Dead Air author William Elliott Hazelgrove explores fear, media credibility and Orson Welles' enduring legacy through radio interviews and an anniversary essay scheduled for The Hill.



CHICAGO, IL, October 29, 2026 /24-7PressRelease/ -- On October 30, 1938, Americans listening to Orson Welles' The War of the Worlds heard music interrupted by urgent reports of an invasion from Mars. What sounded like breaking news was radio drama. But some listeners believed they were hearing the end of the world.

Eighty-eight years later, the broadcast raises a question that still unsettles us: Could it happen again?

National bestselling author William Elliott Hazelgrove examines that question in Dead Air: The Night That Orson Welles Terrified America, tracing the creation of the broadcast, the frightened listeners who took it seriously and the controversy that followed.

Hazelgrove is marking the anniversary with interviews on The Steve Gruber Show, WGN Radio, WDCB and WCPT, a public library presentation and an essay scheduled for publication in The Hill on October 30. Wellesnet, the Orson Welles resource, also featured his anniversary media campaign.

The broadcast reached an anxious nation. Americans had grown accustomed to radio bulletins about the threat of war in Europe. Welles and his Mercury Theatre company used that familiar format—interrupted programming, eyewitness accounts and authoritative voices—to make an impossible invasion sound immediate and credible.

Dead Air takes readers inside the production while examining contemporary reports of alarm beyond the studio. Hazelgrove argues that the reaction was more substantial than some later interpretations suggest, entering the continuing debate over the scale of the panic.

Today, fabricated audio, manipulated video and rapidly circulating rumors give the anniversary renewed relevance. The technology has changed, but the broadcast's central questions endure: Why do people believe what they hear? How does fear affect judgment? And what makes a message sound trustworthy?

ANNIVERSARY MEDIA AND EVENTS

WDCB 90.9 FM — The Arts Section with Gary Zidek: Interview aired October 25. Replay: https://soundcloud.com/wdcbnews/the-arts-section-10-25-26

The Steve Gruber Show: October 28 interview about Dead Air and the approaching anniversary.

WGN Radio — John Landecker: October 28 interview scheduled for 9 p.m. Central.

Wheaton Public Library: October 28 presentation on Orson Welles' broadcast, offered in person and on Zoom.

WCPT 820 — Richard Chew: Interview scheduled for October 30 at 6:30 a.m. Central.

The Hill: Anniversary essay scheduled for October 30.

Wellesnet: October 9 feature highlighting Hazelgrove's book and anniversary appearances.

PRAISE FOR DEAD AIR

The Wall Street Journal described Dead Air as a "granular history." The book also received a starred review from Booklist and coverage in Publishers Weekly.

Hazelgrove is available for television, radio, podcast and print interviews about Orson Welles, the making of the broadcast, the panic debate and whether a modern audience could be similarly deceived.

William Elliott Hazelgrove is the National Bestselling author of ten novels and fifteen narrative nonfiction titles. His books have received starred reviews in Publisher Weekly Kirkus, Booklist, Book of the Month Selections, ALA Editors Choice Awards Junior Library Guild Selections, Literary Guild Selections, History Book Club Selections and optioned for the movies. He was the Ernest Hemingway Writer in Residence where he wrote in the attic of Ernest Hemingway's birthplace. He has written articles and reviews for USA Today, The Smithsonian Magazine, The Hill, Daily Mail and other publications and has been featured on NPR All Things Considered. The New York Times, LA Times, Chicago Tribune, CSPAN, USA Today have all covered his books with features.

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