Crossover of the Week

Summer 1911

HOW THE PROFESSOR TAUGHT A LESSON TO THE GNOLES 

Professor Moriarty is hired by the thief Nuth to help him plunder the treasures of the creatures known as the gnoles. Nuth says thieves trace their lineage to Slith, and before him Prometheus, and that the history of thievery is as storied as that of any noble house in Ruritania or Celephais. He also asks Moriarty, “Shall I allow the foreigner Rocambole or the dissolute Raffles to wear the crown that is rightfully mine, then?” Moriarty has a tank which is based on the designs of “a certain Sikh of my acquaintance.” Moriarty says he will teach the gnoles the lessons of Troy, of Sarnath, and of Peking. 

Story by Josh Reynolds in The Adventures of Moriarty, Maxim Jakubowski, ed., Robinson, 2015. Nuth and the gnoles are from Lord Dunsany’s “How Nuth Would Have Practiced His Art Upon the Gnoles.” Slith, besides being mentioned in that story, appears in Dunsany’s “Probable Adventure of the Three Literary Men”; both stories are included in the collection The Book of Wonder. Ruritania is from Anthony Hope’s The Prisoner of Zenda. Celephais and Sarnath are from the works of H. P. Lovecraft. Rocambole is Ponson du Terrail’s adventurer. A. J. Raffles is E. W. Hornung’s gentleman thief. The Sikh is Captain Nemo. Rick Lai’s “The Secret History of Captain Nemo” and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen indicate Nemo would have no reason to do Moriarty any favors, so the Professor must have stolen his old foe’s technology. 

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!

Crossover of the Week

Summer 1920

THE DOOR OF ETERNAL NIGHT 

Charles St. Cyprian and Ebe Gallowglass meet Harry Houdini and Arthur Conan Doyle, the latter of whom says Holmes used to talk to himself. Holmes and Carnacki worked together on a case in 1899 involving a man named James Phillimore. Doyle says Watson spoke of that affair once or twice. After the case, Carnacki became Edwin Drood’s apprentice. Supposedly, the King of Ruritania lives at Claridge’s when he isn’t serving as the doorman at Barribault’s. Colonel Bobdillo is taking Houdini, his wife, and Doyle to dinner. St. Cyprian draws the odd angles of the Voorish Sign and has a vision involving the three-lobed burning eye. An old man called Captain James Basil helps St. Cyprian and company out of a spot. St. Cyprian knew a man during the war who knew a little something about clouding men’s minds and had the most eerie laugh. Gallowglass refers to a previous case involving Bellingham and his mummy. Ten years ago, a cult in Cairo sealed Houdini into a pyramid. St. Cyprian tries to use a move on his opponent the Thin Man that Captain Drummond had shown him one night in Marseille. The Thin Man is St. Cyprian’s old foe, the mummy Nephren-Ka. If it hadn’t been for the debacle in Seven Dials, Bellingham’s influence among the subtly inclined might have grown to outstrip that of Crowley or Mocata. Doyle wonders if Bellingham is the same man a surgeon of his acquaintance named Abercrombie Smith spoke of. The Starry Wisdom is an offshoot of the Cult of the Great Pyramid Bat. Bobdillo knows the night-music of Khem. Houdini, recognizing Bobdillo from Egypt, asks him whatever happened to Abdul Reis. Captain Basil, who is really Sherlock Holmes, says Colonel Bobdillo was not a real Colonel, but took up the rank when the late, unlamented Colonel Sebastian Moran was locked away. 

Novella by Josh Reynolds, 18thWall Productions, 2016, reprinted in Casefiles of the Royal Occultist Volume One: Monmouth’s Giants, 18thWall Productions, 2019. James Phillimore is the subject of an untold Sherlock Holmes case mentioned in Doyle and Watson’s “The Problem of Thor Bridge.” This Phillimore is a distinct individual from the shape-changing alien who used that name in Farmer and Manders’ “The Problem of the Sore Bridge – Among Others.” Holmes used the alias of Captain Basil in “The Adventure of Black Peter.” Colonel Sebastian Moran is from “The Adventure of the Empty House.” Holmes’ description of Moran as “late” should not be taken literally, as the Colonel will not meet his end until 1935, as described in Kim Newman’s “The Man Who Got Off the Ghost Train.” Thomas Carnacki is from William Hope Hodgson’s Carnacki, the Ghost-Finder. Edwin Drood is from Charles Dickens’ unfinished novel The Mystery of Edwin Drood. The ex-King of Ruritania and Barribault’s are from the works of P. G. Wodehouse. Ruritania itself is originally from Anthony Hope’s The Prisoner of Zenda. Colonel Bobdillo is from Elliott O’Donnell’s “The Mummy Worshippers.” The Voorish Sign is from H. P. Lovecraft’s “The Dunwich Horror.” The three-lobed burning eye is an avatar of Nyarlathotep from Lovecraft’s “The Haunter of the Dark.” Nephren-Ka and the Starry Wisdom Church are also from that story. Houdini’s interment in a Cairo pyramid and Abdul Reis are from “Imprisoned with the Pharaohs,” supposedly a factual account by Houdini himself, but a fictional story penned by Lovecraft. Khem is from both stories. The man St. Cyprian knew during the Great War is the future pulp hero of the shadows. Edward Bellingham and Abercrombie Smith are from Doyle’s “Lot No. 249.” Captain Hugh “Bulldog” Drummond is H. C. “Sapper” McNeile’s hero. Mocata is from Dennis Wheatley’s The Devil Rides Out. The pyramid bat is a fictional species seen in Sax Rohmer’s Brood of the Witch-Queen. The bat is also mentioned in Lin Carter’s Anton Zarnak story “Curse of the Black Pharaoh.” Nephren-Ka appears in that tale under the name Khotep, and as Kephren in “Imprisoned with the Pharaohs.”

