Crossover of the Week

October 31, 1921

THE GOTTERDAMMERUNG GAVOTTE

Charles St. Cyprian and Ebe Gallowglass team up with a group of occult detectives to prevent the Great Old Ones from being unleashed upon the world. Appearing or mentioned are: Semi Dual; No. 472 Cheyne Walk; Harley Warren; John Silence; Ravenwood; Sar Dubnotal; de Grandin; Thunstone; Pursuivant; Ms. Crerar; Kirowan; Zarnak; Thomas Carnacki; the Nameless One; a Tibetan lama with an unhealthy fascination for the color green; the Third Ritual of Hloh; Tserpchikopf; the Great Detective; the Hog; the Shambler; the Walker; the Lurker; the Yimghaz Sign; fire vampires; the dust of Ibn Gazi; Naacal; Thorne; openers and closers; the Drones Club; and Captain Drummond.

Story by Josh Reynolds in The Lovecraft eZine #18, Mike Davis, ed., October 2012. Semi Dual is an occult detective created for the pulps by J. U. Giesy. Thomas Carnacki is from William Hope Hodgson’s collection Carnacki the Ghost-Finder. Carnacki lives at No. 472 Cheyne Walk. The Hog is from the Carnacki story of the same name. Harley Warren appears in H. P. Lovecraft’s “The Statement of Randolph Carter,” and is mentioned in “The Silver Key” and “Through the Gates of the Silver Key.” The Naacal language is also from “Through the Gates of the Silver Key.” John Silence is from Algernon Blackwood’s collection of the same name. Ravenwood was the hero of a series of stories by Frederick C. Davis in the pulp magazine Secret Agent X; the Nameless One is Ravenwood’s Tibetan mystic mentor. The Sar Dubnotal was the subject of a French pulp series by an anonymous author who may have been Norbert Sevestre. Tserpchikopf is one of the mystic’s foes. Jules de Grandin is an occult detective created by Seabury Quinn. John Thunstone is the hero of a series of stories by Manly Wade Wellman, as is Judge Keith Hilary Pursuivant. Rowley Thorne is Thunstone’s archenemy. Ms. Crerar is Sheila Crerar, an occult detective appearing in stories by Ella Scrymsour. John Kirowan is a recurring character in the works of Robert E. Howard. Anton Zarnak is an occult investigator created by Lin Carter; his adventures have been continued by a number of other authors. The Tibetan lama is Kendell Crossen’s pulp hero the Green Lama. The Ritual of Hloh and the Yimghaz Sign are from “The Case of the Bronze Door,” one of Margery Lawrence’s stories about psychic detective Miles Pennoyer. The Great Detective is Sherlock Holmes, of course. The Shambler is a reference to Robert Bloch’s “The Shambler from the Stars.” The Walker is Ithaqua (aka the Wind-Walker), from August Derleth’s story of the same name. The Lurker is Lovecraft’s Nyarlathotep; the Lurker appellation is an allusion to Derleth’s The Lurker at the Threshold. Fire vampires are from Donald Wandrei’s story “The Fire Vampires.” The Dust of Ibn Gazi is from Lovecraft’s “The Dunwich Horror.” The openers and closers are from Roger Zelazny’s A Night in the Lonesome October; although the events of that novel have been placed in an alternate universe, there is nothing to prevent the Crossover Universe from having openers and closers of its own. The Drones Club is a recurring London gentlemen’s club in the interconnected works of P. G. Wodehouse. Captain Drummond is H. C. McNeile’s hero Hugh “Bulldog” Drummond.

Crossover Cover: Return of the Dugpa

Ravenwood battles the Dweller on the Threshold, the former chief agent of the benevolent White Lodge, now an inhabitant of the Black Lodge, served by a group called the dugpas. Ravenwood is aided in his battle with the Dweller by a shadowy figure called the Dark Eminence. Actress Anne D’Arromanches grew up in an orphanage in the Midwest, where she was placed by her mother, who only spoke French. Ravenwood, “the stepson of mystery,” appeared in stories by Frederick C. Davis in the pulp magazine Secret Agent X. The Dweller on the Threshold is from Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s novel Zanoni. The White Lodge, the Black Lodge, and the dugpas are from Talbot Mundy’s novel The Devil’s Guard. David Lynch and Mark Frost utilized the Dweller, the Lodges, and the dugpas in their television series Twin Peaks. The Dark Eminence is the Shadow. Anne D’Arromanches is meant to be Ann Darrow from the classic film King Kong. Harris reveals the Shadow planted the idea into director Carl Denham’s mind to ask Ann to star in his film shot on Skull Island. In his book The Eldritch New Adventures of Becky Sharp, Harris identified Ann as the daughter of Lord Eugenides (a Tarzan analogue) and Becky, a character from William Makepeace Thackeray’s Vanity Fair. The chronology of Lord Eugenides’ exploits does not fit with the timeline of the Tarzan novels, which combined with other conflicts with the established CU history of characters such as Captain Nemo and Irene Adler places The Eldritch New Adventures of Becky Sharp in an alternate universe. The Ann Darrow/Anne D’Arromanches of the CU is probably Becky Sharp’s daughter by John Gribardsun, the time-traveling future Tarzan seen in Time’s Last Gift.

