(This is an excerpt from a review of recent apocalypse novels. It first appeared on This Recording on January 25th, 2008, but this grammatically-focused section seems like an important inclusion on my personal blog as well. See the full article.)
Pre-Apocalypse: Set immediately before an impending apocalypse. Usually, because of heroic efforts on the part of the protagonist(s), the apocalypse is avoided. This type of apocalypse can be found mostly in summer blockbusters starring Bruce Willis, and possibly in the kind of novels I don't read. Examples are Armageddon, Deep Impact, and The Core.
Post-Apocalypse: Set amongst the ruins of the Earth after the apocalypse has occurred. Often these narratives contain lots of bleak social commentary, unless it's a three-hour Kevin Costner movie about water postmen, in which case it's a portrait of redemption and hope. Examples are The Road and The Pesthouse. Other examples are the zombie movies I Am Legend and 28 Days Later. Note that these two are a recent development in the zombie movie genre, since normally they fall into the next category.
Apocalypse: Set during the actual apocalypse, when all the cool stuff is happening. Since often the apocalypse is a quick event (a giant meteor, a nuclear war), this type of narrative requires the rare apocalyptic force that can be spread out over an hour and a half or a few hundred pages. Hence, this category is primarily made up of zombie or other monster movies, where the reader/viewer actually witnesses the slow destruction of society. Examples are most zombie movies (with the exception of I Am Legend and 28 Days Later, which both follow minimal casts long after the initial destruction is complete).
Post-Apocalypse-Apocalypse: This is when, during the post-apocalyptic period, there is another apocalyptic event, such as in The Pesthouse, when poison gas inexplicably rises from the ground and kills villages of people for no reason whatsoever and then the village burns to the ground. Or maybe this should be Post-Apocalypse-Holocaust.
Post-Post-Apocalypse: This category encompasses all books and movies that follow the rebuilding of civilization after the initial post-apocalyptic period has been survived. Yes, this is technically still post-apocalyptic, but there's an important distinction. The notable entry in this category is 28 Weeks Later, the excellent sequel to 28 Days Later.
Post-Post-Apocalypse-Apocalypse: Actually, 28 Weeks Later really falls into this category, since during the post-post-apocalyptic rebuilding of London, there is another apocalyptic event. If they decide to make the movie 28 Years Later, I'd just consider that cycling back to the Post-Apocalypse. We need limits, people!
But the award goes to the classic sci-fi novel A Canticle for Liebowitz, which is split into three parts and therefore becomes the only member of the Post-Post-Post-Apocalypse-Apocalypse category. Note that this is a (Post-Post-Post-Apocalypse)-Apocalypse novel and not a Post-(Post-(Post-Apocalypse)-Apocalypse) novel, which is entirely different.
