Welcome Martians by Evan Hunter Episode #82
Evan Hunter | July 13, 2023-
play_circle_filled
Welcome Martians by Evan Hunter Episode #82
Evan Hunter
WELCOME MARTIANS
Episode #82 · Written by Evan Hunter · Narrated by Scott Miller
They land expecting isolation and risk, prepared to face an unknown world on their own terms. Instead, they step into a celebration already in progress, complete with music, banners, and officials who speak their language and know their names. The welcome is flawless—and deeply wrong.
Every attempt to explain only tightens the trap. Their hosts insist they are celebrated heroes returning from a journey already completed. Evidence appears. Photographs surface. Laughter replaces concern, and concern hardens into suspicion. The more they argue, the more their reality is dismissed as fantasy.
The story’s tension grows from polite certainty rather than open threat. No one raises a weapon. No one needs to. The danger lies in bureaucracy, expectation, and a civilization that cannot afford to admit a mistake. Identity becomes negotiable. Truth becomes inconvenient.
Welcome, Martians! turns first contact into a psychological confrontation, asking what happens when an entire world agrees on a lie—and needs you to help maintain it. The question is no longer how to escape, but whether resistance is even possible once the celebration begins.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Evan Hunter published across science fiction, crime, television, and mainstream fiction with unusual range and discipline. He later became internationally known under the name Ed McBain, authoring the long-running 87th Precinct police procedural series. Earlier in his career, Hunter sold speculative fiction to magazines that favored sharp concepts and tight execution, and Welcome, Martians! reflects that background—clean dialogue, escalating pressure, and a premise carried through to its logical, unsettling edge.
LISTEN TO THE STORY
Listen to Welcome Martians by Evan Hunter — a vintage science fiction classic where first contact turns familiar, unsettling, and impossible to escape.
LOST SCI-FI PREMIUM
Unlock Ad-Free Listening + Exclusive Bonus Episodes
For less than 17 cents a day, unlock every episode ad-free.
Start Your Free 7-Day Trial →
RELATED STORIES - FIRST CONTACT & ENCOUNTERS
The first meeting is never simple.
Distance makes it easy to imagine contact as a handshake between worlds. Up close, it becomes something else entirely. Communication breaks down. Assumptions collapse. What looks like curiosity from one side can feel like threat from the other.
These stories explore that fragile edge where two species try to understand each other—and often fail. Sometimes the danger comes from misunderstanding. Sometimes from knowing exactly what the other side intends.
Pick a story and step into the moment where everything changes.
- The One Who Waits by Ray Bradbury
- Asleep in Armageddon by Ray Bradbury
- The World That Couldn't Be by Clifford D. Simak
- Message from Mars by Clifford D. Simak
- No Morning After by Arthur C. Clarke
- The Sky Was Full of Ships by Theodore Sturgeon
- Arena by Fredric Brown
- The Call from Beyond by Clifford D. Simak
- Earthmen Bearing Gifts by Fredric Brown
- Welcome, Martians by Evan Hunter
- Farewell Message by David Mason
- The Alien Dies at Dawn by Robert Silverberg
- The One That Got Away by Chad Oliver
ABOUT THE LOST SCI-FI PODCAST
The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast is the most listened-to vintage science fiction podcast in the world. Ranked the #1 Science Fiction Podcast in 43 countries and heard in more than 190 countries, the show has surpassed 4.2 million listens.
Each episode features carefully selected stories from the Golden Age of science fiction, professionally narrated. Timeless storytelling the way it was meant to be heard.
What listeners are saying:
★★★★★
“Fantastic. Quickly becoming one of my favourite podcasts. I’m especially liking the daily releases at the moment.”
— Matsp1
★★★★★
“Cracking podcast. Could not ask for more in these episodes, variety, excitement, suspense. Awesome.”
— Benjermano 01
Vintage science fiction. Professionally narrated. Carefully curated.
📬 JOIN LOST SCI-FI WEEKLY
40,000+ Listeners Can’t Be Wrong
Get vintage sci-fi stories, podcast episodes, and surprises every Monday.
FREE SCI-FI EVERY WEEK
✅ Check your email and confirm — that unlocks your free sci-fi downloads.
No spam in this galaxy. You can eject anytime.
