Bonus Crossover of the Week (RIP Rick Lai)

Autumn 1866

THE TOMB OF THE VEILED PROPHET 

Anis-ed-Dowleh, the Shah of Persia’s favorite wife, shows Haji Abdu, the Daroga of the Secret Police, the corpse of a handmaiden allegedly murdered by Erik, the court illusionist. Erik mentioned to the Shah’s spouse he had been trained to kill with the Punjabi lasso by the deposed Maharani of Pankot. Haji Abdu and Erik discuss the rebel leader Mokanna, whose cult was led by Abd Dhulma after his death. Erik shows the Daroga a map he acquired in the mountain citadel Yolgan, which has the words, “The Lord of the Empty Abode,” “The Lord of Illusion,” and “The Lord of the Fourth Axis” written on it. Mokanna appears to the duo, saying they have resurrected him by summoning the Three Avatars of Yog-Sothoth. Mokanna names the sorcerers of Lemuria and Attluma, including Thulsa Doom, Kathulos, Rotath, Mardanax, and Descales, each of whom performed the Black Litany to infuse their souls with the Torch Fire of Nug. Erik’s nom de guerre is derived from Erlik of the Dark Star, whom Mokanna describes as a minor entity eclipsed by the cosmic splendor of the Lord of the Fourth Axis and his twin spawn, Nug and Yeb. Mokanna evokes the Moon of Yian, saying Nug demands a Red Offering in exchange for bestowing his Torch Fire upon Erik. 

Short story by Rick Lai in Tales of the Shadowmen Volume 12: Carte Blanche, Jean-Marc and Randy Lofficier, eds., Black Coat Press, 2015; reprinted in French in Les Compagnons de l’Ombre (Tome 20), Jean-Marc Lofficier, ed., Rivière Blanche, 2017. Haji Abdu is from Sir Richard Francis Burton’s poem “The Kasîdah of Hâjî Abdû El-Yezdî.” He is also mentioned in Philip José Farmer’s authorized Doc Savage novel Escape from Loki. Lai conflates Haji Abdu with the Persian from Gaston Leroux’s The Phantom of the Opera. Erik is the title character of that book. Pankot is from the movie Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Mokanna is from “The Veiled Prophet of Khorassan,” the first of four poems in Thomas Moore’s collection Lalla-Rookh, as well as Sax Rohmer’s The Mask of Fu Manchu. Abd Dhulma is from G. G. Pendarves’ “Abd Dhulma, Lord of Fire.” Yolgan is from Robert E. Howard’s El Borak stories. The Lord of the Empty Abode is the title of Yog in Robert E. Howard’s Conan story “Shadows in Zamboula.” “The Lord of Illusion” and “The Lord of the Fourth Axis” are stories by E. Hoffmann Price. Here, the three Lords are all avatars of Yog-Sothoth, one of the Great Old Ones of H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. Attluma and Descales are from the works of David C. Smith. Thulsa Doom is from Howard’s Kull tale “The Cat and the Skull.” Kathulos is from Howard’s “Skull-Face” and “Taverel Manor,” the latter completed posthumously by Richard A. Lupoff. Rotath is from the Kull story “The Curse of the Golden Skull.” Mardanax is from Lin Carter’s Thongor novels. Nug and Yeb are from various Lovecraft collaborations: “Out of the Aeons” (co-written by Hazel Heald), “The Mound” (coauthored by Zealia Bishop), and “The Last Test” (co-penned by Adolph de Castro). The Black Litany of Nug and Yeb is from Joseph S. Pulver’s poem of the same name. Erlik of the Dark Star is from Robert W. Chambers’ The Dark Star. The Moon of Yian is from Chambers’ “The Maker of Moons.” The Red Offering is from Lin Carter’s Cthulhu Mythos story of the same name. 

As I wrote on Facebook yesterday, RIP my friend Rick Lai, an amazing human and writer. In the 1980s, he wrote articles expanding on the Wold Newton concepts of Philip Jose Farmer and continued it after the Wold Newton websites began appearing with Win Scott Eckert’s in 1997. He broke into fiction writing beginning with the story “The Last Vendetta” in the first TALES OF THE SHADOWMEN anthology, and consistently turned out quality work. I am honored to have had my first published story in close proximity to his contribution in the last TALES. I was constantly in awe of the depth of his knowledge and retention of pop cultural details, and I genuinely believe he was a genius. We also shared a love of Spaghetti Westerns, which he drew from often in his fiction. I’m in shock right now, and I am deeply saddened that I will never see him again. FarmerCon this year will be bittersweet without him.

