The Night Wire

Title: The Night Wire

Author: H. F. Arnold

Narrator: Jonathan Dunne

Original Publication: 1926

Public Domain: Yes

Series Placement: Number 47 in the Timeless Terrors series

Description:

The Night Wire by H. F. Arnold is one of the most haunting pieces of early 20th-century weird fiction — a story that fuses the hum of modern technology with a creeping, supernatural dread.

Inside a dim telegraph office in the dead of night, two wire operators receive a strange news report: a distant city consumed by fog and death. Yet as the dispatches continue, the events seem to unfold in real time — and ever closer to home.

With its claustrophobic atmosphere, its blend of realism and the uncanny, and its quiet descent into cosmic horror, The Night Wire stands as a forgotten classic of early radio-age terror — a perfect bridge between pulp mystery and Lovecraftian unease.

Narrated by Amazon-bestselling horror author Jonathan Dunne, this performance captures the dread of isolation, the crackle of the telegraph, and the mounting terror of a message that refuses to stop. While the text is in the public domain, this narration is an original performance and copyright © 2025 Jonathan Dunne.

Part of Timeless Terrors, a series devoted to resurrecting the masters of the macabre and uncanny, The Night Wireendures as a chilling reminder that sometimes the scariest voices come not from beyond the grave — but from the wire itself.