Gattaca

In a distant future where parents are encouraged to genetically engineer their children, every new generation is expected to form an ideal society. There is no severe punishment for fathers and mothers who keep their kids perfectly natural, but those born the usual way are bound to work menial jobs. Vincent is a natural-born individual, whereas his brother Anton is an engineered one. Vincent is better than his brother in nearly every way into their teens, except he also has a 99% chance of having heart failure by the time he’s forty.

Stowaway

Being trapped in space with very little hope of returning home triggers a quickly escalating fear. Regardless of the decision taken, there is never a plausible win-win situation. With a heavy emphasis on the internal horror of loneliness, Stowaway delivers both a heart-breaking spectacle and a heart-warming treatment in one brilliant run. 

I Am Mother

There doesn’t seem to be anyone left on Earth except for a young girl under the care of an android mother in an underground laboratory. Inside the facility, the mother also looks after a large number of unborn human embryos. The sudden appearance of a stranger puts a strain on the Mother-Daughter relationship. What the android has been telling the girl may be nothing but lies after all. Outside the confines of the facility, there are still remnants of humanity – survivors of a genocide masterminded by androids.

Awake

A solar flare causes a temporary blackout, but a permanent inability to sleep in humans. There are only three people in the world immune to the condition: Matilda, Noah, and an older woman who has been taken into a secret lab for research. When the old woman dies, Matilda and Noah become primary targets for research and are perhaps the sole hopes of restoring humanity from the insanity triggered by sleep deprivation.

Mars Attacks!

A massive failure upon release, Mars Attacks! is now regarded as a comedy sci-fi great. It also is dystopian in the sense that alien invasion and takeover threaten the very existence of humanity. Tim Burton took an old-school approach to the presentation, bringing a 1950s vibe into a 1990s feature. Some say it was deliberate humorous take on the much more seriously crafted Independence Day released months earlier.

Mobile Suit Gundam

Overpopulation forces humans to colonize space. In the furthest frontiers of the new universe, some colonies want to stand as their own entities devoid of any political ties to the Earth Federation. The subsequent war destroys what’s left of Earth. A teenage pilot named Amuro Ray steps up, flying a giant fighter robot known as the RX-78-2 Gundam.

What Happened to Monday

Still on the same subject of overpopulation, a possible solution is to limit every household to having one child only. Breaking the rule is punishable by euthanasia. A grandfather doesn’t want any of his seven identical granddaughters arrested and executed. His workaround is to name them after days of the week. Only one girl is allowed to come out each day, pretending to be the same girl every time. And then one day, Monday doesn’t return home.

The Book of Eli

A nuclear holocaust has turned much of the United States into a wasteland. Eli sets out on a journey to deliver a book to a group of people inhabiting the Alcatraz Island. It is not an easy journey, especially after he comes across Carnegie, who is also on the hunt for the same book Eli carries. Mesmerizing action sequences and a backdrop of endless desert blend into a satisfying dystopian visual treatment.

World War Z

Brad Pitt is Gerry Lane, a former UN investigator brought back to discover the origin of a zombie outbreak and to search for a possible defense against the attack. With hard work and a tiny bit of luck, Lane comes to realize that the madness-inducing virus only infects the healthy. People have to be sick to stand a chance against the brutal onslaught of the undead.

C. H. U. D.

An abbreviation for Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers, the 1984 film is all about what the title says. A photojournalist discovers that the underground population of New York City starts disappearing, leading to a seemingly farfetched theory about the presence of cannibals in the vicinity. When he figures out the theory is actually true, the photojournalist must step up and stop the horror.

The City of Lost Children

Krank is unable to dream, a condition that makes him suffer from premature aging. To slow down his growth rate, he devises a plan to steal dreams from children in a nearby city. Somebody has to quickly put Krank’s sinister dream-harvesting terror to an end, otherwise innocent kids will no longer have the joy of childhood. 

Light of My Life

A plague has rendered British Columbia devoid of women. The only female in existence is a teen girl named Rags. Her father, known only as Dad in the film, is determined to keep her safe by never staying in one spot for too long. Light of My Life is a package of father-daughter love in the struggle against difficult and unlikely circumstances.

The Blackout

An attack of extraterrestrial origin has made the world go dark. Everything powered by electricity no longer works. The only place unaffected by the strange phenomenon is a small region in Eastern Europe, comprised of northern Ukraine, western Russia, Belarus, and southern Finland. When the aliens actually come to invade, they concentrate the assault on this area. 

Akira

Another slick mixture of sci-fi and dystopian genres, Akira is a cyberpunk anime set in a much-changed future version of Tokyo. In a city where public unrest and gang warfare are commonplace, the government runs a secret experiment to develop telekinesis power in humans. Shotaro, leader of a biker gang, and his friend Tetsuo find themselves involved in the project in the worst way. 

Possessor

Future technology allows certain individuals to transfer their mind and soul into another person’s body. Tasya takes full advantage of the technology for her work as a contract killer. Over time she gets overly accustomed to living pretentiously as someone else. She gradually has difficulties returning fully as herself and must find a solution. 

Mother/Android

Not to be mistaken with the previously mentioned I Am Mother, this 2021 dystopian film sets events during a future full-blown battle between humans and robots. As the machines develop advanced self-awareness, they embark on a mission to eradicate the people from the planet. Georgia, Sam, and their unborn child are struggling to find refuge amidst the war. 

The Fifth Element

All the actions, drama, and comedy in The Fifth Element are presented through a line of dystopian narrative. A 23rd century taxi driver named Dallas involuntarily gets involved in a cosmic battle when Leeloo drops into his ride. Leeloo is hunted by extraterrestrial force for being the embodiment of an ancient weaponry, and thus, is a threat to world power.

The Platform

A stark social allegory set in a vertical prison where food descends from the top down. Residents on upper levels gorge, leaving scraps for those below—revealing brutal class dynamics. The film follows Goreng, who intentionally enters this system to test its limits. A visceral, thought‑provoking commentary on inequality and human nature.

Okja

This emotionally resonant film follows a young girl and her genetically modified super-pig, as they confront a powerful corporation—exploring animal rights, corporate greed, and global inequality.

Idiocracy

A satirical take on a future America wilting under collective stupidity. In a society that’s forgotten how to think, a man preserved in stasis finds himself the smartest person alive.

Blade Runner 2049

This sequel expands the bleak world of replicants. Officer K uncovers a secret that may topple society and seeks out former blade runner Rick Deckard in a visually striking, philosophical journey.

