Halloween Story, War of the Worlds Radio Broadcast, 1938

“War of the Worlds” is a science fiction classic by H.G. Wells published in 1898. Wells presented as a factual account of the Martian invasion, like the book “World War Z” by Max Brooks. 40 years later, 23 year old Orson Welles and his Mercury Theater On the Air Company decided to update Wells’ novel for a national radio program on the night before Halloween. ”War of the Worlds” was not planned as a radio hoax, and Welles had little idea of the disorder it would cause.

The show began with a voice announcing: “The Columbia Broadcasting System and its affiliated stations present Orson Welles and the Mercury Theater on the air in ‘War of the Worlds’ by H.G. Wells.”

1938 was the golden age of radio. Millions of Americans gathered around their radios to listen to their favorite mystery, romance, drama, or comedy. On Sunday nights, most of Americans were listening to the comedian ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and his dummy Charlie McCarthy on NBC. Once the comedy sketch ended and a little-known singer came on, the listeners do what every American does; they changed the channel to CBS. By then, they had missed the disclaimer and joined the program with the Martian “invasion” was well underway.

Panic broke out across the country. In New Jersey, terrified civilians jammed highways seeking to escape the alien marauders. People begged police for gas masks to save them from the toxic gas and asked electric companies to turn off the power so that the Martians wouldn’t see their lights. One woman ran into an Indianapolis church where evening services were being held and yelled, “New York has been destroyed! It’s the end of the world! Go home and prepare to die!”

When news of the real-life panic got to the CBS studio, Welles went on the air as himself to remind listeners that it was just fiction.

Historians calculated that six million people heard the broadcast, 1.7 million believed it to be true, and 1.2 million were ‘genuinely frightened.’

Listen to TMN Radio at 8:30pm, October 30 and see what all of the hysteria was about when War of the Worlds is aired on the 76th anniversary of the original broadcast. Click on the TMN Radio link at tmn.fhsu.edu or you can listen on your mobile device with the TuneIn app and type in KFHS.