Crossover of the Week

April 1923

THE HAUNTING OF DREARCLIFF GRANGE SCHOOL 

Drearcliff Grange School student Amy Thomsett, aka the Kentish Glory, and her fellow members of the Moth Club take part in the Great Game, an annual contest of skill between their school and others and must deal with the mysterious ghostly figure known as the Broken Doll. Appearing or mentioned are: Lucinda Tregellis-d’Aulney, aka the Aviatrix; Dr. Shade; Ariadne; Richard Cleaver, aka Clever Dick; the Diogenes Club; Janice Marsh; the Black Sow of Under-London; the Undertaking; Miss Violet “Fossil” Borrodale; Dennis Rattray, aka Blackfist; Maurice Wyvil; Moll Flanders; the Old Jago; Bert Stevens; Enoch Drebber; Lauriston Gardens; Jefferson Hope; Dr. Watson; the Splendid Six; Lord Piltdown; Jennifer God; Lord Leaves; Hans von Hellhund; Number 347, Piccadilly; Geoffrey Jeperson; Count DeVille; “Necro-nommi-con des Mortis”; Valmouth; the Hurstpierpoint Hotel; Sir Wilfrid Teazle; Mark Robarts’ A Counterblast to Agnosticism; Brichester; Colonel Clay; Sophy Kratides; Graustark; “a cove with either too many or too few names”; the Moriarty Mob; Sebastian Moran; Johnny Barlowe; the Opera Ghost Agency; Erik de Boscherville, aka the Phantom; Silver Blaze; Uncle Satt; Thomas Carnacki; the Mausoleum; the Royal North Surrey Regiment; Sir Boris de Bruin; the Department of Supplies; Sally Nikola’s dad; a Rolls-Royce ShadowShark; Colonel Zenf; Mr. John Bronze; the Angel Down Changeling; Queen Tera; the Mystic Maharajah; Lydia Marlowe; Anne Sercombe; Anne D’Arbanvilliers-Cleaver; Cassandra, Heather, and Priscilla Wilding; Thelma Guildmar; Giulietta Nefaria; Vera Claythorne; and Cunegonde Quive-Smith. 

