Back in January I went to a scrapbook retreat out in Primm (Stateline), Nevada. The hotel I stayed in had a small theatre. They were playing “I am Legend”. I did make a point of hitting the theatre while there because this was one movie I had wanted to see.
I really enjoyed the movie, it kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. It was one that I knew I wanted to see again.
When it was released on video, I requested it from Netflix. When it arrived I sat and watched it two times in a row.
When the credits rolled after the second time, I noted that it was based on something written by Richard Matheson. Not an author I was familiar with so off I went to the online Library Request system and checked around.
Turns out Richard Matheson wrote a novella called “I am Legend” back in 1954!!!! While the movie takes place in our near future, the novella actually takes place in 1976.
I finished the novella today and I can honestly say that while the movie shared a similar “framework” to the novella, they were radically different.
The thing about Richard Matheson that I found very interesting was that two of my favorite suspense/thriller writers, Stephen King and Dean Koontz, said that it was Richard Matheson’s work that really inspired them to start writing and pretty much pushed them to explore the thriller genre.
I feel like I stumbled on a gem and wanted to share my find. The book I got from the Library had “I am Legend” as well as a about 20 of Matheson’s short stories…all of which were great reading. If you enjoy King and/or Koontz, you should really check Matheson out of the Library!!!
I recently watched “The Last Man on Earth” based on this same novella. It came out in ’64 and starred Vincent Price.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058700/
Interesting. We got the “I Am Legend” video and I agree it’s a great thriller.
I’ll have to check out Matheson’s work.
Thanks for the info.