Virus: "Captain Trips" - weaponised influenza. Symptoms: Fever, death. The Stand, based on Stephen King's novel, is set in the post-apocalyptic aftermath of a weaponised strain of influenza, which was accidentally released by the military. The virus manages to wipe out the entire military base from which it was emerged, and kills over 99% of the world's population in under two months. In the TV miniseries, some of the survivors are able to form a fragile community, although no cure for the superflu appears possible. In a plot point that's slightly less grounded in terrifying reality, there's also an antagonistic demonic force that's trying to spread further chaos and terror, even after the plague's terrifying devastation.