Novel by Kim Newman, Titan Books, 2018. The Splendid Six, consisting of the Aviatrix, Clever Dick, Blackfist, Lord Piltdown, the Blue Streak, and the Mystic Maharajah, are from Newman’s Diogenes Club story “Clubland Heroes.” Hans von Hellhund is also from that story; an AU counterpart is mentioned in “Coastal City.” Dr. Shade is from Newman’s “The Original Dr. Shade.” Ariadne is from Newman’s Bad Dreams. The Diogenes Club and Sophy Kratides are from Doyle and Watson’s Sherlock Holmes story “The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter.” Bert Stevens is from the Holmes story “The Adventure of the Norwood Builder.” Enoch Drebber, Lauriston Gardens, and Jefferson Hope are from Holmes’ first appearance, A Study in Scarlet. Colonel Sebastian Moran is Professor Moriarty’s lieutenant from “The Adventure of the Empty House.” Silver Blaze is from the Holmes tale “The Adventure of Silver Blaze.” The Undertaking is from the Diogenes Club stories “Angel Down, Sussex” and “Sorcerer Conjurer Wizard Witch.” The Angel Down Changeling is from the former story. The Mausoleum is from the latter story. Violet Borrodale is from Newman’s “Richard Riddle, Boy Detective in ‘The Case of the French Spy.’” Janice Marsh, a member of the Marsh family seen in H. P. Lovecraft’s “The Shadow over Innsmouth,” is from Newman’s “The Big Fish” and “Another Fish Story.” The Black Sow of Under-London is the Beast of London from Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere. Maurice Wyvil is from William Harrison Ainsworth’s Old St. Paul's. Moll Flanders is the title character of Daniel Defoe’s novel. The Old Jago is from Arthur Morrison’s A Child of the Jago. “Jennifer God” is a reference to vampire Geneviève Dieudonné from the Diogenes Club stories, who also has a counterpart in the Anno Dracula Universe. Lord Leaves is from the Diogenes Club stories “Soho Golem" and “Cold Snap.” Number 347, Piccadilly was Dracula’s home in London in Bram Stoker’s novel. “Count DeVille” was the alias Dracula used to buy the house. Geoffrey Jeperson is the adoptive father of Richard Jeperson, a 1960s and 1970s agent of the Diogenes Club seen in Newman’s The Man from the Diogenes Club. Richard Jeperson drives a Rolls-Royce ShadowShark. “Necro-nommi-con des Mortis” is a reference to the Necronomicon Ex Mortis from the Evil Dead movies; the book appears under the variant name Necronomicon des Mortes in the Angel episode "Hell Bound." Valmouth is from Ronald Firbank’s novel of the same name. One of the characters in the book is Mrs. Eulalia Hurstpierpoint. Sir Wilfrid Teazle is an ancestor of Louise Magellan Teazle from Newman’s An English Ghost Story. Mark Robarts is from Anthony Trollope’s Framley Parsonage. A Counterblast to Agnosticism is from Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles. Brichester University is from Ramsey Campbell’s Cthulhu Mythos stories. Colonel Clay is from Grant Allen’s An African Millionaire. Graustark is a European kingdom in novels by George Barr McCutcheon. The “cove with either too many or too few names” is the Man with No Name from Sergio Leone’s films dubbed “the Dollars Trilogy”: A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Johnny Barlowe is from Ilya Surguchev and Frederick Albert Swan’s The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo. The Opera Ghost Agency is from Newman’s Angels of Music. Erik is from Gaston Leroux’s The Phantom of the Opera. Uncle Satt and Sir Boris de Bruin are from the Diogenes Club story “The Gypsies in the Wood.” Thomas Carnacki is from William Hope Hodgson’s Carnacki, the Ghost-Finder. The Royal North Surrey Regiment is from A. E. W. Mason’s The Four Feathers. The Department of Supplies is from Newman’s Professor Moriarty: The Hound of the d’Urbervilles. Sally Nikola’s father is Guy Boothby’s villain Dr. Nikola. Colonel Zenf is from “Sorcerer Conjurer Wizard Witch” and “Cold Snap.” John Bronze is from Newman’s contributions to The Lovecraft Squad mosaic novel series, created by Stephen Jones. Queen Tera is from Stoker’s The Jewel of Seven Stars. Lydia Marlowe is from the Sherlock Holmes movie The Woman in Green. Anne (or Ann) Sercombe is the future wife of John le Carré’s spy George Smiley. Anne D’Arbanvilliers-Cleaver may be the sister of Clever Dick, whose aunt, Rebecca D’Arbanvilliers-Cleaver, appears in “The Gypsies in the Wood.” Cassandra, Heather, and Priscilla Wilding are likely related to Newman’s recurring character Heather Wilding. Thelma Guildmar is from the 1922 movie Thelma. Giulietta Nefaria, aka Whitney Frost, is better known as Madame Masque, a foe and onetime love interest of the Marvel Comics hero Iron Man. Vera Claythorne is from Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None. Cunegonde Quive-Smith must be related to Major Quive-Smith from the movie Man Hunt. 

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

Crossover Movie Poster: Crimewave

 

In this film directed by Sam Raimi and co-written by Joel and Ethan Coen, Vic Ajax is on death row at Hudsucker State Penitentiary. A newspaper headline reads, “Military seals off Tennessee murder site. Time-space disturbance discovered.” The Coen Brothers would go on to direct the film The Hudsucker Proxy, in which the company Hudsucker Industries is featured. The newspaper headline is a reference to Raimi’s film Evil Dead II.

