Illustration from The War of the Worlds by Henrique Alvim Corrêa, 1906, Public Domain.

Complete Chapter Summaries of The War of the Worlds

Welcome to the ultimate chapter-by-chapter guide to H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds. This page breaks down all 27 chapters of H.G. Wells’ sci-fi masterpiece—The War of the Worlds explained in detail, with clear navigation and key plot moments highlighted for easy reference. Use the clickable Table of Contents below to jump to any chapter instantly, or scroll through to revisit the full story from beginning to end.

Table of Contents

Book 1: The Coming of the Martians

Book 2: The Earth Under the Martians

Chapter Summaries for Book 1

Explore detailed chapter summaries for Book 1 of The War of the Worlds. Follow the narrator’s firsthand account as the Martians arrive, attack, and spread terror across England. This guide breaks down each chapter, highlighting key events, themes, and the escalating invasion.

Book 1: The Coming of the Martians

Chapter 1: The Eve of the War

“No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man’s and yet as mortal as his own…”

The story begins with the narrator reflecting on humanity’s ignorance and arrogance. A philosophical writer with a keen interest in science and human nature, he introduces us to the mysterious activity observed on Mars.

Flashes of light, described as “flaming gases rushed out of a gun,” were seen on Mars over ten days, one flash per day. The narrator even witnesses one of these events through the telescope of his astronomer friend, Ogilvy.

The chapter ends with a peaceful moment: the narrator and his wife taking a tranquil evening walk. This calm foreshadows the chaos that will soon disrupt their lives.

(Note: The narrator and his wife remain unnamed, a choice explored in-depth here.)

Chapter 2: The Falling Star

A mysterious line of flame streaks across the sky, leaving a greenish trail and a hissing sound as it falls to Earth. Interestingly, the narrator, working late in his study with the window open, misses the event entirely—too engrossed in his work to notice.

The next morning, “poor Ogilvy” (this choice of words acutely foreshadows his fate) is the first to discover the object at Horsell Common. Initially assumed to be a meteor, the object is cylindrical, 30 yards in diameter, and covered in a thick, scaly crust. It’s too hot to approach, but Ogilvy hears faint noises from within. At first, he attributes them to the surface cooling unevenly.

Soon, Ogilvy notices the crust breaking away and realizes, with mounting horror, that the top of the cylinder is unscrewing. Making the connection to the flashes on Mars, he runs to Woking for help, but most people dismiss him as a lunatic. Finally, he convinces a London journalist, Henderson, to investigate.

Together, Ogilvy and Henderson return to the site but still cannot approach due to the heat and radiation. The sounds inside the cylinder have stopped, and they fear the occupants are near, if not already, dead. They shout reassurances and run to gather more help. Henderson wires the news to London, and the narrator reads about it in the morning paper. By then, a crowd has already gathered, eager to glimpse the “dead men from Mars.”

Chapter 3: On Horsell Common

The narrator visits the pit where the mysterious cylinder has landed, joining a small group of curious onlookers. While the object initially seems unremarkable, he observes that a trained scientific eye is needed to recognize its potential extraterrestrial origin.

The scaly outer material isn’t a common oxide, and the metal visible between the lid and the cylinder has an unfamiliar hue. But he does not believe it contains living creatures. Rather he thinks that the unscrewing top is an automated mechanism, likely to reveal manuscripts or artifacts from Mars.

He is impatient for it to open, but the unscrewing has ceased. The silence from within only deepens the mystery, as if the pit itself is holding its breath. He eventually returns home, finding himself too distracted to work.

By the afternoon, the news of the cylinder has spread far and wide. When the narrator returns to the pit, he finds a much larger crowd gathered. Several notable figures are now inside the pit, including Ogilvy, Henderson, and Stent, the Astronomer Royal.

Ogilvy summons the narrator, asking him to locate Lord Hilton to arrange for an enclosure around the pit and help control the growing crowd. Feeling honored by this task, the narrator sets off and learns that Lord Hilton is expected by train. He heads to the station to wait for him.

Chapter 4: The Cylinder Opens

When the narrator returns to the pit, the crowd has grown to several hundred people, all jostling and elbowing for a better view. A frightened boy runs away, shouting that the cylinder is unscrewing rapidly. Amid the chaos, a man is accidentally pushed into the pit and struggles to climb out.

The lid of the cylinder finally comes off, landing with a thud—but the narrator misses this moment, looking away at the wrong time. Suddenly, he sees tentacles emerging. First two, then more, as a Martian pulls itself through the opening. Its body is a grey-brown, oily bulk, about the size of a bear, with two large, dark eyes and a beak-like mouth.

The Martian falls heavily to the ground, and another begins to emerge. Overcome with horror, the narrator runs, only to stop and hide behind nearby trees, unable to fully tear himself away from the scene. From his hiding spot, he watches helplessly as the man in the pit continues to struggle, but his fear keeps him from going back to help.

