Simulated reality in fiction

Simulated reality is a common theme in science fiction. It is predated by the concept "life is a dream". It should not be confused with the theme of virtual reality.

Literature
Title Author Year Remarks
Answers In Simulation Iurii Vovchenko 2019 This book formulates the world view and approach to one's daily life based on assumption of world being simulated.[1]
Accelerando Charles Stross 2005 A collection of related short stories, assembled as a novel, chronicling the life of a man and his daughter both pre and post-singularity.
The Algebraist Iain M. Banks 2004 Posits a religion according to which 'The Truth' is that our universe is virtual.
All the World's a Simulation Stephen Moles 2018 A complex metafictional novel in which the main characters are aware that they exist in a literary simulation and seek to escape from it. Their ongoing failure to do so results in the Big Bang having to be repeated and the book rewritten, causing all the details to become increasingly entangled.
Amnesia Moon Jonathan Lethem 1995 On a road trip, two characters set out from a post-apocalypse Wyoming town and encounter a succession of alternate realities, including one shrouded in opaque green fog, another luck-based political system, and it is suggested that these divergent alternate realities emerged to obstruct an alien invasion of Earth. Homage to Philip K. Dick.[2]
Ant Farm: God and His Computer Simulation CJ Choi 2017 A coming of age story introducing God as a teenage programmer, who creates Earth within a pre-made Universe simulation and unsuccessfully attempts to guide its progress from genesis and beyond.
Breakfast of Champions Kurt Vonnegut Jr. 1973 Kilgore Trout, an amateur science fiction writer, writes a story that mocks individualism by suggesting that there is only one human man and one God, and the rest of humanity are robots, made to test the man's reactions; hence, a kind of simulated reality.
Upload (TV series) 2020 In 2033, humans are able to "upload" themselves into a virtual afterlife of their choosing. When computer programmer Nathan dies prematurely, he is uploaded to the very expensive Lake View, but soon finds himself under the thumb of his possessive, still-living girlfriend Ingrid.
Chronic City Jonathan Lethem 2009 Several strands relating to virtual reality games and virtual objects, but then events in the "real world" lead the reader to conclude that the "real world" is a simulated reality which is accreting errors and anomalies.
The Coma Alex Garland 2004 An Englishman is viciously beaten and injured late at night in the London Underground system. He wakes from the coma only to discover that his reality is inconsistent, and begins to wonder if he'd really woken at all.
"The Cookie Monster" Vernor Vinge 2004 The characters come to doubt their own reality. This story was reprinted in several anthology collections, won the 2004 Hugo Award for Best Novella and was nominated for the 2005 Nebula Award for Best Novella.[3] One reviewer rated the story "A+" and praised "the central mysteries which Vinge so very skillfully unwraps for you over the course of the story itself."[4]
The Cosmic Puppets Philip K. Dick 1957 A man goes to visit the town in which he spent his early childhood, only to find that he does not recognize anything or anyone. Even basic things such as street names are different. Eventually he discovers that the town and all of the people in it are being subjected to an illusion created by the fight between two cosmic beings.
Count Zero William Gibson 1986 The first sequel of Gibson's Neuromancer, the novel continues themes around cyberspace and introduces a computerized device called an Aleph which contains an advanced version of cyberspace that appears as a simulated reality to those that "jack" into it, as well as to digital entities that reside within it.
Darwinia Robert Charles Wilson 1998 By the end of the story it is revealed that whatever happens in the story is really beyond the End of Time and that the Universe, the Earth and all of the consciousness that ever existed are really being preserved in a computer-like simulation known as the Archive.
Dead Romance Lawrence Miles 1999/2004 Part of the Virgin New Adventures series of Doctor Who spin-off fiction, but mostly disconnected from the rest of the series. The novel is set on a version of 1970s Earth within a "bottle universe," invaded by powerful beings from the greater universe beyond. It is suggested that these beings are fleeing their own invaders and that their universe is merely a bottle within a yet greater cosmos.
Diaspora Greg Egan 1997 A novel set in 2975 CE in which humanity has divided into distinct groups, one of which are the citizens. The citizens are intelligences that exist as disembodied computer software running entirely within simulated reality-based communities.
A Dream of Wessex Christopher Priest 1977 Released in the United States under the title The Perfect Lover. A team of specialists undergoes a sort of computer-monitored group hypnosis to create an alternate England, hoping to improve their dystopian world, but their utopia is endangered by one member with foul emotions and megalomaniacal ideas.