This film is one of hundreds of crossovers covered in my book Crossovers Expanded: A Secret Chronology of the World Volume 3, which will be published by Meteor House! All three volumes are AUTHORIZED companions to Win Scott Eckert's Crossovers: A Secret Chronology of the World Volumes 1 and 2!

Crossover TV Episode: Public Television of the Dead

 

Are you a fan of the Evil Dead films?

Then you'll love this episode of the Creepshow TV series, which not only ties in with those movies, but also has nods to Halloween, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Trilogy of Terror, and Clash of the Titans!

For more information, be sure to purchase a copy of my book Crossovers Expanded: A Secret Chronology of the World Volume 3 when Meteor House publishes it! All three volumes are AUTHORIZED companions to Win Scott Eckert's Crossovers: A Secret Chronology of the World Volumes 1 and 2!

Crossover of the Week

Winter 2011

BLOOD AND MAGICK 

Occult bounty hunter Deacon Chalk must protect three weredog children from a trio of witches known as the Wrath of Baphomet. One of the witches, Athame, summons a “soulsword” by casting a spell backward. Deacon and his allies confront another of the witches, Ahriman, at a movie theatre: “Tiff and I had seen Guilty Pleasures here a month ago. We had both liked it. Hollywood had taken some liberties and picked their Jean-Claude based on star power instead of acting, but they were spot-on in their choice to play Anita. She probably didn’t agree, but I hadn’t had a chance to talk to her since it had been released.” An earlier incarnation of the coven included a Russian warlock called Chernobog, who was killed by a Puritan named Solomon Kane who later went to Africa. Deacon tells were-rabbit Josh about his current exploit, and Josh replies, “Just another Tuesday night in Sunnydale?” Deacon’s friend Kat shows him a prophecy about the witches in the Necronomicon Ex Mortis, written in Kandarian. Deacon’s ally Father Mulcahy gives him Durendal, the sword of Roland, and claims the Holy See has Excalibur. 

Novel by James R. Tuck, Kensington Books, 2012. The soulsword may be a reference to the sword of the same name wielded by Illyana Rasputina, aka Magik, a member of the Marvel Comics mutant superteams the X-Men and the New Mutants. If so, this is the CU version of the sword. Casting spells backward is the preferred method of magic for DC Comics’ mystic heroine Zatanna Zatara, and her father Giovanni “John” Zatara before her. Anita is Laurell K. Hamilton’s vampire hunter Anita Blake, while Jean-Claude, a vampire himself, is one of her love interests. Guilty Pleasures was the title of the first Blake novel. Although the Anita Blake novels take place in a world where the public is aware that the supernatural is real, various sources, such as the first Deacon Chalk novel, Blood and Bullets, establish that a version of Anita exists in the CU distinct from Hamilton’s version. Solomon Kane is Robert E. Howard’s Puritan adventurer. While the mention of Sunnydale (from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) could be interpreted as a pop culture reference, Blood and Bullets establishes that Buffy is a contemporary of Deacon Chalk, so it is more likely a genuine crossover. The Necronomicon Ex Mortis and the Kandarian language are from the Evil Dead films. Durendal and Roland are from French epic literature. Excalibur has appeared in several CU texts. Its status and location vary from story to story; for instance, in The Librarian TV movies and the subsequent series The Librarians, the Library has the sword, which Flynn Carsen calls Cal. Perhaps someday a dedicated creative mythographer will reconcile the myriad, seemingly conflicting takes on Arthurian lore in the CU. 

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

Crossover Covers: Night of the Living Deadpool

A zombie apocalypse occurs, leaving the mercenary Deadpool the last remaining superhuman. In the second chapter, Deadpool and the group of survivors he’s leading spend about eight weeks traveling and seeking shelter, visiting Ash Williams’ cabin (from The Evil Dead), Hershel Greene’s farm and the West Georgia Correctional Facility (The Walking Dead), the Monroeville Mall (Dawn of the Dead), the Pacific Playland Amusement Park (Zombieland), and the Winchester Pub (Shaun of the Dead). Obviously, this one is an AU.

