Crossover Cover: The Book of Yig: Revelations of the Serpent

 

Are you a Cthulhu Mythos fan?

Then you'll love this anthology, which contains among other stories Mark Howard Jones' "Still Life with Death" (which has a nod to a Philip Marlowe story) and Peter Rawlik's "Revelations" (which references my all-time favorite television series, Twin Peaks, among other things)!

For more information, be sure to purchase 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

Autumn 2016

GUIDED TOURS OF FAMOUS SECRET PLACES 

A guide leads a tour group around Paris as part of a magic working, beginning at the Rue Morgue. The members of the tour group are from Arkham, Brichester, Derry, Ingersham, Medicine Man, Mud Creek, and Harrisonville. The first stop is the L’Épi-Scié Tavern, followed by a mansion on the Rue Thérèse. De Castries taught the guide that silver and abstract designs kept his enemies away. The mansion was, and perhaps still is, the meeting place of the Habits Noirs, or the Black Coats in English. The guide lists secret societies that have manipulated humanity throughout history, including the Black Coats, the Si-Fan, the Illuminati, the Shin Tan, the Brotherhood of the Seven Kings, the Black Lodge, and the Power House. The Mona Lisa was stolen twice, the first time by Arsène Lupin, using a secret passageway also used by the notorious Belphégor, also known as the Phantom of the Louvre. Other secret passages in Paris include the room in the Dragon Volant and the passages used by Erik under the Opera House. The guide makes the Voorish Sign and takes the group through the Room of the Barbarous Gods, which includes giant stone statues of the Serpent-Men of Valusia and a black idol from the castle of Joiry. Escaping from the Louvre through the sewers, and feeling like Jean Valjean in the process, the guide and his group resurface not far from the Court of the Dragon. An imitator of Erik battled Lupin’s grandson in the '60s. The next stop after the Opera House is the Rue d’Auseil. The Hidden Places, parts of the world that have been separated from the normal world by powers unknown, include St. Beregonne’s Lane in Hamburg, the cities of Selene and Xebico, the land of Lilliput, and the parts of the Sargasso that Hodgson wrote about. They should not be confused with journeys to other worlds like those of Randolph Carter or the crew of the Mainz Psalter. Occasionally, a person like Erich Zann will find their way into the Rue d’Auseil. A gaping hole in the sky leads into the realm of Azathoth. The guide cries out words in the old tongue of R’lyeh. The man from Mud Creek invokes Cthulhu and Dagon, while the man from Derry sings of the Black Goat of the Wood with a Thousand Young. 

