Best Post Apocalyptic Fiction

Andrei Tarkovsky’s *Stalker* (1979) is a profoundly atmospheric Soviet science fiction film. It depicts a journey through “The Zone,” a desolate and mysterious landscape created by an unknown event. The film explores themes of faith, humanity, and the search for meaning within a ruined world. Primar...

The Battlestar Galactica (2004) television series depicts humanity’s desperate struggle for survival after a Cylon-led attack nearly eradicates humankind. This reimagining of the classic franchise explores themes of faith, sacrifice, and rebellion within a sprawling space opera. It is notable for it...

HBO’s The Last of Us presents a bleak future following a catastrophic fungal outbreak that decimated civilization. Based on the popular video game, the series depicts Joel and Ellie's perilous journey through a ravaged United States as they struggle for survival against infected individuals and host...

George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead (1968) is a landmark horror film that established many conventions of the zombie subgenre. The movie portrays a group of strangers barricaded in a farmhouse facing relentless attacks by reanimated corpses. Its innovative use of black and white cinematograp...

Akira is a landmark 1988 animated film exploring a rebuilt Tokyo devastated by a mysterious explosion. The story delves into themes of psychic abilities, government corruption, and societal collapse within a cyberpunk setting. Its innovative visuals and complex narrative significantly impacted the a...

Cormac McCarthy’s *The Road* depicts a harrowing journey undertaken by an unnamed father and son across a desolate post-apocalyptic America. The novel is notable for its stark prose, unflinching portrayal of survival, and profound exploration of paternal love amidst unimaginable loss. It resonates w...

Fallout is an Amazon Studios television series exploring a future devastated by nuclear war. Based on the acclaimed video game franchise, it portrays life in a retro-futuristic world where survivors inhabit underground vaults and navigate a dangerous landscape. The show appeals to fans of post-apoca...

George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead (1978) presents a harrowing depiction of a zombie apocalypse centered within a suburban shopping mall. The film gained prominence for its allegorical exploration of consumer culture and societal breakdown. It follows a group of survivors as they struggle to surviv...

Leigh Brackett’s *The Long Tomorrow* presents a stark vision of America following a devastating nuclear conflict in 1955. The novel explores a society where scientific progress is outlawed due to constitutional restrictions enacted after the war. It examines themes of societal regression, lost knowl...

“The Chrysalids” is a classic Canadian novel exploring a future devastated by nuclear war. Set in a remote region of Labrador, it depicts a rigidly controlled society obsessed with eliminating any genetic variation—particularly mutations—resulting from the disaster. The story examines themes of cont...

7 Seeds is a Japanese manga exploring themes of survival and societal rebuilding in the aftermath of a catastrophic asteroid strike. The story centers on a group of young people revived through cryonic preservation with the mission to repopulate Earth. It examines the challenges of establishing orde...

The Walking Dead (Telltale Game) is a narrative-driven video game series released in 2012. It adapts Robert Kirkman’s comic book story focusing on the relationship between Lee Everett and Clementine as they navigate a zombie-infested post-apocalyptic world. The game's interactive storytelling emphas...

Catching Fire is a 2009 dystopian novel by Suzanne Collins, the second book in 'The Hunger Games' trilogy. The story continues to follow protagonist Katniss Everdeen after her survival in the Hunger Games, as her actions inadvertently spark rebellion across the dystopian nation of Panem. The novel f...

The Stand is a 1978 post-apocalyptic novel by Stephen King about the collapse of civilization after a weaponized strain of influenza escapes containment. Its large ensemble of survivors gradually divides into opposing communities associated with the benevolent Mother Abagail and the destructive Rand...

"The Sheep Look Up" is a dystopian science fiction novel written by British author John Brunner and published in 1972. The narrative depicts a rapidly collapsing American society suffering from extreme environmental degradation, widespread pollution, and unchecked corporate negligence. Brunner's wor...

The Hunger Games is a 2008 dystopian science fiction novel written by American author Suzanne Collins. Set in the futuristic nation of Panem, the story follows 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who volunteers to participate in a televised fight-to-the-death tournament known as the Hunger Games. The book...

Planet of the Apes is a 1968 American science fiction film directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and starring Charlton Heston. It is an adaptation of the 1963 French novel by Pierre Boulle. The narrative follows an astronaut crew that crash-lands on a distant planet where intelligent, talking apes are t...

"The Slynx" is a 2000 satirical post-apocalyptic novel by Russian author Tatyana Tolstaya. The story is set in Moscow centuries after a catastrophic event known as the Blast, which has reduced society to a mutated, medieval-like existence heavily reliant on mice as a primary resource. The narrative...

I Am Legend is a 1954 science fiction and horror novel written by American author Richard Matheson. The narrative centers on Robert Neville, seemingly the sole human survivor of a global pandemic that transforms the remaining population into vampires. The novel is historically significant for blendi...

The Marrow Thieves is a 2017 science fiction novel by Canadian Métis author Cherie Dimaline. Set in a dystopian, climate-ravaged future North America, the story follows a group of Indigenous people who are forced into hiding to escape government recruiters. In this broken world, the primary method o...

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War is a 2006 post-apocalyptic horror novel by Max Brooks. Written as a global mockumentary, the book compiles fictional oral accounts from survivors of a devastating zombie pandemic. This epistolary format allows the narrative to explore international poli...

"The Death of Grass" is a 1956 post-apocalyptic science fiction novel written by the British author John Christopher, originally published in the United States as "No Blade of Grass." The narrative follows a catastrophic global pandemic caused by a virus that targets and eradicates all grass species...

'Station Eleven' is a post-apocalyptic literary novel by Canadian author Emily St. John Mandel, published in 2014. The narrative alternates between the years before and twenty years after a devastating global pandemic caused by the Georgia Flu. The post-apocalyptic timeline follows a traveling symph...

Rot & Ruin is a 2010 young adult post-apocalyptic novel written by Jonathan Maberry. The story follows a teenager named Benny Imura as he comes of age in a fenced-in community built to survive a zombie apocalypse. When Benny begins apprenticing as a bounty hunter alongside his older brother, he disc...

Life as We Knew It is a 2006 young adult science fiction novel by Susan Beth Pfeffer. The narrative is structured as the diary entries of a teenage girl named Miranda, documenting her family's struggle to survive after an asteroid hits the moon. This catastrophic collision alters the moon's orbit, t...

The City of Ember is a 2003 post-apocalyptic young adult novel written by Jeanne DuPrau, serving as the first installment in the Book of Ember series. The story is set in Ember, a decaying underground city originally constructed to preserve human civilization following an unspecified global catastro...

Moon of the Crusted Snow is a 2018 post-apocalyptic novel by Anishinaabe author Waubgeshig Rice. It follows a remote First Nations community in northern Ontario after electricity, communications, and supply links abruptly fail as winter approaches. The narrative focuses on community organization, tr...

12 Monkeys is an American science-fiction television series that premiered on Syfy in 2015 and was developed from the premise of the 1995 film of the same name. It follows James Cole, a traveler sent back from a devastated future to prevent the release of a plague, and virologist Cassandra Railly, w...

Survivors is a British post-apocalyptic television drama created by Terry Nation and first broadcast by the BBC in 1975. It depicts people attempting to rebuild their lives after an accidental pandemic kills most of the world's population, leaving public institutions and essential services largely a...