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Ashes to Ashes- Post Apocalypse Story

eliec

Dreamer
Oh my that sounds amazing eliec. Lovecraft is by far one of my favourite authors and I have been meaning to incorporate some satanic power as the antagonist to a fantasy novel I've been working on but since that's not working perhaps it would be better fitted to an apocalypse scenario. Perhaps there is an expedition to Mars or Europa that discovers water and they bring it back, perhaps something lurks in the water that slowly infects the minds of those that are touched by it or perhaps the crew of a nuclear submarine discover something unspeakable amongst the depths of the ocean?

Sounds good to me. I'd be careful of explaining the cause too much, however. Part of Lovecraftian horror is that there is so much we do not understand, and we don't know when that will bite our collective ass.
 
Post apocalypse stories are really strongly defined by how long after the apocalypse itself they are set.
Most seem to concentrate on the immediate aftermath or the first few years, or many generations later. Most other time periods have been largely ignored.
A couple of novels that made a big impression on me were: Canticle for Leibowitz (Walter M Millar) and Earth Abides (George R Stewart) - both of which took a long view and put the apocalypse and recovery thereafter into perspective.

A couple of other thoughts occurred to me as well though:
1. Extending the premise's consistancy is important - One of the worst aspects of the Walking Dead to me now is how many walking dead there still are. After this length of time they would have become desiccated, or been torn apart by other mechanical means such as twigs, sharp rocks, falls etc..
Of course The Walking dead redeems itself a little in its premise that everyone is now infected - and no matter how they die they'll turn which makes for a lot of suspense in the 4th series.

2. Acceptability of the initial setting - Setting it in the 80's (no matter how much you like the period) does seem to me to make it's appeal more limited - as an 80's apocalypse never actually happened it's a hurdle to get over that would possibly sour it for me unless its handled carefully.
 
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