This list of nuclear holocaust fiction lists the many works of apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction that attempt to describe a world during or after a massive nuclear war, nuclear holocaust, or crash of civilization due to a nuclear electromagnetic pulse.
Films Title Year Author and notesFive1951Invasion U.S.A.1952Captive Women1952Day the World Ended1955Teenage Caveman1958On the Beach1959Nevil Shute (novel); John Paxton (screenplay)The World, the Flesh and the Devil1959The Time Machine1960H. G. Wells (novel); David Duncan (screenplay)The Last War1961The Day the Earth Caught Fire1961The Creation of the Humanoids1962La jetée1962Panic in Year Zero!1962This is Not a Test1962Ladybug Ladybug1963Fail-Safe1964Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler (novel); Walter Bernstein (screenplay)Dr. Strangelove1964Peter George (novel); Peter George, Stanley Kubrick, and Terry Southern (screenplay)The War Game1965Late August at the Hotel Ozone1966Written by Pavel JuráčekIn the Year 28891967Planet of the Apes1968Pierre Boulle (novel); Michael Wilson and Rod Serling (screenplay)The Bed Sitting Room1969Beneath the Planet of the Apes1970Colossus: The Forbin Project1970Glen and Randa1971Battle for the Planet of the Apes1973Zardoz1974A Boy and His Dog1975Harlan Ellison (short story); L.Q. Jones, Alvy Moore and Wayne Cruseturner (screenplay)Barefoot Gen1976Tengo Yamada (screenplay), Keiji Nakazawa (manga) The story of Gen Nakaoka and his family, who lived in Hiroshima at the time it was atom-bombed, and their struggles and trials amidst the nuclear holocaust.Damnation Alley1977Roger Zelazny (novel)Wizards1977Buck Rogers in the 25th Century1979Set on an Earth rebuilding after a late 20th-century nuclear war. A theatrical release followed by a TV series of the same title, listed below.Virus1980Malevil1981Mad Max 21981Also known as The Road Warrior.The New Barbarians1982Future War 198X1982Anime movie produced by Toei Animation about World War III breaking out in the 1980s that triggers a nuclear exchange between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R.2019, After the Fall of New York1983Special Bulletin1983Testament1983The Day After1983The Prodigal Planet1983Part of the film series A Thief in the NightWarGames1983The Terminator franchise1984, 1991, 2003, 2009, 2015, 2019Based on characters created by James Cameron (with acknowledgement to the works of Harlan Ellison)Countdown to Looking Glass1984Threads1984One Night Stand1984Def-Con 41985Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome1985O-Bi, O-Ba: The End of Civilization1985Radioactive Dreams1985Dead Man's Letters1986Fist of the North Star1986Based on the manga seriesThe Sacrifice1986When the Wind Blows1986Based on the 1982 graphic novelWhoops Apocalypse1986Based on the ITV seriesAkira1988Miracle Mile1988By Dawn's Early Light1990Hardware1990Judge Dredd1995Star Trek: First Contact1996 Most of the film takes place in the mid-21st century as civilization rebuilds after nuclear war. Continuation of Star Trek: The Next Generation TV series.The Postman1997Der 3. Weltkrieg, a.k.a. World War III1998Six-String Samurai1998Deterrence1999The Matrix (franchise)1999, 2003, 2021On the Beach2000Equilibrium2002The Dark Hour2007City of Ember2009The Book of Eli2010The Divide2012Cloud Atlas2012Dredd2012Die Gstettensaga: The Rise of Echsenfriedl2014Mad Max: Fury Road2015Z for Zachariah2015Friend of the World2020Brian Patrick Butler (screenplay); takes place in the aftermath of a nuclear war. Based on Dr. Strangelove and La Jetée.A House of Dynamite2025Director Kathryn Bigelow