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 Cover: Phileas Fogg and the Heart of Osra

 

Are you a Jules Verne fan?

Then you'll love this novella, Joshua M. Reynolds' second follow-up to Philip Jose Farmer's The Other Log of Phileas Fogg, in which Fogg has an adventure in the kingdom of Ruritania from Anthony Hope's The Prisoner of Zenda, Rupert of Hentzau, and The Heart of Princess Osra!

For more information, including coverage of the other crossovers in the book, 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: The King Lives?

 

Are you a Get Smart fan? 

Then you'll love the episode "The King Lives," which not only parodies Anthony Hope's The Prisoner of Zenda, but also has a crossover reference to it!

For more details, see my book Crossovers Expanded: A Secret Chronology of the World Volume 3! As with the first two volumes, this edition is an AUTHORIZED companion to Win Scott Eckert's books Crossovers: A Secret Chronology of the World Volumes 1 and 2 and will be published by Meteor House!

Crossover Cover: Milord Sir Smiht, the English Wizard

Dr. Eszterhazy is a special agent of the government of Scythia-Pannonia-Transbalkania who undertakes various missions for the government involving mysteries and supernatural encounters. Oberzeeleutnant-commander Adler has written a monograph on the deep-sea fishes. Scythia-Pannonia-Transbalkania’s neighboring countries include Ruritania and Graustark. A young student in Prague who thought he had turned into a giant cockroach is mentioned. In Doyle and Watson’s “A Scandal in Bohemia,” Irene Adler’s biography is sandwiched between that of a Hebrew rabbi and that of a staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea fishes in Sherlock Holmes’ index. Ruritania is from Anthony Hope’s The Prisoner of Zenda and Rupert of Hentzau, while Graustark is from the series by George Barr McCutcheon. The young student in Prague who thought he had turned into a giant cockroach is Gregor Samsa from Franz Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis.” However, Gregor was a traveling salesman rather than a student, and he actually did turn into a cockroach. According to Davidson, Gregor’s case was investigated by the local government of Prague. The government must have distorted the true details of the case in order to avoid the public learning the grisly details of Gregor’s transformation, making Kafka’s account the more accurate one. This crossover brings Doctor Esztherhazy and Gregor Samsa into the CU.

Crossover Cover: Bride of the Rat God

According to this novel by Barbara Hambly, Norah Blackstone came to America on a ship called the Ruritania, named after the country seen in Anthony Hope’s The Prisoner of Zenda and Rupert of Hentzau.

Crossover Covers: Maxim Gunn

Pro Se Press has collected Nicholas Boving's Maxim Gunn novels in two omnibus editions. In the first novel, Gunn is an agent of the British Intelligence group known as the Organization, but in the following novels he works independently of them. Given that Boving has contributed to the Tales of the Shadowmen series and other anthologies for Black Coat Press, it is not surprising that the series has a few crossovers. In the first novel, The Chaos Project, Gunn battles the evil Wanda Liszt, who is planning to conquer the world with the aid of Queen Sheba’s Necklace. Wanda’s father, Otto Liszt, had been cast in the mold of the great criminals, like Carl Peterson and Professor Moriarty. Queen Sheba's Necklace is from John Buchan's novel Prester John. Buchan’s Richard Hannay novels contain references to John Laputa and Captain Arcoll, both of whom appear in Prester John. Carl Peterson is Bulldog Drummond’s archenemy. Professor Moriarty needs no further introduction. Philip José Farmer identified Peterson as Professor Moriarty’s grandson. In the second novel, The Demon Plan, MI5 sends Harry Pearce to recruit Gunn, now retired from the Organization, for a mission. Pearce is from the TV series Spooks (aka MI-5 in the United States.) In the fifth book, The Sun Fortress, Gunn rescues the kidnapped Princess Alicia Flavia of Ruritania. Gunn, who is revealed to be a descendant of Rudolf Rassendyll, is also acquainted with a half-Chinese Shaolin priest in California. This is a reference to Kwai Chang Caine II from the television series Kung Fu: The Legend Continues, himself the grandson of the original Kwai Chang Caine from the Western series Kung Fu. In the sixth novel, The Leopard Legion, Gunn meets Alex Arcoll, the great-grandson of Captain Arcoll from Prester John, and his Shaolin monk friend is mentioned again.

Crossover Cover: Vile Bodies

Agatha Runcible, a character from Evelyn Waugh's second novel, Vile Bodies, is mentioned in Josh Reynolds' Carnacki story "Monmouth's Giants." Several characters from Waugh's first book, Decline and Fall, appear or are mentioned in the novel as well. Win included Decline and Fall in Volume 1, as the Egdon Heath Penal Settlement appeared, Egdon Heath being the setting of Thomas Hardy's Return of the Native (the prison also appeared in Kim Newman's story "Sorcerer Conjurer Wizard Witch.") Most of Waugh's novels are connected, and therefore I am reading them for the new volumes. Incidentally, one of the minor characters in Vile Bodies is the ex-King of Ruritania, establishing a connection between Waugh's work and The Prisoner of Zenda. This ex-King is presumably the same former monarch of Ruritania that appears in a few of P.G. Wodehouse's stories.