Equilibrium

In a world where emotions are banned and controlled by daily drugs, an enforcement officer begins to rebel after missing his dose—leading to explosive action and moral conflict.

Spiderhead

In a futuristic prison, inmates serve as test subjects for emotion‑altering drugs. Psych experiments blur morality and free will in this psychological dystopian thriller.

Annihilation

A team of scientists enter a mysterious quarantined zone that warps genetics and reality. A haunting journey into environmental mutation and human psychology.

Paradise

In this German dystopia, the poor can literally sell years of their lifespan to survive, exacerbating class divides. A desperate husband seeks to reclaim his wife’s stolen time.

People Also Ask: Dystopian Movie Edition

Before we finish up, let’s go through some of the most common questions people are asking about Dystopian Movies:

What are some more dystopian movies?

The following list are some more dystopian movies:

• The Matrix series
• 12 Monkeys
• 1984
• The Man Who Fell to Earth
• A.I. Artificial Intelligence
• Akira
• Alphaville
• Any Batman movie or show
• Blade Runner
• Cherry 2000
• The Hunger Games series
• Death Race
• Ghost in the Shell

Is The Lorax dystopian?

The Lorax, a children’s book by Dr. Seuss, can be interpreted as having elements of dystopian themes. It portrays a society in which corporations exploit the environment for profit, leading to ecological destruction and harm to the animals that live there. This can be seen as a warning about the consequences of unchecked industrialization and environmental degradation. However, the book is primarily a fable and its overall tone is hopeful, as the protagonist is able to plant a seed that will help restore the damaged ecosystem.

Does dystopia have to be in the future?

No, dystopia does not necessarily have to be set in the future. Dystopian stories can be set in the present or in the past, as well as in imagined future societies. The important characteristic of a dystopian work is its portrayal of a society that is oppressive, controlled, or otherwise undesirable. The setting, whether in the future or not, is used to explore issues such as the abuse of power, the dangers of technology, environmental degradation, or the loss of individual freedom.

Fancy more ruined worlds, radioactive wastelands, and survivalist chaos?

Have a wander through our other post-apocalyptic articles. We’ve got rogue AIs, dusty highways, mutant creatures, and everything in between. Go on, treat yourself to something grim and gripping.

The post 25 of the Best Dystopian Movies on Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu appeared first on Stories At Worlds End.

The Not-So Hypothetical Effects

With the possibility of nuclear war, it possibly involves the United States and Russia. It’s such an old cliché that has been the staple of apocalypse fiction since decades ago, perhaps even before the Cold War era. Everybody knows a nuclear fallout between the two countries would be terrible, but how to describe devastation, exactly?

It’s difficult to map the damage with precision because there’s no way to know how many nuclear warheads both countries will use, which cities they target with each missile, and whether other countries choose to get involved. So, let’s just assume the worst.

Whether the United States, or Russia starts the war is irrelevant. It doesn’t really matter who pulls the trigger first; when one launches a missile, the other undoubtedly fires back even before the first warhead reaches the target. A ballistic missile launched from a U.S. submarine stationed west of Norway could reach Russia in about 10 minutes; a Russian warhead from north of Canada could hit the U.S. just a few minutes later. The first strikes from the two countries would most likely fry all electronic devices and cripple power grids within the blast radius, and the second strikes are aimed at each other’s nuclear launch facilities and the command centers. It takes about 30 minutes for a land-based intercontinental ballistic missile to reach the target.

Russia and the United States have around 11,000 nuclear warheads combined, split roughly half between the two countries; and that’s only the confirmed number. While not every warhead is created equal (some have a larger yield than others), it wouldn’t be a farfetched idea that each has enough power to cripple a major city in the target country. Every ground-level impact generates a fireball with intense heat before the radioactive mushroom cloud rises to the sky. The explosion vaporizes everyone within the radius, triggers fires, and causes blindness even further away. Buildings and many infrastructures collapse because of the blast wave, increasing the casualties.

France and the U.K. are under the obligation to defend the U.S. as stated in NATO’s Article 5, so Russia will probably strike first to minimize chances of devastating retaliatory strikes from the alliance. Firestorms hit major cities, and the effect is exacerbated by winds that act like a massive fan to intensify and enlarge the flames. Everything that can burn will soon be wrapped in fire, glass melt, metals bend, and the asphalt road is now just a stretch of boiling hot liquid.

Believe it or not, the immediate effects of a nuclear blast (the explosions, firestorm, EMP, and radioactivity) are only the beginning of endless nightmares. A decade-long nuclear winter, caused by the smoke of nuclear firestorms, is as merciless as they come.

The atomic bombs detonated in Hiroshima and Nagasaki nearly 80 years ago were much less powerful than today’s hydrogen bombs. In a big, heavily populated city like Moscow, there will be even bigger black smoke. And the firestorms generated by modern warheads send the smoke as high as the stratosphere. Since the altitude is higher than rain clouds, nothing can wash out the smoke. Sunlight continues to increase the black smoke’s temperature, keeping it afloat for a decade or so. Considering the speed of high-altitude jet streams, it won’t take longer than just a few days for the smoke to cover not only the skies of Russia, but the entire Northern Hemisphere.

In case you forget, the Northern Hemisphere encompasses the entire North America and Europe, about 10% of South America, two-thirds of Africa, and most of Asia including China, Japan, and India. Black smoke in the stratosphere blocks the sunlight. Earth is rendered freezing cold even during summer. Farmlands in any region in the Northern Hemisphere will not survive. Around 5 billion will die from starvation. The vast majority (about 99%) of the populations in the U.S., Europe, Russia, and China are gone. Will it bounce back? Highly unlikely, and certainly not within a decade.

How Do Technologies Help?

If the war doesn’t end up involving countries in the Southern Hemisphere, humanity still has a good chance of “not going extinct.” Australia and South Africa are pretty far south, so they may still maintain 21st century technological development. They have records, books, and presumably working Internet servers, so the world is not over yet. They also have enough scientists, academics, engineers, and skilled professionals to help rebuild the destroyed world. This, too, will have to wait until the Northern Hemisphere is deemed ready for occupancy and safe from radiation. In the meantime, human civilization will continue in the Southern Hemisphere only.

But what if the war affects the entire world?

