Crossover of the Week

October 1885

THE HOUND OF THE D’URBERVILLES

            Professor Moriarty and Colonel Moran are hired by Jasper Stoke-d‘Urberville, nephew of Simon Stoke-d’Urberville, to kill Red Shuck, the spectral hound that has allegedly haunted the d’Urberville family for generations. Appearing or mentioned are: the village of Trantridge; the Chase; Simon’s son Alexander; Theresa “Tess” Durbeyfield-Clare; Tess’ son Sorrow and siblings Abraham and Modesty; the city of Wintoncester; Selden; Desperado Dan’l; a terrifying Fat Man in Whitehall; Doctor Jack Quartz; Dr. Nikola; the Si-Fan; the Lord of Strange Deaths; the Grand Vampire; Les Vampires; Wessex; Diggory Venn; Parson Tringham; Car Darch; Sir Pagan d’Urberville; Melchester; Lord John Roxton; Casterbridge; the Ranee of Ranchipur; Blind Herder; Arnsworth Castle; Jim Lassiter; John Durbeyfield; the parish of Kingsbere; Sherton Abbas; Singapore Charlie; Marlott Churchyard; and Elizabeth-Louise Durbeyfield.

            Short story by Colonel Sebastian Moran, edited by Kim Newman in Professor Moriarty: The Hound of the d’Urbervilles, Titan Books, 2011. The village of Trantridge, Simon Stoke-d’Urberville, the Chase, Simon’s son Alexander, Theresa “Tess” Durbeyfield-Clare, Sorrow Durbeyfield, Abraham Durbeyfield, Modesty Durbeyfield, the city of Wintoncester, Parson Tringham, Car Darch, Sir Pagan d’Urberville, John Durbeyfield, the parish of Kingsbere, Marlott Churchyard, and Elizabeth-Louise (or Eliza-Louisa) Durbeyfield are from Thomas Hardy’s novel Tess of the d’Urbervilles. Diggory Venn is from Hardy’s novel The Return of the Native. Wessex is a fictional region of England that appears in most of Hardy’s novels. Melchester is from Hardy’s Two on a Tower and Jude the Obscure. Casterbridge is from Hardy’s The Mayor of Casterbridge. Sherton Abbas is from Hardy’s The Woodlanders. Selden is from Doyle and Watson’s The Hound of the Baskervilles. The terrifying Fat Man in Whitehall is Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock’s brother. Blind Herder is the blind mechanic Von Herder from the Holmes story “The Adventure of the Empty House.” “The Arnsworth Castle business” is an untold Holmes case mentioned in “A Scandal in Bohemia.” Desperado Dan’l is inspired by (though not the same person as) the British comic book cowboy Desperate Dan. Doctor Jack Quartz is the arch nemesis of dime novel detective Nick Carter. Dr. Nikola is from the series of novels by Guy Boothby. The Si-Fan and Singapore Charlie are from the Fu Manchu novels by Sax Rohmer; the Lord of Strange Deaths is Fu Manchu himself. Les Vampires are from the titular film serial directed by Louis Feuillade, as is their leader, the Grand Vampire. Lord John Roxton is from Doyle’s Professor Challenger stories. Ranchipur is from the film The Rains of Ranchipur. Jim Lassiter is from the novel Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey. The month is given, but the year is conjecture based on the facts Moran has worked for Moriarty for some time and Selden is next seen as an escaped convict in 1888.