Crossover of the Week

Winter 1938 

THE THIRD EYE OF OSIRIS 

The Bimbashi Baruk receives a message from Sir Denis Nayland Smith asking him to meet him at Sir Lionel Bart’s reception in Aswan. Other guests at the party include the Graf, a clubfooted German; John Solomon; Professor Tör Andersen; and André de Savery. The Graf is really Adolph von Grundt, on whom Desmond Okewood has kept a close eye ever since they met in the Great War. Smith says the Americans have the Ark of the Covenant, which is probably buried in a warehouse somewhere. When Sir Lionel asks Baruk if he knows about the Eye of Osiris, he asks in turn if that was one of John Thorndyke’s cases back in the '20s, involving a jewel. Professor Andersen is really Fu Manchu. The real Andersen was murdered by the Si-Fan. Dr. Petrie has spoken highly of Sir Lionel. Gaston Max confirmed for Smith that the true Andersen’s body was in the Paris sewers where de Savery said it was. In 1905, Smith encountered Hanoi Shan. Fu Manchu, after confirming Sir Lionel is with Smith and the others, says only Dr. Petrie and young Greville are missing. 

Short story by David L. Vineyard 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. Bimbashi Baruk is from Sax Rohmer’s Bimbashi Baruk of Egypt. Sir Denis Nayland Smith, Sir Lionel Barton (or Bart as he’s called here), Fu Manchu, the Si-Fan, Dr. Petrie, and Shan Greville are from Rohmer’s Fu Manchu novels. Gaston Max appears in his own series of novels by Rohmer; one of these, The Golden Scorpion, has a cameo by an unnamed Fu Manchu. John Solomon’s stories were told by H. Bedford-Jones in several magazines, mainly The Argosy and People’s. André de Savery is an alias of Maurice Leblanc’s gentleman thief Arsène Lupin. Adolph von Grundt and Desmond Okewood are from Valentine Williams’ Clubfoot novels. The American government did seal the Ark of the Covenant in a warehouse after Indiana Jones recovered it, as seen in the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark. Dr. John Thorndyke encountered a jewel called the Eye of Osiris in R. Austin Freeman’s novel of the same name. Hanoi Shan is from H. Ashton-Wolfe’s Warped in the Making; Philip José Farmer identified him with Fu Manchu in Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life. 

This crossover writeup is one of over a thousand included 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!

Crossover Covers: Dept. of Monsterology

 

Dunsany College’s Department of Cryptozoology, Mythological Studies, Parapsychology, and Fortean Phenomena, funded by the Hampton Foundation, has three field teams: Teams Challenger, Carnacki, and the long-lost Carter, whose members died on a space mission. The gold idol Indiana Jones lost in 1936 and the Lament Configuration are seen in Department head Professor Booker’s office. Team Challenger goes on an underwater expedition at 47°9’S 126°43’W, encountering fish men in the process, and recovering a squid-headed idol. Cryptogeographer Javier De Tovar says the markings on the idol are like those in the Ponape Manuscript. Meanwhile, Team Carnacki goes up against some jiangshi (Chinese vampires); a folk tradition from Szechuan suggests the hoofs of a black donkey as a weapon against the undead. Carnacki member Dominic Belasco is described as a “necronaut.” Miskatonic and “Kostabi’s people” are suggested among the parties who may have beat Carnacki to their next destination. In the Pacific, Challenger encounters a dinosaur, whose home De Tovar describes as late Pnakotic Era civilization ruins. A picture from Team Carter’s expedition to Yuggoth is seen. Dunsany’s first expedition to the Antarctic brought back a star-headed creature. The Department’s field teams are named after Arthur Conan Doyle’s Professor Challenger, William Hope Hodgson’s Thomas Carnacki, and Edgar Rice Burroughs’ warlord of Mars, respectively. The gold idol is from the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark. The Lament Configuration is from the Hellraiser films. 47°9’S 126°43’W are the coordinates of R’lyeh according to H. P. Lovecraft’s “The Call of Cthulhu.” The fish men are the Deep Ones from Lovecraft’s “The Shadow over Innsmouth.” The squid-headed idol is of Cthulhu. The Ponape Manuscript is from Lin Carter’s Cthulhu Mythos stories. Miskatonic University is mentioned in several of Lovecraft’s stories, as is Yuggoth. The Pnakotic Era refers to Lovecraft’s Pnakotic Manuscripts. The star-headed creature is an Elder Thing from Lovecraft’s “At the Mountains of Madness.” The idea of black donkey hooves being used to fight jiangshi comes from Zhang Muye’s Ghost Blows Out the Light. Necronauts is a comic by Rennie and Frazer Irving. “Kostabi’s people” refers to Rennie and Dom Reardon’s comic Caballistics, Inc. 

