"When the World Screamed" is a science fiction short story by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle, featuring his character Professor Challenger.

It is narrated in first person by Mr. Peerless Jones, an expert in Artesian borings who is seen for the first time.

[2] Professor Challenger, with the help of Mr Edward Malone and Mr Peerless Jones, drills into the earth until he reaches the mantle, convinced that it is a sentient being, akin to an echinus, and that by doing so he will be the first person to alert it to mankind's presence.

He awakens the giant creature, which then proceeds to destroy his excavation, covering the spectators with a noxious liquid in the process.

Arthur C. Clarke noted the story's similarities to Jack Williamson's 1934 novelette, "Born of the Sun," and the irony in naming of the later Glomar Challenger which drew deep-sea core samples from the Earth's crust.