The novel, I Am Legend is written by Richard Matheson and is first published in

1954. Concurrently, the 1950s is notable because of the Cold War between the
United States of America and the Soviet Union. The conflict between the Americans
and the Soviets caused social turmoil and unrest among the citizens of the world
due to the rise of communism and the threat of nuclear war. The emergence of the
vampires in the novel following the war that caused the spread of virus depicts the
end of World War II and the start of the social anxiety amongst the people of the
world during the 1950s. Furthermore, it also establishes the capabilities of man in
causing both self and global destruction. The fear of the other or the unknown is an
integral part of the horror genre. In this case, the unknown being feared initially are
the vampires which is a representation of the spread of the ideology of Communism
and the Communist regime. The alienation of a protagonist is a key feature of the
horror genre. As the only living and surviving human on earth, Neville experiences
existential crisis. Nevilles difference with the rest of the new world forces him to
isolation. However, through the development of the story, Robert Nevilles character
gradually becomes the unknown and the feared creature while the rest of the
population transformed into vampires. Nevilles character is evidently the odd one
out from the rest of the new world thus becoming the feared and unknown creature.