The Dueling Machine Ben Bova 1969 Dueling as a means of settling disputes has been revived by the invention of the dueling machine, which allows two adversaries to have at each other in the imaginary world of their choosing, with no danger to either other than humiliation and the loss of the point in dispute—until the Kerak Worlds found a way to kill with the machine.
"The Electric Ant" Philip K. Dick 1969 A man awakes from a vehicular crash, and is transferred to a special treatment facility after being informed that he is a biological robot. He finds that his subjective reality is controlled by a punch tape reel in his chest panel, which he begins to manipulate in an effort to control the world that he experiences.
Electric Forest Tanith Lee 1979 A woman who is so ugly that she is an outcast on her colony planet of genetically engineered perfection agrees to put herself in a container from which she will have full control of and the illusion of independence in the cloned body of a beautiful, wealthy, and intelligent woman.
Epic Conor Kostick 2004 The inhabitants of a whole world play in a virtual world for their real income and status.
Eternity Greg Bear 1988 In particular, his introduction of the Taylor algorithms as a means of determining the simulated nature of an artificial environment.
Eye in the Sky Philip K. Dick 1957 After a nuclear accident, seven victims successively pass a range of solipsist personalised alternate universes, including a geocentric, magic-based universe and a hardline marxist caricature of the contemporary United States. Tom Shippey wrote that it might be "a private fantasy world, watched over by a Vast Active Living Intelligence System."[5]
Feersum Endjinn Iain M. Banks 1994 Describes a version of Earth with very extensive virtual reality capabilities.
Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said Philip K. Dick 1974 A famous, wealthy entertainer wakes up one morning in a cheap hotel, only to discover that no one knows who he is and that there is not even a record of his existence.
Forever Free Joe Haldeman 1999
Get Real: A Philosophical Adventure in Virtual Reality Philip Zhai 1998 A philosophical speculation on the ontological status of the extreme form of virtual reality that combines with teleoperation, in comparison with what we perceive as the "actual" or "physical" reality. An array of thought experiments is constructed for the purpose of philosophical investigations.
The Girl Who Was Plugged In James Tiptree Jr. 1974
Glasshouse Charles Stross 2006
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adams 1979–2009 Earth was designed by an alien supercomputer called Deep Thought to find the Ultimate Question to the Ultimate Answer of Life, the Universe, and Everything (the Ultimate Answer already established as 42), using organic life as part of its operational matrix. However, early on in the first book Earth was destroyed just before the critical moment of read-out, leading to the events of the rest of the series. Later, part of the action takes place in a synthetic universe.
Idlewild Nick Sagan 2003 This novel contains a simulated school inside a simulated world.
Illusions Richard Bach 1977 A pilot on the Midwest summer barnstorming circuit meets a messiah who shows him that the world is merely "like a movie" designed by "the Master" to entertain and enlighten humanity.
"The Immortals"[6] David Duncan 1960 Two scientists use a computer to predict the consequences on society of a new drug that one of them invented.
Irreversible Liz Maverick 2008 A woman is resurrected from the dead and placed in an artificial looping alternate future timeline so that a greedy corporate inventor and CEO can test the limits of this technology. She lives every week over again, with all people and events simulated for her in order to reduce the number of defects in the system.
The Joy Makers James Edwin Gunn 1961 A new philosophy known as "Hedonism", which makes joy the greatest human need, ultimately results in an advanced A.I. projecting each person's ultimate fantasy directly into their brains while their comatose bodies are cared for inside of locked "wombs".
Killobyte Piers Anthony 1993 Killobyte is a "second generation" virtual reality game that puts players into a three-dimensional, fully sensory environment.
Life Is a Dream Pedro Calderón de la Barca 1635
Loop Koji Suzuki 1998
The Man in the High Castle Philip K. Dick 1962 Initially, it appears that Nazi Germany and the Japanese Empire won the Second World War in an alternate, occupied United States. However, the I Ching divination tool discloses this as an apparent illusion.
A Maze of Death Philip K. Dick 1970 A group of people from different ways of life are assigned to colonize a planet using a vehicle that is one-way, making them unable to leave. Many confusing events take place. Eventually everyone wakes up and discovers that it was a virtual reality program. The passengers of a broken spaceship are in an orbit of an alien gas giant and they are doomed to remain until they die. To keep away boredom and despair they create virtual reality programs in which they are living real lives. The book ends with the restart of the previous program.
