Crossover of the Week

Autumn 1887 LES VAMPIRES DE PARIS Erik’s Angels of Music (La Marmoset, Sophy Kratides and Unorna) investigate a murder that appears to be the work of a vampire. Appearing or mentioned are: Montsou; Sybil Vane; Mr. Calhoun; Harold Latimer; Wilson Kemp; Sherlock Holmes; Paul Kratides; Scapinelli; Keyork Arabian; the power to cloud men’s minds in the mountain lamaseries of Tibet; strange orchids from the mangrove swamps of the Andaman Islands; the Scroll of Thoth; the Shout; Irene Adler; Trilby O’Ferrall; Christine Daaé; Olympia; Svengali; the Persian; Les Vampires; the Grand Vampire; Vénénos; the Hôtel du Libre Echange; Monsieur Morillon; Frederick Hohner; Ayda Heidari; Count Camille de Rosillon; Pontevedro; Dr. Geneviève Dieudonné; Inspector Raoul d’Aubert; the Black Coats; Sesostris, the Sorceress of Ecbatana; the lost treasure of Monte Cristo; Anatole Garron; Giovanni Jones; Monsieur Rémy; Dorabella; Clarimonde; Geraldine; the Count; Des Esseintes; the Marquis de Coulteray; Joséphine Balsamo; Gravelle; Dr. Michel Falke; Mircalla Karnstein; Abraham Van Helsing; the Princess Addhema; Firmin Richard; Jean Macquart; Simon Buquet; Bernard Hichcock; Patou; Inspecteur Legris; Monsieur Moncharmin; Jacques Rival; Henri Paillardin; Lord Ruthven; Sir Francis Varney; Ezzelin von Klatka; Inspecteur Bec; Chief Magistrate Barrière; and John Seward. Story by Kim Newman in Angels of Music, Titan Books, 2016. Erik, Christine Daaé, the Persian, Monsieur Rémy, Firmin Richard, and Armand Moncharmin are from Gaston Leroux’s The Phantom of the Opera. La Marmoset and Mr. Calhoun are from Albert W. Aiken’s story “La Marmoset, the Detective Queen; or, the Lost Heir of Morel.” Sophy Kratides and her brother Paul, Harold Latimer, and Wilson Kemp are from Doyle and Watson’s Sherlock Holmes tale “The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter.” Irene Adler is from the Holmes story “A Scandal in Bohemia.” Ayda Heidari will later marry Bob Ferguson, as seen in “The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire.” Unorna and Keyork Arabian are from F. Marion Crawford’s The Witch of Prague. Montsou is from Émile Zola’s novel Germinal. Jean Macquart is from Zola’s La Terre. Sybil Vane is from Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray. Scapinelli is from the movie The Student of Prague. The power to cloud men’s minds was learned in Tibet by the shadowy vigilante. Strange orchids from the mangrove swamps of the Andaman Islands are from H. G. Wells’ “The Flowering of the Strange Orchid.” The Scroll of Thoth is from the 1932 film The Mummy. The Shout is from the British horror film of the same name. Trilby O’Ferrall and Svengali are from George du Maurier’s Trilby. Olympia is from Jacques Offenbach’s opera Tales of Hoffmann. Les Vampires, the Grand Vampire, and Vénénos are from the film serial Les Vampires. The Hôtel du Libre Echange is from Georges Feydeau and Maurice Desvallières’ play of the same name, as are Bastien Morillon and Henri Paillardin. Frederick Hohner is from the movie The Climax. Count Camille de Rosillon and Pontevedro are from Franz Lehár’s operetta The Merry Widow. Geneviève Dieudonné is from Newman’s Diogenes Club series and has a counterpart in the Anno Dracula Universe. Inspector Raoul d'Aubert and Anatole Garron are from the 1943 film version of The Phantom of the Opera. Simon Buquet is from the 1925 silent version of the novel. The Black Coats are from Paul Féval’s novels. The Princess Addhema is from Féval’s The Vampire Countess. Sesostris, the Sorceress of Ecbatana is from Aldous Huxley’s Crome Yellow. The lost treasure of Monte Cristo is from Alexandre Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo. Giovanni Jones is from the Bugs Bunny cartoon “Long-Haired Hair”; this must be his CU counterpart. Dorabella is the title character of an episode of the 1970s British television series Supernatural. Clarimonde is from Théophile Gautier’s “La Morte Amoureuse.” Geraldine is from Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem “Christabel.” Here, the three female vampires are the Brides of Count Dracula. This story takes place during the events of Stoker’s novel. Abraham Van Helsing and John Seward are from Dracula. Professor Madame Saartje Van Helsing must be Abraham’s second wife; his first, Elizabeth, died in circumstances recounted in the Marvel Comics black-and-white magazine Dracula Lives! Jean des Esseintes is from J.-K. Huysmans’ A Rebours. The Marquis de Coulteray is from Gaston Leroux’s The Bloody Puppet. Joséphine Balsamo is from Maurice Leblanc’s Arsène Lupin novels. Gravelle is from the movie Charlie Chan at the Opera. Dr. Falke is from Johann Strauss II’s operetta Die Fledermaus. The first name Michel is derived from the 1946 film version of the operetta. Mircalla Karnstein is from J. Sheridan Le Fanu’s “Carmilla.” Bernard Hichcock is from the movie The Horrible Dr. Hichcock. Patou, a gendarme, is an ancestor of gendarme Nestor Patou from Marguerite Monnot and Alexandre Breffort’s musical Irma la Douce. Inspecteur Legris is from the movie The Man Who Could Cheat Death. Jacques Rival is from Guy de Maupassant’s Bel-Ami. Lord Ruthven is from John Polidori’s “The Vampyre.” Sir Francis Varney is from James Malcolm Rymer’s Varney the Vampire. Ezzelin von Klatka is from Anonymous’ story “The Mysterious Stranger.” Inspecteur Bec is from the 1986 TV movie adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Murders in the Rue Morgue.” Paul Barrière is from Cole Porter’s musical Can-Can.

This write-up is one of hundreds included in my forthcoming book Crossovers Expanded: A Secret Chronology of the World Volume 3, which will be published by the fine folks at Meteor House! All three volumes are AUTHORIZED companions to Win Scott Eckert's books Crossovers: A Secret Chronology of the World Volumes 1 and 2!