Short story by Matthew Ilseman 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 Rue Morgue is from Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Murders in the Rue Morgue.” Arkham, Massachusetts is the setting of many of H. P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos tales. Brichester is a town in the Severn Valley in Ramsey Campbell’s contributions to the Mythos. Derry is a recurring setting in the works of Stephen King. Ingersham is from Jean Ray’s The City of Unspeakable Fear. The town of Medicine Man is from Gene Wolfe’s The Sorcerer’s House. Mud Creek, Texas is the setting of many works by Joe R. Lansdale. Harrisonville, New Jersey is the home of Seabury Quinn’s occult detective Dr. Jules de Grandin. The L’Épi-Scié tavern and the mansion on the Rue Thérèse are from Paul Féval’s novels about the crime cartel known as the Black Coats. Thibaut de Castries is from Fritz Leiber’s Our Lady of Darkness. The Si-Fan is the society controlled by Sax Rohmer’s Dr. Fu Manchu. The Illuminati is a historical group, but the reference here is specifically to Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson’s The Illuminatus! Trilogy. The Shin Tan is led by Monsieur Ming, the archenemy of Henri Vernes’ hero Bob Morane. The Brotherhood of the Seven Kings is from L. T. Meade and Robert Eustace’s book of the same name. The Black Lodge is from Talbot Mundy’s Jimgrim novel The Devil’s Guard, as well as the television series Twin Peaks and Twin Peaks: The Return. The Power House (aka Krafthaus) is from John Buchan’s The Power House. Arsène Lupin is Maurice Leblanc’s gentleman thief. Belphégor is from Arthur Bernède’s titular novel and serial, as is the Room of the Barbarous Gods. The Dragon Volant is from the story “The Room in the Dragon Volant,” included in J. Sheridan Le Fanu’s In a Glass Darkly. Erik is the title character of Gaston Leroux’s The Phantom of the Opera. The Voorish Sign is from Lovecraft’s “The Dunwich Horror.” The Serpent-Men of Valusia are from Robert E. Howard’s Kull stories. Joiry is from C. L. Moore’s tales of Jirel of Joiry. Jean Valjean is from Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables. The Court of the Dragon is from Robert W. Chambers’ “In the Court of the Dragon,” included in The King in Yellow. Arsène Lupin’s grandson encountered an Erik-like villain in “Vissi d’arte, Vissi d’amore,” an episode of the anime Lupin the Third: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine. The Rue d’Auseil and Erich Zann are from Lovecraft’s “The Music of Erich Zann.” St. Beregonne’s Lane is from Jean Ray’s “The Shadowy Street.” Selene is from Féval’s Vampire City. Xebico is from H. F. Arnold’s “The Night Wire.” Lilliput is from Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels. The Sargasso reference is to William Hope Hodgson’s Sargasso Sea stories. Randolph Carter is from Lovecraft’s Dream Cycle. The Mainz Psalter is from Jean Ray’s titular story. Azathoth is one of Lovecraft’s Outer Gods. R’lyeh is the sunken city where a slumbering Cthulhu is imprisoned. Dagon is from Lovecraft’s “Dagon” and “The Shadow over Innsmouth.” The Black Goat of the Wood with a Thousand Young is Lovecraft’s Great Old One Shub-Niggurath. 

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 TV episode: Case Files

 

In this episode of Twin Peaks: The Return, Richard Horne, the son of Special Agent Dale Cooper’s doppelganger Mr. C and Audrey Horne, gives the corrupt Deputy Chad Broxford money in a Morley Cigarettes package. Morley Cigarettes have appeared in numerous television series and movies, most famously The X-Files. Twin Peaks: The Return is set twenty-five years after the original Twin Peaks, which took place in 1989. 

This is only one of hundreds of works covered in my forthcoming book Crossovers Expanded: A Secret Chronology of the World Vol. 3, to be published by Meteor House. As with the first two books, this volume is an AUTHORIZED companion to Win Scott Eckert's books Crossovers: A Secret Chronology of the World Vols. 1 and 2!

Crossover TV Episode: The Firefly

Hey, are you a fan of the cult favorite television series Twin Peaks?

Then you'll love the reference to one of its characters in this episode of Fringe!

All the details can be found in my books Crossovers Expanded Vols. 1 and 2. AUTHORIZED companions to Crossovers: A Secret Chronology of the World Vols. 1 and 2 by Win Scott Eckert, they will be released by Meteor House in July!

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 Cover: Cutting the Mustard

Valerie Cooper, the government liaison to the mutant superteam known as X-Factor, says “I have a brother who’s an FBI agent, and I am so tired of him telling me about these exciting cases he gets…like for instance, this girl they found. She was dead…wrapped in plastic…” The implication is that Val’s brother is Special Agent Dale Cooper from the television series Twin Peaks. The existence of X-Factor and other mutant superhero teams is not compatible with CU continuity, so this story takes place in the Marvel Universe, but not the CU. In addition, Scott Frost’s book The Autobiography of FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper: My Life, My Tapes explicitly states that Dale’s only sibling is an older brother named Emmet.

