Henrique Alvim Corrêa's Deserted London Street — War of the Worlds 1906

Executed in dense, swirling pen-and-ink crosshatching, this illustration by Henrique Alvim Corrêa achieves a suffocating nocturnal atmosphere over a deserted London street. Abandoned cobblestones, a fallen ladder, and shattered building facades speak to sudden catastrophic flight. Most chillingly, the domed structure looming in the background subtly resolves into a skull-like visage — a memento mori for civilization itself. Corrêa's expressionistic linework, reminiscent of Doré but more psychologically unsettling, elevates H.G. Wells's Martian invasion into existential dread.