Zombies . Yes , agreed . There are still good books out there with zombies as the main thing , but I ' m writing for a DD campaign at the moment . Zombies are just the beginning because I can ' t bring myself to be basic , when I have all the possibility that a steampunk magitech apocalypse has . Cars ? Yeah , also agreed . So much this . Horror and dread feeds off the sensibilities of the day , but by now we expect there to be zero fuel at all in an apocalypse . It holds no horror for me , especially as I already don ' t drive . I hate the small groups trope but I also totally get it . Civilisation begins with the respect for the rule of law , howsoever that may be meted . So the paranoia makes sense , because now not only can you not rely on the law for recourse , but the less scrupulous people are better at eliminating competitors in a struggle to control resources . In short , the fear that you are weaker than someone else becomes a valid one .