The Devil of Hawthorn Mill
Summary
A quiet evening of music on a small-town radio station is interrupted by an unusual bulletin: a missing teenage girl has been found wandering outside Hawthorn Mill, confused and unable to explain where she's been.
It's the first report in a night that will become increasingly difficult to explain.
Inspired by Orson Welles's legendary 1938 War of the Worlds broadcast, The Devil of Hawthorn Mill is a special full-cast audio drama created for Infectious Dose's Month of the Macabre. Tune in for a vintage radio experience where science, suspense, and something unsettling collide.
💀 Part of the Month of the Macabre series.
📻 This Week's #SickFlicks — A Special Radio Edition
For our final Month of the Macabre recommendation, we're trading the screen for the airwaves. Tune in to Orson Welles and the Mercury Theatre's legendary 1938 broadcast of The War of the Worlds, the groundbreaking radio drama that inspired The Devil of Hawthorn Mill.
🎧 Headphones recommended.
Listen here or scroll down to read the episode overview.
WIDX & Hawthorn Community Broadcasting Service Present:
The Devil of Hawthorn Mill
For the full experience, listen with headphones.
The complete episode transcript is available for download:
Coming soon
Episode Overview
It's an ordinary autumn evening in Hawthorn Mill. The local radio station is broadcasting orchestral music, community announcements, and the weather forecast. Then a news bulletin interrupts the program.
A teenage girl has disappeared from a church rehearsal and been found miles from town, wandering barefoot and unable to remember what happened. Local authorities offer reassuring explanations. But as additional reports begin reaching the station, the evening's programming gives way to an increasingly disturbing series of live updates.
Told entirely through radio announcements, field reports, interviews, and emergency bulletins, The Devil of Hawthorn Mill invites listeners to experience a mysterious unfolding crisis alongside the people reporting it.
This special Halloween production pays tribute to Orson Welles and the Mercury Theatre's groundbreaking 1938 radio adaptation of The War of the Worlds. Where Welles imagined a Martian invasion, Infectious Dose imagines something closer to home.
Featuring a volunteer ensemble cast, original storytelling, and immersive sound design, this final installment of Month of the Macabre explores the uneasy territory where folklore, fear, and infectious disease meet.
Some stories begin as folklore. Others become case reports.
📻 This Week's #SickFlicks — A Special Radio Edition
For our final Month of the Macabre recommendation, we're trading the screen for the airwaves. Tune in to Orson Welles and the Mercury Theatre's legendary 1938 broadcast of The War of the Worlds, the groundbreaking radio drama that inspired The Devil of Hawthorn Mill. Experience the original broadcast that transformed an ordinary evening of radio programming into an unforgettable fictional emergency—and discover why it remains a masterpiece of audio storytelling nearly 90 years later.
The Voices of Hawthorn Mill
Cast bios and photos coming soon
The Devil of Hawthorn Mill was made possible by a wonderful group of volunteers who lent their time, talent, and voices to bring our fictional town to life.
Unlike our usual episodes, this production was a collaborative audio drama, with performers recording from different locations to create the illusion of a live radio broadcast. I'm grateful to everyone who joined this storytelling experiment and helped make our Halloween broadcast possible.
Cast
Noel — Radio Announcer; Deputy
Bob — Thomas Hale, Lab Technician; Man in Churchyard
Andrea — Dr. Eleanor Whitcomb; Emergency Caller, Lucy Mercer
Kirsten — Martha Ellis; Mrs. Collins; Nurse Walker
Wendy — Reverend Sarah Brennan
Heather — Dr. Harriet Jenkins; Sheriff Avery; Dr. Mason; additional voices
Written and produced by: Dr. Heather McSharry
Inspired by: Orson Welles and the Mercury Theatre's 1938 radio production of The War of the Worlds.
A special thank-you to our volunteer cast for helping turn a fictional outbreak into an unforgettable night on the radio.
Comments