loneliness, he seeks comfort in his whiskey, he spends months tortured by the nightly shouts of vampires, especially the voice of a vampire that was, in life, his friend.

Over the course of the novel, Neville explores the nature of the vampire. Here is where the story becomes science fiction, leaving behind the horror-story. With halting steps, Neville investigates using the tools left over from the fall of society. Sometimes I found the ‘scientific’ explanations for the vampire myth to be somewhat weak. I was not sure how much was intended to sound weak, perhaps pointing out that Neville has learned all he has from books, and has little knowledge of scientific methodology. He is, perhaps, making most of it up as he goes along. However, a lot of what is explained sounds plausible. I found myself wondering if Matheson himself believed in vampires, or wanted to, and was trying to find ways to explain all the common vampire mythologies.

The modern approach to similar vampire stories seems to be to ignore those parts of the vampire myth that are based in superstition: the cross and mirrors, are conveniently disregarded, except in the rare story where vampires are demonic, rather than viral in nature. Matheson’s explanations draw on a variety of scientific disciplines, none of which sit entirely comfortably on my scientific shoulders. I am not a biologist, and I have no knowledge of bacteriology or physiology, so I could not speak to the rigour of his methods, or the truth in his explanations. But, from a scientific gut feeling, some worked and some didn’t.

Again I come back to the fact that this was written in the 1950’s. Perhaps Matheson had researched as rigorously as he could, knew all their was to know, and to people, even scientists, in the 50’s it all sounded perfectly reasonable. I would like to think so. And even if that isn’t true, it doesn’t matter. Because at its core, I Am Legend is a fantastic story. Neville was a stunningly crafted character, resilient but astoundingly human, with the incredible desire just to survive that many would lack in a similar circumstance. He is curious and inquisitive and he demonstrates the ability to adapt to the harshest of circumstance.

The writing is carefully crafted. Small details that seem to be almost incidental in the story come back again, with significance. I am Legend has barely a wasted word, which is a wonderful relief after reading verbose and poorly edited works of more modern fiction. It flips between anxious intensity and near-despair, amusement and raw survival instinct.

Despite my scientific scepticism, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and towards the end it was more and more difficult to put it down. This book would appeal equally to readers of horror and readers of SF. It is another title well deserving of the honoured classification of ‘SF Masterwork’.