Chapter 5: The Heat-Ray

Torn between fear and curiosity, the narrator keeps his distance while trying to observe the pit. He sees the Martians’ octopus-like arms moving about and watches as they assemble a strange device: a thin rod with a circular disk on top. The lack of immediate danger emboldens the onlookers, who begin venturing closer.

Three men approach the pit, waving a white flag. Later, the narrator learns they were Ogilvy, Stent, and Henderson. Without warning, three puffs of green, smoky flame light up the night. A hissing sound turns into a droning noise as a beam of light bursts from the pit. In an instant, the beam sets the three men ablaze, followed by the onlookers scrambling to escape.

The heat-ray sweeps across the area, destroying everything in its path—houses, trees, and people—with the swiftness of a flaming sword. Paralyzed with fear, the narrator avoids the deadly beam by sheer luck.

When the Martians’ apparatus sinks back into the pit, the night becomes eerily quiet. Only then does the narrator feel the full weight of fear, realizing he is alone and utterly vulnerable. Overcome, he flees with ferocity.

Chapter 6: The Heat-Ray in the Chobham Road

In this chapter, the narrator reflects on recent events and offers additional details. He speculates on how the Martians generate intense heat, suggesting they use a non-conductive chamber to produce it, which is then projected using a parabolic mirror—likely the device they were assembling in Chapter 5.

He recalls the initial nonchalance of the crowd, who treated the arrival of the cylinder as a novelty. Many came simply to witness the excitement, unaware of the danger. He also notes that, after the Martians first emerged, Stent and Ogilvy had telegraphed the military for assistance, still viewing the Martians as unusual visitors in need of care.

The narrator reflects on how quickly everything turned from curiosity to chaos. The heat-ray’s devastating power transformed the scene into one of panic and destruction. Even among those who escaped, many were injured—some crushed or trampled in the frantic attempt to flee.

Chapter 7: How I Reached Home

The narrator, consumed by terror, stumbles blindly until he collapses from exhaustion. When he regains consciousness, everything seems disturbingly normal—people are going about their routines as if nothing has happened. Struggling to process the horror he witnessed, he questions whether it was even real. He reflects on his sense of detachment during the event, wondering if such a reaction is typical.

He attempts to share what he saw, but his words fail him, and people dismiss him with laughter. Embarrassed and defeated, he returns home, where his wife believes him without question. Her belief, however, turns to fear as she imagines the Martians leaving their pit to attack them. Regaining his composure, the narrator reassures her, drawing on what he learned from Ogilvy.

He explains the scientific consensus: Earth’s stronger gravity would render the Martians nearly immobile. But the narrator reflects on two critical facts they didn’t yet understand: Earth’s higher oxygen levels would invigorate the Martians, and their advanced machinery would compensate for any physical limitations. Unaware of this, he feels confident in reassuring his wife. Perhaps the Martians were unprepared for intelligent life, and the military will simply shell the pit and end the threat.

This dinner with his wife, however, will be his last moment of normalcy for many terrifying days to come.

Chapter 8: Friday Night

The news of the events at the pit has yet to spread widely. For most people, life goes on as usual, and the Martians’ arrival is little more than an amusing topic for conversation at the pub.

Henderson’s story was not published, as the papers received no confirmation from the now-dead reporter. Only those within the radius of destruction are aware of the true danger. Near the pit, a curious crowd lingers at the edges, some venturing closer—never to return.

Throughout the night, the Martians hammer and tinker within the pit, their activity unceasing. Around 11 p.m., the military begins to arrive, setting up a perimeter. But then, at midnight, another “falling star” streaks across the sky, heralding the arrival of a second cylinder.

Chapter 9: The Fighting Begins

Saturday arrives, hot and suspenseful, with a general sense of confidence that the military will handle the Martian threat. Neighbors speculate on mundane topics like insurance for the damages and what humanity could learn from the Martians if only they were more approachable.

The narrator skips work to visit the area around the pit but finds it guarded by soldiers who know little about the situation. The soldiers, full of bravado, argue about the best ways to kill the Martians. Despite the heat and lack of news, the narrator feels excited about the military’s preparations and imagines the Martians’ defeat.

At 3 p.m., the military begins shelling the second cylinder, hoping to destroy it before the Martians emerge. By 5 p.m., a field gun arrives to target the first cylinder. At 6 p.m., as the narrator enjoys tea with his wife, the chaos begins. The Heat-Ray suddenly strikes the surrounding area, bringing devastation. Realizing they are in the line of fire, the narrator rushes his wife and servant out of the house.

They decide to flee to his cousin’s house in Leatherhead. He runs to the Spotted Dog pub to rent a horse and cart. The scene there feels oddly normal—business as usual, with another man casually bidding for the cart, unaware of the danger. Outbidding the man, the narrator secures the cart with a promise to return it by midnight.