Crossover Cover: Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth

John Taylor returns from the past to stop his mother from destroying the Nightside. Appearing or mentioned are: Rollerball t-shirts (referring to William Harrison’s story “Roller Ball Murder,” which depicts a corporation-driven future that is one of several possible futures for the CU); a cyborg with golden eyes from an alternate future (one of the Hadenmen from Green’s Deathstalker books); a sonic screwdriver (from the TV series Doctor Who); a Water Baby (from Charles Kingsley’s novel The Water Babies); the Yellow Sign (from Robert W. Chambers’ The King in Yellow, and incorporated into the Cthulhu Mythos by H. P. Lovecraft in the short story “The Whisperer in Darkness”; Sneaky Pete (Pete Hutter from the television Western The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.); the Holy Hand Grenade of St. Antioch (from the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail, although the events seen in that movie must have been exaggerated for comedic effect) ; the Doormouse (a member of a group of shapeshifting mouse hippies from Green’s novel Drinking Midnight Wine); the Bazaar of the Bizarre (from Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser short story of the same name); Shadows Fall (from Green's novel of the same name); Carcosa (from Ambrose Bierce’s short story “An Inhabitant of Carcosa,” which H. P. Lovecraft incorporated into the Cthulhu Mythos); Old Father Time (from Shadows Fall); the Street of the Gods (from Green’s Hawk and Fisher novellas Winner Takes All and The God Killer); a Kandarian punch dagger (connected to the Kandarian demons from the Evil Dead film series); Julien Advent, the Victorian Adventurer (intended to be Adam Adamant from the TV series Adam Adamant Lives!; in fact, at one point in the novel he is referred to as Adamant); Alf’s Button Emporium (a reference to W. A. Darlington’s fantasy novel Alf’s Button); faeries hiding from the hordes of the Adversary (from Bill Willingham and Lan Medina’s comic book series Fables, which is set in an AU); the Traveling Doctor (Doctor Who); Colonial Marines (from the science fiction film Aliens, setting up the Alien franchise as another possible future of the CU.); the Eaters of the Dead (from Michael Crichton’s titular novel); Worms of the Earth (from Robert E. Howard’s short novel of the same name); Time Tower Square (from Shadows Fall); Elder Spawn (from Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos); Dead-Eye Dick, who was featured in a series of dime novels (a reference to an episode of the television Western The Virginian entitled “Dead-Eye Dick;” although the episode does not mention the Dead-Eye Dick dime novels are based on the adventures of a real person, it doesn’t say they aren’t either); Rats’ Alley (from T. S. Eliot’s poem “The Waste Land”); Haceldama (from Green’s Deathstalker books); a blazer belonging to a retired secret agent, which has a button with the number six on it (from the cult TV series The Prisoner); and the Prospero and Michael Scott Memorial Library (Prospero being from William Shakespeare’s The Tempest.)

Crossover Cover: Angel: After the Fall

Angel uses a spell from the Necronomicon Ex Mortis (from the Evil Dead films) to heal himself. This series takes place months after the Angel series finale “Not Fade Away.”

Crossover Covers: Army of Darkness vs. Hack/Slash

Cassie Hack is called out of retirement by Ash Williams when the remnants of the Black Lamp Society begin selling pages from the Necronomicon Ex Mortis. As Cassie and Ash are thrown through time by the Necronomicon, they pass Nightmare and Sleepy battling the Claw alongside ’Devil in the 1940s. Nightmare and Sleepy appeared in Clue Comics, published by Hillman. The Claw was a villain that was featured in the Lev Gleason title Silver Streak Comics. ’Devil is Bart Hill, aka Daredevil, one of several heroes who fought the Claw. The shortening of his codename is done in deference to Marvel Comics’ long-standing use of the name Daredevil for one of their own heroes. The abbreviated name is also used in the Dynamite series Project Superpowers, which does not fit into CU continuity. Nightmare and Sleepy appeared in a flashback in the Hack/Slash storyline “Super Sidekick Sleepover Slaughter,” and Daredevil was shown in a symbolic image in that story.

