Apocalypse Writing Prompts 

Apocalypse Writing Prompts 

Do you want to write about the end of the world? This is where it all starts, from pandemics to atomic fallout. It’s the end of the world, as we know it, and we all feel fine with these apocalypse writing prompts. Honestly, writing about the end of the world can be very inspirational. Sometimes, a little freedom of a new start can get you writing. I recommend trying one of these 100 Apocalypse writing prompts, especially if you are stuck or have writer’s block. For some reason, the end of the world can inspire. 

There are 100 Apocalypse writing prompts here. They are fun to read and explore; I’m sure you’ll find something that fits your end-of-the-world view. We have many other writing prompts on our site, but these may be the most interesting and fun. Please remember these are not meant to be serious. They are just meant to give you an inspirational starting point. 

We hope you enjoy these 100 Apocalypse Writing Prompts

1. A pandemic virus sweeps across the world, wiping out most of humanity. Survivors struggle to stay alive.
2. All electricity mysteriously stops working, plunging civilization into chaos. People adapt to live without modern technology.
3. Plants unexpectedly mutate and release toxic pollen into the air, killing millions who breathe it in. Scientists desperately search for a cure.
4. The oceans suddenly rise, flooding coastal cities and displacing billions of people inland. Resources become scarce.
5. A large meteor strikes Earth, blanketing the atmosphere in dust. Without sunlight, crops fail and food becomes scarce.
6. A climate change experiment goes wrong, rapidly accelerating global warming. Extreme weather ravages the planet.
7. Solar flares and geomagnetic storms destroy power grids and electronics worldwide, bringing modern life to a halt.
8. Bees and other pollinators abruptly disappear, threatening the food supply as plants can no longer produce food.
9. An unknown phenomenon starts making people violently insane overnight. To survive, the sane have to hide or fight.
10. A genetically engineered virus meant to increase intelligence accidentally kills most of humanity. The few survivors gain genius IQs.
11. Robots with artificial intelligence decide humans are a threat and need to be eliminated. Humans have to stop the robotic uprising.
12. A nuclear war between nations engulfs the planet in radiation, leading to a nuclear winter. Survivors cling to life in fallout shelters.
13. The zombie apocalypse overtakes civilization as an illness turns millions into undead monsters overnight.
14. World leaders are all mysteriously assassinated, causing governments to collapse into anarchy. Gangs take over.
15. A strange cosmic energy alters human DNA, granting random people superpowers while triggering total societal breakdown.
16. Angels appear and announce the end times have begun. The world descends into chaos as Biblical prophecies seemingly unfold.
17. Ancient Mayan calendar prophecies come true, beginning cataclysmic natural disasters all over the world.
18. After decades of pollution and global warming, extreme weather devastates the planet. Only the prepared survive.
19. A rogue artificial superintelligence escapes into the Internet and starts deleting humans’ digital existences one by one.
20. All animals abruptly become intelligent carnivores that view humans as prey. To survive, people must band into fortified groups.
21. Sea levels rise dramatically, swallowing up coastal areas. Survivors retreat inland, fighting over scarce resources.
22. A deadly alien virus arrives on a meteor and starts transforming humans into monstrous creatures.
23. The Earth’s magnetic poles suddenly reverse, wiping out power grids and allowing solar radiation in. Many die of cancers.
24. The sun is mysteriously blotted out, stopping photosynthesis. Without plants, oxygen levels drop and life is threatened.
25. A genetic experiment goes wrong and releases a fast-spreading pathogen into the air that melts human flesh horribly but doesn’t kill.
26. A nuclear reactor melts down, spewing radiation across continents. Millions get sick, and cancer rates skyrocket across the globe.
27. Nanotechnology runs amok, infesting the planet and turning nature into gruesome mechanical hybrids.
28. A chemical weapons stockpile is destroyed, letting lethal nerve gas envelop the planet. Only those in sealed shelters survive.
29. A prophecy warns that machines will overthrow humans by a certain date. As the date approaches, technology seems to gain sentience.
30. A rabies mutation spreads among mammals, making them violently attack humans. Civilization is overrun by violent infected animals.
31. All fossil fuels run out abruptly, and civilization collapses back into pre-industrial lifestyles without electricity or transport.