The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect Roger Williams 1994
The Mirage Matt Ruff 2012 A world where the Middle East is the centre of capitalism and democracy and the United States is home to sectarian and terrorist violence. Most of the history of the world is told throughout the book through excerpts from a website called The Library of Alexandria, the world's version of Wikipedia. It is eventually revealed that the timeline is an illusion created by a Djinn.
Mona Lisa Overdrive William Gibson 1988 The second sequel to Gibson's Neuromancer, featuring further exploration of the influence of cyberspace in the future.
Moongazer Marianne Mancusi 2007 A post-apocalyptic underground society pacifies its citizens by plugging them into a simulated version of New York City before the war, meanwhile telling the people that they are actually traveling to an alternate reality where they can escape their constricted lives.
Neuromancer William Gibson 1984 In this future, cyberspace has taken on the attributes of virtual reality.
Old Twentieth Joe Haldeman 2005 A group of immortal humans sets off on a thousand-year voyage to explore an Earth-type planet. To amuse themselves, they use virtual reality to take trips to the twentieth century; but when the trips start to go wrong, a virtual reality engineer discovers that the simulated world is ruled by a self-aware computer...who may be running a more complex simulation than they can ever imagine.
Omnitopia Dawn Diane Duane 2010 Features a MMOG called Omnitopia that contains multiple player-built worlds that can compete for popularity, earning real-world money.
Otherland Tad Williams 1998
Ready Player One Ernest Cline 2011
Paprika Yasutaka Tsutsui 1993 A Japanese novel about a research psychologist who uses a device that permits therapists to help patients by entering their dreams, later adapted into an anime film.
The Penultimate Truth Philip K. Dick 1964 A group of people living in underground tanks during a nuclear war decide that they have to brave the irradiated, dangerous surface in order to get an artificial organ for an irreplaceable member of their community, only to discover that everything that they have been led to believe is a lie.
Permutation City Greg Egan 1994
Phase Space Stephen Baxter 2003 Includes several short stories pertaining to simulated realities, particularly in reference to their solving of the Fermi paradox. Most notably the framing story "Touching Centauri," but also "Poyekhali 3201," "Glass Earth, Inc." "Tracks" and "The Barrier," which explores the zoo hypothesis.
"Princess Ineffabelle" Stanisław Lem 1965 A story-dream "The Wedding Night of Princess Ineffabelle" from the story-in-a-story "The tale of Zipperupus, king of the Partheginians, the Deutons, and the Profligoths" from the short story "The Tale of the Three Story Telling Machines" from The Cyberiad.
"Professor Corcoran" (alternatively: "Further Reminiscences of Ijon Tichy I") Stanisław Lem 1961 A short story about a professor, who created a set of AIs inside boxes. Each of the AIs inside each box lives inside an ilusionary world, all their feelings and future being dictated by the professor. The professor bitterly comments that he often dreams that he is also inside a box in someone else's lab. Published in Star Diaries ("Memoirs of a space traveler: further reminiscences of Ijon Tichy").
The Reality Bug D. J. MacHale 2003 Is set on a world destroyed by simulated reality.
Reality Crash Lou Grantt, Cyd Ropp 2008 A programmer in a post-apocalyptic future in England is used to living his life across a variety of virtual reality channels, but thinks his real life is not that bad. One day he hits his head at work and starts seeing a version of reality where everyone is dirty and underfed, where the restaurants serve goo and where even a baptism is not what it first appears to be.
Realtime Interrupt James P. Hogan 1995 Is set in the near future, a cyber reality with its creator trapped inside.
REAMDE Neal Stephenson 2011 Though not set within a simulated reality, the novel stars the creator of a hugely popular massively multiplayer online role-playing game and discusses many of the behind-the-scenes operations in its creation and success.
The Remnants series K. A. Applegate 2001 Set on a ship that creates virtual landscapes
The Restoration Game Ken MacLeod 2010 A mysterious anomaly leads to the revelation that the characters are living in a simulated world, which is in turn embedded within another simulated world.