Crossover of the Week

1939

JAZZ

            Occult detective Ravenwood opens a jazz club. Guests at the grand opening party include a famed industrialist named Stark and his much younger fiancée, A.J. Martin from the Associated Press, a scientist named Dr. Erskine and his wife, and former actress Margaret Grace, who was flown to New York by ace pilot Lance Star. Ravenwood remembers a recent visit to Los Angeles where a thrilling golden-haired woman came to his aid against some shady characters.

            Short story by Bobby Nash in Ravenwood: Stepson of Mystery, Ron Fortier, ed., Cornerstone Book Publishers, 2010. Ravenwood was the subject of a series of stories by Frederick C. Davis in the pulp magazine Secret Agent X. Journalist A.J. Martin is one of Secret Agent X’s many aliases. The industrialist named Stark and his fiancée are the future parents of Tony Stark, aka the Marvel Comics superhero Iron Man. Dr. Erskine is meant to be the same scientist who created the super-soldier serum that empowered another Marvel hero, Captain America. In the original account of Cap’s origins, “Meet Captain America,” the scientist’s name was given as Dr. Reinstein. Later writers revealed that “Reinstein” was an alias given to him by the United States government, and that his true name was Dr. Abraham Erskine. However, the Dark Horse Comics miniseries The Shadow and Doc Savage: The Case of the Shrieking Skeletons, set in 1937, has him answering to the name Reinstein (along with his daughter Bernie) well before Doc Savage tells him about the Super-Soldier Project at the conclusion of the adventure. In the CU, Reinstein was likely his true name and Erskine the alias, rather than vice versa as in the Marvel Universe. Also, Bernie Reinstein stated in The Shadow and Doc Savage that her mother was long dead. Reinstein must have remarried in the two years between his encounter with the Shadow and Doc and his attendance of Ravenwood’s gala opening. The year of this story is conjecture, but it must take place before Steve Rogers was injected with the serum in 1940, in the aftermath of which event Reinstein was fatally shot by a Nazi agent. The golden-haired woman is the pulp adventuress the Domino Lady, whose stories in the “spicy” pulps were chronicled by an author using the nom de plume “Lars Anderson.” Margaret Grace is mentioned in Nash’s story “Target: Domino Lady,” and also appears in his Box 13 story “The Mystery of the Menacing Manuscript.” Ostensibly a character from the Canadian pulps, Lance Star is actually an original character created by Nash.

Crossover of the Week

Winter 1977

THE LOVECRAFTIAN DAMNATION

            Marvin Richards, host of the television program Challenge of the Unknown, once again summons reporter Carl Kolchak, informing him that Dr. Randel Penes is still alive and still in possession of the Necronomicon. Among the names that cursed tome has been known by are the Kitah al-Azif, the Cultus Maleficarum, the Liber Logaeth, and the Necronomicon Ex Mortis. Assisting them in dealing with this threat are Dr. Kirsten Helms and Madame Sarna La Rainelle. Paddy Moran from Bullfinches told Kolchak about La Rainelle. She worked with John Legrasse more than once, helped Anton Zarnak escape from the Tindolosi, and knew Marc Thorner, Ravenwood, and Jules de Grandin. Dr. Penes has merged with the creature he previously summoned, the Nyogtha.

            A Kolchak: The Night Stalker one-shot by C.J. Henderson and Robert Hack, Moonstone Books, 2010. This story serves as a sequel to Henderson’s Kolchak story “What Every Coin Has,” which featured Dr. Penes’ previous use of the Necronomicon. In addition to the aforementioned tale, Richards also appeared in Henderson’s stories “All That Glitters” and “A Forty Share in Innsmouth” and the graphic novel Kolchak: The Night Stalker – The Lovecraftian Horror. The Cultus Maleficarum is from Fred L. Pelton’s “The Sussex Manuscript.” The Liber Logaeth is a real book of alleged Enochian magic that was read by Queen Elizabeth I’s astrologer John Dee, among others. The Necronomicon Ex Mortis is from Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead films. Leprechaun Paddy Moran and his bar Bullfinches (or rather Bulfinche’s) are from Patrick Thomas’ Murphy’s Lore series of books. John Legrasse is from Lovecraft’s classic story “The Call of Cthulhu,” while Anton Zarnak is an occult investigator in several stories by Lin Carter and other authors. La Rainelle (or La Raniella) aided both men in Henderson’s stories “To Cast Out Fear” and “Locked Room,” and also appeared alongside Legrasse in Henderson’s novel To Battle Beyond. The Tindolosi (or Tindlosi) are from Frank Belknap Long’s Cthulhu Mythos tale “The Hounds of Tindalos.” Mark Thorner is a policeman ally of Zarnak’s. Ravenwood, “the stepson of mystery,” was created by Frederick C. Davis and appeared in a backup feature in Secret Agent X. Occult investigator Dr. Jules de Grandin’s exploits were chronicled by Seabury Quinn. The Nyogtha is from Henry Kuttner’s Cthulhu Mythos story “The Salem Horror.” Two television sets in a video editing room are showing the TV series Mystery Science Theater 3000, which debuted in 1988. This detail must be ignored in order to maintain Kolchak’s adventures in their original time period.