This crossover is one of hundreds 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 of the Week

Autumn 2004

HELL ON EARTH 

Caballistics, Inc. battles the living dead and a fallen angel in the North Yorkshire village of Boswell. Appearing or mentioned are: the Templars Resurgent; the Starry Wisdom; Delta Green; the Cult of the Black Sun; Arkham University; the Quist Foundation; Doomwatch; the Carnacki-Silence Spectrum; Motley Hall; Yuggoth; the Lamp of Alhazred; the Merrin Ritual; the Karras Ritual; Hobb’s End; Florizel Street; Totters’ Lane; the Brigadier; “a similar facility that stored such material in the U.S.”; Ringstone Round; jaunting bracelets; the eighth Dagger of Megiddo; a chameleon circuit; an owl named Ozymandius; Department 7; Omega; a water tower undergoing a sweep for medieval magic residue; Exham Priory; Watchers; “certain subterranean mouths”; Nephren-Ka; Kadath in the Cold Waste; Irem; Kiran; Sarnath; Ib; Hali; Raccoon City; Umbrella; Mr. Phelps; the Jones/Brody archives at Barnett College in New York; Nyarlahotep; the Yeti incident; Drax Industries; the British Rocket Group; Saknusem’s Swallow; Leidenbrock’s Ledge; Wenley Moor; Sir Rufus Folkes; Templar; Harold Pelham; “something Straker Estates”; and the Mayflower Project. 

Novel by Mike Wild, 2000 AD, 2006. The Templars Resurgent are the Templi Resurgentes Equites Synarchici from Umberto Eco’s Foucault’s Pendulum. The Starry Wisdom Church and Nephren-Ka are from H. P. Lovecraft’s “The Haunter of the Dark.” Arkham University must be in Lovecraft’s recurring setting of Arkham, Massachusetts. Yuggoth is another name for Pluto in Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos. Exham Priory is from Lovecraft’s “The Rats in the Walls.” Kadath in the Cold Waste, Sarnath, and Ib are mentioned in several Lovecraft stories. Irem is from Lovecraft’s “The Nameless City.” Kiran is from Lovecraft’s “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath.” “Nyarlahotep” is a misspelling of Lovecraft’s god Nyarlathotep. Delta Green is from the eponymous supplement for the role-playing game Call of Cthulhu. The Cult of the Black Sun is a CU version of the group seen in Grant Morrison and Steve Yeowell's superhero comic book Zenith. The Quist Foundation and Doomwatch are from the TV series Doomwatch. The Carnacki-Silence Spectrum is named after Thomas Carnacki and John Silence, occult investigators created by William Hope Hodgson and Algernon Blackwood, respectively. Motley Hall is from the TV series The Ghosts of Motley Hall. The Lamp of Alhazred is from August Derleth’s titular Cthulhu Mythos story. The Merrin Ritual and the Karras Ritual are named after the late Fathers Lankester Merrin and Damien Karras from William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist. Hobb’s End is from the movie Quatermass and the Pit. Ringstone Round is from the television serial Quatermass. Professor Bernard Quatermass heads the British Rocket Group. Florizel Street was the original title for the long running British soap opera Coronation Street. Totters’ Lane and chameleon circuits are from Doctor Who. The Brigadier is Brigadier Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart from that series. The Yeti incident is a reference to the serial “The Web of Fear.” Wenley Moor is from the serial “Doctor Who and the Silurians.” The “similar facility that stored such material in the U.S.” is the warehouse where the Ark of the Covenant was stored in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Indiana Jones’ friend Dr. Marcus Brody appears in both that film and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The latter is the source of Barnett College. Jaunting bracelets are from the television series The Tomorrow People. The eighth Dagger of Megiddo is a nod to the Seven Daggers of Megiddo from the movie The Omen. Ozymandius (or Ozymandias) is from the TV series Ace of Wands. Department 7 and Omega are from the show The Omega Factor. The water tower is Castle Saburac from the TV series Catweazle. The Watchers and “certain subterranean mouths” (Hellmouths) are from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Hali is from Robert W. Chambers’ The King in Yellow. Raccoon City and the Umbrella Corporation are from the Resident Evil video game series. Mr. Phelps, who is given a “mission, should [he] choose to accept it,” is apparently related to the late Jim Phelps from the TV series and movie Mission: Impossible. Drax Industries is from the film version of Ian Fleming’s James Bond novel Moonraker. Saknusem’s Swallow and Leidenbrock’s Ledge refer to Arne Saknussemm and Otto Lidenbrock from Jules Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth. Rufus Folkes (or ffolkes) is from the movie North Seas Hijack. Simon Templar is Leslie Charteris’ adventurer the Saint. Harold Pelham is from the movie The Man Who Haunted Himself. Ffolkes and Pelham were both played by Roger Moore, who also played Simon Templar on the 1960s The Saint TV series. “Something Straker Estates” refers to Richard Throckett Straker, vampire Kurt Barlow’s minion in Stephen King’s 'Salem’s Lot. The Mayflower Project is from the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind. 

