H.P. Lovecraft: A TVCU Quickie
What's a quickie? See this blog.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Cthulhu Mythos is a shared fictional universe, based on the work of American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft.
The term was first coined by August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent of Lovecraft, who used the name of the creature Cthulhu—a central figure in Lovecraft literature[1] and the focus of Lovecraft's short story "The Call of Cthulhu" (first published in pulp magazine Weird Tales in 1928)—to identify the system of lore employed by Lovecraft and his literary successors. The writer Richard L. Tierney later applied the term "Derleth Mythos" to distinguish between Lovecraft's works and Derleth's later stories.[2]
Authors writing in the Lovecraftian milieu use elements of the Mythos in an ongoing expansion of the fictional universe.[3]
From me:
I know I said I wasn't going to update any of the horror blogs until my new book, the Horror Crossover Universe, is published, but this isn't an update. It's a quickie.
I only discovered the works of Lovecraft about a decade ago, and learned that actually, I'd unknowingly been exposed to his influence my entire life. And so has everyone else. This in fact is clear from the number of crossovers with Lovecraft's interconnected work. In fact, Lovecraft's mythos permeates and bleeds through the Television Crossover Universe, which really alters the way you view television if you know that Lucy Ricardo exists in the same reality as the Necronomicon.
So quickies are just a taste. And I reiterate that because there is so much to talk about with Lovecraft crossovers, and the upcoming book is filled with them. But I thought it would be fun to do a Lovecraft quickie here.
Here are some articles about the Mythos in Toobworld.
TVCU Mini-Chron: (Note that this is not a full chron. It's a only a partial, because, you know, quickie. This is a sampling of the Lovecraft Mythos TVCU crossovers. If you know of any Lovecraft Mythos crossovers involving television and film not mentioned in this blog, please feel free to comment below or in the discussion forum mentioned above. I will steal your ideas and place them in the book.)
37 A.D.--SWORDS AGAINST DARKNESS “THE RING OF SET” (STORY BY RICHARD L. TIERNEY)--Simon Magus is a wizard in the time of Jesus (and just following his death) who finds himself drawn to battle evil for the love of the beautiful Helen. Simon Magus is a historical figure who appeared in the Bible and figured in later folklore. Here, Tierney combines this Biblical figure with Lovecraftian horror in a series of stories. Most of the stories are collected in The Scroll of Thoth.
c. 1250—“The Fairest of Them All” by Sean Taylor, appearing in the collection Classics Mutilated.
The brutal queen Alyss gains entry to the Homelands through a magic mirror owned by Snow White (dug from their mines by the Seven Dawrfs): and leads her armies on a mad spree of slaughter in a successful attempt to find and slay the escaped Queen of Hearts. During the course of this story, two items are revealed. Firstly, this ancient Queen of Hearts was also Snow White’s sorcerous stepmother. Secondly, the Jabberwock is “the bastard child of the elder gods” (21); within context, these elder gods are H.P. Lovecraft’s own Elder Gods.
After this story, Snow White magically bound Alyss with what was once Merlin’s Mirror. Alyss would attempt to leave this mirror many times over the coming centuries, and thus the mirror slowly became known as Alyss’ Looking Glass. And as the Ages pass, Alyss would become known to history as Alyss the Chaos Queen.
1874—Alice’s Journey Beyond the Moon; R. J. Carter & Lucy Wright
Alice travels to the Wonderlandian moon and has a series of uninteresting adventures. While there, she meets her old friends the Mad Hatter and the March Hare, but they are operating incognito for some unknown reason. She also encounters Achilles and the Tortoise from Carroll’s piece “What the Tortoise Said to Achilles.” At present it is unclear how the pair came to be on the Wonderlandian moon.
There is one disturbing effect to the acknowledgement that this novel is part of the Television Crossover Universe (TVCU). This novel is seen in Dream’s library in Neil Gaiman’s comic series The Sandman, and thus the events of the Sandman comic series is drawn into the TVCU as Alice’s Journey Beyond the Moon exists in both universes. A number of other crossovers exist that strongly suggest that The Sandman exists within the confines of the TVCU. In the Sandmanstoryline The Kindly Ones, Dream (the protagonist) meets with some allies in the Wood Between Worlds, a place which originally appeared in C. S. Lewis’ The Magician’s Nephew. In the Doctor Who novel Happy Endings, the version of Death from the Sandman comics attends Bernice Summerfield’s wedding. In Simon R. Green’s Drinking Midnight Wine (which is wolded through a host of other internal crossovers, as well as by being a spin-off of sorts to the already wolded Nightside novels), Death has a long conversation with Toby Dexter after he takes a bullet to the head (he got better). The Magdalene Grimoire, from the first issue of Sandman, appears in the Angel episode “Hell Bound.”
Some questionable crossovers with the Sandman also exist. Rhys Thomas’ The Suicide Club, which is supposedly a semi-sequel to Robert Lewis Stevenson’s Suicide Club stories, features several appearances by “Death of the Endless.” Versions of Dream and Death appear in Planetary #7, there are a number of continuity differences between Planetary and the TVCU, but according to the research of Jess Nevins. Destiny is very similar to Lord Dunsany’s character “The Thing that is Neither God nor Beast, Trogool”; because of the interconnected relation between Dunsany and Lovecraft’s work, Trogool may or may not exist in the TVCU. If it does, that provides a strong link between The Sandman and the TVCU.
Some readers may now be wondering what the issue of inclusion is; there is a number of universes, and the Endless exist in all worlds serving their goals. Despite this, inclusion of the Sandman as is would shatter the established cosmology of the TVCU; Satan has not abandoned Hell (though he is not bound to remain within Hell, yet) to the command of angels, nor as the sequel series Lucifer shows has the God of the Hebrew and Christian religions died to make way for a girl of pantheistic intentions.
