Autumn 1922-Winter 1923
THE SECRETS OF DREARCLIFF GRANGE SCHOOL
Amy Thomsett, a young girl with the ability to levitate both herself and other people and objects, is enrolled at the Drearcliff Grange School, where she finds that she is not the only student with an Unusual Talent. Forming a secret society called the Moth Club with her friends and taking the alias of the Kentish Glory, she must thwart a takeover of the school by Antoinette Rowley Rayne and her followers, the Black Skirts. Appearing or mentioned are: Miss Violet "Fossil" Borrodale; Lucinda Tregellis d’Aulney, aka the Aviatrix; Irene Dobson; Luna Bartendale; the book My Nine Nights in a Harem; Captain Dennis Rattray, aka Blackfist; the Blue Streak; Lord Piltdown; Ticia Frump; Miss Catriona Kaye; Hans von Hellhund, the Demon Ace; Dr. Shade; night-gaunts; Sally Nikola’s father, the Fifth Most Dangerous Man in the World; Janice Marsh; Singapore Charlie’s; the Scarlet Pimpernel; Zorro; Shrewsbury College; the Old Ones; the Deep Ones; Anthony Zenith; the Mausoleum; Egdon Heath; Isidore Persano and his Worm Unknown to Science; Mr. Roderick Spode; the Mystic Maharajah; Innsmouth, Massachusetts; the Ghidorah, a Black Skirt triad; a rhedosaurus; the Diogenes Club; the Esoteric Order of Dagon; the Black Quorum; the Blood Banner Society; the movie She-Strangler of Shanghai; Box Brothers Bank; Dr. Mabuse; Captain Geoffrey Jeperson; Haghi; the Onion Men; Olivia Gibberne; Di’en Ching; Winnerden Flats; Moria Kratides; the Hydes of March; Buggleskelly; the Duel of the Seven Stars; Ariadne; Hilda Courtney; Lydia Marlowe; Anne Sercombe; Anne D’Arbanvilliers-Cleaver; Cassandra, Heather, and Priscilla Wilding; Susan Foreman; Alraune Ten Brincken; Vera Claythorne; Cunegonde Quive-Smith; and Elva Kyle.
Novel by Kim Newman, Titan Books, 2015. Violet Borrodale is from Newman’s “Richard Riddle, Boy Detective in 'The Case of the French Spy’.” The Splendid Six, whose members include the Aviatrix, Blackfist, the Blue Streak, Lord Piltdown, and the Mystic Maharajah, are from Newman’s Diogenes Club story “Clubland Heroes.” Hans von Hellhund is from “Clubland Heroes”; an AU version is mentioned in “Coastal City.” Irene Dobson is from Newman’s story “Is There Anybody There?” Luna Bartendale is from Jessie Douglas Kerruish’s novel The Undying Monster. My Nine Nights in a Harem is mentioned in several of Newman’s works. Professor Moriarty: The Hound of the d’Urbervilles reveals that it was authored by Colonel Sebastian Moran. Ticia Frump is the future Morticia Addams from Charles Addams’ comic strip The Addams Family and subsequent TV and movie spin-offs; Frump is Morticia’s maiden name. Catriona Kaye is from the Diogenes Club tales. The Club itself is from Doyle and Watson’s Sherlock Holmes tale “The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter,” which features Sophy Kratides, Moria Kratides’ mother. Dr. Shade is from Newman’s “The Original Dr. Shade.” Night-gaunts and the Old Ones are from H. P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos. Sally Nikola's father is Guy Boothby’s villain Dr. Antonio Nikola. Janice Marsh, a member of the Marsh family of Innsmouth, Massachusetts that has interbred with the aquatic Deep Ones in Lovecraft’s “The Shadow over Innsmouth,” is from Newman’s “The Big Fish” and “Another Fish Story.” She-Strangler of Shanghai is from “The Big Fish.” The Esoteric Order of Dagon is from Lovecraft’s story. Singapore Charlie’s is from Sax Rohmer’s Fu Manchu novels. The Scarlet Pimpernel and Zorro need no introduction. Shrewsbury College is from Dorothy L. Sayers’ Lord Peter Wimsey novel Gaudy Night. Anthony Zenith is Zenith the Albino, detective Sexton Blake’s archenemy. Blake went up against the Black Quorum in the serial Mystery of No. 13 Caversham Square by Pierre Quiroule. The League of the Onion Men battled Blake in a storyline by Gwyn Evans. The Mausoleum is from the Diogenes Club tale “Sorcerer Conjurer Wizard Witch.” Egdon Heath is from Thomas Hardy’s The Return of the Native and Evelyn Waugh’s Decline and Fall. Isidore (originally Isadora) Persano and the worm unknown to science are from the Holmes story “The Problem of Thor Bridge.” Roderick Spode is from P. G. Wodehouse’s Jeeves books. The Ghidorah is named after the monster from the Godzilla film Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster. Since the massive destruction of public property in Japan seen in most Godzilla films is not compatible with the CU, Godzilla and Ghidorah’s rampages must have been fewer, more isolated, and less destructive than the movies depicted. The rhedosaurus is from the movie The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms. The Blood Banner Society is from Newman’s contributions (written as Jack Yeovil) to the novel series based on the miniature wargame Dark Futures. That game takes place in a universe that diverged from ours in 1960, so this must be the CU version of the Society. Box Brothers Bank is from Professor Moriarty: The Hound of the d’Urbervilles. Dr. Mabuse is from Norbert Jacques’ novels, as well as a series of films. Captain Geoffrey Jeperson is the adoptive father of Richard Jeperson, the title character of Newman’s collection The Man from the Diogenes Club. Haghi is from Fritz Lang’s film Spione. Olivia Gibberne is probably related to Professor Gibberne from H. G. Wells’ “The New Accelerator.” Dien Ch’ing is a CU version of the character from Newman’s Warhammer novel Beasts in Velvet, written under the Yeovil pseudonym. Winnerden Flats is from the British science fiction television serial Quatermass II. The Hydes of March are likely connected to Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Buggleskelly is from the movie Oh, Mr. Porter! The Duel of the Seven Stars refers to Newman’s serial novella Seven Stars. The Seven Stars themselves are originally from Bram Stoker’s The Jewel of Seven Stars. Ariadne is from Newman’s novel Bad Dreams. Hilda Courtney is from the movie Dressed to Kill, while Lydia Marlowe is from The Woman in Green; both films star Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson. Anne Sercombe is British spy George Smiley’s wife in John le Carré’s spy novels, though there her first name is spelled “Ann.” Anne D’Arbanvilliers-Cleaver is possibly the sister of Richard “Clever Dick” Cleaver, the final member of the Splendid Six, whose aunt Rebecca D’Arbanvilliers appears in the Diogenes Club story “The Gypsies in the Wood.” Cassandra, Heather, and Priscilla Wilding are presumably related to Heather Wilding from Newman’s “The Serial Murders,” “Going to Series,” The Quorum, and “Cold Snap.” Susan Foreman is Doctor Who’s granddaughter. Alraune Ten Brincken is from Hanns Heinz Ewers’ Alraune. Vera Claythorne is from Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None. Cunegonde Quive-Smith is likely related to Major Quive-Smith from the movie Man Hunt. Elva Kyle may be related to Selina Kyle, the original Batman’s foe (and later second wife) the Catwoman, who once used the alias “Elva Barr.”
This crossover writeup is one of hundreds included in my book Crossovers Expanded: A Secret Chronology of the World Volume 3, to be published by Meteor House! All three volumes are AUTHORIZED companions to Crossovers: A Secret Chronology of the World Volumes 1 and 2 by Win Scott Eckert!
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