This crossover writeup is one of hundreds 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 Cover: Revenant Season

 

Blade, Frank Drake, and Hannibal King, now occult investigators, battle Hydra’s Department of Occult Armaments. In D.O.A.’s headquarters, an announcement is made over the P.A.: “Attention religious artifacts division–observe safety guidelines when opening Arks of the Covenant! Don’t look into the light–” Blade, Drake, and King first appeared in the Marvel series Tomb of Dracula. The reference to the Ark of the Covenant and not looking into the light is an allusion to Raiders of the Lost Ark. Given its many appearances in the CU, the Ark, like the Maltese Falcon, seems to change hands often.

This crossover is one of hundreds 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: Raga

 

This episode of Endeavour is set in June 1970. Chief Superintendent Bright mentions his service in Pankot and Chandrapore. Oxford’s Conservative candidate in the general election is Archibald-Lake. Ludo Talenti says cooking show host Oberon Prince is no Robert Danvers. The island of Vrakonisi is mentioned. Pankot is from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Bright’s service there was first mentioned in the episode “Prey.” Chandrapore is from E. M. Forster’s A Passage to India. Hugh Archibald-Lake is the Conservative candidate in The Wednesday Play episode “Vote, Vote, Vote for Nigel Barton,” a sequel to the earlier “Stand Up, Nigel Barton.” Robert Danvers is from Terence Frisby’s play There’s a Girl in My Soup. Vrakonisi is from Colonel Sun, the first-post Ian Fleming James Bond novel, written by Kingsley Amis as Robert Markham.  

This crossover is one of hundreds covered 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 Win Scott Eckert's Crossovers: A Secret Chronology of the World Volumes 1 and 2!

Crossover Cover: The Helmet and the Fedora

 

In Kelvin Mao and Craig Cermak's story in this comic, Cliff Secord and Betty Page go to a lecture at the Museum of Natural History. The speaker is a professor who has traveled all over the world researching primitive cultures. A bored Cliff drifts away, only to witness a bunch of crooks he spotted earlier trying to steal one of the items displayed. He dons his Rocketeer garb and pack to fight them off but gets knocked for a loop. The professor takes down the gangsters using a whip. After regaining consciousness, Cliff finds a fedora with a bullet hole in it that he realizes isn’t the hat he was wearing before. He catches up with Betty, who is talking to the professor. The wall has symbolic shadows on it of the Rocketeer and a man in a fedora carrying a whip. The professor is Indiana Jones. The year of this story isn't given, so I am placing it in 1939. It also ran untitled, so I provided the title myself. 

This story 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 Cover: Lance Star and the Crown of Gengis Kai

 

Lance Star and his comrade Buck Tellonger fly to the island nation of Magnapor to meet Lance’s old friend Simon Prentiss, an archaeologist who wants their help finding the crown of the legendary outlaw Gengis Kai. Along the way, they must contend with Magnapor’s dictator, the Overlord. A week ago, Lance and Buck were in a dogfight with Japanese Zeroes near Espritos Marcos in the Pacific. Lance “hadn’t met too many archaeology professors who could handle themselves in a fight. Except that one guy he met in Egypt. He had been able to protect himself well enough.” Lance opens a locked door using two small black pieces of metal, a method taught to him by a friend a while back. Espritos Marcos is from the TV series Baa Baa Black Sheep (aka Black Sheep Squadron). The archaeology professor Lance met in Egypt is Indiana Jones. Lance’s friend is the Domino Lady. 

This crossover is one of hundreds covered 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 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 TV Episode: Rage

 

In this episode of the Kung Fu revival, Dennis Soong serves his fiancée Althea Shen a dinner that includes a vintage Belloq wine. In Raiders of the Lost Ark, René Belloq serves Marion Ravenwood wine from his family’s vineyards. The modern Kung Fu series is a re-imagining rather than a reboot of the original, set in the twenty-first century with completely original storylines, so there is no reason why its protagonist, Althea’s sister Nicky, could not exist in the same universe as Kwai Chang Caine.

This crossover is one of hundreds covered in my book Crossovers Expanded: A Secret Chronology of the World Volume 3! Much like the first two volumes, this one is an AUTHORIZED companion to Win Scott Eckert's Crossovers: A Secret Chronology of the World Volumes 1 and 2 and will be published by Meteor House!

