Lucy, thanks for the link to such an interesting article. One might actually expand the genre to include all the religious stories that might fit this mold (Noah and Revelation being just a drop in the bucket, so to speak). 

In making a few documentaries, I’ve been fascinated by the near universal fascination of people now, and throughout history, with such things. For one film, I traveled for the last three days of the world (May 18th, 19th, and 20th) with a group of Harold Camping’s followers who believed absolutely that May 21st, 2011 was to be the end of the world. They’d quit their jobs and spent all their savings for months traveling in motor homes to warn people. I was surprised at how many people they convinced. And even those that doubted the date, were still sure the Rapture or some other catastrophe of man’s own devising was coming soon. 

The most striking thing was the relish with which all these scenarios were described by average people, so there does seem to be a basic psychological attraction to such stories.

I used a few clips from what I filmed in a couple of documentaries on religion and Separation of Church and State, but am going to re-interview many of the people I traveled with early next year and complete the full documentary, with background by some experts on End Times movements. I haven't written about the experience, but intend to write a non-fiction book eventually about this and a lot of other experiences I've had studying various religions across the globe. It's a subject I find very fascinating, as you can probably tell from the novel I posted.

Thanks again for the interesting article! I loved seeing the way you handled first person present in your book, by the way. It gave it an authentic feel that I'm not used to seeing.