In that case, you have to be very optimistic to even suggest that some people survive after a worldwide nuclear fallout. Let’s say there are indeed survivors. A small group of people can build a rudimentary hydroelectric generator, so everyday electrical devices can still work. The Internet is lost as well as all forms of remote communication because the network just isn’t there anymore. Computers are also usable, but once the devices break, it’s going to be very difficult to get replacements. Factories are gone. There’s no facility to produce microchips and cars. You can’t even rely on solar-powered devices simply because, well, the sunlight no longer reaches the ground.

We think basic technologies, like hand tools and farming equipment rather than calculators or wristwatches, will be the key to survival. If there are survivors somehow miraculously in an area unaffected by the gusting wind that carries radioactivity, there might also be some crops left intact, again thanks to an unexpected, miraculous series of events. Farming equipment is the first technology to manufacture, and then gradually over two decades when the black smoke slowly disappears, there will be power to help rebuild the civilizations as long as records of the old world knowledge still exist.

Do you think nuclear weapons make the world safer (due to the threat of mutually assured destruction) or more dangerous? Which is more likely to happen, nuclear fallout or asteroid impact? We’d love to hear from you.

Other Things You Might Want to Know

We had some nuclear disasters before, but we survived. How is the next time different?

The biggest difference is that all the previous nuclear disasters were localized, not worldwide. If one nation suffers from the lack of electricity and food production, the neighboring countries can provide help. In a global-scale catastrophe, nobody is helping anybody. No country will be willing to share resources, and that’s assuming they have anything left after the war.

What animals and plants are most likely to survive?

Life on Earth will survive even during prolonged nuclear winter and radioactivity, but humans might not be a surviving species. A lot of microbes have been found to be exceedingly resilient and capable of handling a huge amount of radiation over a long period. Scorpions can also survive.

How many nuclear bombs have been used in warfare?

Nuclear weapons have only been used twice in warfare – Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 during World War II.

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It’s surprising to see the lack of films that emphasize growing your own foods in the post-apocalyptic time. If everybody is scavenging for food, there won’t be anything left to eat after just several years. Canned goods, too, will go out of supply sooner than you think. While gardening isn’t exactly action-packed, it will make your post-apocalyptic survival much more manageable. And as a bonus, a high carbon garden fork is more than good enough to ward off even the most determined bullies. Assuming the apocalypse involves zombies and mutated worms, your fork can easily pierce their skulls like they’re overripe pumpkins.

Things to Know

Before you dig some holes in your fortified backyard, we need to remind you first that gardening isn’t always that easy, and even more so if you have no experience. A bit of planning and know-how can make all the difference between fresh produce for the taking and going hungry all year long. One of the first things to understand is that post-apocalyptic gardening has only one goal: to help you survive, not from boredom and idleness, but hunger. It doesn’t matter if your plants look as bad as they taste. Their main purpose is to sustain your life, and that’s about it. As for your lack of experience, there’s no time to learn, so you just have to wing it as you go.

Collect Water

Don’t expect to collect water from the tap. The post-apocalyptic world has no modern water supply system. Rain is likely scarce. Modern farmers devise complex irrigation systems precisely because they can’t solely rely on Mother Nature to provide them with enough rainfall for gardening or farming. If your environment is now mostly a desert wasteland, and you haven’t seen a single drop of rain for months, collect water from ground surfaces. Ditches and streams are good enough. Unless they’re heavily contaminated with radionuclides, the water should be fine for gardening. Keep in mind that you can use urine as fertilizer as well. We won’t discuss it here – all you need to know is that it works.

Build a Keyhole Garden

All the food waste and organic leftovers go into the compost bin. In case it suddenly rains, the bin will also collect the water. The resulting compost tea can only distribute its fertilizing benefits and the moisture to the garden. It might smell awful, but you really shouldn’t give it a thought, ever.

Plants to Grow

Don’t be greedy and plan to grow some flowering plants. Aesthetics are the least of your concern in post-apocalyptic gardening. You want easy, resilient plants that give nutrient-dense yield. Here are some crops to consider:

●      Beans: they can grow in bush or pole forms, and the seeds are packed with nutrients.

●      Potatoes: the starchy root crop is easy to grow and tastes good as well. You can even plant them in buckets or bags.

●      Sweet potatoes: when people say they love potatoes they haven’t had sweet potatoes in a long while. The greens of sweet potatoes are also edible.

●      Tomatoes: you don’t have to eat them while they’re fresh – dried potatoes are good enough for most people.

●      Spinach: even if you hate spinach, it’s a good thing to have leafy greens full of minerals and vitamins in an apocalypse garden.

Dried crops have longer shelf life. Save all you can after every harvest and start over as soon as possible. In the event the next crops fail, at least you still have some stash from the previous harvest. 

We think too many post-apocalyptic films depict the world as dry wastelands with abysmal plant life. A lot of such films seem to emulate the atmosphere of Mad Max 2. Has anyone forgotten the fact that the film is set in the Australian Outback, which has always been a desert to begin with? Remember even in Chernobyl, a place turned uninhabitable for humans because of nuclear disaster, there’s an abundance of plant life. In fact, nature has taken over everything in the abandoned city. Plants also grow during prolonged nuclear winter, in the permafrost.

How long do you think it will take for survivors in the post-apocalyptic world to re-establish farming/gardening? Do zombies eat fruits? We’d love to hear from you.

Other Things You Might Want to Know

In a post-apocalyptic desert wasteland, where does the food come from?

The most plausible answer is farming. Years after the apocalypse, food will be scarce. Animals can’t keep up with humans’ appetite for meat and canned foods are long gone. Our heroes and villains can’t engage in an all-out battle and intense car chases if they don’t have enough potatoes and beans sprinkled with dried tomatoes.

Does gardening make survival too easy?

Nothing is too easy in a post-apocalyptic world. To have a farm or garden that supports a small family, you need more land than you might think. And every inch of that land is an additional work. Think about the amount of produce you eat every week. If you combine that with bad weather and grasshopper invasion, what you get is a difficult survival. But yes, post-apocalyptic gardening is still better than none.

What about livestock?

If you have the chance to grow livestock, choose the species that reproduce quickly in large quantities. Rabbits and pigs are good choices, and they’re not picky eaters either.

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Black Hole Sun by Soundgarden

Many people think the music video for Black Hole Sun is just too creepy to love. It’s not exactly horror, but spooky enough to scare children away from the TV screen for a few minutes. It’s a somber tune with an impeccably written lyric. Some say Black Hole Sun is iridescent; depending on your mood and perspective, the song can soothe, uplift, unsettle, and even depress someone. It might even be all of those at the same time. Good music has its period of tensions and releases, but Black Hole Sun is almost entirely tension that drags you along with it, as if you’re on a psychedelic journey.

