Crossover of the Week

I didn't post anything yesterday because it was my birthday, so here's today's post. :)

December 2010

NIGHT GAUNTLET

Dr. Emil Hesychius’s former office at the University of Texas is covered with souvenir postcards from many places, including: Derry, Maine; Arkham, Massachusetts; Glory, West Virginia; Sesqua Valley, Washington; Brichester, England; Binger, Oklahoma; Mirocaw, Idaho; Crouch End, England; Telfer, Australia; and Nan Madol, Federated States of Micronesia. Hesychius went on a shooting spree from the top of the University’s clock tower, claiming he was shooting “nightgaunts.” John Giloh and Dr. Susan Derby go on a date to see Red Dreams, a Korean horror film directed by Harry Chang. Susan, a member of the Derby-Pickman clan, shows John the Sign of Koth.

Round-robin story by Walter C. Debill, Jr.; Richard Gavin; Robert M. Price; W. H. Pugmire; Jeffrey Thomas; and Don Webb, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, March–April 2011. Derry, Maine is featured in many of Stephen King’s works. Arkham, Massachusetts is the site of many of H. P. Lovecraft’s tales of the Cthulhu Mythos. Glory, West Virginia is a recurring setting in the works of author Davis Grubb. Sesqua Valley, Washington appears in Cthulhu Mythos tales by W. H. Pugmire. Brichester, England is part of the Severn Valley in Mythos fiction by Ramsey Campbell. Binger, Oklahoma is a real place that appears in Lovecraft and Zealia Bishop’s story “The Mound.” Mirocaw, Idaho is from Thomas Ligotti’s Mythos story “The Last Feast of Harlequin.” Crouch End, England is a real place that served as the setting for Stephen King’s Mythos story “Crouch End.” Telfer is a real place located in Australia’s Great Sandy Desert, the latter of which was referenced in Lovecraft’s story “The Shadow Out of Time.” Nan Madol, Federated States of Micronesia is a real place that was the setting for A. Merritt’s The Moon Pool. The nightgaunts and the Sign of Koth are from Lovecraft’s Dream Cycle stories. Rick Lai writes, “Red Dreams is from the prologue to Ramsey Campbell’s ‘The Franklyn Paragraphs.’ This prologue is generally printed on a page preceding the story, and sometimes has the title ‘Errol Undercliffe: A Tribute.’ Undercliffe is a fictional horror writer whose short story was the basis for Red Dreams.” Dr. Susan Derby is probably related to the namesake of the Nathaniel Derby Pickman Foundation from Lovecraft’s “At the Mountains of Madness.”