It’s hard to believe that it’s autumn and almost Halloween living in near-seasonless SoCal, where the high today is 95F (a balmy 35C). The high wind warning, at least, is creating obliging scratching at the windows from branches and leaves all tousled about. It’s a far cry from my childhood, where costumes were made to fit over snowsuits. To feel a little more seasonable, I’ve joined in on the tradition of ready spooky books: The Woman In Black by Susan Hill, and I Am Legend by Richard Matheson. Both of these stories have been made into movies, but if you’ve watched the movies and think you know the stories…you’re wrong.
“For I see that then I was still all in a state of innocence, but that innocence, once lost, is lost forever.”
THE WOMAN IN BLACK (MOVIE SPOILERS)
Alice Drablow is dead. Eel Marsh House lies empty, and it’s up to the young solicitor Arthur Kipps to sort through the unfortunate mountains of paperwork left behind. All too soon, Kipps discovers there is a tragic, horrific secret hidden in the fog. A secret that will leave an indelible mark upon his life — and the lives of those around him. Vengeance, after all, is insatiable.
If you’ve seen the movie, you know that the ghost of Jennet Humfrye haunts the Eel Marsh House and the grounds that surround it. Arthur Kipps tries his hardest to reunite her in death with her son by removing the body from the marsh and returning it to the house. Doing so does nothing to stop the pure malevolent rage that is the ghost, and she lures Kipps and his son to their deaths. It is tragic, but in death, Kipps and his son are reunited with Mrs. Kipps, Arthur’s wife who died in childbirth. A melancholy but almost happy ending for our dear protagonist. He is not so lucky within the book, wherein returning to London is only the beginning of Kipps’ true torment. Surviving Eel Marsh House is not, necessarily, a blessing.
4/5 Stars
“The last man in the world was irretrievably stuck with his delusions.”
I AM LEGEND (MOVIE SPOILERS)
Vampires are real. They shout and scream at Robert Neville nightly, attempting to drive him mad and draw him out of his well-protected home. By day, Neville repairs what they break and hunts down as many as he can before the sun sets. Rinse, repeat. Until one day when his world changes and Neville discovers: he is not alone.
The book and movie have very little overlap. The movie Robert Neville has spent his years with his dog trying to save the weird zombie/vampire/monsters that stalk the night. He runs experiments to try and find a cure. Neville becomes legendary by discovering the cure and dying to save humanity (infected and immune alike). The book Robert Neville has spent his years finding better ways to kill the vampires, only trying to find a cure after curiosity and desperation get the better of him. The book is far darker than the movie, Neville less likeable but perhaps far more realistic of how the common man would handle this sudden desolation. The ending and his relationship with the woman are far more impressive in the book (something I suggest not spoiling for yourself before reading it).
3/5 Stars
-L.J.
