17 Times Fiction Predicted Terrifying Real Events
Here's a list of real-life tragedies, disasters, and historical moments that were eerily foreshadowed by fictional works.
- Alyana Aguja
- 5 min read
Fiction has an unsettling history of predicting real-world disasters and events. From novels that envisioned the sinking of the Titanic to TV shows eerily resembling terrorist attacks, these coincidences blur the line between imagination and reality. This list examines seventeen real examples where art seemed to foresee life’s darkest moments.
1. The Sinking of the Titanic in Futility
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In 1898, author Morgan Robertson published Futility, or the Wreck of the Titan, a novel about a massive luxury ship called the Titan that sank after colliding with an iceberg in the North Atlantic. Fourteen years later, the RMS Titanic suffered an eerily similar fate. Both vessels were described as “unsinkable” and carried too few lifeboats, making the parallels uncanny.
2. The 9/11 Attacks in The Lone Gunmen
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A March 2001 episode of The Lone Gunmen, a spin-off of The X-Files, depicted terrorists hijacking a plane to crash it into the World Trade Center. The plot involved the attack being orchestrated by shadowy government forces for profit. Just six months later, the real 9/11 attacks unfolded with chilling similarities.
3. The Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster in The Space Shuttle Challenger
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In 1979, author Arthur C. Clarke’s The Space Shuttle Challenger warned of potential mechanical flaws in space shuttle designs. Seven years later, in 1986, the real Space Shuttle Challenger exploded just 73 seconds after liftoff. Clarke’s novel eerily described a disaster scenario involving a shuttle named “Challenger.”
4. The Coronavirus Pandemic in The Eyes of Darkness
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Dean Koontz’s 1981 thriller The Eyes of Darkness mentioned a bioweapon called “Wuhan-400,” developed in a laboratory in Wuhan, China. While the details differ, the reference shocked readers when COVID-19 emerged in Wuhan in late 2019. The novel’s plot about a dangerous respiratory illness became disturbingly relevant.
5. The Boston Marathon Bombing in Family Guy
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A 2013 Family Guy episode featured a plot where Peter Griffin accidentally becomes involved in a deadly marathon explosion. The scene was removed from reruns after the Boston Marathon bombing occurred just weeks later. Fans were unsettled by the accidental overlap between satire and tragedy.
6. The London Underground Bombings in Spider-Man 2 Video Game
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The Spider-Man 2 video game, released in 2004, featured a mission in which terrorists attack a subway train in London. The imagery was disturbingly similar to the real 7/7 London bombings in 2005. Players recalled the uncanny resemblance to the tragic event.
7. The Sinking of the Lusitania in The Wreck of the Titan
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Morgan Robertson’s Futility also eerily foreshadowed another maritime disaster. The book described a ship being sunk after a collision in the Atlantic during wartime. In 1915, the RMS Lusitania was sunk by a German U-boat, echoing the book’s scenes of chaos at sea.
8. The Death of Princess Diana in The Queen in Winter
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In 1981, British author Noel Botham wrote about a princess who dies in a suspicious car crash while being chased by paparazzi. Sixteen years later, Princess Diana died in a Paris car crash under strikingly similar circumstances. The parallel details about the media frenzy made the coincidence unsettling.
9. The Great Fire of London in The Prophecies
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In 1666, London was devastated by a massive fire. Over a century earlier, Nostradamus wrote of a “great fire” consuming a city by the Thames. Many believe this was a chillingly accurate prediction of the historic disaster.
10. The Atomic Bomb in The World Set Free
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H.G. Wells’ 1914 novel The World Set Free described a devastating weapon powered by atomic energy that could destroy entire cities. Three decades later, the atomic bomb became reality during World War II. Scientists even acknowledged Wells’ influence on their thinking.
11. The Assassination of President Lincoln in The Presidents’ Book of Secrets
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Decades before the 1865 assassination, a play called The Marble Faun featured a fictional president assassinated in a theater. The eerily similar circumstances mirrored Lincoln’s death at Ford’s Theatre. It added to the lore that truth sometimes imitates art in unsettling ways.
12. The Sinking of the Titanic in The Sinking of the Titan
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An earlier fictionalized account of a doomed ocean liner predated the Titanic disaster. It described an “unsinkable” ship hitting an iceberg and sinking in the North Atlantic in April. The similarities to the real-life Titanic tragedy are still regarded as one of literature’s most chilling coincidences.
13. The Oklahoma City Bombing in The Turner Diaries
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The 1978 novel The Turner Diaries depicted a violent attack on a federal building using a truck bomb. In 1995, Timothy McVeigh carried out the Oklahoma City bombing in a disturbingly similar fashion. Authorities found that McVeigh owned and had read the novel.
14. The Hiroshima Bombing in The Tale of the Lord of the Jungle
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In the 1930s, Japanese author Unno Juza described a weapon that could unleash massive destruction from the air, wiping out cities instantly. A decade later, Hiroshima was destroyed by the first atomic bomb. The fictional depiction mirrored the horrifying reality to come.
15. The Rise of Hitler in The Iron Heel
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Jack London’s 1908 dystopian novel The Iron Heel told of a fascist regime rising to power in Europe. Decades later, Adolf Hitler’s Nazi regime brought the fictional nightmare to life. The political and social conditions London described matched history with disturbing precision.
16. The Berlin Wall in Looking Backward
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Edward Bellamy’s 1888 novel Looking Backward imagined a divided society separated by a massive barrier. In 1961, the Berlin Wall was erected, splitting East and West Berlin. The imagery from the book was eerily prophetic of the Cold War reality.
17. The Russian Submarine Disaster in The Hunt for Red October
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Tom Clancy’s 1984 novel described a technologically advanced Soviet submarine experiencing a catastrophic failure. In 2000, the Russian submarine Kursk suffered a deadly accident under remarkably similar circumstances. Clancy’s attention to military detail made the parallel all the more chilling.