I don’t do horror movies. Ever. I don’t even really do thrillers. Why? I get too freaked out. I can’t seem to disengage from the screen. I have sat in dark theatres and whispered to myself “It’s just a movie” a hundred times. It’s the same way with tv shows. I know this isn’t rational, but it is what it is.

Unfortunately, I also hate unresolved stories. For instance, when I was in high school, I walked out of Pet Sematary in the theatre, but the next day I went to the library and got the book. That pattern has held into adulthood, and provides the subject of this review: Richard Matheson’s book I Am Legend.

The book was published in 1954, and the edition that I got at the local library has an introduction written by Stephen King in 2000. It is a short novel, stretching to only 161 pages in this Orion impring Gollancz edition, printed in 2006. Four movies have been made of the book, beginning with Charlton Heston’s The Omega Man and most recently, of course, the Will Smith vehicle released late last year. It was the trailers for this Will Smith version, which took its title from the book, that roped me into the story. I wanted to know what happened, but there was no way that I was going to go to the movie and subject myself to two hours of cold sweats and a churning stomach. So I read the spoilers on wikipedia, where I also learned that the book ends differently. Intrigued, I found a copy and sat down to read.

The basic plot is probably familiar – a massive infection wipes out much of humanity, and that segment which survives is transformed into a vampire, with the exception of Robert Neville, who is somehow immune. He has been forced to take drastic measures, such as stringing his house with garlic, boarding up all his windows, and reinforcing his doors just to protect himself from the vampires, who crave his human blood. Of course, they only come out at night, so he is free to do whatever he likes during the day. He spends his days gathering supplies, conducting experiments, and hunting and killing those who are infected, who spend their days in a coma.

Matheson’s novel is as much a story about despair and loneliness as it is about vampires and killing. Robert Neville is profoundly alone, and has been for months. He spends his nights drinking and listening to classical music on his record player. Occasionally he gets into his car and goes somewhere during the day. But he is always alone. He has no one to talk to, no one to interact with. His encounter with a dog in the second half of the book is his only real contact, and Neville does everything possible to befriend it.

The sense of solitude is complete, and in Robert Neville we have a protagonist who is at once sympathetic and discomfiting. Before long, however, the reader has identified with Neville, and I found myself encouraging him to do certain things. By the time the book ends, I found myself fully identified with Neville.

A couple of other notes worth, er, noting: the book’s brevity is a strength. There is no wasted word here, no long excursions in irrelevant description or action. It is elegant in its simplicity. You have few characters, few plot twists, just a man, alone. This is a real strength. And the ending is brilliant, the book is truly good to the last word.

There are, of course, a couple of weaknesses, mostly due to it being 50 years old. Modern readers will notice that the descriptions of microscopes, cars, record-players and his understandings of bacteria/germs, etc are dated. But these are minor issues in the story.

I Am Legend is a simple book that is excellent in conception and excellent in execution. Simple, direct, compelling, easily worth a couple of hours reading. It is not surprising that several movies have been made from its story.