apocalyptic fiction
End-times narrative genre
Apocalyptic fiction depicts the end of civilization or the world itself—through nuclear war, pandemic, asteroid impact, or other catastrophic events.
The genre focuses on the cataclysm and its immediate aftermath, distinguishing it from post-apocalyptic fiction, which explores life in the ruins of what came before.
The Road and On the Beach are canonical examples.
- nuclear warArmed conflict using fission weapons
- scavengingGathering discarded or dead material
- asteroid impactSpace rock collision event
- pandemicGlobal disease outbreak
- wastelandsUncultivable, empty lands
survivalism · moral dilemmas · underground bunkers · climate change · human resilience · societal collapse · barter economy · nomadic lifestyles · Mad Max · The Road · shelter · last survivors · existential reflection · ash · mass extinction · cataclysm · extinction event · end of days
- sci-fiStar Wars, sci-fi, Blade Runner 2049, aliens, Star Trek
- fiction genresfantasy, novel, horror, thrillers, thriller
- faith fictioncontemporary Christian, Bible stories, biblical tales, biblical drama, miracle stories
- visionary writingprophecy, futurism, solarpunk, alternate history, world building
- fictionnovel, novels, novella, novellas, short story
- literaturebooks, book, poetry, stories, novels
apocalyptic fictionhistorical fiction
Novels set in actual pasts
period drama · historical novel · Regency romance · costume drama · biographical fiction