The Last Kids on Earth and the Nightmare King

The Last Kids on Earth and the Nightmare King (2017) is a dystopian middle-grade novel-graphic novel hybrid. It was written by Max Brallier and illustrated by Douglas Holgate and is part of a nine-book series that sees four pre-teens Surviving and Thriving in a Dying World. After a monster apocalypse takes away everything they love, the characters are fiercely loyal to one another and demonstrate Putting Friends First. Protagonist and hero Jack Sullivan deals with The Fear of Being Alone after the kids find out that there are other humans alive somewhere. The Last Kids on Earth was adapted into a Netflix series, and The Nightmare King won the Colorado Children’s Book Award in 2019.

This guide uses the 2018 Penguin Books edition of the novel.

Plot Summary

Jack Sullivan lives with his three best friends—Quint, June, and Dirk—in the town of Wakefield. The group is surviving in a post-apocalyptic world after monsters from another dimension, led by the destructor Ŗeżżőcħ, entered their world and destroyed it. Until now, the kids thought they were the only humans left, and they managed to ally with some friendly monsters. 

One day, the friends find a working radio at the fire station and hear a broadcast from other people. This realization changes everything. June, Dirk, and Quint are excited to find other people and possibly even their families, but Jack was in foster care before the apocalypse, and his friends are his family. Jack fears what might happen when the group finds other humans. To complicate matters, a massive beast called a King Wretch appears outside the fire station. Jack volunteers to attack it with his faithful oversized monster-dog, Rover, and his trusted broken baseball bat. The King Wretch stares at Jack and grabs Rover, tossing him down the street. Jack’s friends distract the winged beast while Jack checks on Rover. During the attack, the radio breaks, but Quint and Dirk believe they can fix it.

The kids live in a treehouse. Here, Quint works to fix the radio. June is particularly eager to find her family, and Jack decides he has to show his friends why their lives are already perfect as they are. His first idea is to organize an Olympics-style games between humans and monsters. It proves to be a fun event, but Quint flies Jack’s drone into a nearby scrapyard, causing the monsters to win. 

Jack walks home alone afterward. The King Wretch stops him and puts him into a dream state; he sees a future in which he is a king and his friends are all happy. 

The following day, the kids go to the junkyard to retrieve the drone and find a new antenna for the radio. They manage to fling themselves over a wall of zombies using a pickup truck and a fold-out couch and spend the day playing in the scrapyard. Quint finds a large antenna, and Jack finds his drone. The group decides to sleep in the scrapyard, and Jack admits he is afraid of the group splitting up. The next morning, Jack wakes up to find that they are sleeping on top of a giant Scrapken monster. The monster seems angry but not evil, so the friends decide to escape without battling it. Jack ends up trapped inside the scrapyard and scrambles into an old car. The Scrapken whacks the car, and Jack flies over the fence to safety.

Quint manages to fix the radio, but Jack is still nervous about what this means. To show his friends how fun their lives are, Jack suggests a trip to the nearby amusement park, Funland. To get there, the kids enlist the help of a large monster named Biggun, who transports them safely down the highway on his back. Jack goes in search of two shopping carts to use as carriages and is met by the King Wretch once again. This time, the vision Jack has is dark and painful, with everything and everyone he loves destroyed. 

On the way to Funland, Jack thinks about what these visions might mean. At the amusement park, the kids ride all of their favorite rides and play games, but Jack can tell that they are still focused on the radio. He panics and threatens to break it, but the disappointment in his friends’ eyes makes him pause. 

The radio broadcasts a message announcing a final broadcast that night. The kids head to the top of the rollercoaster to get the best signal and, while up there, Jack learns that he won’t lose his friends even if they do find their families. The King Wretch watches over the group all day until Jack decides that it is time to face it.

The King Wretch swoops at the kids and Jack tells them to get out of the rollercoaster cart. He stands to face the King Wretch, whose talons pick him up and take him away. When the King Wretch drops him, he faces the King and several winged wretches. The King Wretch opens its stomach to reveal a portal, and Ŗeżżőcħ comes through to speak to Jack. He tells Jack that he is responsible for the visions and that the fate of the future is up to Jack. Ŗeżżőcħ wants Jack’s help to allow him into this world and promises to reward him for doing so. He gives Jack a final vision of a future in which he is alone and his friends have all found their loved ones. Jack looks at himself and feels totally alone. He stands up to Ŗeżżőcħ, refusing his demands, and Ŗeżżőcħ commands the King Wretch to attack. Jack and his friends head back to the Town Square to fight with the help of the good monsters.

At the Town Square, a massive battle ensues. Jack, his friends, and the friendly monsters all work together to take down the winged wretches. Jack shoots the games trophy into the King Wretch’s mouth, temporarily choking it, and Dirk and several others lasso its leg. Jack finds Rover, who is now equipped with armor, and goes to confront the King Wretch one last time. Rover grabs several ropes in his mouth and manages to pull and then fling the King Wretch into the scrapyard. Here, the Scrapken defeats the King Wretch. To celebrate the victory, everyone (including the monsters) goes to Funland. That night, Jack and his friends wait for the broadcast. When it finally airs the next morning, they find out that there are people alive in and living in the Statue of Liberty in New York.