Crossover of the Week

Winter 2018
THE LIBRARIANS AND THE POT OF GOLD 
The Librarians must find a leprechaun’s long-lost pot of gold before their old foes the Serpent Brotherhood can get their hands on it. Before that, the team deals with a seeming haunting at the Paris Opera House by a party that is seeking the only copy of the Phantom’s concerto, Don Juan Triumphant. The new Opera Ghost reveals to Jake Stone and Ezekiel Jones that he is the descendant of Erik and Christine Daaé, the consummation of whose relationship Gaston Leroux left out of his novel. Cassandra Cillian, before directly encountering the new Opera Ghost, wonders if the book was based on a real person who is still around, like with Dorian Gray. The Librarians’ Guardian, Colonel Eve Baird, having trouble reaching Jake and Ezekiel on her phone, remembers running into the same problem while buried alive beneath the Mountains of Madness. The Librarians play Trivial Pursuit; all three of them have mastered the Geography category, though Baird doubts there are too many Geography questions concerning Shangri-La, El Dorado, or the Bermuda Triangle. The Library holds everything from Penelope’s unfinished tapestry to Prufrock’s intimidating peach. Included in the Hibernian Wing is a copy of Bram Stoker’s book The Lair of the White Worm, which Jenkins describes as, “One of his lesser works, to be frank, but not nearly as fictional as generally believed.” Serpent Brotherhood member Max Lambton knows that magic wishes, be they granted by fairies, devils, djinns, or a mummified monkey’s paw, almost invariably backfire on the wisher, no matter how carefully the wish is phrased. Jenkins says a chasm he and Cassandra encounter reminds him of a bottomless pit he once encountered while in pursuit of a certain grail. Stone, battling Max, adopts a fighting stance taught to him by none other than the Monkey King himself. Ezekiel cracks a Glenn-Rieder X-3000 vault. 
2018 novel by Greg Cox. Erik the Opera Ghost, Christine Daaé, and Don Juan Triumphant are from Gaston Leroux’s The Phantom of the Opera. Dorian Gray is from Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray. The Mountains of Madness are from H. P. Lovecraft’s novella “At the Mountains of Madness.” Shangri-La is from James Hilton’s Lost Horizon. Penelope’s unfinished tapestry is from Homer’s The Odyssey. Prufrock’s intimidating peach is from T. S. Eliot’s poem “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.” The events of Bram Stoker’s novel The Lair of the White Worm have been established as part of the CU. The mummified monkey’s paw is from W. W. Jacobs’ “The Monkey’s Paw.” The mention of a bottomless pit in conjunction with the Holy Grail is a reference to the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, is from Wu Cheng’en’s Journey to the West. Glenn-Rieder security systems are from the TV series Leverage. 

This crossover writeup is one of hundreds found in my book Crossovers Expanded: A Secret Chronology of the World Volume 3! As with the first two volumes, this one is an AUTHORIZED companion to Win Scott Eckert's Crossovers: A Secret Chronology of the World Volumes 1 and 2 and will be published by Meteor House!

Crossover of the Week

Autumn 1940

THE STUFF THAT DREAMS ARE MADE OF 

Private eye Steve Donnelly, investigating his partner’s murder, becomes involved in the struggle between worshippers of the Great Old Ones called the Olde Fellowes over a statue of Cthulhu. One of the Olde Fellowes, Constantine Garland, names various objects that, like the statue, can bestow upon the bearer unimaginable power and are being sought by the Nazis, including the Scroll of Thoth, the Lament Configuration, the Ark of the Covenant, the Eye of Agomotto, and the Spear of Destiny. A mysterious barman comes to Steve’s rescue, and says he knows his granddaughter. Steve, befuddled, says he’s thirty-three, but the barman replies he won’t always be. 

Short story by Peter Atkins in The Lovecraft Squad: Waiting, Pegasus Books, 2017. Steve Donnelly is the grandfather of Atkins’ modern lesbian P.I. Kitty Donnelly. The Scroll of Thoth is from the 1932 film The Mummy. The Lament Configuration is from the Hellraiser films, based on Clive Barker’s “The Hellbound Heart.” Not coincidentally, Atkins wrote or co-wrote the scripts for Hellbound: Hellraiser II, Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth, and Hellraiser: Bloodline. The Ark of the Covenant is from the Book of Exodus, but given the other references, this is probably a specific allusion to the first Indiana Jones film, Raiders of the Lost Ark. The Eye of Agamotto (to use the correct spelling) is one of the mystic talismans wielded by Marvel Comics’ Sorcerer Supreme, Dr. Stephen Strange. The barman is Atkins’ character Dr. James Arcadia, who has been described as somewhat akin to an occult version of Doctor Who. 

This crossover writeup is one of hundreds included in my book Crossovers Expanded: A Secret Chronology of the World Volume 3, to be released by Meteor House! Much like the first two volumes, this one is an AUTHORIZED companion to Win Scott Eckert's Crossovers: A Secret Chronology of the World Volumes 1 and 2!