It’s The End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine) by REM

The title says it all. The tunes come straight at your face, and the lyric goes like a bombardment of political and pop culture references. Unless you’re a rapper, it’s probably the fastest song you’ll ever try to sing. It really doesn’t help that the lyric has no easily recognizable rhyme. Trying to memorize every word is a real struggle, but you wouldn’t feel underappreciated once you get to the remarkably catchy refrain. Some of the pop culture references sound a bit dated today, and everybody couldn’t care less about it.

Boom! by System of a Down

If you listen really hard, just about every song by System of a Down sounds like either an apocalypse is happening or you’re already in the gloomy post-apocalyptic time. “Boom!” certainly falls under the former category and pokes at the harsh reality that our world is under constant bombing. Part of the lyric says something to the effect that thousands of children are suffering from starvation, and yet billions are spent on weapons to bring about more deaths. The song came out at the height of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, and so you can expect SOAD’s usual characteristics of angry poetry, weird delivery of statistics, and of course, shouting chorus. Some parts of the lyric are vague, but enjoyable.

No World For Tomorrow by Coheed and Cambria

This one takes you in a slightly different direction. “No World for Tomorrow” hasn’t seen the apocalypse yet, but it’s coming, and the song calls on everyone to take part in the battle to prevent the doomsday. With a blend of fast-paced pieces, calls for action, and convoluted sci-fi narrative, you’d easily fall for the idea because the end-of-the-world is coming sooner than later. The song gives a genuine sense of urgency, as if the world will no longer be here by the time the song is over. Such a rush also feels honest, because realistically the apocalypse is not yet here. But we’re expecting its arrival, anxiously but with excitement at the same time.

Planet B by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard

Quite a mouthful name indeed. Like all the other tracks in the “Infest the Rats’ Nest” album, Planet B talks about the environment and how human civilization mistreats nature so badly to where the planet is damaged beyond repair. There is also a super bug so dangerous that people plan to escape Earth to survive. We, too, wonder about just how lethal the super bug actually is that you have to abandon a planet to stay away from a bug. It turns out the song is titled “Planet B” as a stark warning that there’s no Planet B, which makes sense? This is your standard (but not typical, because the distinction matters) thrash metal track with shredding guitars, gruff vocals, thundering drums, and chugging riffs; these sound like an apocalypse already.

We think it’s absolutely fine to take your shot of post-apocalyptic dose from music instead of films, TV shows, novels, or comics. Just about every other form of entertainment has its own way to depict the world in the aftermath of a doomsday, so there’s no reason music can’t do the same thing, too. The depiction might not be as explicit and descriptive as you’ll get from visual and text formats, but it’s not necessarily a bad thing. You have the freedom to interpret the tunes and lyrics as you see fit, and that’s what makes it even better.

Other Things You Might Want to Know

Some post-apocalyptic music videos to get the mood going:

• Tom Petty – You Got Lucky
• 2PAC – California Love
• Foster the People – Helena Beat
• Mushroomhead – The Heresy
• Five Finger Death Punch – House of the Rising Sun
• Lionface – No Hope State
• Lindsey Sterling – The Arena
• AHTCK – Antagonist
• Unleash the Archers – Tonight We Ride
• Undercode – Driven
• Rick Springfield – Bop Till You Drop
• V2A – Toxic
• Duran Duran – The Wild Boys
• Within Temptation – Paradise (What About Us?)
• Gary Numan – My Name is Ruin
• Britney Spears – Till the World Ends
• Scandal – The Warrior
• Billy Idol – Dancing with Myself
• Pearl Jam – Do the Evolution
• My Chemical Romance – Na Na Na
• Linkin Park – The Catalyst
• Heart – What About Love?
• Don Henley – All She Wants to do is Dance
• Public Enemy – GRID

Keep in mind that the music videos might be post-apocalyptic in nature, but the songs can have different themes.

What music genres are associated with post-apocalyptic aesthetics?

According to Aesthetics Wiki Fandom (yes, the internet is weird), there are at least five music genres typically associated with post-apocalyptic stuff, including Metal, Crust Punk, Aggrotech, Industrial, and Acoustic.

What are the worst post-apocalyptic movies?

It really is quite difficult to determine the worst of the worst, because you also have to take viewers’ subjectivity into account. For example, some people actually enjoy The Asylum films, regardless of how cheesy the acting and visual effects are. Instead of giving our own opinion about the matter, we figure it’s only best to give you a list based on Rotten Tomatoes’s scores.

• The 5th Wave (2016)
• The Swarm (1978)
• The Postman (1997)
• Space Truckers (1997)
• Babylon A.D. (2008)
• Left Behind (2014)
• Future World (2018)
• Solarbabies (1986)
• Mars Needs Women (1966)
• Megaforce (1982)

Keep in mind that Rotten Tomatoes has been wrong many times before, so you’re free to take their scoring system with the biggest grain of salt you have.

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The post Soundtrack for the Apocalypse: The Ultimate Survival Playlist appeared first on Stories At Worlds End.

• Flashlight: if “The Last of Us” is a lesson to learn (we know it’s not about a solar flare, but let’s just gloss over that fact for once), then a flashlight is the most important thing to have in a survival kit. When your food and water run out, at least you have something that shines like a beacon in the dark to help you find something to eat and drink. And please, pick a reliable flashlight that’s waterproof, shockproof, and dustproof. Have at least two flashlights and a lot of replaceable batteries.

• Water Filter: when the water supply system cannot run and the stores can’t use the cashier machine, bottled water is scarce. A portable water filtration device or water purification tablets should serve you well; carry both of them if you can. Choose a device with a massive filtration capacity (4000 liters or more) so you get to stay hydrated. Always have some canteens to store the already filtered water. Don’t drink everything at once. Keep in mind that military canteens can be used to boil water as well.

• Food: choose nutrient-dense foods that don’t take too much space in your backpack. Canned beans, dehydrated meals, and sugar-rich energy bars are dependable supplements. Some companies actually sell nutrient powders that you can mix with cold water, which means there’s no need to boil the water first.

• Fire: always include fire steel in your survival kit along with some lighters, tinder, and waterproof matches. One thing to remember is that you shouldn’t learn to make fire when you’re already in an emergency situation. Making fire can be tricky, so learn to do it when you don’t have to worry about the cold, the rain, and the dark.

