I have always held a special place in my literary heart for books about post-apocalyptical times. Despite leaning away from the more fantastical Zombie style of dystopian futures they are sometimes still close enough to engage my interest here is a list of some of my current favourites.

Books

David Gemmell – The John Shannow series.

This series follows a gunslinger, the Jerusalem man, through a fantastical future vision of the world. As with much of Gemmell’s work this is a tale of hero’s and warriors however unlike his other work the world is based on a post-apocalyptic society. Expect a heavy western feel with this one.

Cormac McCarthy – The Road (Being released on film on the 16^th of October)

A disturbing trek through a realistic post-apocalyptica. Full of anti-heroes, cynicism and death this is a gripping book. Who needs zombies when cannibals are so much more realistic/frightening? I can’t recommend this one enough.

Max Brook’s – World War Z

In the sequel to “The Zombie Survival Guide” Brook’s really hit the nail on the head. The book is a loose collection of memories regarding a Zombie or “African Rabies” pandemic. Un-like his first book World War Z has much more plot and surprisingly a decent amount of realism.

Films

In no particular order:

Zombieland – (NEW) Humorous

Mad Max – Lots of people count this series as one of the best but it’s never been a massive favourite of mine.

28 days/weeks Later – Fantastic, loved every minute of both of these movies.

I am Legend – Contains what I like to call “modern” Zombies or realistic zombies unlike all the old “Living dead” style clichéd zombies. This is an excellent film.

Blindness – A great book/film that really comes to terms with the reality of human suffering during a pandemic type situation. Human weakness, greed, love and hate are all brought home in sometimes disturbing detail.

Resident Evil – This series of films was much better than I expected excluding the second film which seemed somehow wrong. The third film falls very neatly into my post-apocalypse catchment and was in my opinion done very well. Not a masterpiece but worth a watch.