“The ‘mass hysteria’ of October 30, 1938″ as it was portrayed in newspapers, books, movies and rock musicals is a fictoid. The accounts of suicides, heart attacks, traffic collisions and flights all proved to be unfounded. The subsequent examination of the statistical date from that night show that there were no abnormal fatalities, hospital admissions, or traffic accidents. And there was no exodus from Harlem. The picture in Life of a farmer with a rifle was posed.

There were, to be sure, a large number of telephone inquiries to CBS, New York Times and local police. Such telephone calls, however, are not necessarily evidence of “mass hysteria.” They are the expected response to media reports, real of fictive, that describe an emergency. It is hardly surprising some percent of the radio audience– less than one-tenth of one percent– attempted to determine if a bulletin they heard on the radio was true or false (whether it concerned the cancellation of a world series game or an invasion of aliens) by telephoning the station that broadcast it or their local paper.”

From Fictoid #7 at edwardjayepstein.com. An excellent site.

They just don’t make ‘em like they used to…:(

Rosebud.

I agree with Mike M. – I will probably go see Steven Spielberg’s “War of the Worlds” as well.

Not only can historians, political scientists, and sociologists gain important insight from “standard” novels, there’s much to be learned from science fiction.

In relation to the Eloi, Isaac Asimov’s selfish “Spacers” of his “Robot” novels also come to mind as far as Europe–and it’s future.

You can see it here

Had them a little concerned for a while….

One day I hope to panic the world as well.

Uh…with my production that is.

*whew*