July
1962
OPERATION
STARFISH
James Bellmore is a Marine attached to the Joint Advisory Committee on Korea
(JACK) as the assistant to the organization’s number two man, Colonel Doctor
Wingate Peaslee, also known as the Terrible Old Man. The name of the agency is
a front for their battles against eldritch horrors. Bellmore and Peaslee travel
aboard the USS Miskatonic to Johnston Island. Bellmore had a fight with
a midshipman who decided to sample a bottle from his case of Remmers Imperial
Stout. Bellmore’s friends in London, Steed and Drake, suggested that he develop
a hobby. Having taken up cooking, Bellmore sends some of the foodstuffs to his
friends, though mostly to Brenner, a Swiss chef he briefly studied under in New
York. Bellmore meets Adam Royston of British Experimental Research Group, Unit
3. The Miskatonic uses a Tillinghast Resonator to lure the monsters on
the island to be killed, including the Hounds of Tindalos.
Short story by Peter Rawlik in Kaiju Rising: Age of Monsters, Tim
Marquitz and Nickolas Sharps, eds., Ragnarok Publications, 2014. Wingate
Peaslee is from H.P. Lovecraft’s “The Shadow Out of Time.” His nickname of “the
Terrible Old Man” is a nod to Lovecraft’s story of the same name. The USS Miskatonic
is named after the Miskatonic Valley, the setting of many of Lovecraft’s
Cthulhu Mythos tales. Remmers is Rex Stout’s detective Nero Wolfe’s favorite
beer. Wolfe’s Swiss chef is Fritz Brenner. Steed is British spy John Steed from
the television series The Avengers and The New Avengers, while
Drake is John Drake from the television series Danger Man (aka Secret
Agent.) Adam Royston is from the movie X the Unknown. The Tillinghast
Resonator is from Lovecraft’s story “From Beyond.” The Hounds of Tindalos are
from Frank Belknap Long’s titular tale.
It's surprising how many secret government organizations the US has to fight occult threats: BPRD, Delta Green, et cetera.
ReplyDeleteIs James Bellmore supposed to be related to some other character or is he original to this work?
If anyone is interested you can see episodes of both The Avengers and Danger Man on HULU.
I believe Bellmore is a completely original character.
DeleteI like the references to the Avengers and Danger Man because as a fan of Lumley's Necroscope I like the mix of horror and espionage
ReplyDelete