A woman attempts suicide when she suspects her husband doesn't love her and is having an affair. Now she's wheelchair-bound, and her husband, who indeed doesn't love her and is having an affair, hires a private nurse to look after his wife. The nurse begins to suspect that she was hired because of unproven allegations that she murdered someone's wife in a similar situation, that the husband wants her to murder his wife.

In the 1400's, Rumpelstiltskin is imprisoned inside a small jade figurine. In modern-day Los Angeles, the recently widowed wife of a police officer, with baby in tow, finds her way into a witch's shop and purchases a certain figurine, resulting in the cackling beast being freed and demanding possession of the baby.

In the year 2053, the earth has been devastated by a military experiment gone awry. The ozone layer is gone, radioactive clouds drift across the plains, and unpredictable, intense bursts of ultra-violet sunlight (called "brights") incinerate anyone caught outside. In these conditions, a group of travelers are trying to get from the frontier town of Jericho to the paradise safe haven of Neon City: A doctor named Tom, an old man with a mysterious past, a prostitute, a spoiled rich girl, an untalented comedian, and a bounty hunter named Stark with his valuable prisoner Reno. They board an armored truck converted into a passenger transport driven by an ex-convict named Bulk. Along they way, the travelers deal with passing though radioactive Xander clouds, 150F degrees of "brights", unstable paved roads, and nomadic motorcycle riders who kill anyone venturing though their territory...

A journalist, down on his luck in the US, drives to El Salvador to chronicle the events of the 1980 military dictatorship, including the assasination of Archbishop Oscar Romero. He forms an uneasy alliance with both guerillas in the countryside who want him to get pictures out to the US press, and the right-wing military, who want him to bring them photographs of the rebels. Meanwhile he has to find a way of protecting his Salvadorean girlfriend and getting her out of the country.

Will, Lisa, and two of their friends attempt to flee man-made and natural disasters and encounter Batman, Hancock, The Hulk, Indiana Jones, Hannah Montana, Michael Jackson, Beowulf, the Love Guru, Iron Man, rabid chipmunks amongst others in their seemingly vain efforts to seek help and shelter from unknown threats.