Television programs A Carol for Another Christmas (ABC, 1964), Rod Serling TV film A Day Called 'X' (CBS, 1957) Adventure Time (Cartoon Network, 2010–2018) American Horror Story: Apocalypse (FX, 2018) Battlestar Galactica (Sci-Fi, 2003, 2004–2009) Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (NBC, 1979) By Dawn's Early Light (HBO, 1990) Countdown to Looking Glass (HBO, 1984) Dark Angel (Fox, 2000–2002) Der Dritte Weltkrieg (ZDF, 1998) Fail Safe (CBS, 2000) Fallout (Prime Video, 2024–) Genesis II (CBS, 1973) Jericho (CBS, 2006–2008) Level Seven (BBC, 1966), adapted by J. B. Priestley for Out of the Unknown On the Beach (Showtime, 2000) Planet Earth (ABC, 1974) Special Bulletin (NBC, 1983) Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (Fox, 2008–2009) Testament (PBS, 1983) The 100 (The CW, 2014–2020) The Day After (ABC, 1983) The Martian Chronicles miniseries (NBC, 1980) The War Game (BBC, 1965) Threads TV film (BBC, 1984) Whoops Apocalypse (ITV, 1982) Woops! (Fox, 1992) World War III miniseries (NBC, 1982)
Television episodes The Motorola Television Hour: "Atomic Attack" (1954 ABC-TV series Season 1, Episode 15) – A family living 50 miles away try to flee from the fallout of a hydrogen bomb that fell on New York City. Based on the novel Shadow on the Hearth (1950) by Judith Merrill. The Twilight Zone: "Time Enough at Last" (1959) Playhouse 90: "Alas, Babylon" (1960) The Twilight Zone: "The Old Man in the Cave" (1963) Doctor Who: "The Daleks" (1963) Star Trek: "Space Seed" (1967). References a third world war taking place in the 1990s (also known as the Eugenics Wars). The later series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds would retcon this to taking place in the mid-21st century, concurrent with the nuclear war established by the film Star Trek: First Contact and other Star Trek series. Star Trek: "Assignment: Earth" (1968) – The crew goes back in time to find out how the human race was able to survive the Cold War. The Twilight Zone: "A Little Peace and Quiet" (1985) The Twilight Zone: "Quarantine" (1986) The Twilight Zone: "Shelter Skelter" (1987) The Outer Limits: "Bits of Love" (1997) The Outer Limits: "The Human Factor" (2002) The Twilight Zone: "Chosen" (2002) Masters of Science Fiction: "A Clean Escape" (2007) What If...?: What If... Ultron Won?" (2021) A few episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise depict both humans and Vulcans as being close to extermination caused by nuclear war.
Novels After The Bomb by Gloria D. Miklowitz Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank Amnesia Moon by Jonathan Lethem (regarding Hatfork) Ape and Essence by Aldous Huxley Arc Light by Eric Harry Armageddon's Children By Terry Brooks (2006) (Genesis of Shannara Trilogy book 1) The Ashes Series by William W. Johnstone The Beast of Heaven by Victor Kelleher Brother in the Land by Robert Swindells A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr. (1960) Children of the Dust by Louise Lawrence The Chrysalids by John Wyndham Commander-1 by Peter George Damnation Alley by Roger Zelazny Dark December by Alfred CoppelDark December at Fantastic Fiction Dark Mirrors (original title) Schwarze Spiegel by Arno Schmidt Davy and other works by Edgar Pangborn The Day They H-Bombed Los Angeles by Robert Moore Williams Deathlands series by a variety of authors writing under the pen name James Axler Dr. Bloodmoney, or How We Got Along After the Bomb by Philip K. Dick Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick Domain by James Herbert Doomday Wing by George H. Smith Doomsday Plus Twelve by James D. Forman Down to a Sunless Sea by David Graham Earthwreck! by Thomas N. Scortia The Eclipse Trilogy by John Shirley The Egghead Republic by Arno Schmidt Einstein's Monsters by Martin Amis End of the World by Dean Owen (novelization of the film Panic in Year Zero!) Ende: A Diary of the Third World War by Anton-Andreas Guha Endworld series by David Robbins Eon by Greg Bear The Erthing Cycle by Wayland Drew Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury Farnham's Freehold by Robert A. Heinlein Fire Brats by Scott Siegel and Barbara Siegel First Angel by Ed Mann, published by Soldier of Fortune magazine Fiskadoro by Denis Johnson Free Flight by Douglas Terman The Gate to Women's Country by Sheri S. Tepper A Gift Upon the Shore by M. K. Wren God's Grace by Bernard Malamud The Guardians series by Richard Austin The Hot War series by Harry Turtledove The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins