When so many horrors exist in the real world, why stay there for your entertainment? Escapism is my way of getting some respite and although a lot of what I read and watch is violent or scary or shows the darker side of humanity – I can turn it off.

And it may seem strange to invent worlds that are worse than the real one – but in the best tradition of the post-apocalypse dystopia genre there is comfort in surviving something so huge that it dwarfs the usual, run-of-the-mill anxieties that we all face day-to-day. Who would worry about that trip to the dentist or exam results when the zombie horde is approaching? Plus there’s the fact that most tales of dystopia are really about the goodness and humanity that shine through and, in most cases, win the day.

I just hope that will happen in the real world too.