I Am Legend
Matheson, Richard
Paperback
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Reviews:
"One of the most important writers of the twentieth century."--Ray Bradbury

"I think the author who influence me the most as a writer was Richard Matheson. Books like I Am Legend were an inspiration to me." --Stephen King

"Matheson is one of the great names in American terror fiction."The Philadelphia Inquirer

"Matheson inspires, it's as simple as that."Brian Lumley

Matheson's 1954 novel did not win any awards, has been adapted to film 4 times, and been adapted to comic form.  Yet, it is a key influential novel for the creation of the vampire and zombie subgenres that we have today (and seem to be very popular).  In particular I Am Legend was important in the popularization of several key themes in these subgenres: the apocalypse brought about by disease, use of a scientific (or even biological) explaination behind vampirism and zombies, and the use of the two for social critique. 

In the original I Am Legend, as verses the 2007 film, the "zombies" are vampiric creatures, infected during life or after death.  They are UV sensitive, intelligent, and the main character, Robert Neville, is the only surviving non-infected human.  The beginning of the novel illustrates how the vampiric/infected humans are creatures of legend, anathama, the "other" but by the end of the novel Neville relizes that he is the creature of legend, the outcast "other,"  the "biological deviant." His last thought before death is "[I am} a new supersitition entering the unassailable fortress of forever.  I am legend." Thus the title of the novel.

Matheson's novel also inspired the popular zombie movies Night of the Living Dead - Director George A. Romero has commented that his adaptation of I Am Legend, The Last Man on Earth, influenced Night of the Living Dead.  The films 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later as well as the Resident Evil trilogy are also somewhat influenced by Matheson's work.  Each work of the basis that the Zombies were created by some kind of biological agent, a virus that is usally created by humans. 

Zombie literature has a large influence in our culture.  We, as people, are fascinated by the grotesque, the fantastic, and the bizarre.  We also fear death.  Many of our legends, myths, and fantastic stories (and even religion) center around the defiance of death and what consequences there may be for not dying.  Whether it's just morbid fascination or the cultural manifestation of our fear of death the amount of literature that plays on the theme of death/rebirth(or reanimation) is fascinating.  And it's always great to know why all the great writers/directors are doing what they're doing now.