Spooked!: How a Radio Broadcast and The War of the Worlds Sparked the 1938 Invasion of America

This nonfiction account examines the making and aftermath of Orson Welles’s 1938 radio adaptation of The War of the Worlds. The Mercury Theater transformed H. G. Wells’s novel about a Martian attack into a program set in New Jersey, using music, sound effects, and actors. Many listeners mistook the broadcast for live news, prompting calls to the studio and police stations. The book follows the program’s development, the night of its airing, and the public response afterward.