He hurries back and packs their belongings, insisting the women stay outside in case of danger. A passing soldier warns of something crawling out of the pit, “a thing like a dish cover.”

As they flee, they see streamers of black smoke shot into the air along the horizon. The sound of a machine gun abruptly stops, replaced by the occasional crack of a rifle, hinting at the Martians’ devastating advance.

Chapter 10: In the Storm

The trio arrives safely in Leatherhead, but the narrator must return the cart. Despite his wife’s anxiety, he admits feeling excited by the unfolding events and reluctant to miss the Martians’ extermination.

As he sets off near midnight, a thunderstorm brews. Suddenly, the third cylinder screams overhead, followed by lightning and thunder, spooking his horse into a wild gallop. The dark night becomes chaotic, illuminated only by flashes of lightning. In these brief glimpses, the narrator sees the outline of an enormous tripod towering above the trees, moving swiftly. Another flash reveals a second tripod directly in the horse’s path.

The narrator pulls hard on the reins, crashing the cart. The horse is killed instantly, and he is thrown into a roadside puddle. Paralyzed with fear, he crouches as the Martian tripod passes. He observes its long, metallic tentacles, capable of uprooting trees, and the peculiar hood swiveling as if searching. Green smoke puffs from its joints, and a white metal basket is affixed to its back.

As hail intensifies, he glimpses the two tripods stooping over the third cylinder’s landing site. Determined but disoriented, he pushes through the storm and foliage, intent on returning home. Along the way, he stumbles upon a body. A flash of lightning reveals it to be the landlord of the Spotted Dog, whose cart he had borrowed.

Shaken but resolute, the narrator finally reaches his house and collapses, overwhelmed by the trauma of what he has witnessed.

Chapter 11: At the Window

Recovering from his initial shock, the narrator cleans himself up, changes clothes, and moves to his study to look out the window. In the darkness, he observes the aftermath of the Martian devastation: a crashed train, leveled homes and forests, and three enormous, ominous black shapes moving in the distance.

His attention shifts to a man stumbling through his garden—the artilleryman, who escaped the destruction and is searching for refuge. The narrator invites him inside, offers him food, and listens to his harrowing story.

The artilleryman recounts how the first group of Martians moved toward the second cylinder under a protective metal shield. Later, tripod legs were attached to this shield, forming the first fighting machine. He describes being thrown from his horse just before the Heat-Ray annihilated his unit. Trapped under a pile of charred bodies, he waited as the tripod completed its destruction and wandered off. A second machine was then assembled and followed the first.

During his escape, the artilleryman witnessed a third machine scoop up a man in its tentacles and brutally bang his head against a tree.

As dawn approaches, the narrator and the artilleryman survey the scene from the window. In the light of day, the full scale of the destruction becomes horrifyingly clear.

Chapter 12: What I Saw of the Destruction of Weybridge and Shepperton

The narrator and the artilleryman agree the house is no longer safe. While the narrator is eager to leave, the soldier insists on packing provisions first. The artilleryman plans to head to London to rejoin his battery, while the narrator wants to reach his wife in Leatherhead. However, the third cylinder blocks the direct route. Persuading him not to risk his life unnecessarily, the artilleryman convinces the narrator to take a detour toward London.

As they travel, the road is littered with charred corpses and abandoned belongings. The eerie stillness of the air, devoid of wind or birdsong, heightens the sense of dread. Along the way, they meet a small group of fresh soldiers heading toward the action. The artilleryman tries to describe the Martians, but his warnings are met with disbelief.

They pass through towns where military units prepare their cannons and attempt to evacuate the citizens. Yet the townsfolk, ignorant of the approaching danger, are preoccupied with trivial concerns—dressing in their best clothes, gathering valuables, and refusing to leave potted plants behind. The narrator shouts warnings of impending death, but his cries fall on deaf ears. While trains and ferries are packed, the urgency for escape has not yet dawned on the masses.

Suddenly, nearby guns open fire as five Martian tripods advance. Panic erupts, and the narrator urges people to get into the river to escape the Heat-Ray. Chaos descends as the Martians scatter boats, people, and buildings in their path. The military continues firing and manages to hit one of the tripods, sending it toppling into the river. The narrator cheers in fleeting triumph, only to feel the water heating up from the machinery’s violent thrashing.

The four remaining Martians quickly surround their fallen comrade, unleashing Heat-Rays in all directions. Struggling to comprehend the noise, smoke, and heat, the narrator dives for survival. A nearby Heat-Ray slices through the water, creating a boiling wave that scalds him as he struggles for the shore, half-blind and in agony.