"The Seventh Sally" Stanisław Lem 1965 "The Seventh Sally or How Trurl's Own Perfection Led to No Good", from The Cyberiad
Simulacron-3 Daniel F. Galouye 1964 Also published as Counterfeit World. Adapted as a TV miniseries World on a Wire (1973) and as the film The Thirteenth Floor (1999).
Snow Crash Neal Stephenson 1992 Romanticizing the perilous world of some young hackers, the novel discusses the history and nature of language and virtual reality, among many other topics.
The Song of Synth Seb Doubinsky 2015 Markus, a former hacker on restricted parole, begins to take the largely untested psychedelic drug called Synth because his life and past are so miserable. Synth creates simulated and augmented reality in the brain that is totally indistinguishable from real life. At first Synth enables Markus to endure his misery by creating false realities for him, but then it begins to synthesize reality even when he does not take the drug.
Sophie's World Jostein Gaarder 1991
Surface Detail Iain M. Banks 2010 In which a civilization uses computer simulation and mind uploading to create and populate artificial Hells.
"They" Robert A. Heinlein 1941 A short story that focuses on a man who believes the universe was created in order to deceive him.
The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch Philip K. Dick 1965 In this future, alternate states of consciousness are mediated by widespread and legal use of hallucinogens.
Time Out of Joint Philip K. Dick 1959 Ragle Gumm is trapped within an artificial reality that resembles small town America in the late fifties. It is disclosed to be a strategic simulation run by a Terran government at war with its separatist lunar colony in 1998.
"The Trouble with Bubbles" Philip K. Dick 1953 In an era where scientific exploration has proven the solar system to be devoid of extraterrestrial life and robots take care of most work, humans pass time by building miniature simulated universes called Worldcraft Bubbles.
"The Tunnel under the World" Frederik Pohl 1955 A person accidentally finds out that he lives the day of June 15 over and over again. It turns out that a ruthless advertising executive took over the whole ruins of a city that perished in an explosion of a chemical and rebuilt them, together with people, in miniature for testing high-pressure advertising campaigns.
Ubik Philip K. Dick 1969 Several former corporate employees are killed but their consciousnesses remain sentient, albeit decaying, in a simulated shared hallucinatory experience.
Utopia Lincoln Child 2002 Set in a futuristic amusement park called Utopia that relies heavily on holographics and robotics.
Valis Philip K. Dick 1981 In this departure, it is our own world that is stated to be a hallucinatory overlay, produced from a gnostic demiurge that is malignant-although it may also be a visual and auditory hallucination produced by authorial schizophrenia
"The Veldt" Ray Bradbury 1951 A short story from The Illustrated Man, this grim tale describes two children who prefer their simulated-reality nursery to their parents.
Vurt Jeff Noon 1993 In a future Manchester, England, people live for Vurt—a drug-like feather which produces perfectly lifelike illusions. The function of the feathers varies according to their colors.
White Noise (novel) Don DeLillo 1985
White Space - Book 1 of The Dark Passages Ilsa J. Bick 2014 A group of adolescents from very different backgrounds find themselves trapped in an unfamiliar valley during a snow storm, only to discover that the valley, their pasts, and their very lives may be nothing more than stories created by an author with tremendous magical/technological power.
World of Tiers Philip José Farmer 1965-1993 A group of novels based on the premise of travel to alternate pocket universes containing modified man-made worlds. In the series, it is eventually revealed that our existence is also based in a pocket universe whose extent reaches only part of the way to Alpha Centauri.
Pollen Jeff Noon 1995
Automated Alice Jeff Noon 1996
The Wonderland Gambit series Jack L. Chalker 1995-1997 A trilogy that pays homage to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
"You're Another" Damon Knight 1955 This short story about a character who finds himself in a bizarre, perhaps movie-based reality was frequently reprinted, and was translated into French as "En Scène!".[7]
"Crystal Nights" Greg Egan 1992 This short story is a tale of a group of scientists that create a simulation of a world to explore evolution and societal development. Eventually they reveal themselves to the inhabitants and are treated as gods, but then their creations realize that there is more than meets the eye and plot their escape.
Republic Plato 380 BC "Allegory of the Cave"
"Eight O'Clock in the Morning" Ray Nelson 1963 Inspirational short story for the film They Live
"Pygmalion's Spectacles" Stanley G. Weinbaum 1935 Greek Mythology
"City of the Living Dead" Fletcher Pratt & Laurence Manning 1930 People are connected to wires and live in cocoons. Why live in the boring real world if you can have everything for free, you do not have to worry about food or anything. You just have to give up yourself to the machines and the experiences that they provide could not be distinguished from the real ones. People are dependent on machines but there is still someone that might save the world.

