Chronicle Covers: 'War of the Worlds,' a Halloween scare for the ages

The Chronicle’s front page from Oct. 31, 1938, covers the radio broadcast of “The War of the Worlds” that caused a panic because some people were convinced the alien invasion was real.
“Hysteria among radio listeners throughout the nation and actual panicky evacuations from sections of the (New York) metropolitan area resulted from a too-realistic radio broadcast tonight describing a fictitious and devastating visitation of strange men from Mars,” the story read.
“Excited and weeping persons all over the country swamped newspaper and police switchboards with the question: ‘Is it true?’”
Actor and filmmaker Orson Welles was the director and narrator of the program, which was adapted from H.G. Wells’ novel. The show featured fake news segments about the mass-murdering martians and realistic-sounding sound effects.
Not everyone was amused.
“Many New Yorkers seized personal effects and raced out of their apartments, some jumping into their automobiles and heading for the wide-open spaces,” the story read.
Another anecdote: “A woman ran into a church in Indianapolis screaming: ‘New York destroyed, it’s the end of the world! You might as well go home to die! I just heard it on the radio!’”
Happy Halloween!
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