In 1954, Gold Medal Books published a new science fiction horror novel by Richard Matheson titled "I Am Legend". The story is set in Los Angeles, where the protagonist, Robert Neville, is the sole survivor of a vampire-like virus pandemic. He roams during the day and hides at night, while trying to research a vaccine to cure the disease and destroy the social structure of the new human zombies.
"I Am Legend" is hailed as the first modern vampire novel and has had a profound influence on the subsequent zombie genre. Scholars of the field speculated that such an impactful story would inevitably be adapted for the silver screen. Indeed, in 1964, the now-defunct American International Pictures (AIP) adapted it into the film "The Last Man on Earth". Although it did not achieve box office success, it garnered a lofty reputation and status, pre-dating the 1968 "Night of the Living Dead" by four years.
