LibGuides: History of Horror: Apocalyptic & Ecological Horror

Nuclear

Dr. Strangelove, or, How I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb
DVD 1964
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A satire on the Cold War.
Chernobyl / HBO Miniseries
DVD 2019
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In April 1986, an explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics becomes one of the world's worst man-made catastrophes. This gripping 5-part HBO miniseries tells the powerful and visceral story of this event and its aftermath.
World War Z
DVD 2013
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Gerry Lane travels the globe in an effort to eliminate the zombie pandemic that is endangering the existence of humanity.

Apocalyptic horror is concerned with the end of the world or the end of humanity.

1826. Novel: The Last Man by Mary Shelley.
1945. The United States drops two atom bombs onto the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
1946. Journalism: Hiroshima by John Hershey.
1951. Novel: Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham.
1957. Novel: On the Beach by Nevil Shute.
1959. Novel: Alas Babylon by Pat Frank.
1960. Novle: A Candle for Liebowitz by William M. Miller, Jr.
1962. The Cuban Missile Crisis.
1963. Novel: Planet of the Apes by Pierre Boulle.
1974. Novel: Z for Zachariah by Robert C. O'Brien.
1978. Novel: The Stand by Stephen KIng.
1979. A partial meltdown of a nuclear reactor at Three-Mile Island.
1979. Film: The China Syndrome.
1986. A nuclear accident at Chernobyl in Ukraine.
1983. TV Film: The Day After (ABC).
1985. Novel: Always Coming Home by Ursula K. LeGuin.
1993. Novel: Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler.
1995. Film: Outbreak.
2009. Film: The Road.
201l. Novel: Zone One by Colson Whitehead.

Ecological Horror

Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds
Blu-Ray 1963
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Melanie Daniels is a beautiful blonde who arrives in Bodega Bay in pursuit of the handsome and eligible Mitch Brenner. But love is not the only thing in the air when thousands of birds descend upon the town, attacking and terrorizing its residents. Soon Melanie and Mitch are fighting for their lives against a deadly, unexplainable force in this spine-tingling portrait of nature at its most powerful and ruthless.
Waterworld
DVD 1995
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In a future where Earth is covered with water, the human race struggles to survive on dilapidated boats and makeshift floating cities called atolls. When a mysterious drifter/adventurer known as the Mariner gets caught up in the struggle between the evil Deacon and a young girl and her adoptive mother, he finds himself catapulted into an explosive war of good vs. evil.
The day after tomorrow
DVD 2004
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Climatologist Jack Hall must fight to survive the elements when global warming triggers the onset of a new Ice Age.

1816. Mount Tambora global disaster.
1854. Book: Walden by Henry David Thoreau.
1892. John Muir forms the Sierra Club.
1912. Novella: The Man Whom the Trees Loved by Algernon Blackwood.
1960. Film: Little Shop of Horrors.
1962. Book: Rachel Carson's Silent Spring.
1964. Novel: The Burning World by J. G. Ballard.
1966. Film: The Night of the Grizzly.
1968. Book: The Population Bomb by Paul Ehrlich.
1970. The first Earth Day.
1970. Film: No Blade of Grass.
1975. Film: Jaws.
1980. Novel: Congo by Michael Crichton.
1981. Novel: Cujo by Stephen King.
1984. Novel: The Ceremonies by T.E.D. Klein.
1988. Film: Gorillas in the Mist: The Story of Dian Fossey..
1997. Film: Aberration.
2006. Film: The Last Winter.
2008. Film: The Happening,
2009. Documentary: The Cove.
2014. Novel: Fever Dreams by Samanta Schweblin
2020. Novel: Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy

Additional References

Cardin, M. (2017). Horror literature through history an encyclopedia of the stories that speak to our deepest fears (Kindle) Greenwood.
Jones, D. (2021). Horror a very short introduction. Oxford University Press.
King, S. (2010). Danse macabre. Gallery.
Landis, J. (2016). Monsters in the movies: 100 Years of Cinematic nightmares. DK.
Luckhurst, R. (2018). The Astounding Illustrated History of Fantasy & Horror. Flame Tree Publishing.
Skal, D. J. (2020). Fright favourites: 31 movies to haunt your Halloween and beyond. Running Press.
Turitz, N. and Zimmerman, B. (2020). Horror: An illustrated history of vampires, zombies, monsters & more. Centennial Books, an imprint of Centennial Media, LLC.