Inspirations

Since everyone else is talking about things near and dear to them, I might as well follow the pattern. I read…a lot. One of my favorite novels of is I am Legend. Not to be confused with the painfully bad new remake of the film, the novel is a beautifully composed piece taking place between 1976 and 1979 (it was written in 1954) during which time a virus sweeps through the world, changing people into a form of vampires and bringing the newly-dead back to life.

Though I am Legend is often classified as a vampire novel, it goes much farther than that. It popularized the tale of an apocalyptic world brought about by a disease and the quest for its cure. Note that while the film’s version of the story has Robert Neville (the main character) already knowing that the vampirism is caused by the virus, while the novel version shows Robert’s quest to discover the source of the sickness and cure it.

In an earlier post, Conor talks about zombie stories, well, those stories are based off of I am Legend (or site it as inspiration). The director of Night of the Living Dead, George A. Romero, acknowledges the novel’s influence. The film shares similarities with Last Man on Earth, which is a direct adaptation of I am Legend. Stephen King said “I think the author who influenced me the most as a writer was Richard Matheson. Books like I am Legend were an inspiration to me” (the back of the book). This level of influence is incredible for a novel of this kind. It has been adapted to film three times (though none of the films come close to the original story) and seven more site it as inspiration.

I am Legend is very difficult to classify in terms of the types of supernatural texts. Elements of the story can fit into nearly every category we’ve discussed. It is science fiction because the spread of the virus was linked to dust storms that had been caused by the use of nuclear weapons. Given the time period this was written in, there was a great deal of fear surrounding nuclear weapons since we didn’t (and don’t) know the full extent of what they can do. This also makes it speculative fiction because, at the time, a catastrophe caused by nuclear war was a legitimate concern. The story is also horror because the results of the virus was a form of vampires and involved the dead coming back to life to attack the living. It can even be considered paranormal documentary given the level of details when Robert is searching to understand the virus and his many scientific experiments to attempt to cure the victims. I am Legend is a very well-rounded (and at times confusing) story. A story that was considered the “father of modern vampire stories” and provided the inspiration for so many more.

Inspiration is a powerful tool. Where does the inspiration for supernatural stories come from? Sure some of them cite other supernatural stories, but they had to be inspired somewhere.