Collapsed and expecting death, he lays motionless as a massive Martian foot lands just yards away. But instead of attacking, the four Martians gather their fallen companion and retreat. The narrator has once again narrowly escaped death.

Chapter 13: How I Fell In With the Curate

“What good is religion if it collapses under calamity?”

Miraculously still alive, the narrator attributes his survival to the Martians’ need to regroup after witnessing the power of human artillery. Yet reinforcements continue to arrive, with a new cylinder landing every 24 hours. The Martians spend the day transferring materials from the newly arrived cylinders back to the original pit on Horsell Common, working tirelessly into the night, a column of thick green smoke visible for miles.

Meanwhile, the narrator strips off his wet clothes and pushes through the devastation toward London. He discovers a small, abandoned boat and paddles as far as he can with his scorched hands down the still-steaming river. After dragging himself ashore, he attempts to walk but collapses from exhaustion and thirst, overcome by a mix of rational and irrational thoughts.

When he awakens, he finds a clergyman—the curate—sitting beside him, mumbling incoherently. The curate’s church was destroyed in Weybridge, and he is unable to reconcile the trauma with his religious beliefs. The narrator attempts to reason with him and offer hope, but the man is unreachable, lost in despair.

Finally, the narrator takes a firmer approach, angrily reprimanding the man to get himself together. At last, the narrator convinces the rattled curate to join him on the journey toward London.

Chapter 14: In London

At this point, the narrative shifts to the perspective of the narrator’s younger brother, as later recounted to him. The brother, a medical student in London, is preoccupied with his exams when vague and unalarming news of the Martians’ arrival reaches the city on Saturday. Telegraph communication has been interrupted, presumably due to burning pine trees falling across the line.

Assuming his brother’s home in Woking is safely outside the danger zone, he feels no immediate concern. Curiosity leads him to plan a visit to “see the Things before they are killed,” but his midnight train is canceled due to reports of an accident or breakdown.

By Sunday, the news becomes more detailed, but Londoners remain largely indifferent. Many express mild concern for those involved but cannot imagine the threat reaching them. Late Sunday afternoon, a slightly more alarming report catches the brother’s attention, and he heads back to the train station. There, he finds chaos—disorganized service, ill-tempered patrons, and trains crammed with confident soldiers and artillery heading toward the front. Outside the station, he notices several loiterers watching a strange brown scum drifting in patches down the stream, a bizarre and unsettling sight.

Finally, a fresh news report delivers accurate details of the weekend’s events, sparking growing unease. Refugees begin trickling into London with stories of devastation, and the brother learns that Woking has been completely destroyed. In the streets, there is frustration toward the authorities for their perceived failure to handle the Martian threat without disrupting daily life.

In the early hours of Monday morning, the brother is woken by a deafening clamor. London is being evacuated under the imminent threat of Martian advance. Reports warn of enormous clouds of poisonous black smoke unleashed by the Martians, killing everything in their path.

Quickly gathering his available money, the brother rushes into the streets, his fate uncertain.

(Note: The brother is also unnamed, a choice explored in-depth here.)

Chapter 15: What Had Happened in Surrey?

See, what had happened was… (Sorry, couldn’t resist!)

The narrative rejoins the narrator and the curate on Sunday evening. The Martians have been hard at work in their Horsell pit, an operation discharging large amounts of ominous green smoke. Meanwhile, the remaining military units lie in hiding throughout the surrounding areas, waiting to strike.

Around 8 p.m., three Martian tripods emerge, advancing in formation and communicating through siren-like howls. A hidden military installation successfully topples one of the tripods by smashing its leg. However, the remaining two swiftly annihilate the attackers and stand guard while the fallen machine is repaired.

At 9 p.m., the Martians change tactics. Four more tripods join the fray, each carrying thick black tubes. The seven tripods disperse, firing canisters that explode on impact, releasing vast volumes of poisonous black smoke. The heavy smoke does not rise but falls, billowing through the countryside, killing everything that breathes and devastating hidden military installations. This marks the end of any organized resistance against the invaders.

Once the smoke has served its purpose, the Martians disperse it with jets of steam. By this time, the fourth cylinder has landed.

The narrator and the curate observe parts of the action from hiding, first crouched in a ditch, then seeking refuge in a deserted house.

Chapter 16: The Exodus From London

London has descended into complete chaos, with all social order disintegrating under the advancing Martian threat. Overloaded trains plow through shrieking crowds, and panic grips the streets. The brother, desperate to escape, secures a bicycle from a looted shop, but punctures the wheel on broken glass. He rides as far as he can before the wheel fails entirely, escaping the immediate fury and panic.

Unsure where to go, he continues on foot toward a town where some friends live. On the road, he comes across a harrowing scene: three men are accosting two women for their transportation. Without hesitation, the brother intervenes, attacking the men. One flees, and the women escape, leaving the brother to fend off the remaining attackers.

