20 Post-Apocalyptic Stories That Aren’t Totally Depressing

Day of the Triffids cover (Image via Penguin)

4. The Day of the Triffids

First of all, beware the 1950s sexist tropes ahead in The Day of the Triffids. Still, considering the grim fate for people of any gender in many post-apocalyptic scenarios, Triffids is worth considering.

In The Day of the Triffids, the end of the world doesn’t come about through nuclear wars or widespread pandemics. Instead, it’s a double-whammy of blinding comets and poisonous walking plants that bring human civilization to its knees.

Sound weird? It sure is, so let’s take a minute to consider the beginning of the end of the world here. This 1951 novel by John Wyndham begins with protagonist Bill Masen, a biologist who works with triffids. Triffids are tall, mobile plants that, if left unchecked, can roam the British countryside, spraying people and animals with venom and eating them. Masen is sent to the hospital after getting triffid venom in his eyes. He learns that he’ll be okay, but is stuck with bandages over his face in the interim.

That injury turns out to be spectacularly lucky, however. Soon after his admittance to the hospital, people observe a strange green meteor shower that renders them blind. Masen removes his bandages and discovers that he is now one of the very few sighted people left in England.

The rest of London and beyond has descended into anarchy. Some newly blind people have managed to capture sighted people and use them as guides. When Masen teams up with other sighted people, he is routinely taken aback by polygamist schemes and totalitarian governments, as one expects a good Englishman to do.

However, in the end, things work out. Masen eventually settles with a small group first in Sussex, then the Isle of Wight. Though they’re still menaced by triffids and other humans, the group’s closing situation sounds downright cozy.