Crossover Cover: Dark Congress

Buffy Summers, the Slayer, is recruited as the mediator of a gathering of demons and monsters, the Dark Congress, in Providence, Rhode Island. Providence was once the site of a Hellmouth that was closed by the death of H. P. Lovecraft in 1937, something that makes Lovecraft a figure of great disdain among the monsters. Among the creatures present for the Congress are “shambling shuggoths” and a race of tentacled demons called “Yurgoths.” The “shuggoths” are likely shoggoths from the works of H. P. Lovecraft, and the Yurgoth demons are clearly named in honor of Yuggoth, another of Lovecraft’s creations. Furthermore, the closing of a Hellmouth with Lovecraft’s death fits perfectly with Lovecraft’s appearance in the Supernatural episode “Let It Bleed.” This novel takes place after the final episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, “Chosen,” but in a very different continuity from the official Season 8 comics, which feature the public becoming aware of Slayers and vampires, and which do not fit into CU continuity. This fact, coupled with the Lovecraftian material, leads to the conclusion Dark Congress details the CU version of Buffy’s activities after “Chosen.”