He chases after the pony cart, but a stumble leaves him vulnerable to his pursuers. Thankfully, the younger of the women returns with a revolver hidden in the cart, firing shots that scare off the attackers. She gives the revolver to the brother, and the three become travel companions.

The ladies are Mrs. and Miss Elphinstone, a surgeon’s wife and sister. They had planned to meet the surgeon, but he is hours overdue. Though they have enough money for train fare, the brother persuades them to avoid the station, having witnessed its chaos firsthand.

They persuade the reluctant Mrs. Elphinstone to press on as she wails for “George,” consumed by grief and fear. As they travel, the group is joined by an ever-growing torrent of traumatized refugees, clogging the roadways and amplifying the sense of despair. At one point, the brother tries in vain to save a man, obsessed with recovering his dropped coins, from being crushed beneath a carriage.

With no alternative to crossing the congested roadway, the group presses through the fray, aided by the steadfast Miss Elphinstone. Finally, exhausted and wary, they find a place to rest by the side of the road.

Chapter 17: The ‘Thunder Child’

As the refugee stampede grows more desperate, the Martians methodically spread their poison smoke, cut telegraph lines, destroy railways, and cripple humanity’s infrastructure. The brother and his companions press toward the coast, seeking escape from England. Over the coming days, three more cylinders land. Miss Elphinstone witnesses the seventh as she takes turns keeping watch with the brother.

By Wednesday, the trio reaches Chelmsford, where their pony is seized for provisions. Despite hunger, the brother insists on pushing onward without delay—a decision that proves wise.

They arrive at the coast to find the waterways jammed with ships and boats of all sizes. Near the shore lies the ironclad ram Thunder Child, the only visible warship, with several others further out to sea. The sight of the coast drives Mrs. Elphinstone into hysterics—she’s never left England, fears the unknown, and longs to return to the safety of home and George. With difficulty, they manage to get her to the beach and onto a paddle steamer.

The captain delays departure for hours, filling the boat to its limit, but finally sets off when the sound of gunfire erupts. As they leave the shore, a Martian appears, followed by two more. The tripods wade into the sea, their towering legs nearly submerged, in pursuit of the escaping ships.

Suddenly, the paddle steamer lurches, tossing the brother from his seat. He steadies himself to see the Thunder Child charging past, a torpedo-like blur heading directly for the Martians. Confused by the swift and unexpected assault, the Martians fire their smoke cannon and Heat-Ray too late. The Thunder Child fires its guns and rams the nearest tripod, destroying it even as the Heat-Ray slices through the ship’s side.

Somehow, the warship’s engines and steering remain operational. It targets a second Martian, which also reacts too late. The Heat-Ray destroys the Thunder Child in a fiery explosion, but the resulting blast takes down the second Martian as well.

As the steamboat paddles seaward, the view of the battle is obscured by steam and black smoke. Nothing more is seen of the Thunder Child or the third Martian. By sunset, distant gunfire echoes across the horizon, but nothing is visible. Later that evening, a strange flying object is seen in the sky, raining darkness onto the land.

Chapter Summaries for Book 2

Book 2 of The War of the Worlds delves into the aftermath of the Martian conquest and humanity’s struggle for survival. These chapter summaries provide a breakdown of key moments, the narrator’s journey through a devastated world, and the fate of the Martian invaders.

Book 2: The Earth Under the Martians

Chapter 1: Under Foot

The narrative returns to the narrator and the curate, trapped in a deserted house since Sunday evening, surrounded by the deadly Black Smoke. The narrator is tormented by anxiety for his wife.

On Monday afternoon, a passing Martian disperses the smoke with powerful steam jets, smashing the house’s windows and scalding the curate’s hand as he flees the room. For the first time, they glimpse a strange redness spreading across the scorched landscape.

Realizing escape is now possible, the narrator resolves to head for Leatherhead. Having learned from the Artilleryman, he gathers provisions and fresh clothes. The curate, initially insisting on staying, quickly changes his mind when the narrator prepares to leave.

By 5 p.m., they set out together, traveling through roads littered with contorted bodies, overturned carts, and abandoned luggage—all blanketed in thick black dust. The narrator likens the devastation to the ruins of Pompeii. Crossing a bridge, they notice red masses floating downstream.

They pass through a populated area that has so far escaped the Martians’ destruction, but here they stumble into the path of a tripod fighting machine. Fortunately, the machine does not notice them, and they hide in a shed.

As evening falls, the narrator resolves to press on, but the curate wants to remain hidden. Fearful of being left alone, he reluctantly follows. Along the way, they witness a horrifying scene: a Martian tripod pursuing scattered humans, scooping them up with its metallic tentacles, and tossing them into the basket on its back. Overcome with terror, they hide again, not daring to move until near midnight.

