Crossover of the Week

1970

SAINT AND SINNERS

            A mysterious woman hires private eye Teddy Verano (accompanied by the succubus Mephista, who possesses the body of actress Edwige Hossegor) to rescue her nephew Simon, whom Satanist Steven Marcato and his wife wish to use to resurrect a master of dark magic named Morcata, Steven’s uncle, who died many years ago in battle with the Duc de Richleau. Verano’s father helped the Duc and his friends deal with the remainder of Morcata’s cult. Verano says that the Phantom is back and controls the Paris Opera House again.

            Short story by Frank Schildiner in Tales of the Shadowmen Volume 11: Force Majeure, Jean-Marc and Randy Lofficier, eds., Black Coat Press, 2014. Teddy Verano, Mephista, and Edwige Hossegor are from French horror novels by Maurice Limat. The original Teddy Verano series by Limat, which began in 1936, portrayed Teddy as a somewhat mundane private eye, though some of the threats he faced were exotic. In 1963, Limat revived Verano as a full-fledged occult detective who frequently battled Mephista. This story reveals that the Teddy Verano of the ‘60s onward is the son of the original Teddy Verano of the 1930s-1950s. Simon Sinestrari is from the movie Simon, King of the Witches. Steven Marcato and his wife Minnie are from Ira Levin’s novel Rosemary’s Baby. Morcata (originally spelled Mocata) died in battle with the Duc de Richleau in Dennis Wheatley’s novel The Devil Rides Out. The Phantom is from Gaston Leroux’s novel The Phantom of the Opera.