Bloodlines
If you are a fan of Richard Matheson’s I Am Legend (the novel, that is), then this book is a MUST for you.
Bloodlines: Richard Matheson’s DRACULA, I AM LEGEND, and Other Vampire Stories.
Edited by Mark Dawidziak and published by Gauntlet Press (2006).
This book contains much more than what is indicated in the subtitle. Here’s what lies in store for you.
1. The full text of Matheson’s screenplay for “Dracula.”
The film, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, directed by Dan Curtis and starring Jack Palance as the Count, was released in 1974. The script is as Matheson typed it, with corrections and changes.
2. The full text of Matheson’s own movie script for I Am Legend.
Entitled The Night Creatures (1957), his version was never filmed. Given the attempts that have been made to adapt the novel to film (including the most recent travesty), it is refreshing to read how the author himself would have done it. An extra bonus is a copy of the infamous letter that the Motion Picture Association sent to Hammer films, requesting key changes in the text. Here’s a sample:
“page 10: The word ‘damned’ should be dropped”
“page 19: the word ‘hell’ should be eliminated”
“page 47: note the stake driving on this page”
“page 51: unacceptable use of ‘Oh God’”
“page 62: please note gruesomeness at bottom of page”
You get the picture!
3. The full text of the novel I Am Legend
4. Short stories by Matheson.
These include “Blood Son” (also published as “Drink My Blood” - perhaps my favorite of all vampire short stories).
Interspersed throughout the book are editorial commentary, appreciations and tributes to Matheson.