10 Best Stories For Fans Of The Last Of Us
Posted on April 11, 2025
by Sam P
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: if, like me, you’ve been thinking about The Last of Us nearly every day since its release in 2013, my heart goes out to you. If you watched the show and experienced the journey of Joel and Ellie for the first time, it still goes out to you. In this sweeping journey full of both heart and darkness (and fungus) in equal measure, it is said that one should look for the light. This list of books contains materials that inspired The Last of Us’ creators. It’s full of classics, as far as the apocalypse/post-apocalypse genre goes, but it’s a solid list nonetheless.
the last of us
If you're emotionally equipped for a re-watch, the special features included in the DVD release of season one are a fascinating jump into the process of translating the story from game to television-- what worked, what didn't, and what changed from one to the other.
the last of us: american dreams by Neil Druckman
Did the Left Behind DLC rip your heart out? Did episode seven of season one also rip your heart out? I get it. I really do. Luckily, this collection of comics is a prequel to the prequel chronicling some of Ellie's time at the military prep school as well as how Ellie and Riley met.
planet earth
What's a nature documentary doing on this list about a heartfelt story that spans a post-apocalyptic United States? Well, the documentary spends some time exploring cordyceps-- the fungus that inspired the look and feel of both the world and the infected who inhabit it.
night of the living dead
What is often considered a pioneering film in the zombie genre, of course Romero's classic has been cited as a huge inspiration for the infected found in The Last of Us (and, like, every other undead anything).
frank miller's sin city vol. 1: the hard goodbye by Frank Miller
In early versions of The Last of Us, including before it was conceptualized for a video game, the original inspiration for Joel was the stoic John Hartigan from the Sin City comics.
road to perdition
The relationship established between father and son in this film influenced the later dynamic we see develop between Joel and Ellie.
the road by Cormac McCarthy
Is it not cited as an inspiration in so many post-apocalyptic stories that succeeded its publishing date? A cross-country journey between a father and son mimicked by Joel and Ellie.
city of thieves by David Benioff
This historical fiction depicts the journey of two survivors stuck in during the siege of Leningrad during WWII. The game creators cite it as an inspiration in terms of the relationship dynamic-- as the deuteragonists hate one another, but there is also humor in it despite the grim setting.
no country for old men by Cormac McCarthy
Though we don't have the film in our catalogue at the time of writing, it's use of tension without stinging music and the rare fight scene likely assisted in how the narrative flowed-- deciding when scenes should be action-packed or when a viewer needed a breather.
the world without us by Alan Weisman
Not just your average apocalypse book, Weisman's non-fiction novel postulates what the world would look like if humans disappeared and nature reclaimed what was taken from it. Try playing or watching the game and paying close attention to this aspect. The environment itself is its own character, in a sense.
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