To avoid the problems with Sandman’s inclusion to the TVCU, and follow the evidence presented, is not a difficult problem. The best position to assume is that most of the Sandman stories take place within the TVCU (or, dear reader, if you believe the universe shown in DC Comics exists, it may take place there), but many are outright fictions with no basis in truth. Other stories are a mix and match of truth and fantasy.
April - July 1922--WEIRD TALES “HERBERT WEST - REANIMATOR” (STORY BY H.P. LOVECRAFT)--Mad scientist finds a way to reanimate life, but with a cost. This story is notable for introducing Miskatonic University in Arkham, MA. Both the school and the town will reappear in many of Lovecraft’s tales, and the expanded universe created from Lovecraft’s stories. Herbert West will later be the subjects of movies and comics that cannot be the same fellow. The film remakes the original story but in a modern setting (the 1980s), and then the comics continue the character from the film and its sequel, but in the 21st century, as if the character is unaged in some versions, appropriately aged in others, and sometimes at a point in between. (Comics have never been known for consistency, especially when a public domain character is being portrayed by different creative teams.) The comic and the film are also pulled into the HCU (see later entries), so I must assume that they are relatives, but not the same person. Much as the Frankensteins tend to have a genetic calling for reanimating life, so to do the Wests.
1923—“Alice at R’lyeh”; Murray Ewing
Alice finds herself transported onto the island R’lyeh as Cthulhu wakes; she is joined by the astral form of H. P. Lovecraft, who is utterly hopeless in the face of the existential terror. Alice is curious and logical, as always. As the Great Old One wakes, the Cheshire Cat arrives and harangues him back to his tomb. Lovecraft’s astral form drifts home while Alice and the Cat continue on to Wonderland.
During her investigation of R’lyeh Alice discovers an etching that looks much like the Jabberwock. This information squares nicely with Sawn Taylor’s “The Fairest of Them All.” Lovecraft’s allegation the Cheshire Cat is the avatar of Azathoth, however, cannot be taken seriously by any historian of Wonderland.
Normally I exclude all internet based fan fiction, but this poem proved so excellent (and in such a masterful copy of Lewis Carroll’s poetic style) that I find it may have occurred within the bounds of the TVCU. For readers who object to the use of any fan fiction, you are free to disregard this entry entirely.
“Alice at R’lyeh” may be found online at: http://www.murrayewing.co.uk/alice/alice.php
1930--KING KONG: THE ISLAND OF THE SKULL (NOVEL BY MATTHEW COSTELLO)--This prequel to the 2005 version of the film features three separate stories actually, showing the events before the film’s story, from the point of views of film maker Carl Denham, actress Ann Darrow, and former Navy Diver Sam Kelly. Denham and Darrow will end up in the film. Kelly is the discoverer of the island who creates the map that ends up in Denham’s hands. I actually put a lot of thought as to whether King Kong was of the horror genre, and eventually decided it was, as it is a classic monster movie for sure. Of course, this crossover story brings in the 2005 remake from Peter Jackson. However, the original version is also in. The two versions are actually the same story, so we can consider them to be the same tale from different perspectives. As for the crossover, a native girl of Skull Island mentions R’lyeh (though spelled ry-leh) when dying. R’lyeh is the underwater city associated with the elder god Cthulhu. So it seems there’s a connection between Skull Island and Lovecraftian lore.
March 15, 1937--SUPERNATURAL--Horror author and researcher into the Cthulhu mythos H.P. Lovecraft is killed by a demon in his study.
1938—Five Ghosts—“The Haunting of Fabian Gray”; Frank J. Barbere, Chris Mooneyham, Lauren Affe, and Dylan Todd
Treasure hunter Fabian Gray comes in contact with the Dreamstone, one of those nasty, cursed baubles left lying about by nasty Lovecraftian beasts. In the contact, he becomes possessed by five ghosts: Dracula, Merlin, Robin Hood, Miyamoto Musashi, and, of course, Sherlock Holmes. In the contact, his sister’s soul is stolen. Cue years of questing to reclaim her soul and wake her catatonic body.
The old gods are not without agents all their own. They summon up the remains of Iago the betrayer, setting him on a path to kill Fabian and reclaim the Dreamstone. This battle culminates in the center of Shangri-La. Iago’s spirit is destroyed, and Fabian continues his quest.
H.P. Lovecraft consults with two other members of his brotherhood. In his open journal, one can see three things of note: the words "Dunwich" and "Necronomicon" as well as a squiggly sketch of Cthulhu's sushi head.
H.P. Lovecraft consults with two other members of his brotherhood. In his open journal, one can see three things of note: the words "Dunwich" and "Necronomicon" as well as a squiggly sketch of Cthulhu's sushi head.
It goes without saying that Sherlock Holmes is the aforementioned tulpa. Holmes himself is demonstrably still alive at this time (for one example among many, see Manly Wade Wellman’s excellent “But Our Hero Was Not Dead”). When he requires healing, or wishes to watch his soul-clones more closely, Dracula enters a dream state. It’s entirely possible that Fabian Gray’s possession of the Dreamstone picked up on the physically drifting Dracula and collected his spirit. In the comic, Dracula is shown to be the least content with Fabian’s control—desperately seeking a chance to free himself, or control Fabian for his own ends.
Merlin still slumbers where he was imprisoned by his love, Nimue. It would be easy for his spirit to be picked up in the psychic maelstrom and deposited in Fabian’s body. Similarly, some legends say Robin’s spirit still pervades Sherwood. Miyamoto Musashi, perhaps the greatest swordsman in Japan, was buried in his armor as a sign of respect. One wonders if that respect is what allowed him to manifest—either as a true ghost or tulpa—until such time as Fabian absorbed him.
