History Main / ApocalypticLog

* The final transmission from RNLB Solomon Browne, the lifeboat involved in the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penlee_lifeboat_disaster Penlee lifeboat disaster]], as it attempted to rescue the crew of the MV Union Star in hurricane force winds. All involved were killed.

* In the fanfic-of-a-fanfic, ''Works/TheDarkPast'', the boys exploring an ancient alien spaceship discover the final log recording made by the only remaining relatively able-bodied crew member [[spoiler: right before he killed himself]]. The recording gives them enough clues to understand what happened and also provides some plot exposition.

* In the fanfic-of-a-fanfic, ''TheDarkPast'', the boys exploring an ancient alien spaceship discover the final log recording made by the only remaining relatively able-bodied crew member [[spoiler: right before he killed himself]]. The recording gives them enough clues to understand what happened and also provides some plot exposition.

* In the fanfic-of-a-fanfic, ''Literature/TheDarkPast'', the boys exploring an ancient alien spaceship discover the final log recording made by the only remaining relatively able-bodied crew member [[spoiler: right before he killed himself]]. The recording gives them enough clues to understand what happened and also provides some plot exposition.

* In the fanfic-of-a-fanfic, ''The Dark Past'', the boys exploring an ancient alien spaceship discover the final log recording made by the only remaining relatively able-bodied crew member [[spoiler: right before he killed himself]]. The recording gives them enough clues to understand what happened and also provides some plot exposition.

:: The last three words are written in a jagged scrawl with the final letter terminating in swift descending line. It's fairly obvious the author wrote this just before the last line of defense was breached.

A story is told through a log, diary, or journal that a character uses to document their activities and progress through the plot. Suddenly, [[GoneHorriblyWrong something happens]], the effects of which are slowly made known to the reader through its effects on the medium.

Expect that one dedicated character will keep recording events up until their last breath and that log will be discovered by the Hero (and thus the audience). These logs generally start the same way with hopeful characters recording the details of their lives and work. But when things start going sideways the entries will start conveying concern, disbelief, desperation and ultimately insanity. They might ominously report about how mysteriously [[HorrorHunger hungry]] they now feel, among other symptoms. The final entry can either be incoherent gibberish as the remaining character tries to warn the world of what happened, or a final cogent statement [[FlingALightIntoTheFuture warning the reader]] not to repeat their mistake, or how to end it.

This log can be written or recorded. If it's a video log, the downhill progress of the situation will be punctuated by a degradation in the appearance of the character, their surroundings, or even the video itself. Bonus points if the log's final entry has the character ultimately succumbing to whatever horror was released. Double bonus if the log is ''written'' and still records the author's last seconds. (See the page quote.)

Depending on the nature of the apocalyptic event, the recording may have gone through RagnarokProofing.

A handy way to fill in heroes who are LateToTheTragedy, and one of the last things "rescuers" answering a DistressCall will find.

** Notably [[http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/personal-journal-of-dr-bishop the personnal journal of Dr. Bishop.]] [[spoiler:Attempted rape on machine goddesses is bad, especially if you're a cyborg, m'kay?]]

Expect that one dedicated character will keep recording events up until their last breath and that log will be discovered by the Hero or the audience. These logs generally start the same way with hopeful characters recording the details of their lives and work. But when things start going sideways the entries will start conveying concern, disbelief, desperation and ultimately insanity. They might ominously report about how mysteriously [[HorrorHunger hungry]] they now feel, among other symptoms. The final entry can either be incoherent gibberish as the remaining character tries to warn the world of what happened, or a final cogent statement [[FlingALightIntoTheFuture warning the reader]] not to repeat their mistake, or how to end it.

* OlderThanRadio example: "M.S. Found in a Bottle" by Creator/EdgarAllanPoe, also a MessageInABottle. The protagonist states that he's writing the account for posterity, and that if he is about to die or suffer some other fate that would render him incapable of finishing the story, he will put it in the titular bottle and throw it in the sea. He apparently does so when he goes down a whirlpool on a ship full of TheVoiceless...

* Less known is the 1349 [[http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/ashorthistory/archive/topic38.shtml report of the Black Death]]:

* Dr. Delia Surridge's journal in ''ComicBook/VForVendetta''. In the graphic novel (though not the movie), she describes V's art projects in fascinated detail; these turn out to be intricate bombs and poisons that he later uses to destroy Larkhill and escape. The graphic novel also mentions that many pages are missing, leading to much speculation over what info they may have contained.