Crossover of the Week

July 1922

THE BIZARRE ADVENTURE OF THE OCTAGON HOUSE 

Sherlock Holmes meets Denis Nayland Smith at Scotland Yard. Smith has carefully studied Limehouse, particularly the Devil Doctor who permeates that region. Besides Solar Pons and Dr. Lyndon Parker, Holmes enlists the aid of the Belgian consultant at 14 Farraway Street, whose friend Captain Hastings married and moved to Argentina the previous autumn, and who is himself investigating the Doctor, whom his biographer would later disguise under the name Li Chang Yen. Nayland Smith and Dr. Petrie insist on being involved. At Scotland Yard, Dr. Watson nods at Inspectors Charles Parker (a relation of Dr. Parker), Stanislaus Oates, and Jimmy Japp, who says M. Poirot has additional information about the Aberystwyth case. Holmes and Watson seek information on soils from Dr. John Thorndyke and his assistant Dr. Christopher Jervis. Another of Thorndyke’s helpers is researcher Nathaniel Polton. As they leave Thorndyke’s home, Holmes and Watson run into Superintendent Miller. Watson says that a few weeks later, he, Holmes, Pons, Parker, Thorndyke, Jervis, Nayland Smith, and Petrie visited the now-empty Colsworth estate. Lord Peter was invited to attend, but he declined, and in his place came an American, either twenty-two or twenty-three years of age, named Jones who recently completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Chicago and was soon planning to attend a graduate program in linguistics at the Sorbonne. 

Story by Dr. Watson, edited by David Marcum in The Meeting of the Minds: Cases of Sherlock Holmes & Solar Pons I, David Marcum, ed., Belanger Books, 2021. Sir Denis Nayland Smith and Dr. Petrie are Dr. Fu Manchu’s archenemies in Sax Rohmer’s novels. The Devil Doctor made several unnamed appearances in August Derleth’s Solar Pons stories. The Belgian consultant is Hercule Poirot. Li Chang Yen battled Poirot in Agatha Christie’s The Big Four. Rick Lai identified Li Chang Yen with Fu Manchu in his essay “Partners in Crime: Fu Manchu and Carl Peterson.” Captain Arthur Hastings and Inspector James Japp are from the Poirot books. The Aberystwyth case is mentioned in Christie’s Murder on the Links. Chief Inspector Charles Parker is the friend and brother-in-law of Dorothy L. Sayers’ detective Lord Peter Wimsey. Inspector Stanislaus Oates is from Margery Allingham’s Albert Campion books. Drs. Thorndyke and Jervis, Nathaniel Polton, and Superintendent Miller are from R. Austin Freeman’s detective novels. Jones is Indiana Jones. Indy would in fact be twenty-three in July 1922.

This crossover write-up is one of hundreds to be found in my upcoming book Crossovers Expanded: A Secret Chronology of the World Volume 3, to be published by 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!

Crossover TV Episode: Prey

 

In this episode of Endeavour set in early June 1967, Chief Superintendent Bright recounts how he once encountered a man-eating tiger “in India, before the war. I was a young subaltern in the colonial police. Not far from Pankot, where there’d been all that Thuggee business in '35.” Pankot and the Thuggee business there in 1935 are a direct reference to the movie Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

As you may be able to guess from the above, I am officially resurrecting the Crossover Universe blog to share previews and teasers for Crossovers Expanded Vol. 3. More to come, so keep an eye out!

Crossover Movie Poster: Captain America: The First Avenger

The Red Skull, on seeing the Tesseract, this universe’s version of the Cosmic Cube, remarks, "And the Führer digs for trinkets in the desert." This line is a reference to Raiders of the Lost Ark, confirming the Marvel Cinematic Universe as an alternate reality to the CU, as is the main Marvel Universe.

Crossover of the Week

1936

ONCE MORE, THE NYCTALOPE (LE SURHOMME EST-IL FRANÇAIS?)

An Invisible Man named Jacques enters the mansion of his friend Leo Saint-Clair, the Nyctalope, and sees an oil painting of Leo and his late wife Sylvie. Leo introduces Jacques to Briar Rose, also known as Belle and the Phantom Angel, alongside whom Leo fought Belphégor. Jacques’ children have been kidnapped; the mastermind behind the abductions is Professor René Belloq. Below the house are a series of secret rooms that were used by Sylvie’s stepfather Mathias Lumen in his fight against Leonid Zattan, which have been converted by Leo into a laboratory. Leo uses a device that allowed him to overcome Lucifer in the early ‘20s to prevent the kidnappers from tracking Jacques’ aura. The three attend a lecture given by Belloq, whose other guests include archaeologist Artistide Clairembart and Tryphon Tournesol. Also in attendance are journalist Jerôme Fandor and Dutil-Parot, Jacques Roll’s predecessor as President of the Council of Ministers. Belloq announces Doctor Haushofer of the Thule Society will tell the audience the results of his research on the use of Vril as a psychic energy source. Leo’s friend Gno Mitang initiated him into the Japanese fighting disciplines.

