What could be more spine tingling for Halloween than a rebroadcast of Orson Welles’s famous radio play, “The Invasion from Mars”? Most Americans know the grisly story of its initial airing on October 30, 1938. Although Welles prefaced his production with a statement that “The Invasion” was a play, at least a million listeners were so persuaded by the power of his drama that they thought Martians were indeed invading the Earth. As a result, the Golden Age of Radio turned into One Huge Dollop of Panic, One Chaotic Evening of More than Trick or Treating.

I for one have never heard “The Invasion from Mars,” and I’d welcome bending an ear to it on Halloween eve. If it were aired, Dick Meister’s introduction would be must-hear material. Even though more than 71 years have elapsed, making the audio quality of Welles’s premiere sound a bit antique, I’d bet that, without Meister’s sage and salty introduction, thousands of people listening to “The Invasion” would go berserk in 2009 just as they did prior to World War Two. After all, we are still involved in at least one war that spans a great deal of the world. We are still as gullible as ever.

I only wish Meister’s elocution were crisper and clearer. He’s a terrific journalist but not expert at reading his script aloud in front of a mic.

Small potatoes when you consider the giant jack-o’-lantern “The Invasion” would be if it were rebroadcast on Saturday night October 31, 2009.

I vote for Dick Meister as MC of the evening.