Adventures in Dystopia:

The universe of Dark Energy may be grim, but no more so than Greek tragedy or the Icelandic sagas. There’s nothing new about our fascination with the hellish side of human experience. Art and pulp have always had the ability to peer into the darkness and see something savagely beautiful and perversely entertaining, to conduct certain people through a walk on the wild side that leaves them breathless but in some way better off.