Spots 
Astronomers in the late nineteenth century observe strange flashes of light on Mars, unaware that superior intellects are watching Earth with envious eyes. Ogilvy, an astronomer at Ottershaw, invites the narrator to view a red spurt through his telescope. Human society continues its mundane routines in complete ignorance of the impending disaster across space.
A luminous greenish streak cuts across the night sky above Surrey and lands on Horsell Common near Woking. Ogilvy discovers a massive buried cylinder made of metal, still glowing hot and emitting a strange hissing sound from inside. Believing it to be a meteorite, he alerts local authorities, but soon realizes the top of the cylinder is unscrewing from within.
A curious crowd gathers around the pit on Horsell Common as word spreads about the fallen object. The narrator observes the scene alongside Ogilvy and Henderson, a local journalist. Expectation builds among the onlookers, who remain untroubled and treat the phenomenon as an entertaining local novelty.
The end of the cylinder unscrews completely, revealing greyish, tentacled creatures with large dark eyes that struggle in Earth's heavier gravity. The narrator feels an overwhelming sense of dread upon witnessing these alien organisms emerge from their transport. Spectators draw back in horror as the grotesque forms slowly drag themselves into the surrounding pit.
A deputation carrying a white flag approaches the pit to establish friendly contact with the visitors. A flash of light erupts from the crater, accompanied by an invisible beam of heat that incinerates the peace party instantly. Flashing heat-rays sweep across the common, igniting heather, trees, and fleeing observers in silent destructive bursts.
Panic spreads through the surrounding countryside as survivors flee the invisible fire. The narrator flees toward Maybury, overwhelmed by shock at the complete annihilation of the deputation. News of the disaster reaches nearby villages slowly, leaving local residents confused while military forces begin to mobilize around Woking.
Stumbling back to his home in Maybury, the narrator attempts to reassure his anxious wife about the situation. He reasons that the Martians are heavy and confined to their pit by Earth's gravity, making them vulnerable to human weapons. This false sense of intellectual reassurance temporarily calms the household despite the horrors witnessed earlier.
Life in nearby London and surrounding towns continues almost normally as news of the incident spreads slowly via telegraph and newspapers. Military troops establish a cordon around Horsell Common, while residents dismiss the event as a minor military concern. The quiet evening masks the rapid assembly of alien war machinery within the pit.
A second cylinder falls near Pyrford, cutting off easy retreat routes. Realizing the danger to his family, the narrator rents a horse and dogcart in Woking to transport his wife to safety in Leatherhead. Returning the cart after dark, he encounters a massive three-legged tripod walker towering over the trees.
A violent thunderstorm illuminates the landscape, revealing tripod fighting-machines moving across the hills with terrifying speed. The narrator's dogcart crashes, killing the horse, while he narrowly escapes detection by crouching in a ditch. He makes his way to his home on Maybury Hill, where he encounters a traumatized artilleryman hiding in the garden.
The artilleryman describes the destruction of his battery by the Heat-Ray during the night battle at Horsell Common. Looking out from the upper window, the narrator and soldier watch Martians constructing new machinery and signaling each other with deep calls. The realization dawns that human artillery is severely outmatched by the tripod fighting-machines.
Crowds of refugees converge at the River Thames near Weybridge in a frantic attempt to cross to safety. Heavy artillery guns hidden near the river manage to destroy one tripod fighting-machine when it steps into the water. In response, the remaining tripods discharge invisible Heat-Rays, turning the river into boiling steam and laying waste to both towns.
Escaping the boiling waters of the Thames, the narrator encounters a hysterical curate sitting in a meadow near Halliford. The curate is overwhelmed by religious panic, viewing the invasion as divine judgment upon humanity. Together they begin traveling toward London, though the curate's mental instability makes him a difficult companion.
The narrator's brother in London hears vague rumors of trouble in Surrey through evening newspapers. By Sunday morning, news arrives of terrible devastation, followed by widespread panic as the government admits its inability to stop the Martian advance. The vast metropolis degenerates into chaos as millions of citizens rush to evacuate the city.
The Martians adopt a new weapon: canisters firing heavy black smoke that settles over the land and kills every living creature that breathes it. This suffocating chemical agent eliminates human resistance without damaging infrastructure or property. Artillery positions are systematically neutralized by smoke canisters dropped from afar.
The narrator's brother joins the vast torrent of refugees fleeing north out of London by road and rail. He rescues two women, Mrs. Elphinstone and Miss Elphinstone, from attackers, and together they purchase a pony chaise to escape. Order completely dissolves as millions crowd the northern roads in a desperate struggle for food and transport.
Refugees crowd the coast at Essex seeking passage across the English Channel on any available vessel. As three Martian tripods wade into the sea to attack the refugee fleet, the ironclad warship HMS Thunder Child charges directly at the invaders. The warship destroys two tripods before sinking, allowing the civilian convoy to escape into the mist.
The narrator and the curate navigate a desolated Surrey landscape covered in red weed and abandoned houses. Martians now walk the countryside freely in handling-machines, gathering resources and patrolling the ruined towns. Seeking food, the two men enter an unoccupied house in Sheen, only to be trapped when a fresh cylinder lands right outside.
Trapped in the scullery of the buried house, the narrator observes Martian anatomy through a hole in the wall. He learns that Martians consist almost entirely of a large head with brain, tentacles, and eyes, lacking digestive systems and feeding by direct blood transfusion. Handling-machines construct complex apparatuses in the pit outside.
Fifteen days of confinement in the dark scullery strain the narrator's sanity as food reserves dwindle. The curate's irrational behavior and loud lamentations threaten to attract the attention of the Martians working outside. The narrator attempts to restrain the curate, but tensions between the two trapped men reach a dangerous climax.
The curate loses all self-control and begins shouting aloud, forcing the narrator to strike him senseless with the butt of a coal shovel. A Martian handling-machine extends a long tentacle through the broken wall, seizing the curate's unconscious body and dragging it away. The narrator hides in the coal cellar for days to escape detection.
After days of silent hiding in the dark cellar, the narrator ventures out to find the pit abandoned and the Martians gone. Red weed covers the surrounding landscape, choking waterways and blanketing ruined buildings. The complete absence of sound marks a profound transition from terror to utter solitude.
Walking through the transformed countryside, the narrator observes how red weed has altered the natural environment. The alien flora thrives near water but quickly dies when exposed to Earth's native bacteria. Realizing that the Martians have moved on toward London, he resolves to walk to the capital.
En route to London, the narrator meets the artilleryman again on Putney Hill. The soldier outlines a grand plan to build an underground civilization of survivors in the sewers and eventually capture Martian machinery. However, the narrator soon realizes the soldier is merely a dreamer who prefers drinking and playing chess to actual hard labor.
An alien invasion exposes human vulnerability and the fragile dominance of Earth's species.