Crossover Movie: Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings

A witch possesses a copy of the Necronomicon Ex Mortis from the Evil Dead series, bringing the Pumpkinhead film series into the CU.

Crossover Covers: Final

The TV show Hoax Hunters is mentioned, as is a puzzle-obsessed cult led by a self-help guru, and the Necronomicon Ex Mortis appears. Hoax Hunters is from the comic of the same name by Michael Moreci and Steve Seeley, while the self-help guru is the title character of Mike Norton and Dennis Hopeless’ comic The Answer! The Necronomicon Ex Mortis is from the Evil Dead films, and its appearance here leads into the miniseries Army of Darkness vs. Hack/Slash.

Crossover Cover: Live and Let Drood

Eddie Drood discovers that the murdered Droods and the damaged Drood Hall that he has come home to are from a different dimension, meaning that his family has been sent somewhere else, and sets out to find them, going up against Unholy Crow Lee, the most evil man in the world. Appearing or mentioned are: Merlin’s Glass (an alternate universe version of the one seen in Green's Nightside books); the Nightside, Walker, the London Knights, John Taylor, Dead Boy, the Walking Man, Augusta Moon, Kayleigh’s Eye and the Salvation Army Sisterhood (all from the Nightside series); the Kandarian language (a nod to the Kandarian demons from the Evil Dead films); Castle Frankenstein (from Mary Shelley's novel); an ancient flame that bestows eternal youth (from H. Rider Haggard's Ayesha books); tana leaves (from Universal Studios' original Mummy film series); the Carnacki Institute and Catherine Latimer (from Green's Ghost Finders books); MI13 (the CU version of the British government agency seen in the Marvel Universe); an old Transylvanian vampire count who was trying to set himself up in England (Dracula); the Scooby-Doo gang (self-explanatory); SAS combat sorcerers (from Warren Ellis' comic Gravel); and the Traveling Doctor, who said that bow ties are cool (the CU version of the Doctor of Doctor Who fame, specifically his eleventh incarnation.)

Crossover Cover: From Hell with Love

The Droods go to war with Doctor Delirium and the Immortals over the Apocalypse Door. Appearing or mentioned are: U.N.C.L.E. and THRUSH (from the TV series The Man from U.N.C.L.E.); James Bond and S.P.E.C.T.R.E.(from Ian Fleming's novels); a Martian tripod (from H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds); a Crystal Egg (from another story by Wells); the Danse Academy in the German Black Forest (from Dario Argento's horror film Suspiria); Dracula (from Bram Stoker's novel); the Nightside (the setting of another series by Green); Shadows Fall (from Green's novel of the same name); a Time War (possibly the CU version of the war seen in Doctor Who); the Carnacki Institute (from Green's Ghost Finders books); Bradford-on-Avon, Carys Galloway, the Waking Beauty, Jimmy Thunder, God for Hire, and Nicholas Hob, the Serpent’s Son (all from Green's novel Drinking Midnight Wine, though this Bradford-on-Avon is a fictionalized version of the real town of that name, where Green lives); Doctor Faustus (from Christopher Marlowe's play); Indiana Jones; the Djinn Jeannie (from the television series I Dream of Jeannie); the recently dead Griffin in the Nightside, the Lord of Thorns, the Speaking Gun, and the Collector (all from the Nightside books); Old Father Time (also from Shadows Fall); a Kandarian amulet (a reference to the Kandarian demons from the Evil Dead films); Castle Frankenstein (from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein); the Bride of Frankenstein (from the Universal film of the same name); Area 52 (located in the Antarctic, and therefore presumably the same one seen in a titular miniseries published by Image Comics); and a bizarre alien city inside an Arctic mountain (possibly a reference to Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness.)