“Ladies and Gentlemen, This Is the Most Terrifying Thing I Have Ever Witnessed ...”

It was on this date back in 1938 that actor-writer Orson Welles “vaulted into stardom by narrating his famous radio presentation of H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds,” notes the blog Pulp International. “In adapting the [1898] novel, which concerns an invasion by malevolent Martians bent on the total destruction of humanity, Welles decided to use fictional news bulletins to describe the action. These were presented without commercial breaks, leaving listeners to decide whether the familiar-sounding news flashes were truthful. Since a radio show had never used the news flash for dramatic purposes, many people were confused. The public reaction was described at the time as a panic,” though such reactions were not far-reaching.

Put a pre-Halloween scare into yourself by listening to that dramatic, 71-year-old broadcast. The Mercury Theatre on the Air Web site has it ready for free downloading here, along with other radio episodes.

READ MORE: “The War of the Worlds Radio Script from October 30, 1938” (Wellesnet); “Book Review: Waging the War of the Worlds,” by Feliks Banel (I Still Love Radio).