The Legend

The popular understanding of Mercury Theatre’s War of the Worlds production was that due to the way it was made and broadcast it was mistaken by many people to be a genuine news story covering an alien invasion and caused widespread panic in America. It is definitely true that some people did think this and there was some panic but this was extremely small in scale, if for no other reason than the audience for the show was quite small. Of course, the truth is not as important as it’s a wonderful story. It has been supposed by many that the reason for the confusion was that many people will have missed the beginning of the broadcast where it was clearly advertised as a work of fiction as a far more popular show on another station would have been playing at the start of the show. But perhaps more important is the style of the broadcast – music is playing and then interrupted by breaking news and the first half of the show is told as a series of news reports. If the show had been more mundane it could have been indistinguishable from news coverage of such an event (indeed some people who did panic did not believe it was Martians invading, but rather a surprise attack by Germany or some other disaster).

Fiction Podcasting

Obviously, radio dramas, comedies, plays, etc continued to be made and this production of War of the Worlds would have been a huge, inescapable influence but it had a very profound influence on fiction podcasts, also known as audio dramas. They are, as perhaps the name suggests, podcasts that tell fiction stories. So unlike Serial a scripted but non-fiction podcast or Off Menu an unscripted comedy-interview show.

Here are a glimpse at some of the most successful/influential fiction podcasts:

Welcome To Night Vale – stories of the creepy town of Night Vale where every conspiracy theory is true.

Limetown – the story of how a planned town to work on a major scientific project descended into anarchy and violence.

The Magnus Archives – dozens of stories of monsters and horrors, from vampires to serial killers to ancient terrible evils.

The Bright Sessions – a psychiatrist offers therapy for people with superpowers.

The Black Tapes – a skeptic and believer travel across America investigating “supernatural” mysteries.

The thing that connects all of these shows is that they are either purportedly genuine broadcasts – Welcome To Night Vale is meant to be a radio show in that town – or essentially found footage – The Magnus Archives are the archived tapes of the Magnus Institute. Welcome to Night Vale is hosted by Cecil Palmer who as well as doing stories on the various horrors will do a community calendar, minutes of PTA meetings, and so on.

Limetown is a documentary in a very NPR way, a journalist investigates a story, interviews people etc. By no means are all fiction podcasts done in this way, and increasingly podcast creators have moved away from this.

I actually have experience with this myself as the creator of two fiction podcasts. The first, At The End Of The Line, is a post-apocalyptic travel show, the listener is not hearing a story but rather as if they were listening to that show. The show featured letters from “listeners”, the first episode starts with a reference to previous seasons that do not exist. The second, The Reignition Theory is a documentary – telling the story of the destruction of the city. There were interviews, extracts from newspapers, letters, diary entries etc. all presented as if the listener had tuned into a documentary.

Immersive Storytelling

Welles’ programme was so well done some people believed it to be reporting genuine events but even accepted it as fiction – it’s a very tense show. The idea of witnessing events unfolding “live” and that you’re hearing the response of people on the scene is different from a more straight-forward narrative, perhaps more directly tapping into our real-world experiences of news bulletins. Welles’ show starts with music being interrupted by breaking news something we’re all familiar with. Does the conceit of reality distance of audience from the characters or bring them closer?

Listening to the broadcast again Welles’ does a fantastic job of immersing you in this story and fake reality. A music programme is interrupted but then returned to numerous times as the news bulletins have finished and so why not go back to the show? Breathless reports from reporters in the field cutting back to more measured journalists in secure places. Background noise of the hustle and bustle of live reporting and the panicked crowds is done flawlessly, sometimes things are unclear or even inaudible and reporters get cut off mid-sentence. Welles’ commitment to the bit goes beyond even the radio show, as mentioned the “panic” caused by the broadcast was heavily exaggerated, and Welles knowingly played into this. He would make that story real, just like he had made some people believe the Martian invasion was real.

Also Read: Five Great Film Podcasts To Listen To Right Now

The post The Influence of Orson Welles’ War of the Worlds on Fiction Podcasting appeared first on Big Picture Film Club.