Iago betrayed the noble Othello in Shakespeare’s Othello; for his crimes, he was tortured to death. He was no more successful a villain in death than he was in life. Shangri-La first appeared in James Hilton’s novel Lost Horizon. For a lost city, Shangri-La has certainly been discovered often. Among its “discoverers” are Indiana Jones, Sherlock Holmes, Jem, G.I. Joe, Rick O'Connell and family, Nathan Drake, Lara Croft, and many, many others.
H. P. Lovecraft died one year previously, on March 15, 1937. It remains to be seen if Five Ghostswill require chronological adjustment. Or, perhaps, if some explanation is in the offing.
H. P. Lovecraft died one year previously, on March 15, 1937. It remains to be seen if Five Ghostswill require chronological adjustment. Or, perhaps, if some explanation is in the offing.
1938—Five Ghosts: Legend of the Masamune; Frank J. Barbiere, Gary Brown, Lauren Affee, and Dylan Todd
Fabian Gray arrives in Japan at the request of an old lover. A rival clan of Lovecraftian beasts are edging in on her territory, and she needs the skills of those long dead.
January 1, 1973 (No date setting as it’s a biography)--DOC SAVAGE: HIS APOCALYPTIC LIFE (NOVEL BY PHILIP JOSE FARMER)--Philip Jose Farmer, after research, investigation, and interviews, puts forth the real biography of the man most famously known as Doc Savage. Tarzan Alive introduced the Farmer Universe, and this book expands and clarifies. One of my favorites. As for the crossover inclusion, Farmer states that the character identified in H.P. Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness, Professor Dyer, is actually Professor William Harper “Johnny” Littlejohn, one of Doc’s five assistants. And we know that everything written by Lovecraft is also in the HCU. Another cross that is horror related is that the events of King Kong end on the Empire State Building, which is Doc’s headquarters. Though he was out of town, he returns just as the events ended and was instrumental in the creation of the film based on the events.
November - December 1981 (Contemporary Setting and circa 18,000 - 20,000 B.C.)--MARVEL TEAM-UP # 111 - 112 “OF SPIDERS AND SERPENTS” / “A KING COMES RIDING” (MARVEL COMICS)--Spider-Man rescues the Defenders from the Serpent Men. In the process, Spider-Man is poisoned, and the only cure can be found in the ancient past. Doctor Strange sends Spider-Man to the past where he meets Kull and gains his cure. Two parter. The first featured Spider-Man and the Devil Salyer. Part two featured Spider-Man and Kull. Kull’s past has been firmly established to exist in the Horror Crossover Universe mainly due to Robert E. Howard’s tendency to include links to Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos in his sword and sorcery stories. In the Horror Crossover Universe, I believe Spider-Man and other Marvel heroes did operate for a short time of about 25 years, from the 1960s to the mid 1980s. The Defenders team in this story is Doctor Strange, Sub-Mariner, Hulk, Devil-Slayer, Gargoyle, and Valkyrie. Doctor Strange has several crosses, most notably with Tomb of Dracula. The Sub-Mariner has crosses in both the golden age and the silver age. The Hulk here is the comics version, as opposed to the television series that was brought in via a reference in a Kolchak story. Since the comics version is Bruce and the television version is David, they could still both exist in the Horror Crossover Universe. The Devil-Slayer had his own series, which was a horror/super-hero type series. Gargoyle and Valkyrie are both original characters from the Defenders series.
1987—“The Incredible Shrinking Turtles”; “It Came from Beneath the Sewers”; “The Mean Machines”; “Curse of the Evil Eye”
In this four part storyline the Turtles and Shredder battle over fragments of the Eye of Sarnoth, an ancient crystal of unimaginable power; Shredder wishes to use the fragments to open a portal into Dimension X. At the end of this story, the shards fall into other hands, leaving both the Foot Clan and the Turtles without any net gain to all of this foot work.
In H.P. Lovecraft’s “The Doom that Came to Sarnath”—which is one letter away from the crystal named here—the men of Sarnath stole an idol dedicated to the Great Old Ones. This brought great destruction upon all of them. It seems highly probable that the Eye of Sarnoth is a crystal eye plucked from the Idol of Sarnath.
In this four part storyline the Turtles and Shredder battle over fragments of the Eye of Sarnoth, an ancient crystal of unimaginable power; Shredder wishes to use the fragments to open a portal into Dimension X. At the end of this story, the shards fall into other hands, leaving both the Foot Clan and the Turtles without any net gain to all of this foot work.
In H.P. Lovecraft’s “The Doom that Came to Sarnath”—which is one letter away from the crystal named here—the men of Sarnath stole an idol dedicated to the Great Old Ones. This brought great destruction upon all of them. It seems highly probable that the Eye of Sarnoth is a crystal eye plucked from the Idol of Sarnath.
Winter 1995--X-FILES ANNUAL # 1--"Hallow Eve"--Agents Mulder and Scully visit Miskatonic University in Arkham, Massachusetts, which is a well known location seen in the works of H.P. LOVECRAFT.
2008—Hack/Slash: Entry Wound; Tim Seeley
In an empty pocket dimension formed centuries ago by the Thoans, the actualized concept Mary Shelly Lovecraft is battled by heroes of this earth (the TVCU) and other worlds. The only heroes attending the event known to be from the TVCU are the residents of the Boneyard (due to crossovers with The Creature from the Black Lagoon, Frankenstein, and Friday the 13th), and the girl the narration notes only as “the daughter of Alice Liddel.” Clearly this is not the daughter of Alice Liddell; Alice Liddell had no daughters, and the last name is spelt far too differently.
