The post-apocalyptic genre is typically a sub-genre of fantasy or science fiction. Post-apocalyptic stories explore worlds in which society has collapsed due to some catastrophic event. In many cases, humans cause these events, which include things like climate change or resource depletion, nuclear holocaust, or a technological singularity. They can also be natural disasters, including an astronomical impact or a geological disaster. The stories navigate how the characters either try to prevent or reverse the apocalyptic event, or how they endure and survive in their new, post-apocalyptic world.

A zombie outbreak is another example of an apocalyptic event. In the late 2000s and 2010s, there were many instances where zombies were humanized and depicted as friends. Zombies employed in this fashion are sometimes used as a stand in for marginalize, isolated, or discriminated-against groups. In a similar vein, Jack insists that his friends do not kill zombies since they used to be humans. In The Last Kids on Earth and the Zombie Parade, he even goes so far as to name a zombie that they capture and risks his own life to save it. Moreover, there are other non-evil monsters in the novel that Jack connects with; he is able to empathize with them given his own history of isolation and exclusion.