Not to be confused with the apocalyptic Loge from Creator/RichardWagner's ''[[Theatre/DerRingDesNibelungen Götterdämmerung]]'', or for that matter, [[AC: The Log]] from ''NarutoTheAbridgedSeries''. Or with Apocalyptic [[JustForPun Lag]]. See also VideoWill, the various times when the CassetteCraze applies to disappearances, and some of the less pleasant cases of MessageInABottle.

* HunterSThompson: ''"No More Games. No More Bombs. No More Walking. No More Fun. No More Swimming. 67. That is 17 years past 50. 17 more than I needed or wanted. Boring. I am always bitchy. No Fun for anybody. 67. You are getting Greedy. Act your old age. Relax. This won’t hurt."''

** ''The End of the Whole Mess'', found in the collection ''Nightmares & Dreamscapes''. Like ''Film/{{Cloverfield}}'', this one is a variation in that the entire story is the Apocalyptic Log and the reader is the one discovering it.

* In ''AlienLegacy'', you are the captain of a colony ship sent from Earth (which, by that point, has likely been destroyed by a vicious alien race), arriving at its intended system only to find out that another colony ship got there first (it was sent later but had a faster engine). However, instead of thriving colonies, you find nothing but ruins and messages. Besides surviving and establishing colonies of your own, the main task of the game is to discover the fate of the original colonists. And yes, by the end, the messages get more ominous and vague, even suggesting that those same vicious aliens have found you.

* Done in Disney's ''Disney/{{Tarzan}}'' series by a character who actually lived, but thought he was going to die and didn't get to finish his entry. Didn't help when he said that the item that he (falsely) believed would solve the problem plaguing the jungle was "hidden inside the p-", leaving Tarzan and Jane to run around the hut exploring every item they could find beginning with "P" (it was the phonograph machine, for the record.)

There is a [[EpilepticTrees possible explanation.]] [[spoiler:The zombie plague was started by a totally-not-high-fructose-corn-syrup-honest food additive, with sufficient concentrations causing those who ate it to become the living dead. While the narrator is fairly strict about his diet, he has only one food he indulges in -- [[WeaksauceWeakness baked beans,]] which he always eats with aplomb. The moral of this story is to always check the ingredients list of the food you eat... seriously, the book was rather {{Anvilicious}} in that regard.]]

** King seems to like this trope. It's also in ''Literature/TheStand'', in the form of Fran's and Harold's diaries.

* A staple in the ''VideoGame/SystemShock'' series; logs from personnel can be found scattered everywhere and frequently out of order.
** ''VideoGame/SystemShock 2'' in particular, contains an audio log which follows this trope word-for-word, where a scientist tries to focus on conveying useful information about [[BigBad The Many]], even as he is being devoured. In ''VideoGame/SystemShock 2'', the logs each come with a little icon of the speaker's head and face, not moving, probably just there to show players what they looked like. One, Anatoli Korenchkin, is infected by the Many early on, as the logs show. At one point he leaves a log full of him speaking in a warped voice about the glory of the Many; the icon, rather than his face, shows a mass of unfacelike tissue, vaguely like a jellyfish. At a later date he sends the player character an e-mail which contains the same icon; it can be seen a few minutes into [[http://www.viddler.com/explore/Raar/videos/19/ this]] LetsPlay.
** You find quite a few of these through the course of ''VideoGame/SystemShock'''s SpiritualSuccessor ''VideoGame/{{BioShock}}''. For example, Dr. Steinman's logs detail how, thanks to [[PsychoSerum ADAM]] abuse, he went from an ambitious plastic surgeon to a deranged, self-proclaimed "[[MadArtist Surgery's Picasso]]" whose motto was "Aesthetics are a moral imperative." And it gets the bonus points too. In one log, Dr. Suchong is reporting that the plasmid he designed intended to force the Big Daddies to bond with Little Sisters and protect them, violently for preference, is more or less a failure. At the same time, a Little Sister can be heard in the background, trying to get his attention. Fed up with her bugging him, Suchong slaps her, and then a Big Daddy's whalecry can be heard. Guess what happens next. What's even better? [[spoiler:You find it on a body stuck to a desk by a [[LightningBruiser Bouncer]]'s [[ThisIsADrill drill]]. [[NiceJobFixingItVillain Gee, how could that have happened?]]]] ''VideoGame/{{BioShock}}'' maintained this trend for the most part; the few people the player makes direct face-to-face contact with don't live long after the meeting, with the exception of the eerie Little Sisters and Dr. Tenenbaum.
** Both ''VideoGame/SystemShock'' games relied on this trope thematically. The times that the player is able to make human contact are so rare as to be notable; the only communication the character typically gets is through voice logs and emails left by the dead...or those who will be dead by the time he reaches them. Due to Adam absorbing and containing memories of it's previous users, you can sometimes see Ghosts throughout Rapture. The Apocalyptic part comes in because, well, obviously ''something'' had to have happened to them.