Short story by Emmanuel Gorlier appearing as “Le Surhomme est-il français?” in Les Compagnons de l’Ombre (Tome 14), Jean-Marc and Randy Lofficier, eds., Rivière Blanche, 2014, and then in English in Tales of the Shadowmen Volume 11: Force Majeure, Jean-Marc and Randy Lofficier, eds., Black Coat Press, 2014. Jacques Roll (formerly known as Joe Rollon) and Dutil-Parot are from Jean de La Hire’s book Joe Rollon, the Invisible Man. The Nyctalope is the hero of a series of novels by de La Hire. Sylvie, Mathias Lumen, Leonid Zattan, Lucifer, and Gno Mitang are from the Nyctalope series. The Phantom Angel has appeared in several stories by Randy Lofficier in the Tales of the Shadowmen series, and is meant to be the title character of the French fairy tale “Sleeping Beauty.” Belphégor is the title character of a French film serial; she encountered Leo and Belle earlier in the month in Gorlier’s story “Une Voce Poco Fa.” Professor René Belloq encountered Indiana Jones in the film Raiders of the Lost Ark. Aristide Clairembart is from Henri Vernes’ Bob Morane novels, while Tryphon Tournesol (Cuthbert Calculus in English translations) is from Hergé’s Tintin comics. Jerôme Fandor is one of the greatest foes of Marcel Allain and Pierre Souvestre’s villain Fantômas, and may in fact be the “Lord of Terror’s” illegitimate son. Doctor Karl Haushofer was a real person whose geopolitical views may have influenced Hitler. The Vril energy is from Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s novel The Coming Race.

Crossover Cover: Horror in Clay

The Green Lama battles a murderous golem created by a Rabbi who initially unleashed the creature on the German consulate in New York. The Rabbi has learned of the Holocaust the Nazis will soon enact against his people from hieroglyphics in an ancient temple in Jerusalem. The temple had images on the walls of the Ark of the Covenant, the Staff of Ra, and crystal skulls. Also in the temple was a statue of a horrible ancient god named Cthulhu. The Green Lama appeared in stories by “Richard Foster” (Kendell Foster Crossen) in the pulp magazine Double Detective. The Ark of the Covenant, Staff of Ra, and crystal skull references are meant to evoke the Indiana Jones films; indeed, an earlier version of this novella that appeared in the anthology The Green Lama Volume One contains a reference to “Professor Jones, Jr. at Marshall College.” Cthulhu needs no explanation at this point. The Lama went on to battle Cthulhu in Garcia's The Green Lama: Unbound.

Crossover Cover: Ashes 2 Ashes

Ash Williams and the Wise Man track the Necronomicon Ex Mortis to an ancient temple which contains what appears to be Indiana Jones’ skeleton. This miniseries takes place concurrent with the first Evil Dead film. The skeleton’s resemblance to Indy is puzzling, considering his appearances as an old man in the framing sequences of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, which are set in the 1990s, as well as his encounter with Lara Croft sometime before 2000, after apparently having been rejuvenated back to the prime of life (hence Lara's reference to him being "seemingly ageless").

Crossover of the Week

Yesterday, I had the immense pleasure of attending a midnight showing of one of my favorite movies, The Rocky Horror Picture Show. As with the previous showings I attended, the audience participation was great, as was sharing the experience with people who love RHPS as much as I do. In honor of this great experience, here's my write-up of the novel that brings the movie into the CU.

2003

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UNCANNY

John Taylor escorts an elf across the Nightside, helps deceased P.I. Larry Oblivion look for his brother Tommy, and refuses to take Walker’s place as agent of the Authorities that rule the Nightside. Appearing or mentioned are: Hydes; a cyborg from some future timeline with eyes glowing golden, mainlining a fierce and nasty future drug called Blood; taduki; Martian red weed; Queen Mab; Oberon and Titania; the Street of the Gods; Puck; the Sonic Assassin; the Time Tower; the Deep School; Salvation Kane; Old Mother Shipton; Indiana Jones; Mr. Stab; Miss Eliza Fritton, who used to run a private girl’s school; the Carnacki Insitute; the Droods; the Vril Power Gang; the Nazi Skull; Jacqueline Hyde; the worms of the Earth; a stuffed water baby; giant albino penguins; an old-fashioned grandfather clock, with a cobwebbed human skeleton propped up inside it; a lizard serum; Julien Advent; Rats’ Alley; Dr. Delirium; Wu Fang; and a Hand of Glory made from a monkey’s paw.