• Radio: yes, solar flares kill the radio broadcast. But who knows? Perhaps a genius somewhere does some tech wizardry to the broadcasting devices and sends helpful messages to any listener. A nice NOAA radio will keep you informed about the latest danger and safe zones, and it can even function as a solar generator. Some radios also have a built-in compass and flashlight.

• First Aid Kit: a pack of first aid kit contains ointments and bandages to keep infections away in case you get injured. We know you’re good at crafting medicines from improvised materials, but we just feel safer using an already sterilized kit from the factory.

• Binocular: we’re talking about real military-grade optical binoculars here, not something a kid would use to play Rambo. Although high-quality binoculars still can’t help you look through the walls and into the future, they can definitely tell you what lies ahead and whether you should worry about alligators when filtering water on the riverbank.

We think that the main purpose of a survival kit is to help you stay alive and comfortable despite the dire situation, so it’s supposed to prepare you for everything. In a comic catastrophe like solar flares and asteroid impact, chances are you still have some buildings and bunkers intact; sleeping bags might be necessary in certain circumstances, but they’re not the priority. The same thing applies to an emergency whistle and duct tape. What you need is a pack of true essentials that will not run out until you can replenish them.

Other Things You Might Want to Know

Apart from the Carrington event, have there been other solar flares?

In February 2011, a solar storm disrupted GPS signals for a few minutes. It was a brief disturbance but might wreak havoc to commercial airplanes and ships that relied on GPS for navigation. And in April 2023, another solar event sent a burst of plasma toward the Earth. Two days later, a severe geomagnetic storm happened.

Do you need to include weapons in your survival kit?

Here is the thing: if you’re still alive in the aftermath of a solar event or an asteroid impact, chances are the disaster didn’t kill anyone outside the blast radius. It probably killed many people, but it wouldn’t likely cripple the nation’s ability to maintain law and order. Carrying a weapon for self-defense is never a terrible idea, though.

How to minimize damage in the event of a cosmic catastrophe?

It depends on the type of the catastrophe and its intensity. If you’re talking about a twenty-mile-wide asteroid, well, there is very little you can do to protect yourself, and the rest of humanity, for that matter. But let’s say the cosmic catastrophe is mild solar flares; here are some things you can do to minimize the damage:

• Use surge protectors to keep your electronics running within their power limit. Assuming the government issues a public warning with a time estimate, unplug all the electronics before the solar flare happens and wait until the dust settles before reconnecting them to the power outlets again.
• Have proper data backups. Use both cloud backup solution and offline backup.
• Plan for an alternative communication plan, such as a satellite phone, because the cell towers and landline might be damaged.
• Use alternative power sources, like solar panels or generators, for essential appliances.

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Post-Apocalyptic Characters

If you’re writing a story, no one else, but you should decide what it means to be good and bad people. This is kind of important because people might behave differently in a post-apocalyptic world. The old laws no longer apply, and the moral values take a dive just as society falls. Say the story involves a freshly married couple trying to do their best to survive following a zombie outbreak. During an otherwise quiet night, they run into a bunch of sleepwalking undead, who now turn aggressive because they can smell human flesh. The wife saves the husband and in the process gets bitten by a zombie. Within the next few hours, the heroic wife will transform into a zombie as well. What should the husband do? Does it make him a bad person if he kills his soon-to-be-zombified wife? What if the same thing happens to father and daughter, or mother and son?

You also have to give your characters some noticeable personalities, tendencies, and goals. Anybody can say that a post-apocalyptic story is all about surviving, but at least the main character needs to have another tangible purpose. Still remember the husband we talked about earlier? Assuming there’s any chance he can save his wife from becoming a zombie, like finding an antidote in another state or stealing the cure from the zombie king, that’s a purpose you need to develop the plot line.

Story timeline is another thing to consider. People who were born when the world had already been reduced to ruins probably don’t have in their mind thoughts about going to college, celebrating birthdays, or taking vacations. When the world out there is full of cannibalistic mutants and food scarcity, they most likely won’t be bothered with romance as well, although it can happen. But when they meet new people while scavenging for resources, a friendly encounter isn’t always a thing; people avoid strangers and keep a safe distance out of suspicions that the other person is out for the kill.

Setting the Tone

You want readers to be emotionally invested in the story and actually care about what happens to the characters. This is where creating empathy comes in handy. Characters with power and determination are always interesting because they can influence everyone else in the story; it doesn’t matter if those characters are protagonists or villains. Another trick to evoke empathy is to put any character in an unfortunate yet relatable circumstance. For example, an innocent person wrongfully imprisoned by a corrupt government, an otherwise harmless alien hunted by an evil corporation, or an ordinary citizen believed to be patient zero and targeted by post-apocalyptic warlords.

Once the empathy-inducing scenes are built, you can focus on setting the overall tone of the narrative. A comedy story needs to have some laughs, a thriller is supposed to deliver a sense of urgency, a horror tale can use a jump scare or two, and an action is at its best when you have a variety of hand-to-hand combats, gun fights, car chases, and some dramatic deaths along the way. No one says you can’t mix and match the tones as well. The post-apocalyptic world is a lawless land.

We think one of the most important aspects of fiction storytelling is your ability to find the right “what-ifs” formula and put them in engaging words for readers. People worry about the future even when simple, unexpected things happen. For example, if the electricity goes out, someone quickly imagines what if it’s not actually a faulty electrical line but a deliberate plot by aliens? What if the electricity is cut off everywhere? What if zombies, vampires, and many abominations lurk in the dark corners of the town? Fiction is a product of imagination indeed, including the characters and the tone of the narration. What would your characters do if all those things were true? How do they go about defending themselves and protecting their loved ones? Do they do it like John Wick, Bryan Mills, John McClane, or Ned Stark? The important thing is that characters drive the plot and the tone, not the other way around.

Who do you think are the best protagonists in post-apocalyptic stories ever published in any format? And who are the best villains? We’d love to hear from you.

Other Things You Might Want to Know

Are there important things many post-apocalyptic films overlook?

There are probably too many to mention, but we have three on top of our head:

●      Farms: people know how to farm, and timeline is important. If you’re talking 200 or 300 years after an apocalypse and there are still no farms, it makes little sense.

●      Unlimited fuels and ammunition: bad guys, who seem to have an unlimited supply of ammunition and fuels to power their thirsty bikes and cars, are great for actions. But where do the ammunition and fuels come from? Do they have refineries and automated factories somewhere?

●      Bicycles: again, motorcycles and trucks are great, but bicycles are the perfect vehicles for the post-apocalyptic world. Bicycles are fuel efficient (they don’t need fuels at all) and easy to maintain with minimum tools. And yet they simply don’t exist.