Eventually, they reach the town of Sheen, deserted but not destroyed. They try one house with no success, but in the second find provisions to sustain them. The curate, now eager to move on, is persuaded by the narrator to rest and regain their strength.

Their reprieve is short-lived. Suddenly, a vivid green light appears, and part of the house collapses around them. The narrator is knocked unconscious and awakens to find the curate, head bloodied, tending to him. The curate warns him to remain still—the Martians are right outside. The fifth cylinder has struck the house they were sheltering in.

As the Martians noisily construct a new pit, the two sneak into a more protected section of the damaged house. They discover the pantry is still intact, and after a long rest, the narrator finds food, soon joined by the curate.

Chapter 2: What We Saw From the Ruined House

A triangular opening in the wreckage of the house offers the narrator and the curate a view of the Martians’ activities. The fifth cylinder has obliterated the first house they searched, leaving the landscape irrevocably transformed. Taking turns at the peephole, the pair observes the pit and the Martians’ operations.

The Martians have constructed intricate handling machines—spider-like, with five jointed legs and numerous tentacles—each piloted by a Martian acting as its brain. The narrator is fascinated by the multiplanar movements of their joints and notes the presence of simpler, unmanned digging machines.

Through no design of his own, the narrator gains the closest view of the Martians and their machines of any survivor. He describes the Martians as little more than a giant, bodiless brain with sixteen slender, whiplike tentacles. Supplementing his account with post-war knowledge gained from scientific studies, he explains that they lack a digestive system, instead injecting the blood of their victims directly into their veins. Some bipedal creatures were brought from their own planet as a temporary food supply, though this was not known at the time.

The narrator becomes convinced that the Martians communicate telepathically, a theory he would have previously rejected. He also observes the vigorous spread of the “red weed,” an alien plant sprouting cactus-like branches and red fronds that weave their way through the countryside.

Chapter 3: The Days of Imprisonment

Days pass as the narrator and the curate remain trapped in the collapsed house, their forced cohabitation becoming increasingly unbearable. Their incompatibility leads to constant tension. They argue over turns at the peephole, and the curate’s compulsive overeating and drinking wastes their limited provisions. His incessant, irrational muttering grates on the narrator’s nerves, and his growing carelessness escalates the danger. The tension builds to the point where the narrator resorts to threats and, eventually, physical blows.

Outside, the Martians continue their relentless work. They construct new machines and deploy a contraption that turns ordinary clay into white aluminum bars, a striking display of their advanced technology. The fluidity and complexity of the machines’ movements astound the narrator, appearing more lifelike than the Martians themselves. A close-up view confirms the presence of a Martian inside the hood of a tripod fighting machine.

At one point, the pair witnesses the horrifying reality of the Martians’ feeding rituals: a man is plucked from a metal basket and taken into the pit via a tentacle, where he is consumed. This gruesome sight temporarily dulls the allure of the peephole.

While the narrator wracks his brain for an escape plan, the curate descends further into madness, utterly broken by the horrors they’ve witnessed.

Chapter 4: The Death of the Curate

By day six of their entrapment, the narrator catches the curate stealing provisions again. Furious, he rations out ten days’ worth of food and stands guard to prevent further theft. Tensions between them escalate over the next two days, but neither physical violence nor kind persuasion can reach the curate, who is consumed by his weakness and growing insanity.

On day eight, the curate’s incessant muttering grows louder and more uncontrollable, despite the narrator’s desperate attempts to quiet him. By day nine, his zealous outbursts and fanatical proclamations reach a fever pitch, threatening to reveal their hiding place to the Martians.

In a desperate bid to silence him, the narrator chases the curate with a knife but strikes him only with the handle, knocking him unconscious. It is too late—the Martians have heard them.

A handling machine looms outside their peephole, its metallic tentacle reaching into the room to investigate. The narrator flees undetected, but the unconscious curate is not so fortunate. The narrator listens in horror as the curate’s body is dragged across the floor. (I must confess I cheered at this point. I’m sorry, but good riddance—he was going to get our boy killed!)

Escaping into the coal cellar, the narrator hides among firewood and coal, sealing the door behind him. Moments later, the metallic tentacle returns, scraping along the door and, to his terror, opening the latch. Helpless, he lies in agonizing silence as the tentacle explores the room, brushing against his boot at one point. Nearly overcome with fear, he holds his breath, praying for safety. To his relief, the tentacle withdraws, fussing briefly in the pantry before abandoning the house.

The narrator remains in his cramped hiding place for two more days, too terrified to crawl out—even for the water he so desperately needs.

Chapter 5: The Stillness

After two days of hiding in the coal cellar, the narrator finally emerges to find the pantry ransacked by the Martians, the provisions gone. For the first time, he succumbs to despair. Starving and dehydrated, he dares to drink tainted rainwater from the noisy pump by the sink on day twelve, relieved when the sound does not alert the Martians.

