I am Legend and Other Stories by Richard Matheson

I loved this movie and have always wanted to read the book to see what the differences were. There were many. The story takes place in California, not New York. Robert Neville isn't a scientist, he's just a regular guy. His wife and daughter don't die during an evacuation, they die from the virus. Later he has to stake his wife when she comes back after he buries her. His vampire nemesis used to be his best friend. The woman that is a survivor in the movie doesn't have a son in the book. She ends up being a vampire sent to spy on him. In the book, there are two kinds of vampires, ones that are living and ones that are dead (I know, it's confusing). The living ones are more sophisticated and are the ones who capture him at the ending and kill him. They also kill all the dead vampires. The vampires also sleep during the day, they don't just hang out in dark buildings. Some of my favorite parts in the movie weren't in the book. In the movie where he set up the mannequins in town and would talk to them. It showed how crazy a person could get after being isolated from other people for so long. Also the part when the vampires catch him in the trap and the sun setting was so suspenseful. In the book, there is a similar scene where he forgets to wind his watch and by the time he realizes it, he's late getting home and the vampires are there waiting. One thing the movie doesn't really make clear, is why it's called "I am Legend". I just assumed it was because he was a legend because of what he did or whatever. In the book when he's captured by the vampires, he looks out the window of his cell and sees the vampires looking at him from outside. He realizes that they are terrified of him because regular people weren't supposed to exist anymore. Their roles were reversed. Instead of the vampire being the legend, he was.

The other stories in the book weren't great at all. In fact, I can't remember most of them since it's been at least a week since I finished the book. If you end up reading this book, I recommend skipping all the rest of the stories. I would probably give them 2.5 stars.