Can it be the fascination with displays of violence and ghoulish stuff that makes people like post-apocalyptic narrative?

Now that would be a stretch. We think the key factor is simplicity. When everything has been destroyed and there’s not much left in terms of wealth, people can get back to appreciating nature for what it is and live without worrying about the politics, inflation, the new iPhone, updating the Windows, doing the school homework, coming late to work, etc. To some extent, it’s a simple (and definitely cruel) life in the post-apocalyptic world.

What kind of characters with the highest likelihood of surviving an apocalypse?

Many times, everything comes down to physical strength, as defined by health and age. So, young and physically fit people have a higher chance of surviving than others. Let’s not forget about wealth as well. Rich people have the resources to build bunkers and fill them with all they need to survive; not just foods and water, but also technologies like solar-powered electricity, modern devices, and weapons. They’re resourceful to begin with, and the smart ones will use those resources to prepare for an apocalypse before too late.

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The post Chapter 1: Establishing Characters and Tone in a Post-Apocalyptic Journey appeared first on Stories At Worlds End.

Furiosa – Mad Max: Fury Road

Her full name is Imperator Furiosa, and probably the only post-apocalyptic heroine you’ll ever need to know. Here’s the deal with Furiosa: everybody knows that the film Mad Max: Fury Road is supposed to be about Max’s adventure or two against some of the most outlandish-looking villains to hit the screen, like all other previous films in the franchise. In Fury Road, however, Charlize Theron easily makes Furiosa the central figure throughout the entire duration. At many points in the film, you’ll even overlook how good Tom Hardy is as the hero. Hardy’s Max and Theron’s Furiosa form an explosive team, but the latter is the brightest star in the show.

Katniss Everdeen – The Hunger Games

Let’s put Jennifer Lawrence aside first and analyze Katniss Everdeen’ characterization. Katniss is a lot of things, and often described as a prominent character without actually being likable. Besides being impossibly good at bow and arrow to where Robin Hood would drop his jaw, Katniss is at least demanding and self-possessed as much as she is fearless and kindhearted. She’s probably too complex for her own good, but then comes Jennifer Lawrence to make everything much more tangible. According to Suzanne Collins herself, Lawrence is the only one capable of capturing Katniss Everdeen as imagined in the book.

Alice – Resident Evil

Portrayed by Milla Jovovich in all six of the Resident Evil original film series, Alice is your super-heroine in every sense of the word. You know the drill in Resident Evil: a bunch of mad scientists hired by a corporation deprived of goodwill developed a virus meant to modify human genetics. Things go wrong and everyone injected with the virus turns into a physically enhanced zombie. The infected suffer from decreased brain functions and rotting skins, with a hint of insatiable craving for human flesh. While Alice is subjected to the same experiment, she doesn’t show any of those negative symptoms at all. She is the only success story in the scientists’ portfolio. The virus makes her an unstoppable warrior, unbeatable in hand-to-hand combat and a master of firearms. She is the ultimate zombie exterminator.

The Unnamed Midwife – The Book of the Unnamed Midwife

Don’t ask us what the name of the unnamed midwife is. Sometimes she’s Karen or Alex, and at other times people call her Dusty or Jane. A strange plague nearly kills everyone, and the remaining male survivors seem to rush back to their most barbaric mindset. Some women also survive, but they can’t give birth without sacrificing their own lives and killing the newborns. Soon enough, there are much fewer women and men in the world. Women are made into sex slaves and nobody cares if they die – whether from outright violence or giving birth – except our unnamed midwife whose superpower is, well, midwifery; her ultimate weapon is the birth control pill. Throughout her journey across the country, she kills men to free women from pile after pile of misery.

The Doctor’s Wife – Blindness

Again, no one knows who her name is, but since Blindness is a film instead of a novel, at least we know that the doctor’s wife is portrayed by Julianne Moore. An epidemic of blindness hits the city. The only person who seems to have immunity to the disease is, you guessed it right, the doctor’s wife. All the blind people, including the doctor, are taken to an asylum. They barely receive any treatment here, but at least they don’t just wander around and fall into potholes, bump into sharp objects, or enter the wrong bathrooms. The doctor’s wife, despite being able to see just fine, lies to the government about her immunity so that she can accompany her husband in the asylum. And when the asylum inevitably succumbs to chaos, she rises to the occasion and leads everyone to safety.

We think everybody can agree that the post-apocalyptic genre is traditionally a testosterone-driven frenzy. Some people might argue this is unfair, but there’s actually a scientific basis for it. When the world-as-we-know-it has succumbed to an exceedingly powerful force – whether nuclear, climate, extraterrestrial species, or lethal viruses – the matter of life or death really comes down to the survival of the fittest as Darwin’s evolutionary theory suggests. Most authors would imagine that male humans are better fit to thrive than their female counterparts in a setting ruled by violence. Not that women can’t survive in a post-apocalyptic world. It’s probably the same reason wars throughout history are fought mostly by men, although it doesn’t mean there aren’t women soldiers either.

Can you name some heroines in war movies? Is it true that books written by female authors tend to have heroines as well? We’d love to hear from you.

Other Things You Might Want to Know

Some of the most iconic heroines in films, regardless of genre:

Sarah Connor, Trinity, and Ellen Ripley are arguably the most memorable ones, but there are also some other notable characters such as

• Yu Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh) – Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
• Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) – Star Wars film series
• The Bride (Uma Thurman) – Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2
• Mulan (Ming-Na Wen) – Mulan
• Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) – Marvel Cinematic Universe
• Selene (Kate Beckinsale) – Underworld franchise

Do we also have remarkable female villains?

Yes, we do. Among the most brilliant ones are:

• Maleficent (Angelina Jolie) – Maleficent
• Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) – Suicide Squad
• Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) – Game of Thrones series
• Bellatrix Lestrange (Helena Bonham Carter) – Harry Potter film series
• Cruella de Vil (voiced by Betty Lou Gerson) – 101 Dalmatians

Is Ghost in the Shell Post-Apocalyptic?

Events in Ghost in the Shell are set in the near future where humans are possibly augmented with cybernetic improvements including intelligence, vision, and overall physical strength. The world and humanity have not met their demise yet, but maybe close to it. In short, it is not post-apocalyptic.

