The version of War of the Worlds I found most effective in creating fear amongst its audience was the radio broadcast. In both the novel version and the radio broadcast the alien creature that lands on Earth are described in great detail. Its grotesque features are planted in our mind as the narrator tell us the events of the story. In the original novel, the crowd is in a sort of riot at the sight of an extraterrestrial and even trample a pedestrian in all the fuss. Even though the radio broadcast describes less of the chaos in the crowd I found it more frightening. One of the scariest things about this version was that many of the listeners thought it was happening to Earth. As you can imagine the thought of an alien invasion is terrifying, not only did many think the events to be true but they had to wait for the narrator to reveal more information. When people read the novel they knew it was fiction and also could skip to the end of the book if they couldn’t take the suspense, eliminating any feelings of fear.
Novel
A person is trampled by the frightened crowd while trying to get away from the cylinder. The main character is there when the event takes place
Similarities
The alien is described in great detail
We hear/read the story from the point of view of the narrator.
Radio
The narrator seems to be observing the events from afar. The crowd seems less frightened.