It is my belief that this Alice Liddle is Chibi from The Birthday Massacre song “In the Dark.” Somehow she has once more been drawn into cosmic-level battle against evil.
2010--SUPERNATURAL--Ivan Ronald Schablotski
Another fun fact for this article (I'd add it myself, but I'm unsure just what realities you'd want this to go in).
The planet Pandorum is mentioned by the angel Gabriel (in his guse as Loki) during a 2010 episode of SUPERNATURAL as a place he wishes to go with the goddess Kali to escape the war between heaven and hell taking taking place on Earth. I consider SUPERNATURAL to be part of the TVCU via appearences by Spengler and Zeddemore (albeit not THE Spengler and Zeddemore of GHOSTBUSTERS fame) and Lovecraft's Old Ones, but I don't think that's 'official' anywhere.
Note that this http://cartoons.ashtonpres
is NOT the crossover between Supernatural and Avatar.
The planet Pandorum is mentioned by the angel Gabriel (in his guse as Loki) during a 2010 episode of SUPERNATURAL as a place he wishes to go with the goddess Kali to escape the war between heaven and hell taking taking place on Earth. I consider SUPERNATURAL to be part of the TVCU via appearences by Spengler and Zeddemore (albeit not THE Spengler and Zeddemore of GHOSTBUSTERS fame) and Lovecraft's Old Ones, but I don't think that's 'official' anywhere.
Note that this http://cartoons.ashtonpres
is NOT the crossover between Supernatural and Avatar.
May 2011--Hack/Slash-Eva: Monsters Ball--From Lindsey: This is a four issue miniseries crossing Cassie and Vlad over with Dynamite’s Eva, Daughter of Dracula. Eva first appeared in the “Ash vs. the Monsters” arc of Army of Darkness, placing H/S one degree away from AoD, and later crossed over with Jackie Estacado, the Darkness. Eva is, of course, the daughter of Dracula, and fights evil aided by (a) Frankenstein’s Monster. In this miniseries, her enemy Dr. Pretorius (yes, him) teams up with Mary Shelley Lovecraft with plan’s to rewrite reality, leading Cassie and Vlad to team up with Eva. The Gill-Man himself can be seen in one panel, in a glass tank in Pretorius’ lair. Matthew Hickman adds: on the hack slash Eva Entry Eva is the daughter of the Dracula who appears in http://www.comicvine.com/monster-war/49-20468/ The ash vs. the Monsters story arc picks up like the next day oh and One of the other characters form Interdimensional Women’s Prison Breakout Hoodoo Hex Form Clot noble and the Megalords
2011 to Present--ONCE UPON A TIME--There are many alternate dimensions whose origins are unknown, but there are many things parallel. One such dimension is the Enchanted Forest, where a different version of fairy tales happened in an ambiguous once upon a time. However, many of these characters found themselves trapped in the town of Storybrooke, in the TVCU, with amnesia,and apparently not aging, though not aware of it, which is part of a what we para-scholars call a time lock. Here Belle's Beast was actually Rumplestitlskin, and she is currently being locked up a prisoner of Snow White's step-mother. Cinderella has also appeared. This show is full of "Easter egg" crossovers with Lost. Check out this site to see them all. So I've concluded that the Enchanted Forest is indeed in the Rift, as are other realities like the Looniverse, Wonderland, Narnia, Hell, ect. I have also concluded that the island from Lost was part of the Enchanted Forest. Interestingly, it seems that the characters of Storybrooke were living there timelessly until the spell was broken at the start of the show. This timelock is similar to what exists in Riverdale. Interestingly, Riverdale too seems to be slightly existing between two dimensions (TVCU and Looniverse.) I may consider that the shows that are in the Bongo Universe may actually exist in a timelock, existing in both the Looniverse and TVCU, explaining some crossovers that seem to happen in one or the other reality.
- James Bojaciuk adds: Hrmm. That the Evil Queen can manifest as black smoke reminds me of a theory my friend Tess and I came up with: that the black smoke is a disembodied Great Old One who exists entirely independently of the man in black, just as it existed independently of everyone else it assumed the form of. Once Upon a Time seems to hint that it survived the incident on the Island, and has moved on to Storybrooke to further its goals.
- Idea! The black smoke might very well be Nyarlathotep. Both manifest as either swarthy men (see Lovecraft's "Nyarlathotep") or as a cloud of darkness (see Lumley's Elysia, Brennan's "The Willow Platform"). In Lovecraft's own "The Dreams in
the Witch House" he manifests himself as the Black Man.Toby O'Brien also adds: It's a Toobworld Dynamic conceit that the 7th Doctor's final speech about visiting a place where the people are made of smoke meant that he had visited the Island of 'Lost'..... and in the first episode the town clock was stuck at 8:15......I see the numerical sequence as being a crossover since there's something universal about them of great power and significance.
Both act as agents of temptation, and both are identified with dreams. Both the smokey man in black and Nyarlathotep employ an Egyptian motif. I think this is proof positive that the black smoke is Nyarlathotep.Ivan Ronald Schablotski also addes: Just remember that they eat Apollo candy bars in Storybrook, Maine, so it should be the same reality as SCRUBS and LOST. Just discovered another Lost / Once Upon A Time connection: Emma's car has a Geronimo Jackson bumper sticker. That's a reference to a fictional band whose hit song "Dharma Lady" was featured on LOST. Also, Emma Swann and Mary Margaret drink MacCutcheon whisky. This is a fictional brand of scotch whisky used throughout the LOST series. Yes, there are many, MANY easter eggs alluding to LOST. Pretty much anytime someone mentions a number, it's one of THOSE numbers! But I can't personally count those kind of references as crossovers.
