Happy Goat Horror

I don’t know why but stories about the end of the world fill me with peace and happiness. Perhaps it’s the thought of not being obligated to do anything ever again. Of course, there is the small matter of survival, but my optimistic nature has convinced me that I’d survive whatever ends the world, and then be left in peace to read until I die.

I have decided to only include one book per author (just to avoid the same few authors taking up the whole list!), and my choices are in no particular order. Here are 10 of my absolute favourite books about the apocalypse. The end is nigh!

Thought I’d list this first as its inclusion is inevitable. The opening of this book is just one of the greatest. It’s a sprawling tale about the battle between good and evil in a post-apocalyptic world, and the characters are outstanding.

Why can’t they just get this story right on the screen? It’s baffling to me that anyone writing a script based on this would make changes thinking they can outdo the source material, which is amazing and well ahead of its time. It’s about a lone survivor who stays behind to try to cure what’s essentially a mutation within the human population… or the former human population, I should say. It’s vampires, my dudes. NOT WEIRD CGI ZOMBIE THINGS. It’s amazing, goddamnit! I consider it a masterpiece and it’s up there as one of my favourite books of all time.

This story is incredible! I’ve said it before but I’ll mention it here too – if elements of this seem similar to some things in A Quiet Place, this book came first. The world is overrun with an enemy that hunts by sound, and we follow a family in their attempts to survive in a world that forces silence. I was hooked from the first page to the last. I loved this book so much that I was miserable when I finished it and didn’t even want to pick up another book afterwards. Tim Lebbon writes people so well that I never want to leave the world of his books, no matter how horrible they are!

A lesser known book but it’s the stuff of legend. Hilarious, grotesque, shudder-inducing legend. The less you know about this one going in, the better. Don’t even read the back cover synopsis, just trust me – it’s gold.

One day a family wakes up to find that people are appearing outside their house and just sort of staring at them. This story manages to give the sense that the horror is self-contained but also enormous at the same time. Truly creepy stuff!

Come on, guys, you didn’t think I’d make a list without Kit Power in it, did you? This apocalyptic tale is my favourite kind – survivors holed up and avoiding the new outside world. Just.. erm… maybe keep some comfort food and tissues on standby!

I had an argument with myself about which of Tremblay’s apocalyptic books to include in this list, but leaned more towards this one in the end. There’s an outbreak, and you know how much I love an outbreak! The opening chapter is absolutely gripping and gave me the same feeling as The Stand did the first time I read it. The story unfolds so organically and I could see myself in it. It’s awesome!

Hello zombie my old friend. This, in my opinion, is a slightly pre-apocalypse story, if such a thing exists. That’s my theory anyway. Our protagonist is a zombie. In this world, a percentage of the population just come back after death, and zombie life is tough because they’re treated pretty badly compared to when they were alive. It’s funny, provides some great subtle social commentary, and the ending made me grin.

Another lesser-known, little tale of madness! It’s a quick read but one that will stay with you. Something is going on… something perhaps otherworldly! I knew there was a reason I hate taking the bus!!!

I know I said at the start that I’d only include one book per author, but I’m just going ahead and recommending this entire series by Dave Jeffery. I’ve been bleeting on about this one since I first read it at the start of the year. These books are so good that I read all 4 of them within the same week. Set in a world where a virus wiped out a lot of people and left the survivors deaf, this story takes you places you never see coming. Jeffery has a really great understanding of the human condition and paints his characters and their moral dilemmas so authentically that it’s just impossible to put these books down.

Have I missed any of your favourites? Do you have any recommendations for me? Let me know!