For the next two days, he survives on rainwater alone, growing increasingly weak. He begins to fear he’s gone deaf, as the once-constant noise of the Martians has ceased entirely. The red weed has grown across the hole in the wall, casting the house in an eerie crimson light.

On day fifteen, the sound of a dog sniffing and scratching outside jolts him. The dog’s nose pokes through the red fronds around the opening, and the narrator, desperate with hunger and fearful it might attract the Martians, tries to call it inside. The dog withdraws, leaving him alone once more.

Realizing he must not be deaf after all, and emboldened by the absence of Martian sounds, the narrator musters the courage to look outside. Crawling through the hole, he emerges to the top of the pit. Surveying the landscape in all directions, he sees no trace of the Martians or their machines—only the wreckage of burned forests, ruined houses, and the insidious red weed, swaying gently in the breeze. Breathing deeply, he revels in the sweetness of the air, a stark contrast to the oppressive days spent in hiding.

Chapter 6: The Work of Fifteen Days

As the narrator surveys the altered landscape, he compares his situation to that of a rabbit whose burrow has been destroyed by builders excavating for a new structure. For the first time, he truly senses that humanity has been dethroned as the master of the earth.

His reverie is interrupted by pangs of extreme hunger, and he sets off through the often neck-deep growth of the red weed in search of food. Scavenging nearby gardens, he finds some young vegetation and, later, wild mushrooms, but these small morsels only deepen his hunger.

The narrator comes across a strangely placed sheet of flowing water and realizes that the rapid growth of the red weed has redirected the waterways. Exploding exponentially on contact with water, the weed has choked out major streams and rivers, overtaking bridges and altering the landscape entirely. He reflects that, despite its overwhelming spread, the weed’s eventual demise was sudden—it succumbed to a bacterial disease, unable to resist terrestrial microbes.

Desperate for sustenance, he drinks from the redirected water and nibbles on the red weed but finds its metallic taste unpleasant. As he travels, he sees no other living humans, only skeletons picked clean by birds. His desperation leads him to chew on animal bones he finds in the woods, but this provides no real nourishment.

Finally, he stumbles upon a garden with enough young potatoes to forestall his hunger. As he eats, he looks around at the deserted ruins and listens to the oppressive silence, convinced he is the sole survivor of the invasion. He imagines the Martians have completed their extermination in England and moved on to other parts of the continent.

Chapter 7: The Man on Putney Hill

The narrator breaks into an inn on Putney Hill, sleeping in a bed for the first time since the fighting began. Though the inn has been ransacked, he finds enough biscuits to fill his belly and his pockets.

That night, he lies awake, haunted by thoughts of the curate’s death, the Martians’ whereabouts, and his wife’s fate. He prays intensely, hoping her death, if it occurred, was swift and painless.

In the morning, he sets off again toward Leatherhead, though now doubting he’ll find his wife there. On the way, he discovers a patch of undisturbed woods, teeming with wildlife—the first sign of thriving life he’s seen in some time. There, he encounters another living human for the first time since his imprisonment.

The man warns the narrator to move along, claiming the area for himself as there’s only enough food for one. The narrator, intending to continue toward Leatherhead, agrees. At this, the man recognizes him—it is the Artilleryman he was separated from in Weybridge! Overjoyed to meet a familiar face, they share their experiences.

The artilleryman reveals that the Martians have established a camp across London, their lights visible at night. He also believes, based on lights he saw in the sky, that the Martians have now built flying machines. This revelation crushes the narrator, as he realizes humanity stands no chance if the Martians can spread worldwide. Despite his natural optimism, the artilleryman’s certainty that humanity as they know it is over convinces him.

The artilleryman recounts a story he heard about the people left in London. After repairing a streetlight, they celebrated by dancing and drinking until dawn, unaware a Martian tripod was watching. By morning, the tripod had snatched nearly a hundred drunken revelers, too incapacitated to escape.

Season in the ways of war, the artilleryman claims to have devised a grand plan: humanity will survive by creating a new underground society in London’s tunnels. Enthralled by the detailed vision, the narrator resolves to help and follows the artilleryman to an abandoned house where he has begun digging a tunnel.

However, the gap between the artilleryman’s grandiose schemes and his actual abilities quickly becomes evident. In a week, he has done less than a day’s work. They work briefly in the morning before the artilleryman insists on stopping early to eat, drink champagne, smoke cigars, and play games. By the end of the day, the narrator realizes the artilleryman’s plans are nothing more than empty fantasies.

Disillusioned and frustrated, the narrator resolves to leave the artilleryman to his machinations. He decides to head into London in hopes of finding news as to what the Martians and the remainder of humanity are doing.

Chapter 8: Dead London

“…slain, after all man’s devices had failed, by the humblest things that God, in his wisdom, has put upon this earth… overtaken by a death that must have seemed to them as incomprehensible as any death could be.”