Theater

Comics and anime
Title Author Year Remarks
For the Man Who Has Everything Alan Moore 1985 A comic book story by writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons, first published in Superman Annual #11 (1985) by DC Comics, about Superman being trapped in a simulated reality created by an extraterrestrial parasitic organism Black Mercy where the planet Krypton never exploded.
.hack//SIGN 2002 An anime series about a person whose mind is trapped in an online computer role-playing game
12 oz. Mouse 2005 An American surreal comedy/thriller minimalist animated series
Aeon Flux 1991
The Big O Hajime Yatate, Chiaki J. Konaka, N.B. 1999 The reality in question has not been confirmed as simulated, but it is extremely likely.
Blame! Tsutomu Nihei 1998–2003 Takes place in the far future where automated construction of infrastructure needed to sustain and expand an ever-growing simulated reality has run amok, engulfing both the Earth and the Moon.
Danger Room 1963 A training simulator from the (X-Men) universe
Detective Conan: The Phantom of Baker Street 2002
Eternal Family 1997 Surreal comedy anime OVA
Ghost in the Shell 1989–present Postcyberpunk manga, anime and film franchise
Lyoko 2003 The virtual world run by a super computer in the animated series Code Lyoko
Log Horizon 2013 An anime series on players being transported into the game world after an expansion update.
Megazone 23 Noboru Ishiguro, Shinji Aramaki 1985-1989 A cyberpunk anime OVA series created by Noboru Ishiguro and Shinji Aramaki based on a simulated reality of Tokyo controlled by a super computer
Noein Kazuki Akane, Kenji Yasuda 2005 An anime directed by Kazuki Akane and Kenji Yasuda where a simulated reality is created
Paprika Satoshi Kon 2006 An anime film about a research psychologist who uses a device that permits therapists to help patients by entering their dreams, based on the 1993 novel of the same name.
Paranoia Agent Satoshi Kon 2004
The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest 1996-1999
Robotech: The Movie 1986 Anime adaptation of Megazone 23
Serial Experiments Lain Chiaki J. Konaka 1998
Summer Wars Mamoru Hosoda 2009 A 2009 Japanese animated science fiction film directed by Mamoru Hosoda.
Sword Art Online 2009-present A light novel series (2009–ongoing) and the two anime series adapted from the novel (2012 and 2013), about a massively multiplayer online game where players are trapped in virtual reality by the creator until they clear the game
Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer Mamoru Oshii 1984 An anime film where a group of students are trapped in a time loop, where the same day keeps repeating itself, until they later discover that they are trapped in someone's dream.
Zegapain 2006 Anime series - A high school student in Japan suddenly realizes that his entire reality is a simulation in the midst of the worst possible circumstances for the human race.
Les murailles de Samaris François Schuiten and Benoît Peeters, 1982

Film
Title Year Genre Based on Description
Avalon 2001 Science fiction drama By Mamoru Oshii
Bliss 2021 Science fiction drama Directed by Mike Cahill. A man whose life is in disarray meets a beautiful woman who tries to convince him he is living in a simulation.[9]
Brainscan 1994 Horror science fiction A science fiction/horror film about a teenager playing an interactive video game; directed by John Flynn
Brainstorm 1983 Science fiction Science fiction film directed by Douglas Trumbull and starring Christopher Walken and Natalie Wood
Brazil 1985 Science fiction Directed by Terry Gilliam
The Manchurian Candidate 1962 Psychological thriller The Manchurian Candidate by Richard Condon Directed by John Frankenheimer
The Illustrated Man 1969 Science fiction The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury Directed by Jack Smight
The Cabin in the Woods 2012 Horror comedy Directed by Drew Goddard, in which to prevent doomsday a group of teenagers must be sacrificed without their realizing what is really behind the horrors they experience. One reviewer wrote that the film "is all about the reality conspiracy."[10]
Cargo 2009 Science fiction Directed by Ivan Engler and Ralph Etter.
The Cell 2000 Science fiction psychological thriller By Tarsem Singh
The Congress 2013 Live action/animation science fiction drama Loosely based on Stanislaw Lem's novel The Futurological Congress By Ari Folman and Stanislaw Lem: An aging, out-of-work actress accepts one last job, though the consequences of her decision affect her in ways she didn't consider. A take on the common sci-fi trope of an apparently Utopian future that turns out to be an illusion.