The Iron Dream by Norman Spinrad Jenny, My Diary by Yorick Blumenfeld The Last Children of Schewenborn by Gudrun Pausewang The Last Ship by William Brinkley The Last War, a 1986 novel by Martyn Godfrey Level 7 by Mordecai Roshwald The Long Loud Silence by Wilson Tucker The Long Tomorrow by Leigh Brackett Long Voyage Back by George Cockcroft, under the pen name Luke Rhinehart, 1983 Malevil by Robert Merle The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury Metro 2033 by Dmitry Glukhovsky The Metrozone Series by Simon Morden Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell Not This August by C.M. Kornbluth Obernewtyn and subsequent novels in the series by Isobelle Carmody On the Beach by Nevil Shute One Second After by William R. Forstchen The Outward Urge, by John Wyndham and Lucas Parkes The Pelbar Cycle Book One (Beyond Armageddon) by Paul O. Williams Plan of Attack, a 2004 thriller by Dale Brown The Postman, a 1985 post-apocalyptic novel by David Brin Prayers for the Assassin, by Robert Ferrigno Prime Directive, by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens; a Star Trek novel where an alien civilization is apparently destroyed by a sudden, unexpected nuclear war among its own people Pulling Through, by Dean Ing; first half of the book is a novel on a family surviving a nuclear blast, the second half is a non-fiction survival guide Red Alert, by Peter George Resurrection Day by Brendan DuBois Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban The School for Atheists by Arno Schmidt Second Ending, by James White The Seventh Day by Hans Hellmut Kirst (original title Keiner Kommt Davon) Shadow on the Hearth by Judith Merril (1950) – a novel about a traditional housewife's ordeals in the aftermath of nuclear attack The Shannara Series, by Terry Brooks The Silo Series by Hugh Howey (2011) – A nuclear exchange is used to cover up a nano-bot attack. Single Combat by Dean Ing (second in the Ted Quantril trilogy) A Small Armageddon by Mordecai Roshwald Star Man's Son by Andre Norton (1952) – a post-apocalyptic novel that takes place about two centuries after the Great-Blowup. It is titled Daybreak – 2250 AD in reprint editions. The Steel, the Mist, and the Blazing Sun by Christopher Anvil The Survivalist by Jerry Ahern Swan Song by Robert McCammon Systemic Shock by Dean Ing (first in the Ted Quantril trilogy) Tengu (Novel) by Graham Masterton Test of Fire by Ben Bova There Will Be Time by Poul Anderson This Is the Way the World Ends by James Morrow This Time Tomorrow by Lauran Paine Time Capsule by Mitch Berman Tomorrow! by Philip Wylie Trinity's Child by William Prochnau (1983) Triumph by Philip Wylie The Valley-Westside War by Harry Turtledove Vaneglory by George Turner Viper Three by Walter Wager Warday by Whitley Strieber and James Kunetka When the Wind Blows by Raymond Briggs Wild Country by Dean Ing (Third in the Ted Quantril Trilogy) The Wild Shore by Kim Stanley Robinson Without Warning by John Birmingham The World Next Door by Brad Ferguson The World Set Free by H. G. Wells Worldwar series by Harry Turtledove – alternate history: World War II turns nuclear in 1943; another nuclear war in the 1960s Z for Zachariah by Robert C. O'Brien
Short stories "The Blast" by Stuart Cloete (1947), published in 6 Great Short Novels of Science Fiction, ed. Groff Conklin, 1954 "Thunder and Roses" (1947) by Theodore Sturgeon "Not with a Bang" (1949) by Damon Knight "The Last Word" (1956) by Damon Knight "A Clean Escape" (1985) by John Kessel "The 16th October 1985" (2009) by James Plumridge "The Edge of the Knife" (1957) by H. Beam PiperThe Edge of the Knife at Project Gutenberg "Lot" (1953) and "Lot's Daughter" (1954) by Ward Moore (inspiration for the film Panic in Year Zero!) "There Will Come Soft Rains" by Ray Bradbury (1950) "Preview of the War We Do Not Want", published in Collier's Magazine (1951) "If I Forget Thee, Oh Earth" by Arthur C. Clarke – featuring a boy living in a colony on the moon, left isolated by the destruction of the Earth