2021--TALES OF THE SHADOWMEN VOLUME 4: LORDS OF TERROR--"Captain Future and the Lunar Peril"--Another one I uncovered by accident. This one doesn't involve the Doctor, but it includes the mactroencephalites from DOCTOR OMEGA and Venusian aikido from DOCTOR WHO. In 1969 of the TVCU, a bomb is placed on the moon by MADAME ATOMOS. A time traveler named ST. MENOUX (from FUTURE TIMES THREE) travels to 2021 to warn authorities but finds himself in an alternate universe where Earth had developed much faster technologically and all the planets of the solar system are inhabited. (This is the reality in which Barsoom exists, and may be my explanation for BACK TO THE FUTURE PART II). The crossovers that appear as part of this reality in this story are: CAPTAIN FUTURE, ERIK JOHN STARK, EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS NOVELS, LEIGH BRACKETT NOVELS, NORTHWEST SMITH, C.L. MOORE NOVELS, CALLISTO, THE DOOR TO SATURN, THE INSECTS FROM SHAGGAI, THE FAMILY TREE OF THE GODS, LOVECRAFT MYTHOS, OUTLAW WORLD, NYCTALOPE, FLASH GORDON, FUTURE TIMES THREE, CARSON OF VENUS, THE SEVEN SPACE STONES, HAWK CARSE, MADAME ATOMOS, FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON, THE FIRST MEN IN THE MOON, LOST PARADISE, LANCELOT BIGGS, THE PLUTONIAN DRUG, INTERPLANETARY HUNTRESS, VULTHOOM, BLACK THIRST,
2183 - 2185--MASS EFFECT (VIDEO GAMES)--Shepard and his crew must stop the Reapers, aliens who exist outside the known galaxy, from invading. Mass Effect consists of three games and several tie in works of fiction thus far. One character is Ashley Williams who seems to be descended from Ash of the Evil Dead series, even having a fondness for the term “boomstick”. One of the ships seen is the Demeter, the same name as the ship seen in Dracula. As noted with Star Trek crossovers, ships tend to be named after real historical figures, places, ect, and thus I consider this a crossover. The Reapers of this story are clearly the Old Ones of Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos. Though they have given up their bodies for bio-mechanical forms, they still inhabit the same shapes and the Reaper mythos strongly resembles the Cthulhu Mythos. A reference to a character being only mostly dead is a link to the Princess Bride. The use of a maneuver called the Crazy Ivan is a link to Firefly. The use of being dead as a tax dodge provides a link the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. The name Qwib-Qwib is a reference to Fred Saberhagen’s Berserker series. The project from A Clockwork Orange is also referenced. Also the engineer Adams may be a Star Trek reference. This video game series takes place in the Horror Crossover Universe, but as with all stories set in the future, it takes place in one of an infinite number of possible alternate futures.
Fall 2265--THE FEDERATION HOLMES--This has many references, some of which are crossovers, and others are not (by my definition anyways.) STAR TREK: The stories in this anthology take place with the Star Trek reality as the backdrop. SHERLOCK HOLMES: The Holmes and company here are robotic recreations. LORD OF THE RINGS: This is a valid crossover. Holmes sees a copy of The Origin of Tree Worship by Entish. THE LOST WORLD: Holmes sees a copy of The Ladder of Life by Challenger. A.J. RAFFLES: Referenced as a real historical figure. THE SAINT: Referenced as a real person. INDIANA JONES: Not a crossover. Just a joke. A looter archaeologist named Jones was known on Indiana IV. LOVECRAFT: Maybe a crossover. There are ships named the O.C. March, the Cthulhu, the Arkham, the Sothoth, and the Alhazred. Perhaps there is a faction within Starfleet who worship the Elder Gods and chose these names, while most of the Federation was oblivious to the meaning. Also, Cyrano Jones references the three Hells of Rlyeh, which means he believes it to either be real or mythical. Either way, that confirms it as a crossover. PINK PANTHER: There is a safe whose model is P113N7K Panther. I can't make this as a crossover, just an in-joke, even though the Pink Panther is in.
2273--STAR TREK: INFESTATION--This is where the current IDW series is set, because they love to buy our favorite stories just to say they no longer exist. There have been a few crossovers. In Infestation, zombies from the universe of ZOMBIES VS. ROBOTS are somehow sent through time and space to the 23rd century of the TVCU (STAR TREK) and the present day TVCU2 (G.I. JOE, TRANSFORMERS, and GHOSTBUSTERS.) The Universe of CVO is also involved. Then, in Infestation 2, LOVECRAFTian horrors attack in the present day TVCU2 (G.I. JOE, TRANSFORMERS) and present day TVCU (TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES, 30 DAYS OF NIGHT, DANGER GIRL).
Late March 3001?--FUTURAMA--"A Bicyclops Built For Two"--One of Alkazar's four other would-be brides appears to be a member of the Great Race of Yith, a species of time-travelling body-snatchers from the H.P. Lovecraft story, The Shadow Out of Time.
ALTERNATE REALITIES:
TVCU2--This is the divergent timeline of remakes. This is where the current IDW series is set, because they love to buy our favorite stories just to say they no longer exist. There have been a few crossovers. In Infestation, zombies from the universe of ZOMBIES VS. ROBOTS are somehow sent through time and space to the 23rd century of the TVCU (STAR TREK) and the present day TVCU2 (G.I. JOE, TRANSFORMERS, and GHOSTBUSTERS.) The Universe of CVO is also involved. Then, in Infestation 2, LOVECRAFTian horrors attack in the present day TVCU2 (G.I. JOE, TRANSFORMERS) and present day TVCU (TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES, 30 DAYS OF NIGHT, DANGER GIRL).
Thanks to James Bojaciuk for unknowingly and involuntarily co-writing this mini-chron.
