Tea's Weird Week: Apocalypse Every Show Now
The End is Nigh (and Entertaining)
My third book, Apocalypse Any Day Now, was published in 2019 (by Chicago Review Press). I talked to a wide range of people on their ideas on how the world as we know it might end, and some of their plans for the apocalypse. It was deeply stressful at times, but I had some fun with it, too. For example, I thought it would be interesting to read some dystopian fiction, so I started a book club, The Apocalypse Blog Book Club (I had renamed my website here The Apocalypse Blog while I was working on the book) in 2017. We read some classics like Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler, The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., and many others. You can see a list of our selections here: https://teakrulos.com/apocalypse-any-day-now/
Anyway, I thought of all this recently after I binged a show called Paradise (which was released in January on Hulu), a post-apocalyptic murder mystery. I really enjoyed it, even if it managed to earworm “Another Day in Paradise” in my damn head for over a week. But I was also like, wow there are a lot of shows on this theme lately, aren’t there? Maybe I was too distracted studying the theory I explored in Political Monsters about the correlation of zombie, vampire, and killer clown movies and politics to dwell on it too much.
But yeah, the shit hitting the fan scenarios, dystopias, and that post-apocalyptic lifestyle is a popular theme in shows like Silo (2023-present), Fallout (2024-present), The Walking Dead and all the spinoffs (2010-present), The Handmaid’s Tale (2017-2025), The Last of Us (2023-present), Westworld (2016-2022), even shows like Severance (2022-present) play on this theme. And that’s just naming off the top of my head.
Why are shows like this so popular now? Oh gee, I dunno– art imitating life? Women’s rights being taken away, like in The Handmaid’s Tale. People are being disappeared in cases of mistaken identity, as seen in Brazil. Reality is being redrawn and renamed, like in Nineteen Eighty-Four, some real “Oceania was at war with Eurasia: therefore Oceania had always been at war with Eurasia,” type of stuff. Homeland Security is even thinking of doing a reality show that sounds like an idea out of The Hunger Games.
I don’t expect this trend to stop any time soon. These are tough, dismal times. I wish you all well– may the odds be ever in your favor and all that.
—
Next week on TWW: If you don’t support QWERTY, you might end up feeling butt-hurty (Part II). Want TWW delivered to your inbox? You can sign up for my Substack HERE. Follow me on: Facebook Bluesky Instagram
Apocalypse Any Day Now: Deep Underground with America’s Doomsday Preppers (2019, Chicago Review Press) can be bought here: www.chicagoreviewpress.com/ApocalypseAnyDayNow
