*The movie that triggered my love of post-apocalyptic stories

photo credit: cdrummbks via photopin cc

Once upon a time, the movie DAMNATION ALLEY hit theaters, and then my family's VCR, and was unlike anything I had seen. I was 9 or 10--- young enough that I didn't notice the post-apoc skies were edited in, but old enough to know that the unconvincing 8 feet long scorpions definitely were. Regardless, it opened my eyes (and, if you want to get sappy with it, my heart) to post-apoc fiction.

The Top 10 Reasons Why DAMNATION ALLEY Fascinated Me

1. There's just something about most of the population of the world being wiped out, and the massive job those who are left have to make something of the world.
2. The concept of starting with just a few people, and gathering others on the way across the country.
3. That something big enough to change the world doesn't just change the population or the landscape, it changes other things, too--- weather and insects and skies and what "normal" is.
4. Three words: Armor. Plated. Cockroaches.
5. Plus, it sort of made me want to ride a motorcycle through all the stories of a department store (at the same time as wonder why they didn't just go out the front doors that were right there).
6. Even when there's next to nothing left (or especially when there's nothing left), humans will still seek each other out.
7. I could not swear as a kid. Seriously, I could not. It was years before I could actually bring myself to tell people the name of this movie I loved. No joke.
8. When a world becomes post-apocalyptic, it becomes a strange dichotomy of primitive and modern.
9. One of the main characters was that guy from from The A-Team (and I always loved it when a plan came together).
10. When there aren't very many people in the world, it gives characters a huge chance to really step up. What each person does matters so much.

Do you have a love of post-apoc stories? If so, do you remember what triggered it for you?