The acclaimed nonfiction book "Dead Air: The Night Orson Welles Terrified America" by William Elliott Hazelgrove is now available as an audiobook, offering listeners an immersive experience of one of the most extraordinary nights in American broadcasting history. The audiobook release brings new life to a story that is, at its core, about the power of the spoken word—a fitting tribute to the very medium that made the original event so impactful.
On October 30, 1938, a 23-year-old Orson Welles and his Mercury Theatre on the Air performed an adaptation of H.G. Wells's "The War of the Worlds." The program was ingeniously structured to mimic an ordinary radio broadcast interrupted by alarming news bulletins, reporting that something had landed in rural New Jersey. The invaders were Martians, and what followed became a legendary chapter in American history. Hazelgrove's narrative reconstructs the people, personalities, media environment, and events surrounding that broadcast, carefully separating mythology from fact while capturing an era when radio possessed an immediacy and authority that is hard to imagine today.
The audiobook format is particularly appropriate for this story. As Hazelgrove notes, "Radio was the internet of 1938. It was immediate, intimate, and trusted. Orson Welles understood the power of the medium, and on that October night he demonstrated just how powerful it could be." Listening to the audiobook allows audiences to experience the tension and drama of that night in a way that reading alone cannot fully convey.
"Dead Air" has already received national attention, with coverage from The Associated Press, The Wall Street Journal, Air Mail, and WYSO's The Book Nook. Hazelgrove, a national bestselling author of over 25 books of fiction and narrative nonfiction, has seen his work covered by The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, USA Today, NPR, C-SPAN, and other national outlets.
The audiobook edition of "Dead Air: The Night Orson Welles Terrified America" is now available, offering both longtime fans and new listeners a chance to revisit a moment when radio's power reshaped public consciousness and left an indelible mark on media history.
