Apocalyptic Log/Quotes

So that notable deeds should not perish with time, and be lost from the memory of future generations, I, seeing these many ills, and the whole world encompassed by evil, waiting among the dead for death to come, have committed to writing what I have truly heard and examined; and so that the writing does not perish with the writer, or the work fail with the workman, I leave parchment for continuing the work, in case anyone should still be alive in the future and any son of Adam can escape this pestilence and continue the work thus begun.

—Brother John Clyn, Irish historian at the time of the Black Plague.

[...] we rescued Balin's body [...] we have barred the gates but doubt if [...] can hold them long. If there is [...] no escape it will be a horrible fate to suffer [...] We cannot get out. We cannot get out. They have taken the bridge and Second Hall... fell there bravely while the rest retr [...] Mazarbul. We still ho[...]g ... but hope u[...]n[...] Óin's party went five days ago but today only four returned. The pool is up to the wall at West-gate... we cannot get out. The end comes soon. We hear drums, drums in the deep. They are coming

—The Lord of the Rings, final entry in the Book of Mazarbul

If someone is reading this...I must have failed.
This star NAJU was our home
but we were invaded by evil life-forms.
Everyone except me was killed.
I am going to try to activate the self-destruct device.
If I fail, I would like you to do this task so this cannot

happen to any other race.

—The Guardian Legend

Itchy. Tasty.

—Man becoming a zombie, Resident Evil

Mary had a little lamb
Little lamb, little lamb
Mary had a little lamb

Whose fleece was white as snow

—Assassin's Redoubt colony, final transmission

I am Elysian, descendant of both the Chozo and the First. I am facing the last moments of my life and transferring my memory to the data pod.

—Metroid Prime 3, from lore on Elysia.

Seth... is gone. I don't remember what happened. We were the only two left... and I left him. Brian is gone. Tim... Jay... and Sarah... everyone... is gone. I just woke up in this house with the tape. Seth's camera is gone. All I can remember from the night is right here. All I can remember at all is on the tape now. I'm leaving this house. I thought I would be safer here, by running away... but everything's just gotten worse. I'm going back to my home, and I'm burning these tapes. All of them.

—Alex Kralie, Marble Hornets Entry 22

tehres soemhngs inthecore. It maknig thinngsto other tihngs. somethrg not righght hppnng to m.e I nddd hlep.e But snoonenot heree. someone here.

—Alter AILA, Orbital Prison 3 Note

The thing's hollow — it goes on forever — and — oh my God — it's full of stars!

—Dave Bowman, 2001: A Space Odyssey

I know its early in the morning, I've stayed up all night, I can't sleep, I don't care if people see this, that's not the point, I just want the word to get spread so I don't suffer for nothing. I've lost the will to type about this, the less I dwell on this the better, I think the video just speaks for itself. [...] I don't want to play anymore. I feel like something bad will happen if I don't, but that's impossible, it's a video game - haunted or not it can't hurt me, right? Like seriously though, it can't, right? That's what I keep telling myself, but every time I think about it I'm not so sure.

—Jadusable, Ben Drowned (Arc 1, Chapter 3: "DROWNED.wmv")

All burn. Children burn fastest. Less fat. Locked lot crazy nobles in statue garden. Won't move until they all stop moving. And burning. Some escaped. Still burning. All burn.
The very stones themselves are burning. Nothing can stand in the heat.
The fires have claimed all of the second hall. There are only five of us left, and Unib Berog walks back and forth, carrying objects uselessly, not understanding anything.
The tales are true... adamantium is cursed. We did naught but uncover the vein, and doom befell us.

Cerol Likotag told me he "had to fill the pool" and wandered into the fires. Poor creature.

—The Chronicles of Boatmurdered, 8th Felsislte 1046 (second-to-last entry)

aw;'jf OrDe R p[fal al Hlep HeLp dme Me, LosS mInd CANdofw stopthem gEt OUT m[pofmy HED

—Diary of Vault 92 resident Zoe Hammerstein, final entry, Fallout 3

I think someone is below. I don't know who it is, but I'm afraid. No one should be out here but me. I'm going to stash my journal just in case. Maybe I can hide.

—Last entry of Katherine Heaton, Virals

I hear. Them. Everywhere. They're coming. Can't sleep. Ever. They'll eat me. Eat.

—Personal log of PFC G. Haley, Galactic Federation Marine Corps, Metroid Prime 2

...alled Reapers. Cannot be stopped. Cannot be stopped.

—Data fragment of Protheon origin found on Ilos, Mass Effect

Data log entry 2467.3. This will be the last communication of the G.F.S Valhalla.
Our efforts to repel the Space Pirate boarding force have failed. They have successfully removed the primary mounting structure around our stasis tank. It is obvious now that they intend to extract us from the Valhalla.
It is vital that the Federation receive this transmission.
...Severing main power...
A large bioform is creating a wormhole.
...Implant into...
Sentient planet which is the source of all Phazon.

...Darkness coming.

—Aurora Unit 313, Metroid Prime 3

King Arthur: (about the inscription on the rock) What does it say, Brother Maynard?
Brother Maynard: It reads, "Here may be found the last words of Joseph of Aramathia. He who is valiant and pure of spirit may find the holy grail in the Castle of Aaaaarrrrrrggghhh..."
King Arthur: What?
Brother Maynard: "The Castle of Aaaaarrrrrrggghhh".
Sir Bedevere: What is that?
Brother Maynard: He must have died while carving it.
Sir Lancelot: Oh come on!
Brother Maynard: Well, that's what it says.
King Arthur: Look, if he was dying, he wouldn't have bothered to carve "Aaaaarrrrrrggghhh" into the rock. He'd just say it.
Sir Galahad: Maybe he was dictating it.

King Arthur: Oh shut up!

—Monty Python and the Holy Grail

It seems that in these sorts of stories, someone is always finding handy diaries, journals, scrawled notes--that approach is so very common in these sorts of stories that it becomes a parody of itself in The Diary of Alonso Typer where the narrator actually transcribes their screams into the diary in a moment of Monty Python surreality. Thankfully Machen keeps things a bit more sound and reasonable--the journal in question is being offered as a sort of sordid confession, sort of a brutal challenge. Not a spurious, cliched trope that even Monty Python couldn't take seriously any longer...

— "Revisiting the Public Domain: The Inmost Light by Arthur Machen" in Old School Heretic blog