More crossovers from Wikipedia:
2183 - 2185--MASS EFFECT (VIDEO GAMES)--Shepard and his crew must stop the Reapers, aliens who exist outside the known galaxy, from invading. Mass Effect consists of three games and several tie in works of fiction thus far. One character is Ashley Williams who seems to be descended from Ash of the Evil Dead series, even having a fondness for the term “boomstick”. One of the ships seen is the Demeter, the same name as the ship seen in Dracula. As noted with Star Trek crossovers, ships tend to be named after real historical figures, places, ect, and thus I consider this a crossover. The Reapers of this story are clearly the Old Ones of Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos. Though they have given up their bodies for bio-mechanical forms, they still inhabit the same shapes and the Reaper mythos strongly resembles the Cthulhu Mythos. A reference to a character being only mostly dead is a link to the Princess Bride. The use of a maneuver called the Crazy Ivan is a link to Firefly. The use of being dead as a tax dodge provides a link the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. The name Qwib-Qwib is a reference to Fred Saberhagen’s Berserker series. The project from A Clockwork Orange is also referenced. Also the engineer Adams may be a Star Trek reference. This video game series takes place in the Horror Crossover Universe, but as with all stories set in the future, it takes place in one of an infinite number of possible alternate futures.
Fall 2265--THE FEDERATION HOLMES--This has many references, some of which are crossovers, and others are not (by my definition anyways.) STAR TREK: The stories in this anthology take place with the Star Trek reality as the backdrop. SHERLOCK HOLMES: The Holmes and company here are robotic recreations. LORD OF THE RINGS: This is a valid crossover. Holmes sees a copy of The Origin of Tree Worship by Entish. THE LOST WORLD: Holmes sees a copy of The Ladder of Life by Challenger. A.J. RAFFLES: Referenced as a real historical figure. THE SAINT: Referenced as a real person. INDIANA JONES: Not a crossover. Just a joke. A looter archaeologist named Jones was known on Indiana IV. LOVECRAFT: Maybe a crossover. There are ships named the O.C. March, the Cthulhu, the Arkham, the Sothoth, and the Alhazred. Perhaps there is a faction within Starfleet who worship the Elder Gods and chose these names, while most of the Federation was oblivious to the meaning. Also, Cyrano Jones references the three Hells of Rlyeh, which means he believes it to either be real or mythical. Either way, that confirms it as a crossover. PINK PANTHER: There is a safe whose model is P113N7K Panther. I can't make this as a crossover, just an in-joke, even though the Pink Panther is in.
2273--STAR TREK: INFESTATION--This is where the current IDW series is set, because they love to buy our favorite stories just to say they no longer exist. There have been a few crossovers. In Infestation, zombies from the universe of ZOMBIES VS. ROBOTS are somehow sent through time and space to the 23rd century of the TVCU (STAR TREK) and the present day TVCU2 (G.I. JOE, TRANSFORMERS, and GHOSTBUSTERS.) The Universe of CVO is also involved. Then, in Infestation 2, LOVECRAFTian horrors attack in the present day TVCU2 (G.I. JOE, TRANSFORMERS) and present day TVCU (TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES, 30 DAYS OF NIGHT, DANGER GIRL).
Late March 3001?--FUTURAMA--"A Bicyclops Built For Two"--One of Alkazar's four other would-be brides appears to be a member of the Great Race of Yith, a species of time-travelling body-snatchers from the H.P. Lovecraft story, The Shadow Out of Time.
ALTERNATE REALITIES:
TVCU2--This is the divergent timeline of remakes. This is where the current IDW series is set, because they love to buy our favorite stories just to say they no longer exist. There have been a few crossovers. In Infestation, zombies from the universe of ZOMBIES VS. ROBOTS are somehow sent through time and space to the 23rd century of the TVCU (STAR TREK) and the present day TVCU2 (G.I. JOE, TRANSFORMERS, and GHOSTBUSTERS.) The Universe of CVO is also involved. Then, in Infestation 2, LOVECRAFTian horrors attack in the present day TVCU2 (G.I. JOE, TRANSFORMERS) and present day TVCU (TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES, 30 DAYS OF NIGHT, DANGER GIRL).
Thanks to James Bojaciuk for unknowingly and involuntarily co-writing this mini-chron.
More crossovers from Wikipedia:
- The Doctor, Ace and Bernice Summerfield meet Sherlock Holmes, Doctor Watson and then all of them do battle with H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos monsters. (Doctor Who: The New Adventures novel All-Consuming Fire (1994))
TVCU CREW REVIEW
Here's what the Crew has posted lately about the Lovecraft Mythos.
Five Ghosts is on sale at Amazon for $5.73.
For everyone playing along at home, this is the comic where a treasure hunter is possessed by the ghosts of Sherlock Holmes, Dracula, Robin Hood, Merlin, and Miyamoto Musashi. It's also incredibly good and well, well, well worth the purchase.
My copy came today. It's a lovely book.
In the flipping, I noticed a crossover that failed to sink in. Among the papers of the secret order out to kill Fabian Grey is a note bearing the words "Dunwich" and "Necronomicon." Sketched along side is Cthulhu's face.
Lovecraft seems to be present as well, which is a bit of a problem. He died one year previously, on March 15, 1937.
For everyone playing along at home, this is the comic where a treasure hunter is possessed by the ghosts of Sherlock Holmes, Dracula, Robin Hood, Merlin, and Miyamoto Musashi. It's also incredibly good and well, well, well worth the purchase.
My copy came today. It's a lovely book.
In the flipping, I noticed a crossover that failed to sink in. Among the papers of the secret order out to kill Fabian Grey is a note bearing the words "Dunwich" and "Necronomicon." Sketched along side is Cthulhu's face.
