History NightmareFuel / TheWaroftheWorlds

!!Jeff Wayne's Musical Version:
[[NightmareFuel/JeffWaynesMusicalVersionOfTheWarOfTheWorlds See here]].

!!Orson Welles' Radio Drama:
* [[NightmareFuel/TheWarOfTheWorlds1938 See here]]

!!1953 film:
* [[NightmareFuel/TheWarOfTheWorlds1953 See here]]

!![[Film/WarOfTheWorlds The 2005 Film]]:
* [[NightmareFuel/WarOfTheWorlds2005 See here]]

!![[Series/WarOfTheWorlds1988 The 1988 TV series]]:
* [[NightmareFuel/WarOfTheWorlds1988 See here]]

!!Dark Horse Graphic Novel:

--> "There's a jet of flame springing from the mirror, and it leaps right at the advancing men. It strikes them head on! ''Good Lord, they're turning into flame!'' ... Now the whole field's caught fire! The woods -- the barns -- the gas tanks of automobiles -- it's spreading everywhere! It's coming this way -- ''about twenty yards to my ri--''"
--> '''DEAD AIR.'''

* "2X2L calling CQ, New York. 2X2L calling CQ, New York. [[NothingIsScarier Isn't there anyone on the air?]] Isn't there anyone on the air? Isn't there... anyone?"
* The famous ending is this from the Martians' point of view: they'd eradicated disease so long ago they pretty much don't have an immune system...then fall victim to Earth diseases. They likely didn't know what was even ''happening'' to them. Granted, [[AssholeVictim they kinda have it coming]], but still a terrifying thought.

* [[NightmareFuel/WarOfTheWorlds See here]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/war_of_the_worlds_7.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"Guns, tanks, bombs, they're like toys against them!"]]
* The war machines, especially when first seeing the film as a young kid. The minimalist, hauntingly simple manta-ray design with the [[HellIsThatNoise pulsating noise of the sensor-head]] and the booming sound of the WaveMotionGun. When the Marines attack, the Martians are just calmly sitting there, the sensor arms swaying back and forth as they identify and lock onto targets. Then, they open fire with all of their weapons...and they ''never miss.''
** Every single time they charge the heat ray, the pulsating noise gets faster and faster, right up until it fires. Anything and everything in front of them gets one OhCrap before they're simply ''erased''.
** On top of that, one simple line from General Mann:
-->"Once [the war machines] begin to move, no more news comes out of that area."
* The entire farmhouse sequence after the meteor crashes into it. In the dark and desperate moments that follow, the "eye probe" would have been creepy enough, but then Forrester and Sylvia are surprised by one of the Martians themselves, whose inhuman look has more in common with an EldritchAbomination than the goofy RubberForeheadAliens you'd expect of 1950's sci-fi movies. More than one retrospective reviewer has confessed to childhood nightmares about the probe and/or the alien.
* Pretty much the majority of the last third of the movie. The air raid sirens, the frantic evacuations ahead of the war machines, looting and rioting, and a kid with a dog eating from an abandoned mell-o cream cart are just a few of the events foreshadowing the dreaded finale... the destruction of Los Angeles and the inexorable march of the war machines. The hero spends most of this time in a seemingly hopeless search for Sylvia and the other scientists, evading the war machines as they destroy everything in their path. He finally ends up in a church, with a large number of parishioners all waiting for the inevitable end as the Martians' engines of destruction draw ever nearer. In the end, even in the 1950s, this is a sci-fi ''horror'' movie, and looks the part.

* The famous ending is this from the aliens' point of view: they'd eradicated disease so long ago they pretty much don't have an immune system...then fall victim to Earth diseases. They likely didn't know what was even ''happening'' to them. Granted, [[AssholeVictim they kinda have it coming]], but still a terrifying thought.

!![[Film/WarOfTheWorlds The 2005 Film]] and [[Series/WarOfTheWorlds 1988 TV series]]:

* Pretty much the majority of the last third of the movie. The air raid sirens, the frantic evacuations ahead of the war machines, looting and rioting, and a kid with a dog eating from an abandoned mell-o cream cart are just a few of the events foreshadowing the dreaded finale...the destruction of Los Angeles and the inexorable march of the war machines. Foster spends most of this time in a seemingly hopeless, solo search for Sylvia and the other scientists, dodging war machines as they destroy everything in their path. He finally ends up in a church, with a large number of parishioners all waiting for the inevitable end as the alien's engines of destruction draw ever nearer. In the end, even in the 1950s, this is a sci-fi ''horror'' movie, and looks the part.