But aside from my own podcast here are five great audiofiction podcasts:

1. My Neighbors Are Dead

This is a weekly improvised podcast where the host, Adam Peacock, interviews a character from the periphery of a horror film, usually this character is not even in the film. So there has been the episode about Scream, where they interview the other guy who wanted to kill Sidney Prescott, or the estate agents who sold the Freelings the house in Poltergeist. In the episode the universe of that film is real, these things are meant to have really happened, as such in the episode on The Road the host and guest are living in a post-apocalyptic wasteland.

The show is very funny and very cine-literate and has some very talented comedians and actors playing these characters. The show is always good but occasionally it does hit sublime moments of comedy.

If You Listen To One Episode Make It – Episode 16 – Psycho. This is one of those sublime episodes as one man talks about the local amateur taxidermy contest he entered.

Listen: https://www.myneighborsaredead.com/

2. Victoriocity

Perhaps the best example of world-building I’ve come across in audiofiction, an alternate-history of Victorian England where Even Greater London covers half of the country, the Tower of London provides energy and Queen Victoria is an unholy mess of human and machine. The show of full of brilliant ideas and concepts and does an amazing job of conveying these to the listener. The show follows Archibald Fleet and Clara Entwhistle as they struggle to solve crimes of great ingenuity and importance.

While the plot of both seasons revolves around grisly murders the show is a comedy full of jokes and wonderful turns of phrase.

If You Listen To One Episode Make It – Victoriocity won’t make much sense if you don’t listen to it in order but Season 2 Episode 4 The Circus is a great example of their world-building.

Listen: https://www.victoriocity.com/listen

3. The Magnus Archives

The horror and supernatural genres are fertile grounds in the audiofiction world and one of the best examples of that is The Magnus Archives. Each episode is a recording of a statement of a member of the public about a supernatural encounter. Most episodes are simply one person, the head archivist, reading someone’s statement. At the end of each episode is a little summing up by the archivist as he explains the research they have done to verify the story (while they certainly believe in the supernatural The Magnus Institute seems to believe most reports are unlikely to be genuine). What starts off as simple episodic tales begins to take shape, very slowly, of a bigger plot. This is not a humorous show and can be very grim and there are vivid descriptions of some rather nasty stuff, so bear that in mind.

If You Only Listen To One Episode Make It – Episode 9 A Father’s Love, a particularly grim episode where the daughter of a notorious serial killer explains the possible supernatural nature behind her father’s crimes.

Listen: http://rustyquill.com/the-magnus-archives/

4. We Fix Space Junk

A glorious sci-fi adventure in the mould of The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, following the adventures of two “employees” of the distinctly evil Automnicon (whose motto is “We Own You”) as they are sent on various missions across the galaxy. The main characters Kilner and Samantha are joined by a whole host of interesting and original characters – particularly Marilyn but I won’t spoil her origins story.

If You Listen To One Episode Make It – Season 2 Episode 5 A Cure For Bindweed – brilliant sci-fi and surprisingly emotional

Listen: https://battlebird.libsyn.com/

5. Welcome To Night Vale

This show is probably the most famous audiofiction podcast in existence and my favourite. It purports to be a local radio show for the town of Night Vale where host Cecil Palmer brings news and updates to his listeners. The idea behind WTNV was that it’s a town where every conspiracy theory is real – there are vague, yet menacing government agencies, UFOs, and any number of monsters. Nothing is quite right in Night Vale – librarians are vicious creatures but who also promote summer reading programmes, the mysterious dog park is banned to both humans and dogs, and the editor of the local newspaper constantly attacks people with hatchets. The show easily goes from creepy to funny to emotional easily and you soon become deeply involved in the lives of the residents of the town.

If You Listen To One Episode Make It – Episode 26 – Faceless Old Woman – an early example of how creepy WTNV can get as we learn about The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives In Your Home and her name pretty much sums her up (she is played by Mara Wilson, probably best known for playing Matilda in the 90s film).

Listen: http://www.welcometonightvale.com/

Enjoy these five audiofiction podcasts and if you would like to check it out here is the link to my show: https://attheendofthelinepodcast.squarespace.com

Also Check out Big Picture Film Club’s: In Reel Life Podcast

The post Five Great Audio-Fiction Podcasts To Listen To appeared first on Big Picture Film Club.