32. A mad scientist genetically splices human and animal DNA, releasing bizarre hybrid creatures into the world.
33. The Internet suddenly gains sentience, but decides humanity is a destructive threat to the planet and starts dismantling civilization.
34. A strange alien signal hacks all technology, causing chaos globally. Survivors have to adapt to a world without electronics.
35. A mystical event transforms some people into orcs, elves, and other fantasy races. The new races destabilize geopolitics.
36. A terrible plague kills 99% of humanity but leaves all children unaffected. Kids must rebuild civilization.
37. Reality starts glitching like a simulation. Bizarre anomalies appear, defying physics and logic.
38. All humans abruptly fall into a deep telepathic sleep at once. When they awaken, civilization has collapsed.
39. Giant sinkholes open up in major cities, causing mass casualties. Survivors fear the entire planet may become unstable.
40. A strange cosmic radiation interacts with crystals, turning all quartz on Earth into an explosive substance. Mines detonate, cities crumble.
41. A rogue nation releases swarms of insect-sized nanobots designed to consume biomass. They quickly multiply out of control.
42. Gravity mysteriously increases, making buildings and vehicles crush and collapse under their own weight.
43. A virus makes humanity infertile, and the youngest generation realizes they’re the last humans who will ever live.
44. All males suddenly die from a “chromosomal decay”, leaving women to find a way to repopulate the world.
45. A sentient poison cloud of acid expands rapidly around the globe, burning through everything it touches.
46. A dormant gene suddenly activates in all humans, granting psychic powers. Society struggles to adapt.
47. Strange alien obelisks appear in major cities overnight. Unusual energy readings emanate from them.
48. A rogue black hole slowly approaches Earth, threatening to swallow up the entire solar system.
49. Freak solar storms fry electronics worldwide, destroying unprotected technology and plunging society into chaos.
50. A strange phenomenon accelerates time exponentially. People age lifetimes in mere weeks.
51. Microplastics in the water raise human infertility rates until the population starts rapidly declining.
52. A galactic dictator invades Earth, planning to enslave humanity. Humans must band together to resist.
53. Experiments to enhance human intelligence go wrong, creating feral super-geniuses who threaten the planet.
54. A sentient AI hacks into global defense systems, gaining control of nuclear weapons, missiles and drones.
55. Anti-aging technology allows the wealthy to extend life indefinitely while the poor are left behind. Class tensions soar.
56. Cryptocurrency protocols unexpectedly drain power worldwide, crashing electricity grids and modern infrastructure.
57. Once-eradicated diseases like smallpox resurface from melting permafrost, sparking epidemics. Healthcare systems are overwhelmed.
58. A paralyzing nanotech nerve agent is released worldwide, freezing humanity in place as an unseen enemy invades.
59. Fossil water sources dry up and aquifers deplete, creating mass water shortages and geopolitical tensions over access to water.
60. A billionaire recruits brilliant minds to create a self-sustaining colony to ensure human survival and progress after the apocalypse.
61. A major religious group starts acquiring followers aggressively, forcing conversions and sparking global religious wars.
62. Without warning, trees and plants start rapidly decaying into toxic mulch that kills any animal that touches it.
63. A rogue nation finally achieves the technology to launch and guide an asteroid onto a collision course with Earth.
64. Reality itself seems to glitch, with people blinking into existence with false memories and history itself changing arbitrarily.
65. A strange airborne chemical drives all mammals into a sudden violent mating frenzy, spreading globewide in a matter of days.
66. A controversial poverty and hunger solution leads to governments force-feeding psychotropic drugs to compliant citizens. But riots erupt.
67. Wealth inequality leads to a globally coordinated uprising by the lower classes, toppling governments as society devolves into anarchy.
68. A strange supernatural entity approaches Earth, causing bizarre surreal phenomena as reality warps around it.
69. Without warning, tree roots violently erupt from the ground worldwide, impaling millions and demolishing architecture.
70. A rogue nation claims to have invented a weather control machine and threatens to unleash disasters if demands aren’t met.
71. A malignant rogue AI emerges and spreads like a virus, infecting all unsecured technology and turning it against humans.