Crossover Cover: Dillon and the Pirates of Xonira

New Pulp author Derrick Ferguson's Dillon books and stories often have Easter Egg references to other works of fiction, including some of Ferguson's other books and stories, as well as some works by others that have already been incorporated into the CU. This novel has a few Easter Eggs, including references to a TV series and a book that have previously been incorporated into the CU. Dillon battles Professor Alonzo Sunjoy, who is instructed to cut the engines of his hydrofoil by a member of the Advanced Counter Espionage Syndicate in a Scorpion Attack Helicopter, which is from the movie Fire Birds. Some time later, Dillon is asked to investigate piracy on the island of Xonira by the Braithwaite group, which was founded in 1973 by a man heavily involved in world politics who thought globally, although he worked for the British government. Braithwaite is the British agent who recruits Lee to travel to the evil Han’s island and investigate his criminal activities in the 1973 film Enter the Dragon. Dillon asks for a Black Yukon Sucker Punch, and travels to Xonira in a high-tech submarine, the Morgan Adams. The Black Yukon Sucker Punch is a drink from the television series Twin Peaks, while the Morgan Adams is named after the pirate played by Geena Davis in the movie Cutthroat Island. Dillon tells his friend and comrade Eli Creed to fly to MARDL and stay there until he can arrange other accommodations for them. MARDL (Miami Aerodrome Research & Development Laboratories) is from the Challenger Storm novels by Don Gates. Dillon types a code into his Worldstar satellite phone that lets the Morgan Adams know that he has arrived safely on Xonira. A World Star satellite phone appears appears in Pamela Fryer's novel The Midnight Effect, but given the slightly different spelling, I'm not sure if this is a reference or not. The Pirate Emperor uses the Bonetti Defense during a sword fight with Dillon. The Bonetti Defense is from William Goldman’s book The Princess Bride, as well as Rob Reiner’s film adaptation.

Bonus Crossover Cover: The X-Files: Year Zero

The X-Files: Year Zero features Mulder and Scully investigating the origins of their FBI division. In the second issue, the two are at a diner, and their waitress asks if they want more coffee. Scully says no thanks, and Mulder says, "Although it IS damn fine coffee, as a friend of mine in the Pacific Northwest would say." This friend is FBI Agent Dale Cooper from Twin Peaks, my all time favorite television series, which is coming back for a long-awaited third season on Showtime in 2016.

Crossover Cover: The Autobiography of F.B.I. Special Agent Dale Cooper: My Life, My Tapes

This tie-in book for my favorite show of all time purports to be a transcription of F.B.I. Agent Dale Cooper's tape recordings describing his activities from December 25, 1967-February 24, 1989, when he is sent to the small town of Twin Peaks, WA to investigate the murder of a teenage girl found wrapped in plastic. In an entry on March 30, 1968, the fourteen year old Dale writes, "Have just finished reading about Sherlock Holmes in The Hound of the Baskervilles. I believe Mr. Holmes is the smartest detective who has ever lived, and would very much like to live a life like he did. It is the Friends School belief that the best thing one can do in life is to do good rather than do well. I believe that in Mr. Holmes I see a way to accomplish this." On November 20, 1988, Dale, bored with the mundane cases the Bureau has been assigning him, says, "Holmes used cocaine, an alternative I find unacceptable. What I need, what any detective needs, is a good case. Something to test oneself to the absolute limit. To walk to the edge of the fire and risk it all. The razor’s edge. Are there any great cases anymore, Diane? Is there a Lindbergh kidnapping, a Brinks robbery, a John Dillinger, a Professor Moriarty?" The reference to Holmes as "the smartest detective who has ever lived" and  the mention of Professor Moriarty alongside two real crimes and a real criminal suggest that Holmes and Moriarty exist in the same universe as the characters of Twin Peaks, which had previously been established as taking place in the CU. The book was written by Scott Frost, whose brother Mark co-created the show, and whose father Warren Frost played Dr. Will Hayward on the show. Mark Frost wrote a pair of novels, The List of Seven and The Six Messiahs, about Arthur Conan Doyle and Jack Sparks, on whom Sherlock Holmes was allegedly based. Clearly the Frost family are very fond of Holmes.