Lovecraft seems to be present as well, which is a bit of a problem. He died one year previously, on March 15, 1937.
Five Ghosts Volume 1: The Haunting of Fabian Gray TP Paperback
Got a couple of Doctor Who (novel) crossover today.
In Millennial Rites, by Craig Hinton, The Doctor takes on Yog-Sothoth in 1999, and the Library of Saint John the Beheaded, from the Sherlock Holmes crossover The All-Consuming Fire, is featured in the story. The library has copies of De Vermis Mysteriis, The Pnakotic Manuscripts, The Eltdown Shards, and the Book of Eibon. But the real fun comes when a blast of mystical energy is released, and is sensed by "special" individuals all over Earth, including "a thoughtful man levitating in a voluminous blue cloak" in an old brownstone in New York, and "a blond haired man in a dirty beige trench coat" drinking in a Dublin bar. There are versions of Doctor Strange and John Constantine in the expanded Who-niverse.
In The Quantum Archangel, also by Hinton, The Master keeps an original copy of The Necronomicon in his Tardis, and it.s mentioned that the events of the serial Logopolis destoyed Oa and one-third of the Shi'ar Empire.
In Goth Opera, the Doctor takes on vampires in 1993. A rogue Time Lady working with the rogue vampires tells them when they ask about Dracula: "That legendary figures peogeny all died out." Wouldn't be the first time someone counted Vlad out mistakenly.
In Invasion of the Cat-People, the Doctor runs down a list of felinoid aliens, including the Lion-Men of Mongo (Flash Gordon), the Felinoids of Cait (Star Trek), Kzinti warriors (Larry Niven's Man-Kzin Wars), and mentions that the Aegis have been known to use metamorphic cats as secret agents (Trek, again).
And in the short story "Prisoner of the Sun", in Decalogs 10, Liz Shaw thinks of "NATO, UNCLE, NEMESIS, SHADO; all thos great organizations that had inspired people in the late sixties."
In Millennial Rites, by Craig Hinton, The Doctor takes on Yog-Sothoth in 1999, and the Library of Saint John the Beheaded, from the Sherlock Holmes crossover The All-Consuming Fire, is featured in the story. The library has copies of De Vermis Mysteriis, The Pnakotic Manuscripts, The Eltdown Shards, and the Book of Eibon. But the real fun comes when a blast of mystical energy is released, and is sensed by "special" individuals all over Earth, including "a thoughtful man levitating in a voluminous blue cloak" in an old brownstone in New York, and "a blond haired man in a dirty beige trench coat" drinking in a Dublin bar. There are versions of Doctor Strange and John Constantine in the expanded Who-niverse.
In The Quantum Archangel, also by Hinton, The Master keeps an original copy of The Necronomicon in his Tardis, and it.s mentioned that the events of the serial Logopolis destoyed Oa and one-third of the Shi'ar Empire.
In Goth Opera, the Doctor takes on vampires in 1993. A rogue Time Lady working with the rogue vampires tells them when they ask about Dracula: "That legendary figures peogeny all died out." Wouldn't be the first time someone counted Vlad out mistakenly.
In Invasion of the Cat-People, the Doctor runs down a list of felinoid aliens, including the Lion-Men of Mongo (Flash Gordon), the Felinoids of Cait (Star Trek), Kzinti warriors (Larry Niven's Man-Kzin Wars), and mentions that the Aegis have been known to use metamorphic cats as secret agents (Trek, again).
And in the short story "Prisoner of the Sun", in Decalogs 10, Liz Shaw thinks of "NATO, UNCLE, NEMESIS, SHADO; all thos great organizations that had inspired people in the late sixties."
In an older SNL sketch from SNL that can be seen on the best of Jimmy Fallon, where Fallon and Ben Aflect play radio dj's. on the radio, Fallon says that he and the other dj started off in college "at Rutgers, er, Miskatonic". I guess perhaps if you were a dj at Miskatonic you might want to lie about where you went to school.
James Bojaciuk shared John Myers's photo.
Yes, most of us have seen it. It's still awesome.
I was going to write up a blog post in which the great intelligence from "Doctor who" was in fact a rogue splinter group from the Q continuum of "Star Trek". However, my research shows that the Who novels claim the Great Intelligence is actually Yog-Sothoth. I like that idea better.
Innsmouth Academyhttp://www.thesecretworld.com/world/locations/academy
a Zombie, Dracula, , a mummy,an undead pirate big foot, an alien a yeti, the loc ness monster,one of the Frankenstein monsters, a member of the Dr. Jekyll clan, a robot, a a human fly hybrid,an Evil Clown,a Slasher,a monster baby, the hunch back of Notre dame, a mutant alligator, a werewolf, a Deep one an a monster Shark all Have races after a Zombie apocalypse http://www.monster500.com/meet-the-monster/
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Bonus. Horror Crossover Universe!
Bonus. Horror Crossover Universe!
The HCU sadly has no Lovecraft. Just kidding. Here's a sampling.
THE WOLVERINE “THE NAMELESS CITY” (STORY BY H.P. LOVECRAFT)
Release Date: November 1921 (Contemporary Setting)
Series: Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos
The Story: The Nameless City is a story of an ancient city inhabited by lizard people, whom appeared in a vision to the mad Arab Abdul Alhazred. In modern times, these lizards are found to still exist, but living beneath the city.
HCU Comments: The Mad Arab Abdul Alhazred is said to be the author of the Necronomicon and this is his first mention officially in fiction, though Lovecraft himself created the name years earlier and used it as a pseudonym for himself. Author August Derleth would later, with full permission, expand on the identity of the mad Arab, the Necronomicon, and the mythos in general.