* The war machines, especially when first seeing the film as a young kid. In many ways, I find them more terrifying than the tripods from the 2005 film. The minimalist, yet hauntingly simple design with the [[HellIsThatNoise pulsating heat-ray]], the booming sound of the WaveMotionGun. When the Marines attack, the Martians are just sitting there, waiting, the heat-rays swaying back and forth as they identify targets. Then, they open fire with all three of their weapons...

* Pretty much the majority of the last third of the movie. The air raid sirens, the frantic evacuations ahead of the war machines, looting and rioting, and a kid with a dog eating from an abandoned mell-o cream cart are just a few of the events foreshadowing the dreaded finale...the destruction of Los Angeles and the inexorable march of the war machines. Foster spends most of this time in a seemingly hopeless, solo search for Sylvia and the other scientists, dodging war machines as they destroy everything in their path. He finally ends up in a church, with a large number of parishioners all waiting for the inevitable end as the alien engines of destruction draw ever nearer. In the end, even in the 1950s, this is a sci-fi ''horror'' movie, and looks the part.

* "Isn't there anyone on the air? Isn't there anyone on the air? Isn't there anyone?"

* Pretty much the majority of the last third of the movie. The air raid sirens, the frantic evacuations ahead of the war machines, looting and rioting, and a kid with a dog eating from an abandoned mell-o cream cart are just a few of the events foreshadowing the dreaded finale...the destruction of Los Angeles and the inexorable march of the war machines. Foster spends most of this time in a seemingly hopeless, solo search for Sylvia and the other scientists, dodging war machines as they destroy everything in their path. In the end, even in the 1950s, this is a sci-fi ''horror'' movie, and looks the part.

* Pretty much the majority of the last third of the movie. The air raid sirens, the frantic evacuations ahead of the war machines, looting and rioting, and a kid with a dog eating from an abandoned mell-o cream cart are just a few of the events foreshadowing the dreaded finale...the destruction of Los Angeles and the inexorable march of the war machines. In the end, even in the 1950s, this is a sci-fi ''horror'' movie, and looks the part.

* The war machines, especially when first seeing the film as a young kid. In many ways, I find them more terrifying than the tripods from the 2005 film. The minimalist, yet hauntingly simple design with the [[HellIsThatNoise pulsating heat-ray]], the booming sound of the disintegrator rays. When the Marines attack, the Martians are just sitting there, waiting, the heat-rays swaying back and forth as they identify targets. Then, they open fire with all three of their weapons...

* Pretty much the majority of the last third of the movie. The air raid sirens, the frantic evacuations ahead of the war machines, looting and rioting, and a kid with a dog eating from an abandoned mell-o cream cart are just a few of the events foreshadowing the dreaded finale...the destruction of Los Angeles and the inexorable march of the war machines. In the end, even in the 1950s, this is a ''horror'' movie, and looks the part.

-->"Once they begin to move, no more news comes out of that area."
* Pretty much the majority of the last third of the movie. The air raid sirens, people leaving, sanctuaries, and a kid with a dog robbing a mell-o cream cart are just a few of the dread that's going to happen. It is a horror movie, after all.

* The war machines, especially when first seeing the film as a young kid. The minimalist, yet hauntingly simple design with the [[HellIsThatNoise pulsating heat-ray]]. When the Marines attack, the Martians are just sitting there, waiting, the heat-rays swaying back and forth as they identify targets. Then, they open fire with all three of their weapons...

* The musical scores and audio all help to add to a nightmarish atmosphere, but special mention goes to the Martians' cry of "Ulla", a sound that is truly frightening.
* "Whee-ooo Whee-ooo Whee-ooo" gets an honourable mention.
* This particular version also has an epilogue set in the present day focusing on a scientist who begins observing green flashes from Mars. Slowly we begin hearing reprisals of some of the music heard when the Martians were beginning their invasion, which get faster and faster, mixed with the scientist desperately trying to reach ''somebody'' on the radio as well as the aforementioned noises of the Martians... and then it just stops abruptly. That alone is quite unnerving, but then there's the implication is that the Martians are planning to invade the Earth ''again'', and chances are they've learned from their past experiences, meaning that perhaps we won't be quite so lucky this time.
** The New Generation version adds a line apparently spoken by the invading Martians; "The problem is of course the humans." A repeat of that same line from the beginning of the invasion.