Apocalypse Here Trivia Quiz

Answer: Offred

The story itself revolves around a futuristic male-led religion-based society in New England in which a problem of fecundity (or the lack thereof) has occurred. Offred, one of the few fertile women, was "of Fred" or offered to him as his (essentially) sex slave. Oof. Fred Mertz, played by William Frawley, was the landlord and friend of the Ricardo family on "I Love Lucy".

Answer: 144

While the initial Silo had 144 (a dozen-dozen, or a gross) floors, it was ultimately revealed that it was Silo 17 and that there were a total of fifty (50) silos. The initial theory behind so many silos and their inhabitants was that these people would be needed to repopulate the Earth after a catastrophic event (that would constitute a major spoiler if revealed).

The book series stretches over an arc that ranges from the history of the silos to internal conflicts and resolves itself with a return to Earth's surface.

Answer: The cord on a window blind

The crew arrives in San Francisco only to discover that the cord on a window blind has become entangled in an operable telegraph machine. Each time that the wind blows, it causes the machine to tap out random letters. One crew member deserts as the boat heads back down under to await its inevitable fate.

Answer: She is a zombie

Melanie is a zombie, but she is unaware of this fact. She conducts herself like any other normal girl, going to classes and learning about things in the pre-apocalyptic world that she wants to experience for herself when she grows up.

Answer: Vampires

Matheson's novella has been adapted for the movies several times, but there is nothing like reading the actual source material. This one may resonate with the reader for some time! The plot concerns one Robert Neville, who has survived both a war and a subsequent pandemic, possibly the only known person to do so (survive).

He conducts experiments and develops hypotheses as to what transpired to make him immune, but it is only when he meets a woman named Ruth that he comes to a moment of self-realization.

It is a classic of its genre, but to reveal more would be to give away spoilers.

Answer: A puppet

The book uses a language of the author's own devising, suggesting that in a post-apocalyptic world, language will devolve into phonemes and sound-alikes. It is a tough read at first, but once you become attuned to the new language, it unveils itself to reveal just how far back humanity has regressed. "Eusa" is a puppet, but it represents the initial hope, following the nuclear apocalypse that destroyed England (the story's setting), that the U.S.A. could or would somehow come to the rescue.

Answer: Father & son

The pair is a father and his son and McCarthy does an admirable job of making us care for and about them on their journey. The ending is both heartrending and hopeful, but it is not an uplifting tale. In filming it, the director went to southwest Pennsylvania during the winter, suggesting that the leaden skies and bitter cold of my native PA are what we can expect following a nuclear apocalypse!

Answer: Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

George's book, originally printed as "Two Hours to Doom", ends with the President of the United States agreeing to allow the Soviets to destroy Atlantic City, N.J. if the U.S. B-52 reaches its target. A last-minute aversion takes place and all's well that ends swell. Stanley Kubrick had a different vision, one in which high-ranking officials would be shuttled off to silos (sound familiar?) while the above-ground world went up in flames.

The finale of the movie will blow you away!

Answer: Ice-nine

Ice, ice, baby! Ice-T & Ice Cube would love the way that the world's oceans are being frozen solid at the end of the book. Me, not so much. I mean, how many layers can you physically put on? One must be pragmatic about the end of the world! The book itself is told in flashback by John/Jonah and takes the reader from his time gathering stories about the day that the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima through to the present, where he writes the book while holed up in a cave on the fictional Caribbean island of San Lorenzo. Fans of post-apocalyptic languages will dig the religion of Bokonon and its made-up verbiage.

Answer: The Stand

Be forewarned, this book is MASSIVE and for me, it was a let-down. The protagonists spend the entire novel chasing down Flagg (the personification of the forces of evil), only to have him disappear like a will-o'-the-wisp in the epilogue. King uses this book as the foundation for an entire series all revolving around this post-apocalyptic universe, but the ending hinders it as a stand-alone novel.