The narrator journeys toward London, navigating through black dust and the lifeless remains of humanity. The only living person he encounters is a hostile drunk man. London itself is eerily intact—undamaged in many places, with spots free of black powder looking deceptively normal, as if on a sleepy Sunday morning. Yet the stillness is oppressive, broken only by unsettling sights like a woman slumped on a doorstep, wrist slashed with a broken champagne bottle.

The silence is finally broken by a repetitive, undulating howl. The narrator follows the haunting sound, encountering more disturbing scenes along the way, including a horse skeleton picked clean by scavengers. Weak with hunger and exhaustion, he breaks into a public house for food, drink, and rest.

He wakes at dusk, the howling sound still echoing through the city. Determined to find its source, he pushes on, eventually arriving at Regent’s Park. There, in the fading light, he sees a massive Martian machine standing motionless, emitting the eerie sound.

Continuing his trek through London, he stumbles upon a wrecked handling machine. Inside are the remnants of a dead Martian, its carcass scavenged by dogs. Not far away, he spots a second giant tripod, also standing silent and still.

When the howling suddenly stops, the narrator is overcome with dread. The noise, though ominous, had been his only companion in the deadly silence. Now terrified, he runs blindly through the night until finding shelter to wait for dawn.

With dawn comes renewed courage, and he resumes his journey. Nearing Primrose Hill, he sees on the summit a third giant tripod, towering over the landscape but entirely still. Overcome by despair, he feels a sudden urge to end it all and rushes toward the machine. But as he approaches, he notices birds circling the hood, pecking at shreds of brown tentacle hanging from its sides.

Scrambling to the edge of their massive pit, he discovers the truth: the Martians’ entire operation has stopped. Their machines are motionless, and the Martians themselves lay dead, their bodies succumbing to terrestrial bacteria, against which they had no defenses.

The narrator weeps with gratitude, overwhelmed by the realization that the torment is over. The earth will recover, and humanity will heal and rebuild.

Chapter 9: Wreckage

The narrator remembers nothing of the next three days, spent wandering in isolation and delirium. He later learns that he was not the first to discover the Martians’ demise; the news was already spreading even as he stood weeping on Primrose Hill.

In a haze, he wandered, wept, and nonsensically sang, “the last man left alive, hurrah,” until he was found and taken in by a kindly household. When his coherence returns on the third day, they share the devastating news that Leatherhead was completely destroyed. He remains with them for four more days, recuperating. They try to dissuade him from his morbid determination to visit the ruins of his former life, but he cannot resist the pull and sets out for his little house in Woking.

As he travels, he is surprised to see the streets already bustling with returning people, some shops reopening, and food aid arriving from overseas. Free trains are running out of Waterloo to help people return home, and the first newspaper has been published, though it is mostly blank. The only surprising news to him is that humanity has discovered “the secret of flying.”

On the train ride home, he surveys the decimated landscape—patches of black dust, burned forests, ruined houses, and tangled red weed. Walking from the station to his house, he revisits several sites from his harrowing journey. Hidden in a thicket of red weed, he finds the overturned cart and the gnawed, dismembered skeleton of the horse he had borrowed from the Spotted Dog. The landlord’s body, he finds, has already been buried.

His hope diminishes as he approaches his house, its door forced open but otherwise untouched since he and the artilleryman had left it. A full search confirms his devastation. He realizes how foolish his faint hope had been.

Suddenly, a voice from outside echoes his despair: “It’s no use… no one has been here… do not torment yourself… no one escaped but you.” Stunned, he steps outside to find his cousin talking to his wife. Elated, he stumbles into her arms. She had insisted on coming. She knew.

(No matter how many times I read this part, it never fails to make me cry.)

Chapter 10: The Epilogue

The epilogue reflects on the aftermath of the Martian invasion and the profound lessons humanity learned. Life slowly returns to normal as survivors rebuild their homes and society begins to recover. The narrator marvels at humanity’s resilience but remains haunted by the horrors he witnessed.

The Martians’ defeat, so sudden and unexpected, came not from humanity’s strength but from terrestrial bacteria—tiny organisms to which humans had long since adapted but the Martians had no defense against. The narrator reflects on the humbling reminder that humanity is not guaranteed dominance over the earth. The invasion revealed how fragile that dominance truly is.

Personally, the narrator grapples with lingering trauma, struggling to reconcile the destruction and suffering with his gratitude for survival. Though happily reunited with his wife, he admits to a persistent sense of unease, often dreaming of the Martians’ machines and their haunting cry.

Looking to the future, the narrator speculates on what might come next. He wonders whether humanity will face another invasion, perhaps from Mars or elsewhere. Alternatively, he imagines a future where humanity ventures into space, this time as the invader.

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