Cube 2: Hypercube 2002 Science fiction psychological thriller Written by Sean Hood
Darkdrive 1996 Science fiction By Phillip J. Roth
Dark City 1998 Neo-noir, science fiction By Alex Proyas
Dreamscape 1984 Science Fiction Roger Zelazny's The Dream Master Directed by Joseph Ruben
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind 2004 Science fiction Romantic comedy Starring Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet
eXistenZ 1999 Science fiction body horror By David Cronenberg, in which level switches occur so seamlessly and numerously that at the end of the movie it is difficult to tell whether the main characters are back in "reality".
Good Bye Lenin! 2003 Tragicomedy By Wolfgang Becker: a Berlin family tries to make the feeble mother believe that East Germany did not fall.
Impostor 2001 Science Fiction Philip K. Dick short story of the same name. A man wakes up one morning and goes about his day, only to find himself arrested and accused of being an alien robot programmed to kill the Chancellor of Earth, and told that he is not even aware that he is impersonating a dead man from whose memories his were stolen.
In the Mouth of Madness 1994 Horror Directed by John Carpenter
Batman Forever 1995 Science Fiction
Repo Men 2010 The second half of the film is a simulated reality being fed into the protagonist's brain while he's incapacitated in a hospital due to events in the first half of the film.
Inception 2010 Science fiction heist thriller Written and directed by Christopher Nolan, in which an extractor invades dreams to steal information and ideas, but is asked to implant an idea instead of stealing one.
The Island 2005 Science fiction action drama Directed by Michael Bay, in which numerous clones of wealthy investors are kept in an isolated facility as to rejuvenate the investors with the clones' organs. The clones' facility is presented as an idealized society and the last safe place on Earth to prevent them from leaving.
Jacob's Ladder 1990 Psychological horror Thriller directed by Adrian Lyne
The Lawnmower Man 1992 Science fiction action horror Directed by Brett Leonard.
Lost Highway 1997 Neo-noir, psychological mystery thriller By David Lynch
The Matrix series 1999–2003 Science fiction, cyberpunk By Lilly and Lana Wachowski, in which humanity lost a war against sentient robots and now are predominately used as bio-electric power for the robots, their minds kept active by populating them in the simulated reality of the Matrix
Mindwarp 1992 Science fiction
Moon 2009 Science Fiction Written by Nathan Parker and directed by Duncan Jones. A man working on the Moon harvesting Helium 3, which provides 70% of Earth's energy by fusion in the near-future, believes that he is nearing the end of a three-year work contract and will soon return to Earth to be with his wife and child. After a harvesting accident he learns that his environment is a deception created to keep him from learning that he is not who or what he thought himself to be.
The Nines 2007 Science fantasy Written and directed by John August, is focused on the subject of simulated reality.
Nirvana 1997 Science fiction, cyberpunk Written and directed by Gabriele Salvatores
Abre los Ojos (Open Your Eyes) 1997 Psychological thriller By Alejandro Amenábar (remade as Vanilla Sky, 2001).
Paperhouse 1988 Dark fantasy Directed by Bernard Rose. Based on the novel Marianne Dreams by Catherine Storr.
Pleasantville 1998 Comedy-drama David and his twin sister, Jennifer, are transported into 'Pleasantville', a black and white TV show. The two must stay in character while completely changing the town's dynamics.
Ready Player One 2018 By Steven Spielberg
The Room 2019 Fantasy, horror Directed by Christian Volckman.
Serenity 2019 Science Fiction Directed by Steven Knight
Source Code 2011 Science fiction, techno-thriller An Army pilot is resurrected into a virtual world in order to identify and stop a would-be bomber; a science fiction techno-thriller film directed by Duncan Jones.
Strange Days 1995 Science fiction, cyberpunk, thriller A thriller in which users can experience another person's memories; the film earned director Kathryn Bigelow a Saturn Award for Best Director. Angela Bassett won the Saturn Award for Best Actress.
Surrogates 2009 Science fiction, cyberpunk Directed by Jonathan Mostow, is based on the 2005–2006 comic book series of the same name and stars Bruce Willis as an FBI agent who ventures out into the real world to investigate the murder of surrogates (humanoid remote control vehicles).
