In general, "The Illuminatus! Trilogy" can be credited with popularizing the genre of conspiracy fiction,Rick Kleffel writing in The Agony Column for 26 August 2002 . Retrieved 11 March 2006.</ref> a field later mined by authors like Umberto Eco ("Foucault's Pendulum"), Charles Cecil () and Dan Brown ("Angels & Demons", "The Da Vinci Code", "The Lost Symbol"), comic book writers like Alan Moore ("V for Vendetta", "From Hell"), Dave Sim ("Cerebus") and Grant Morrison ("The Invisibles"), and screenwriters like Chris Carter ("The X-Files") and Damon Lindelof ("Lost"). In particular, the regular use of the Illuminati in popular culture as shadowy central puppet masters in this type of fiction can be traced back to their exposure via "The Illuminatus! Trilogy".