Novel by Simon R. Green. The Hydes are individuals who use the formula that turned Dr. Henry Jekyll into Edward Hyde as a narcotic. Jacqueline Hyde is a descendant of Jekyll’s who takes her ancestor’s serum, which turns her into a male Hyde. The cyborg from a future timeline with eyes glowing golden is one of the Hadenmen from Green’s Deathstalker series, which takes place in one of many possible futures for the CU. The Blood drug is also from the Deathstalker books. The drug Taduki is from H. Rider Haggard’s novels and stories about hunter Allan Quatermain. Martian red weed is from H. G. Wells’ novel The War of the Worlds. Queen Mab is from William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet, while Oberon, Titania, and Puck are from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The Street of the Gods is from Green’s Hawk and Fisher novellas Winner Takes All and The God Killer. The Sonic Assassin is Michael Moorcock’s secret agent Jerry Cornelius, an incarnation of the Eternal Champion. The Time Tower is from Green’s novel Shadows Fall. Salvation Kane is probably meant to be Robert E. Howard’s heroic puritan Solomon Kane. The Deep School is an extradimensional school for sorcerers seen in Manly Wade Wellman’s John Thunstone stories. Old Mother Shipton, Mr. Stab, and the Droods are from Green’s Secret Histories series. Dr. Delirium goes on to become one of the main villains of the fourth Secret Histories novel, From Hell with Love. The Indiana Jones reference can be interpreted as a reference to either a real person or a fictional character, but since both Indy and John Taylor are firmly established as being in the CU, we can accept this as a legitimate crossover. Miss Eliza Fritton must be the same Miss Fritton who was the headmistress of St. Trinian’s, a private school for girls, in illustrated cartoons by Ronald Searle. The Carnacki Institute is featured in Green’s Ghost Finders series. The Vril Power Gang is a reference to the Vril power from Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s The Coming Race. The Nazi Skull is a reference to Captain America’s Nazi archenemy, the Red Skull. The worms of the Earth are from Robert E. Howard’s Bran Mak Morn story of the same name. The giant albino penguins are from Lovecraft’s novella At the Mountains of Madness. The stuffed water baby is a reference to Charles Kingsley’s children’s book The Water Babies. The old-fashioned grandfather clock with a cobwebbed human skeleton propped up inside it is from the movie The Rocky Horror Picture Show, bringing that film and its sequel, Shock Treatment, into the CU. The lizard serum is probably the one used by the Lizard, a foe of the Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man. Julien Advent, a recurring character in the Nightside books, is meant to be adventurer Adam Adamant from the British television series Adam Adamant Lives! Rats’ Alley is from T. S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land.” Wu Fang is a pulp villain created by Robert J. Hogan. The Hand of Glory made from a monkey’s paw is a reference to W. W. Jacobs’ story “The Monkey’s Paw.”

Crossover of the Week

1899

FIRST STEPS

Seeking a use for his newfound powers, Leo Saint-Clair begins debunking mediums alongside his friend Robert Champeau. He attends a séance held by the Prillants. Among those in attendance are the Baldwins and the pregnant Mrs. Anne Jones and her chaperone, Ms. Loveday Brooke. The medium is Simon Orne, who conjures a demonic being. Leo later discovers another attendee at the séance was Lily Flowers, a member of the gang called the Vampires. Leo and Robert meet the Sâr Dubnotal, who reveals Orne summoned the creature, Baal, using a page from the Necronomicon. Inspector Milfroid accompanies Leo to another séance in order to arrest Orne.

Short story by Travis Hiltz in Night of the Nyctalope, Jean-Marc and Randy Lofficier, eds., Black Coat Press, 2012; reprinted in French in Les Compagnons de l’Ombre (Tome 11), Jean-Marc and Randy Lofficier, eds., Rivière Blanche, 2013. Leo Saint-Clair, aka the Nyctalope, is a hero in novels by Jean de La Hire. Robert Champeau and the Prillants are also from the Nyctalope stories. The Baldwins, Lily Flowers, and the Vampires are from Louis Feuillade’s serial Les Vampires. Anne (or Anna) Jones is the mother of noted archaeologist Dr. Henry “Indiana” Jones, Jr. Since Indiana Jones was born in 1899, the date of 1900 assigned to this story must be incorrect. Loveday Brooke is from The Experiences of Loveday Brooke, Lady Detective by Catherine Louisa Pirkis. Simon Orne is from Lovecraft’s The Case of Charles Dexter Ward. The Necronomicon is a mainstay of Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos. The Sâr Dubnotal appeared in his own self-titled pulp magazine penned by an anonymous author (possibly Norbert Sévestre). Baal is from the novel of the same name by Renée Dunan. Inspector Milfroid is from Gaston Leroux’s The Phantom of the Opera.