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Be Overly Specific

Don’t even think about using ordinarily generic prompts like “Write me a post-apocalyptic story” or “Describe an alien invasion” because any of them will produce generic results as well. Attempt to brainstorm your ideas and figure out important details like the exact story you want (action adventure, survival romance, zombie horror, etc.), the target audience, the length, the tone, the level of details and so on. The AI wouldn’t mind if your prompt is as long as an essay. You also want to minimize the possibility of the AI giving inaccurate answers. Let’s say your story is supposed to be set in NYC; asking the AI to build the narrative in the “United States” might cause some inaccuracies. But if you tell it to describe the post-apocalyptic landscape in New York City, United States of America, chances are you’ll get a much more relevant response.

Ask the Tool to Mimic Author’s Style

Once you’re done writing the story-related prompts, add another line to make the AI give the responses in the styles of your favorite authors. Tell the AI to craft a page or two in the style of Max Brooks, for example. Perhaps you can be playful and have your post-apocalyptic story written in a style and tone similar to the works of Hans Christian Anderson or Oscar Wilde. Keep in mind that the produced narrative probably won’t come close to the works of anything written by those geniuses, but at least you let the AI try its best.

Use “Act as If…” Prompt

It’s actually pretty similar to the previous tip, but the difference is that the options are not limited to actual humans. An AI can play a role, so you can make it write your post-apocalyptic tale as if it’s the work of Hellboy, Tyrion Lannister, a drunk person, a poet, a lawyer, or just about anybody you can think of. For example, if you ask the tool to give a physical description of a zombie, the output text will say something general like rotting skin and pointy teeth. But adding another line in the prompt that says, “act as if you’re explaining it to Richard Dawkins,” then you will get an entirely different answer.

Give Generous Examples

Take a sentence or two from an already published work and use them as examples for the AI. Let’s say you want the AI to write action sequences depicting a battle scene between a group of physically enhanced vampires and some soldiers in the streets of Manhattan. Give the AI an example of text from a book about the Battle of Berlin. Tell the AI that it’s only an example and that the answer should not be copyright infringement. If there are any legal ramifications for the work, the AI will not be held responsible. You are.

Ask It to Make the Prompts

It might be a brilliant idea that doesn’t work: ask the AI to make the prompts for you. If AI is good at writing stories, there’s no reason it can’t make excellent prompts, too. The only caveat is that it will ask questions to itself, so you’re not really in control. Think of this as a last resort when you’re stuck in the middle of work. Here’s another idea: have two different tools, so you can use one to make the prompts and the other to give responses.

We think (we actually know) that you can use AI tools in the same way you use Google. If you get confused with countless nonsensical post apocalyptic writing prompts that produce terrible outputs, it might be easier to just ask the AI the things you want to know. For example, instead of prompting ChatGPT to describe a doomsday landscape, simply ask politely, “what do you think my city should look like after getting hit by a giant alien warhead?” or “what would some 200 thousand zombies do if you make them watch a NASCAR race?”

Do you think Generative AI tools can produce a decent novel? Or more importantly, will you read a novel written by AI? We’d love to hear from you?

Other Things You Might Want to Know

Can you sell arts generated by AI?

Yes, you definitely can. However, you can’t copyright the art because copyright protection is only available for works created by humans. It is not available for works made by robots, computer programs, Martians, and the like.

What about AI-generated texts?

The same thing applies. If a complete novel is written by AI, the entire book cannot be legally registered under anybody’s name. But yes, you’re allowed to put the novel up for sale.

Is generative AI tool free?

Some of them are free. For example, the OpenAI Playground is free for a limited time to let you try different ideas and basically get used to the platform itself before you commit to the full version. The Microsoft Copilot is also free and actually included with the latest Windows OS update; alternatively, you can just visit the website and try the tool for yourself.

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If you really want an entirely new layout with never-seen-before geographical makeup, refrain from thinking about zombie outbreak, pandemic, or World War III. What you need is something much more devastating. It could trigger massive and sudden geological reformations. Your apocalypse must be destructive enough to where even the Earth’s poles are shifting. Relentless asteroid impacts over a prolonged period are far-fetched indeed, but you could do worse. So, what should your new world map look like? We don’t know, but here are some ideas to get you started.

Antarctica

Since we’re talking about pole shifts, Antarctica comes first. Most of the land is no longer polar desert but a fertile territory with nutrient-rich soil and water. You can farm here. Such a profound change happens all across the planet.

North America

Survivors from British Columbia and Alaska are migrating to many regions in Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. A large chunk of northwestern Canada is pushed in nearly two hundred miles. Meanwhile, further south in the United States, the West Coast is slanted toward Wyoming, Colorado, and Nebraska. Over 100 new islands emerge from good-old California. Maine and Florida and every other state in between along the East Coast are also pushed further inland for miles.

All five Great Lakes become one with the St. Lawrence River, flowing through the Mississippi River and ending up in the Gulf of Mexico. Coastal areas of Mexico fare little better either. The Yucatan Peninsula is gone because of the rising sea level.

Europe

There are no more Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and Norway; they disappear under water as the tectonic plate underneath northern Europe collapses. The few remaining survivors are scattered across hundreds of small islands. The same thing happens to nearly all the United Kingdom. In Ireland, people living on higher grounds have to witness the sea swallowing everything in the lower areas.

Only a few major UK cities like Birmingham and London are visible on your post-apocalyptic map. It doesn’t really matter if a city is actually sitting on a higher ground. A map just looks nicer with a Big Ben icon on it. The same thing applies to Paris, which you may want to leave intact even when nearly all other areas in France are submerged, just because you’ve prepared an interesting 3D icon for the Eiffel Tower.

The Baltic, Caspian, Kara, and Black seas combine to separate Russia from the rest of Europe, or what’s left of it. We know such a catastrophe sounds a little too harsh compared to those in America, so let’s just say the climate is not all that bad in Russia, which means nearby countries will now rely on the Russians for food supply and other resources. At the very least, you can include a shipping lanes chart in your map. Most of Turkey is now under the sea level. Venice is gone, and so are Rome and Naples.

Asia

With the Pacific Plate shifting its position, Japan is lost to the sea. Taiwan and South Korea are wiped out by water, too. Just about the entire coastal region of China is pushed westward to hundreds of miles. The Philippines disappear and Indonesia breaks up even more. Asia suffers the heaviest loss of land mass, but new uninhabited lands will appear.

Australia

Coastal flooding consumes almost 25 percent of Australia. There are new lands off the coast of the continent, and refugees are concentrated in Queensland. The southern coastline of Australia shrinks a great deal, erasing Adelaide and all areas all the way north to Lake Eyre. Just like what happens in the Antarctic, the Gibson and Simpson deserts are now fertile farming land areas.