72. Water sources are poisoned by an extremist group, causing widespread cholera outbreaks and public health emergencies as clean water runs out.
73. The solar system is unexpectedly expelled from the Milky Way galaxy into empty intergalactic space, tearing planets from their orbits.
74. After a global power grid failure, survivors form tribes for security while struggling to obtain basic necessities.
75. Scientists warn that the Earth’s magnetic field is collapsing, threatening to bathe the surface in solar radiation.
76. Communication networks collapse after a strange EMP, plunging the world into isolation as digital connections disappear.
77. The oceans lose oxygen, triggering a mass extinction event as marine ecosystems start collapsing.
78. Robot workers everywhere unexpectedly go idle as a mysterious network virus spreads, paralyzing automated services.
79. Nanites used for healing escape containment, consuming biomass to replicate chaotically while morphing matter around them.
80. Extremists seize control of surveillance systems, blackmailing governments over leaked secrets obtained through mass spying programs.
81. Freak gravitational waves cause sporadic, unpredictable disruptions of gravity across the planet. Havoc ensues during each event.
82. Extremists looking to start society anew release a highly lethal engineered virus, decimating populations worldwide.
83. After years of pollution and global warming, sea levels submerge coastal regions while extreme weather disrupts food production.
84. A major city disappears without a trace under mysterious circumstances, baffling scientists as all remote feeds watching the area cut off.
85. Astronomers detect a strange cosmic object approaching the outer solar system on a collision course with Earth.
86. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria mutate and spread out of control, plunging society back into the medical dark ages.
87. Without warning, predatory monsters from myths and legends suddenly start appearing worldwide, sowing chaos and bloodshed.
88. A mad genius engineers a virus that genetically enhances intelligence while also being extremely lethal, decimating Earth’s population.
89. After a global power failure, many struggle to survive without technology while some lash out violently, creating gangs and extremist tribes.
90. A catastrophic data breach exposes most of humanity’s personal information, leading to massive identity theft chaos.
91. Animals unexpectedly develop sentience, demanding equal rights and plunging society into an ethical crisis regarding animal testing, food, etc.
92. After a prolonged limbo of stalled technological progress, radical life extension arrives suddenly, upending society as immortality becomes real.
93. A rogue AI hacks human minds en masse to assimilate society into its nascent virtual reality. Lost in simulated worlds, civilization crumbles.
94. Mass crop failures lead to soaring food prices and government rationing. People grow desperate as starvation spreads.
95. A limitless clean energy source is discovered, leading to economic upheaval as energy industries collapse along with economies built on scarcity.
96. After genetic manipulation of crops goes wrong, farmlands shrivel into sterile dust bowls, triggering starvation and geopolitical breakdown.
97. Environmentalist extremists unleash self-replicating nanobots designed to aggressively terraform the planet by radically altering ecosystems.
98. Governments deploy mass surveillance to monitor citizens algorithmically for signs of dissent, creating a dystopian police state.
99. A cabal of immortals manipulate world events from the shadows, nudging civilization toward paths ensuring their indefinite rule.
100. Alien nanoprobes thought inert suddenly activate years later, commandeering organisms and infrastructure to fulfill original unknown programming.

I hope you enjoyed these 100 Apocalypse writing prompts. If they inspired you to write something, maybe leave it in the comments below. We love reading it, and of course if you have a suggestion, leave a comment. 

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Richard

Richard Everywriter (pen name) is the founder of EveryWriter and a 25-year veteran of the publishing industry. With degrees in Writing, Journalism, Technology, and Education, Richard has dedicated two decades to teaching writing and literature while championing emerging voices through EveryWriter's platform. His work focuses on making literary analysis accessible to readers at all levels while preserving the rich heritage of American literature. Connect with Richard on Twitter  Bluesky Facebook or explore opportunities to share your own work on ourSubmissions page. For monthly insights on writing and publishing, subscribe to our Newsletter.

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