“The place where you made your stand never mattered. Only that you were there…and still on your feet.”
First published back in 1978, The Stand is a dark fantasy post-apocalyptic novel by Stephen King. The plot revolves around a deadly pandemic of weaponised influenza and the aftermath of its release. The surviving humans gather into factions that are each led by the personification of either good or evil, seemingly fated to clash with each other. In 1990, The Stand was republished with over 400 new pages, a shift in the order of chapters and some updated cultural references that helped it become a global #1 bestseller and King’s longest book to date. Having spawned countless spin-offs and adaptations, we here at What We Reading thought we would curate some of our favourite dystopia books like The Stand!
The Road – Cormac McCarthy
Kicking off our list of the best books like The Stand is Cormac McCarthy’s acclaimed bestseller, The Road. The story follows a father and his son, trekking through a burned America. Nothing moves in this ravaged landscape, save for the ash and the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones and, when it rains, it is grey. They are heading for the coast, but they don’t know what to expect to find when they arrive there. All they have to defend themselves is a pistol, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food, and each other.
The Road is a searing story of a journey. One of the most beloved post-apocalyptic books of all time, McCarthy perfectly balances the hopelessness of a world where our worst features are brought to fruition, with the powerful tenderness of a father and son being sustained solely by one another.
Check Out The Best Books Like The Road
Station Eleven – Emily St. John Mandel
Kirsten Raymonde will never forget the night Arthur Leander, the famous Hollywood actor, had a heart attack on stage during a production of King Lear. That was the night when a devastating pandemic arrived in the city. Within weeks, civilisation as the world knew it had come to an end.
Two decades on, Kirsten moves between the settlements of the new world with a small troupe of actors and musicians. They call themselves The Traveling Symphony and have made it their mission to keep the remnants of art and humanity alive. Yet, when they arrive in St. Deborah by the Water, they meet a violent prophet who threatens the band’s very existence. Moving forwards and backwards in time, Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven is a book similar to The Stand for readers looking for another powerful dystopia story depicting life before and after the pandemic, and the strange twists of fate that connect all.
Check Out The Best Books Like Station Eleven
The Long Walk – Stephen King
First published in the same year as The Stand, The Long Walk is another bestselling dystopian story by Stephen King. Against the wishes of his mother, sixteen-year-old Ray Garraty is about to compete in the annual gruelling competition of stamina known as The Long Walk. One hundred boys must keep a consistent pace of precisely four miles per hour without ever stopping. The winner is rewarded ‘The Prize’ – anything he wants, for the rest of his life.
But, as part of this national tournament sweeps through the United States year after year, there are some harsh rules that Garraty and his ninety-nine fellow competitors must keep in mind to beat out the rest. There is no finish line. The winner is the last one standing. Contestants cannot receive any outside help whatsoever. Drop below four miles per hour, and you’re given a warning. Three warnings and you are out of the game – permanently.
Seveneves – Neal Stephenson
A catastrophic event leaves Earth a ticking time bomb. In a feverish race against the inevitable, the nations of the world scramble toward an ambitious plan to ensure the survival of humanity far beyond our atmosphere in outer space. But the complexities and unpredictable nature of humans, coupled with unforeseen circumstances, threaten these intrepid pioneers until just a handful of survivors remain.
Five thousand years in the future, their descendants, seven distinct races totalling over three billion in all, embark on another audacious journey into the unknown toward an alien world ravaged by cataclysm and time: Earth. Neal Stephenson’s Seveneves is a hugely imaginative sci-fi book similar to The Stand that offers a glimpse into a future that is somehow both extraordinary and eerily recognisable.
The Girl In Red – Christina Henry
It’s not safe for anyone in the woods. Some predators come out at night: critters, coyotes, snakes and wolves. But the woman dressed in a red jacket has no choice. Not since the Crisis came, wiped through the population and sent those fortunate enough to survive fleeing for quarantine camps that double up as breeding grounds for disease, destruction and death. She is just a woman trying not to be killed in a world that looks nothing like the one she was so familiar with until three months ago.
But there are worse things in the forest than the animals. Sometimes, there are men. Men with dark desires, weak wills and evil intentions. And, sometimes, something is lurking in the shadows worse than the terrible people and vicious beasts combined. Christina Henry’s The Girl in Red is a post-apocalyptic retelling of a classic fairy tale. If you loved the vibe of The Stand, this 2019 horror book is a perfect follow-up.
Swan Song – Robert McCammon
Author Robert McCammon famously took a lot of inspiration from Stephen King when writing his 1987 bestseller Swan Song, making it undoubtedly one of the best books like The Stand for those looking for another post-apocalyptic tale.
Set in a desolate landscape of the United States ravaged by nuclear war, the story centres around an ancient evil known as the Man with the Scarlet Eye. A malevolent force, he feeds on the dark desires of the countless followers he has foraged into his service. His only goal is to find a special child named Swan – and destroy her. But some are prepared to protect her and continue fighting for what is left of their world and their souls. Featuring marauding armies and monstrous creatures, the last survivors on Earth are drawn into a fight between good and evil that will determine the fate of humanity.
The Passage (The Passage #1) – Justin Cronin
First, the unimaginable happens: a security breach at a secret US government facility unleashes the monstrous result of a chilling experiment. Then the unspeakable follows a night of chaos and carnage that, as the sunrise illuminates the aftermath, shows a world forever altered. All that remains for the survivors is a long fight ahead and a future fuelled by fear of the darkness, of death and of a fate far worse.
As civilisation quickly crumbles around them, two people flee in search of sanctuary. FBI agent Brad Wolgast is an honourable man haunted by what he’s done in the line of duty. Six-year-old orphan Amy Harper Bellafonte is a refugee from the project that kickstarted the apocalypse. Wolgast is determined to protect her at all costs but, for Amy, escaping the bloody fallout is just the beginning of a longer journey to finishing what should have never begun. Another one of the best post-apocalyptic books like The Stand, Justin Cronin’s The Passage is an epic account of catastrophe, danger and incredible human resilience.
Check Out These Apocalyptic Books Like The Walking Dead
Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