Everywhere Else

The sea rises, continents crack, lakes and rivers merge, and hundreds of small islands spring up; you get the idea. It is the same thing in Africa, India, New Zealand, and South America. Countries worldwide get pushed around, literally, and the Earth has a brand-new face.

We think if you want to build a completely new map of the world of post-apocalyptic time; think beyond zombie outbreak and uncontrollable pandemic. They don’t reshape the Earth, asteroid collisions with the planet do. It’s not just Stephen King’s The Stand or Max Brooks’ World War Z, but N. K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth series. Once the map is ready, whatever chart you want to make will be as unsettling as it is disturbing. Don’t confine your map chart with only shades of colors. Use symbols, markers, and patterns to tell survivors where to go, what routes to take, how to get to the other end of a chain of mountains, and what dangers lurk around every corner. Your post-apocalyptic map should be mostly about how to go from point A to B, and stay alive when you get there.

How many asteroid impacts do you think it will take to reshape the planet? If massive earthquakes happen in places where we have military bases and nuclear reactors, what do you think the chain reaction will look like? We’d love to hear from you.

Other Things You Might Want to Know

Novels in the Broken Earth series:

●      The Fifth Season (2015)

●      The Obelisk Gate (2016)

●      The Stone Sky (2017)

What is the possibility of an asteroid impact?

There’s no way to be completely certain about the possibility, but it is highly unlikely. Many asteroids did penetrate into the Earth’s atmosphere over the past 15 years. All of them had burned to ashes before they could reach the ground. NASA also doesn’t think that Bennu, an NEO (Near-Earth Object) that passes by our planet every six years – and by the way, it’s about 1,600 feet wide – will even come close to making an impact. Unless it gets close enough to be affected by the Earth’s gravitational pull, or that another flyby alters its orbit, there’s little to worry about. If those worst-case scenarios happen, Bennu will find its path to hit the planet in September 2182.

How big was the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs?

It was around six-miles wide. Bennu is much smaller.

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The post Charting the Wastelands: More Post-Apocalyptic Maps appeared first on Stories At Worlds End.

●      Multiple asteroids hit the Earth in all seven continents: Asia, Europe, Africa, Australia, Antarctica, and North America and South America (apparently, they’re separate continents by the way). Sounds like a cliche, but only until you realize they don’t actually destroy the planet. Instead, the asteroids carry with them ancient alien viruses that reactivate upon impact. These viruses cause complete paralysis; researchers get infected first and transfer the disease to everyone else.

●      The same idea as the earlier one, but with a twist. The viruses don’t affect humans, but plants. Trees everywhere grow at an uncontrollable rate, and so the forests consume the vast majority of residential areas within a matter of days. Infrastructures are unusable, the electricity goes haywire, factories can’t run, and trees sprout up through the streets. You can’t burn them down because the fire will consume people’s homes. It’s dark dense forests everywhere. No modern device functions anymore. The population shrinks as fast as the trees grow.

●      Some of the world’s largest corporations launch a massive operation to extract as much natural resources as possible for the sake of profits. The planet fights back with all its might. Volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, extreme weather, floods, tornadoes, and tsunamis are everyday stuff.

●      Nuclear war triggers decades of nuclear winter. Over 7 billion people died in the immediate aftermath of the fallout. Prolonged deadly conflicts over resources reduce the population even further. The radiation is so severe, survivors turn into mutants. Animals also fall victim to the polluted air and water. Cats are as big as horses; they have to be that big to hunt saber-toothed rats. Condors are now giant thunderbirds, wild pigs have spikes all over the body, every snake can swallow an adult human whole, and hummingbirds prey on mutated children. Remember those saber-toothed rats? They can eat their way through blast doors, so bunkers can’t really protect anybody.

Of course, if none of those are good enough to float your boat, you can always say World War III happens and mutual assured destruction ends it all.

How Important Is the Backstory?

And surprise, surprise, you don’t always have to include any backstory in your post-apocalyptic narrative at all. Your story is set some time after the apocalypse, hence post-apocalyptic. If you keep talking about the doomsday event itself, well then, you’re in the wrong subgenre. While it’s not unreasonable that your readers want to know about how the world ended, you don’t always have to satisfy their curiosity.

The timeline should decide whether giving the backstory is actually necessary. For example, in a story where the “present time” is set centuries after an apocalypse, there’s a good chance all the living survivors have no first-hand knowledge about the event. They probably wouldn’t care anyway and are just doing what they can to adapt and ultimately to survive in the world. And because every single person of the current generation was born after the apocalyptic event, it is the only world they know.

What about a story set years or decades after an apocalypse? In that case, some survivors had been born before the apocalypse happened. It’s still within living memory, so any rambling about the event isn’t entirely a meaningless part of the narrative. Still, if you insist on providing a backstory, don’t let it occupy a big part of the plot. A few hints here and there should be enough for readers to figure out what happened. That way, you can focus on the actual present-day plotline and let the backstory be what it’s meant to be: a prominent yet only slightly visible backdrop.

We think a post-apocalyptic narrative shouldn’t have to delve too deep into the apocalypse itself; otherwise, you’ll be telling a disaster story. While it’s always good to describe what happened in the past that made the world into such a terrible state today, focus instead on how survivors cope with the new condition. Your story is not about the apocalypse, it’s about living in a post-apocalyptic world. As an endnote, you don’t have to spend a chapter or two to describe the backstory, but you do need to know your apocalypse and how it should affect the characters.

Can you name some post-apocalyptic stories that say nothing about the apocalypse at all? Does a post-apocalyptic story have to be about survival? We’d love to hear from you.

Other Things You Might Want to Know

How to avoid writing an apocalyptic story when what you really want is to create a post-apocalyptic one?

It all comes down to how much you focus on the apocalypse vs. the aftermath. Trying to adapt to the new world, coping with the consequences, and reconstructions are all post-apocalyptic elements.

Do precious metals like gold and silver have value in a post-apocalyptic world?

When the post-apocalyptic world has a sufficient civilization to set up trade, gold might have value. When there are just too few humans alive after an apocalypse and everything is about basic survival, foods and medicines are much more precious.

What are the most important skills to have in a post-apocalyptic world?

When society collapses and technologies disappear, knowing how to farm and hunt will keep you well-fed. You also need to know how to defend yourself in a melee or hand-to-hand combat. Medical skills, or at least knowledge of injury treatment are universally useful.

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