Synecdoche, New York 2008 Postmodern comedy drama Written and directed by Charlie Kaufman: an eccentric theatre director creates a replica of New York City inside New York City, complete with a copy of himself making his own replica of New York City.
They Live 1988 Science Fiction "Eight O'Clock in the Morning" by Ray Nelson Directed by John Carpenter
The Thirteenth Floor 1999 Science fiction Daniel F. Galouye's Simulacron-3 Directed by Josef Rusnak, is loosely based upon Simulacron-3 (1964), a novel by Daniel F. Galouye, and features many characters acting within an uncertain number of layers of virtual reality.
Total Recall 1990 Science fiction action Philip K. Dick's story "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale" Directed by Paul Verhoeven, in which the lead character, looking to have the inexpensive memories of a trip to a Mars colony implanted in his mind, experiences an adventure of espionage that leads him to Mars and helps free the colony from an exploitive businessman, but whether these are part of the memory implant or reality is open-ended.
Tron 1982 Science fiction Released by Walt Disney Productions. The film was written and directed by Steven Lisberger. A computer programmer is transported inside the software world of a mainframe computer, where he interacts with various programs in his attempt to get back out.
Tron Legacy 2010 Science fiction By Walt Disney Pictures
The Truman Show 1998 Drama Philip K. Dick's novel Time Out Of Joint Directed by Peter Weir, in which the lead character discovers his entire life is actually a reality television show.
Vanilla Sky 2001 Science fiction psychological thriller Remake of Abre los Ojos (Open Your Eyes) Directed by Cameron Crowe, in which the lead character experiences out-of-control lucid dreaming while having been cryogenically frozen
Videodrome 1983 Horror Directed by David Cronenberg
The Village 2004 Psychologic Thriller Directed by M. Night Shyamalan, in which an isolated-19th-century small Pennsylvania village residents reveal the secrets of their elders.
Virtual Nightmare 2000 Science fiction Dale begins noticing disturbing glitches in the fabric of reality.
Virtuosity 1995 Science fiction action Directed by Brett Leonard
Welcome to Blood City 1977 Science fiction Western Directed by Peter Sasdy
Westworld 1973 Science fiction Western-thriller Directed by writer Michael Crichton
World on a Wire (Welt am Draht) 1973 Science fiction Daniel F. Galouye's Simulacron-3 German film adaptation of the novel Simulacron-3, directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder.

Television

Interactive fiction

Computer and video games

References
  1. Answers In Simulation, amazon.com
  2. Kelleghan, Fiona (July 1998). "Private Hells and Radical Doubts: An Interview with Jonathan Lethem". Science Fiction Studies. Retrieved March 30, 2014.
  3. Von Ruff, Al. "Bibliography: The Cookie Monster". Internet Speculative Fiction Database. Retrieved March 30, 2014.
  4. Alexander, Justin. "What I'm Reading #46 - The Short Stories of Vernor Vinge". The Alexandrian. Retrieved March 30, 2014.
  5. Shippey, Tom (Aug 17, 2012). "We Can Build You: Tom Shippey reviews Eye in the Sky by Philip K. Dick, and How to Build An Android by David F. Dufty". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved March 30, 2014.
  6. Duncan, David (October 1960). "The Immortals". Galaxy Science Fiction. pp. 162–193.
  7. Von Ruff, Al. "Bibliography: You're Another". Internet Speculative Fiction Database. Retrieved March 30, 2014.
  8. Brantley, Ben (January 17, 2012). "Worlds Within Worlds Within Worlds. And a Duane Reade". New York Times. Retrieved January 6, 2014.
  9. McNary, Dave (June 20, 2019). "Salma Hayek, Owen Wilson to Star in Amazon's Sci-Fi Drama 'Bliss'". Variety. Archived from the original on January 13, 2021. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  10. Bradshaw, Peter (12 April 2012). "The Cabin in the Woods – review". The Guardian. London: Guardian News and Media. Retrieved March 30, 2014.
  11. Max hallucinating on Valkyr - [the note reads] You're in a graphic novel & Michelle Payne: [the note reads] You're in a computer game, Max.
  12. http://kotaku.com/metal-gear-solid-2-was-a-twisted-experiment-in-mind-con-1785833195
  13. https://thezombienomicon.com/zombienomicon.html
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