Journal Entry 1 by choclaholic from San Antonio, Texas USA on Tuesday, March 15, 2005

2005/17

I have been on a big Richard Matheson kick lately, and while browsing around for titles at Amazon.com, they informed me I may also like this particular book. Supposedly a Vampire classic, it had somehow completley escaped my notice. The descriptions of it I read certainly piqued my interest, so I bought it and I'm glad I did....it's so good it's going to be gracing my permanent collection. I will make it available for loan to my BC friends, however.

This is the 170 page novella of Robert Neville, the last living normal human on Earth. Everyone else has mysteriosuly been turned into a blood-sucking, night-roving vampire-like living-dead creature. And they are all out to get Neville.

This, then, is the story of Neville's 3 year struggle for survival; his quest for answers to the cause of the mysterious plague; his search for a cure and understanding of the vampire mythos; and ultimately his ability to keep hope alive in a hopeless situation.

This was a quick easy read and, in my opinion, flawlessly executed.

This 1954 book was supposedly the inspiration for the movies The Last Man on Earth starring Vincent Price and The Omega Man starring Charleton Heston. It also seemed to me I could feel many modern day horror stories being spawned from this, including the likes of The Night of the Living Dead, Parasite Eve, and Ringu.

This is a very human story, and while you read it, you wonder what you might do if you were in Neville's shoes. Matheson made it seem all very real and plausible, too. Highly recommended to anyone seeking a good pyschological adventure.