* ''VideoGame/AmnesiaTheDarkDescent'' is basically built upon this trope. The main character, Daniel, wakes up in a castle with, you guessed it, Amnesia. His only clues to any backstory or objective come from diary entries he wrote to himself, on account of his amnesia being self-inflicted. These entries tend to sound more and more unhinged as the player finds them throughout the game.
* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum'' has Patient Interviews with idealistic doctors trying to cure some of Arkham's worst inmates hidden throughout the game. Each has five segments and they all end up getting more and more unnerving as you find them.
** The worst is definitely Zsasz, whose doctor truly tries to cure him... so he tries to kill her halfway through. The last bit has him escape, and his current doctor giving an urgent call to warn her... but she can't talk, there's someone at the door... [[spoiler:but a [[{{Feelies}} preorder bonus comic]] reveals that Batman stopped Zsasz before he was able to go through with it.]]
** Croc's is a close second for most unsettling... his doctor simply can't believe that he's cannibalistic like the rumor's say... well, at the end he escapes... she makes it out unscathed, but the scene she sees... [[AnArmAndALeg isn't pretty]].

* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls''
** One example in ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind'' involves an expedition to Solsteim in a "flying ship" powered by magic. As one can expect, it crashed, leaving everyone dead but the man who had spent his life designing the ship. He records the days he spent stranded in the Solsteim wilderness, slowly freezing and starving to death. The last sentence trailed off, due to his hand becoming too frozen to write. You later have to bring the journal back to the man in Kraal who funded the whole trip, which starts an annoying FetchQuest.

** Some quests in ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'' have this. For example, the [[http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:The_Forlorn_Watchman_%28quest%29 Forlorn Watchman]] quest allows the player to read the log of an abandoned, haunted ship and the [[http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Lifting_the_Vale Lifting the Vale]] quest involves collecting the journal of a messenger who was headed to the same place as you. [[http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Origin_of_the_Gray_Prince The Origin of the Gray Prince]] has one of these at the end in the form of [[spoiler:a diary]].
* Near the end of the Dark Brotherhood questline, the PC can find a certain diary. It's last few pages are completely filled with "killhim" written in blood.

-->''I hear trolls\
I'm sorry Mother''
:: For bonus sad points, in his diary he writes about another Fighter's Guild member that he had a very, um, [[HoYay special]] relationship with. Four feet away from Viranus is that guy's corpse.
** There are a quite a few of these in ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim''.
*** In a great deal of dungeons, most commonly those featuring the Falmer, the player will find already slaughtered bodies and the remains of those who went through the dungeons before. The player will also often find the journals of those ill fated travelers, often involving the situation leading up to their grisly demise. Many involve them noticing [[HellIsThatNoise strange sounds]] or [[BrainwashedAndCrazy strange]] [[GoMadFromTheRevelation behavior]] [[MoreThanMindControl in their compatriots]] with increasing frequency, just before everything goes horribly wrong... this is usually the only way to gain any kind of background as to what happened in these places, and most are quite harrowing.
*** One example can be found in Japhot's Folly. Japhot's journal chronicles his ill-fated attempt to start a settlement on the inhospitable hellhole of an island. Even when the rest of the settlers went ScrewThisImOuttaHere, he stubbornly refused to leave. He was eventually reduced to eating ice-moss before starving to death. The journal is found in a a small locked room with Japhot's dessicated body. The final entry in the journal?
-->''OH GODS HELP ME''
*** Labyrinthian is another good example, and one involved in a major questline. As the player delves deeper into the dungeon to find the Staff Of Magnus, they come across ghostly imprints of a group of eager young wizards who seek to discern the secrets of the place, serving as an Apocalyptic Log the player can see unfold before their very eyes. The expedition is marked failure - one of the explorers dies before they reach the final chamber, and another is forced to be left behind in a room with a trap. The group visibly starts cracking mentally before they even reach their goal, which they have to force themselves to continue towards... and [[spoiler: then they accidentally free [[SealedEvilInACan a trapped Dragon Priest...]]]]

* A man driving with his daughter during the April 17th explosion of the fertilizer plant in West, Texas pulled out his camera phone to record the plant on fire, when the whole thing suddenly exploded ([[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROrpKx3aIjA&feature=youtu.be about 30 seconds into the video]]). The last thing you hear in the footage is the man's daughter repeating "Daddy, please get out of here...Dad, I can't hear, I can't hear." Both father and daughter were fine and relatively unscathed.