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Canadian science fiction writer Hugh A. D. Spencer joins the lads to talk about one of his favorite bits of audio – the original radio play of The War of the Worlds.

The novel by H. G. Wells was written in the 1890s, and adapted by Orson Welles for his Mercury Theatre in 1938. At the time Hugh says the novel was a little outdated, but Welles’s company found a way to make the story freak out a whole a new generation.

Hugh was introduced to the story by his grandfather, who gave Hugh a copy from the 1920s. Around the same time, he had discovered how amazing spoken word, comedy and concept albums were. Then he discovered an old vinyl copy of the 1938 production of The War of the Worlds.

“I almost didn’t listen to it, because I thought it would be really cheesy, but I put it on,” Hugh says. “I was transported to another universe. It was absolutely brilliant.”

He still listens to it. Howard Koch adapted the story for the radio, not Orson Welles, though the latter directed the production. Koch used the trope of the news flash to tell the story, and this led many listeners who had missed the start of the radio play to think the invasion was real.

It caused a panic.

“By the end of the show, executives came down to the studio and told Welles that they had to do an announcement, and say this is a radio play!” Hugh says.

They have a great time talking about the effects of the radio play, science fiction in general, and how the play had an impact on Hugh’s own work.