I Am Legend

I Am Legend is a 1954 science fiction novel by Richard Matheson about the last man alive in Los Angeles. (He actually lives in a suburb of what was then a not-so-built-up L.A.) The book takes place in the then-future of 1976-1979, and opens with the monotony of his day, which we learn is a monotony of horror. Every day he makes repairs to his house, boarding up windows, stringing and hanging garlic, disposing of the bodies on his lawn...

Related Topics:
1954 - Science fiction - Richard Matheson

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As the story unfolds, we discover that although Robert Neville is the last man alive, he is not alone.

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He is the sole survivor of a pandemic of a bacterium that causes vampirism. He lives in a house fortified against nocturnal attacks by the infected, and sallying forth by daylight to kill the vampires besieging him.

Related Topics:
Pandemic - Bacterium - Vampirism

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Eventually, the protagonist becomes a source of terror to the creatures. Just as vampires were regarded as a legendary monster that preyed on the vulnerable humans in their beds, Neville has become the last of a dead breed; a mythical figure that kills the vampires while they are sleeping in their refuges.

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