Crossover of the Week

Autumn 1888-Winter 1892

THE PHANTOM MASQUERADE 

Appearing or mentioned are: the Phantom of Truth; Baptiste Severn; the Repairer of Reputations (aka Jean Grimoire and Johann Grimm); Carcosa; the King in Yellow; Thomas Fane (aka the Pallid Mask, Sir George Burnwell, and Fantômas); the Yellow Sign; Dr. Antonio Nikola; Maître de Grandin; Cardec; Le Roi en Jaune; the Lake of Hali; Joseph Clampin; the Black Coats; Professor Hern; Verschwinden und Seine Theorie; End House; Appledorn; Captain Tobias; Morryster’s Marvells of Science; Trauvells in Ye Easte; Parapelius Necromantius; Joseph de Quincey; Lionel Dacre; Mary Holder; the Saaamaaa Ritual; Yian; John Clay; the Sigsand Manuscript; Emile Le Brun; Cassilda; Boris Yvain; Juve; the Red Offering; the Disposer of Souls; the Thirteenth Covenant; Hendrika Pienaar; Colonel Beltham; Orianne Coyatier; Thomas Carnacki; the Shrine of Erlik; and the Scarlet Lake. 

Short story by Rick Lai in Tales of the Shadowmen Volume 14: Coup de Grace, Jean-Marc and Randy Lofficier, eds., Black Coat Press 2017; reprinted in French in Les Compagnons de l’Ombre (Tome 24), Jean-Marc Lofficier, ed., Rivière Blanche, 2018. The Phantom of Truth, Severn, the Repairer of Reputations, Carcosa, the King in Yellow, the Yellow Sign, Le Roi en Jaune, the Lake of Hali, Cassilda, and Boris Yvain are from Robert W. Chambers’ The King in Yellow. Jean Grimoire is an alias for John Grimlan from Robert E. Howard’s “Dig Me No Grave.” “Thomas Fane” is Marcel Allain and Pierre Souvestre’s villain Fantômas. Inspector Juve is one of Fantômas’ greatest foes. Hendrika Pienaar is the Lord of Terror’s unnamed Boer wife mentioned in The Daughter of Fantômas. Her surname suggests she is related to Peter Pienaar, Richard Hannay’s Boer friend in John Buchan’s novels. Colonel Beltham, aka Lord Edward Beltham, is also from the Fantômas books. Sir George Burnwell and Mary Holder are from Doyle and Watson’s Sherlock Holmes tale “The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet.” John Clay is from “The Adventure of the Red-Headed League.” Le Brun is from “The Adventure of the Illustrious Client.” Although his first name is given as Emile here, Matthew Ilseman’s “A Theft of China” has it as Anton. Perhaps his full name is Anton-Emile Le Brun. Dr. Antonio Nikola is Guy Boothby’s criminal scientist. Maître de Grandin is Dr. Jules de Grandin’s grandfather mentioned in Seabury Quinn’s “Clair de Lune.” Cardec is from Marie-François Goron and Emile Gautier’s Spawn of the Penitentiary. Joseph “Pistolet” Clampin and the Black Coats are from Paul Féval’s novels. Orianne Coyatier is the granddaughter of Jean-François Coyatier, aka the Marchef, the bodyguard and executioner of the Black Coats’ leader, the Colonel. Professor Hern and Verschwinden und Seine Theorie are from Ambrose Bierce’s “Mysterious Disappearances.” End House, Appledorn, Captain Tobias, the Saaamaaa Ritual, the Sigsand Manuscript, and Thomas Carnacki are from William Hope Hodgson’s Carnacki, the Ghost-Finder. Morryster’s Marvells of Science is from Bierce’s “The Man and the Snake,” and is also mentioned in H. P. Lovecraft’s “The Festival.” Trauvells in Ye Easte is from Bierce’s The Devil’s Dictionary. Parapelius Necromantius is from Bierce’s “Beyond the Wall.” Joseph de Quincey is from Evangeline Walton’s Witch House. Lionel Dacre is from Arthur Conan Doyle’s “The Leather Funnel.” Yian and the Kuen-Yuin Oath are from Chambers’ The Maker of Moons. The Red Offering is from Lin Carter’s story of that name. The Disposer of Souls is Zukala, from a series of poems by Howard. The Thirteenth Covenant is from Robert Bloch’s “The Mannikin.” The Shrine of Erlik and the Scarlet Lake are from Chambers’ The Slayer of Souls. The Dark Star of Yrimid is from Chambers’ The Dark Star and The Slayer of Souls.

This crossover writeup is one of over a thousand appearing in my book Crossovers Expanded: A Secret Chronology of the World Volume 3, coming this summer from Meteor House! All three volumes are AUTHORIZED companions to Win Scott Eckert's Crossovers: A Secret Chronology of the World Volumes 1 and 2!