I got an idea for a screenplay, maybe a TV series, just a few minutes ago. I think the idea is pretty good, but I worry it isn't original:

For some reason, a small town is about to be bombed with nuclear missles. The people in the town are panicking, trying to take cover. Some kids are outside at the moment, and they don't have time to go back to their houses. They run out into the woods, and stumble upon an old bomb shelter. They go inside, and take cover. The next day, they come outside. Nothing in the town has been damaged, but all the people are gone. They explore for a while, until they discover that the people are still there, but they had been turned into vicious monsters from the bomb.

I know, it needs work, but is it original?

I think you need another element to add to this Crook, as this kind of thing has been done. Also, do you want this to just be kids that are normal? Are they going to kill the monsters? Could be some problems with that.

I think air raid sirens and bomb shelters are always cool, great for building tension, so that's a good place to start. An old bomb shelter in the woods could be cool. The rest of the idea needs some more germination, I think.

Kinda sounds the Simpsons Treehouse of Horror episode "The Homega Man."  The French nuke Springfield with le bomb neutron while Homer happens to be inspecting a bomb shelter.  When he comes out, the survivors of the blast have turned into cult-like ghouls.

Hi
There are definitely many novels dealing with post nuclear worlds where people have become horribly mutated, i struggle to remember the titles off hand.  
But in terms of this concept, it does sound similar to the episode of the Simpsons where Homer goes to buy a bomb shelter and when he exits he finds a bomb has hit, for a while thinking he's the last person on earth, before horribly mutated cannibal citizens rear their ugly heads.  Again i'm sure this was a parody of an existing novel.  


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edit -  ^^ beat me to it

Kind of reminds me of this really bad Italian movie I saw about a dystopian future ruled by rat people.  Can't remember the name of it.

Also there's been lots of movies with mutants after atomic blasts, the names of which escape me because they were pretty forgettable.

But don't let that stop you.  Go for it if it inspires you.    

As Kevin I think says above, what seems most appealing to me about the idea is the kids finding a bomb shelter in the woods.  I think you should develop that and see what kind of story it might be.  Post-apocalypse monsters...eh...

My two cents.

Here's a few I found on IMDB - not sure how much of a match they are but they seem along the same general lines:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0898367/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091818/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0134648/ (game with two sequels)

Have a look through these IMDB searches to find more.
http://www.imdb.com/keyword/mutant/
http://www.imdb.com/keyword/bomb-shelter/

Crooked, how about it's 1955, the height of the cold war. The kids are on a school bus coming home from school. The bus radio warns of incoming missiles. The driver is getting panicky as they drive through the woods. They see a missile overhead, he has a heart attack, crashes the bus. The kids look for shelter, find a bomb shelter(it wouldn't be old). No one is there though. They lock themselves in as the ground rumbles and the sky flashes.

The remain within for 30 days, the food supply. Then they emerge...but it's no longer 1955. It's our age. Possibly a monstrous, distorted version of our age.

I'm a huge nerd for these kind of films. The Italian exploitation machine in the early 80's put out a huge number of them. The Bronx Warriors trilogy, 2019 The Fall of New York, Endgame, 2020 Texas Gladiators are just a few off the top of my head.

There's many an American film that deals with similar themes as well.. A Boy and his Dog, Damnation Alley, etc.

Here's a list that lists a few. There not all concerning mutants, FYI:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nuclear_holocaust_fiction#Films

Quoted from leitskev Crooked, how about it's 1955, the height of the cold war. The kids are on a school bus coming home from school. The bus radio warns of incoming missiles. The driver is getting panicky as they drive through the woods. They see a missile overhead, he has a heart attack, crashes the bus. The kids look for shelter, find a bomb shelter(it wouldn't be old). No one is there though. They lock themselves in as the ground rumbles and the sky flashes. The remain within for 30 days, the food supply. Then they emerge...but it's no longer 1955. It's our age. Possibly a monstrous, distorted version of our age.

That's awesome! Now I know what I'm writing next.

That would be a cool story, Crooked. I hope you do! You still have a bit of a problem if you do it with kids, though. Tough to have kids kill monsters. Maybe you should have them be teens, or maybe they could be young soldiers returning from Korea, looking forward to the normalcy of home.

Cool idea, Kevin!

Maybe they could be like...12 year old kids, and instead of a bunch of monsters, there are only a few here and there that they have to work together to kill, using a combination of intellect and bravery...a coming of age story in a post-apocalyptic time-travelled-to alternate future.