WEIRD TALES “HERBERT WEST - REANIMATOR” (STORY BY H.P. LOVECRAFT)
Release Date: April - July 1922 (Contemporary Setting)
Series: Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos
The Story: Mad scientist finds a way to reanimate life, but with a cost.
HCU Comments: This story is notable for introducing Miskatonic University in Arkham, MA. Both the school and the town will reappear in many of Lovecraft’s tales, and the expanded universe created from Lovecraft’s stories. Herbert West will later be the subjects of movies and comics that cannot be the same fellow. The film remakes the original story but in a modern setting (the 1980s), and then the comics continue the character from the film and its sequel, but in the 21st century, as if the character is unaged in some versions, appropriately aged in others, and sometimes at a point in between. (Comics have never been known for consistency, especially when a public domain character is being portrayed by different creative teams.) The comic and the film are also pulled into the HCU (see later entries), so I must assume that they are relatives, but not the same person. Much as the Frankensteins tend to have a genetic calling for reanimating life, so to do the Wests.
WEIRD TALES “THE HOUND” (STORY BY H.P. LOVECRAFT)
Release Date: February 1924 (Contemporary Setting)
Series: Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos
The Story: Two grave robbers find a great challenge in robbing a legendary grave robber’s grave. They steal from his grave an amulet, that they soon regret taking.
HCU Comments: This amulet is said to be mentioned in the Necronomicon, and in fact this is the very first mention of the Necronomicon in fiction.
FOUR AND TWENTY BLOODHOUNDS “THE BIG MONEY” (INTRODUCTION BY ANTHONY BOUCHER)
Release Date: 1950 (Contemporary Setting)
Series: The Mysterious Traveller
Horror Crosses: Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos
The Story: The actual story featuring the Mysterious Traveller is inconsequential. However, in the intro, the editor mentions that he received back a biographical questionnaire he had sent to the Mysterious Traveller that was so disconcerting that he had to forward it to Miskatonic University.
HCU Comments: The Mysterious Traveller was a “horror host” type character, though stories on his radio show were not usually horror but more of crime thrillers. This was his first print story, and this cross with Lovecraft’s Miskatonic University brings him into the Horror Crossover Universe.
ELLERY QUEEN’S MYSTERY MAGAZINE “THE ADVENTURE OF THE SIX SILVER SPIDERS” (STORY BY AUGUST DERLETH)
Release Date: October 1950 (Setting is October 1930)
Series: Solar Pons
Horror Crosses: Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos
The Story: Just another average everyday detective mystery with nightmarish horrors from beyond and ancient books of evil.
HCU Comments: Solar Pons is a creation of August Derleth, who originally wanted to continue writing Sherlock Holmes but wasn’t given permission by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, so he created his own version. Derleth is also the successor to Lovecraft, and in fact coined the term “Cthulhu Mythos.” This story contains references to the Necronomicon of Abdul Al Hazred and Miskatonic University in Arkham, Massachusetts. Pons, in the classic Holmes tradition, dismisses the supernatural as not being real, but if Miskatonic in Arkham is considered real in the story, then we must accept that all of the Lovecraftian lore must be real, and so this story is in the Horror Crossover Universe.
NIGHT SHIFT “JERUSALEM’S LOT” (SHORT STORY BY STEPHEN KING)
Release Date: February 1978 (Setting is 1850)
Series: “Stephen King Universe”
Horror Crosses: Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos; Robert Bloch’s Shambler from the Stars
The Story: Charles Boone and his servant discover a deserted town where a cult had once existed that, it turns out, still exist as vampires.
HCU Comments: This is a prequel to King’s Salem’s Lot. It is followed by “One for the Road”. Additionally, Jerusalem’s Lot also appears in King’s Dark Tower series, and is passed in Pet Sematary. The cult uses the book called De Vermis Mysteriis from the works of Lovecraft, and in fact the story ends with the Mythos god Shudde M’ell being summoned using the book. The Mythos god Yog-Sothoth is also mentioned. This book also seems to follow from Robert Bloch’s “Shambler from the Stars”, which would then place this story between “Shambler from the Stars” and its’ sequel by Lovecraft, Haunter of the Dark, and the conclusion, Bloch’s “Shadow from the Steeple”..
THE SHADOW OVER INNSMOUTH (NOVELLA BY H.P. LOVECRAFT)
Release Date: April 1936 (Contemporary Setting)
Series: Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos
The Story: A man has some free time so he visits a town where something fishy is going on.
HCU Comments: Admittedly, I’m including this because this is the first Lovecraft story I ever read, and it was so damn good. Innsmouth and its fishy residents are often referred to in horror crossovers, and though it’s not completely related to the rest of the mythos, its still considered part of the whole. The town folk do indeed worship Dagon, however, one of the Great Old Ones. This Innsmouth, in Massachusetts in named for Innsmouth, England, from H.P. Lovecraft’s story Celephais. This may not be the first appearance on Innsmouth, MA. Lovecraft had previously mentioned the town in the sonnets in Fungi from Yuggoth, but my sources are mixed on whether those references were of the English or American town. Lovecraft has said that Innsmouth was based on Newburyport, MA, but a really darker version of Newburyport.
SCOOBY-DOO AND THE GHOUL SCHOOL (ANIMATED FILM)
Release Date: February 1988 (Contemporary Setting, maybe….see comments)
Series: Scooby-Doo (1980s animated film series)
Horror Crosses: Dracula (Hanna-Barbera); Frankenstein (Hanna-Barbera); Creature From the Black Lagoon; Godzilla
The Story: Shaggy, Scooby, and Scrappy takes jobs as coaches at an all-girls school, that turns out to be an all-girl monsters school.
HCU Comments: Each Scooby series is taken separately for inclusion. The crosses with Godzilla and the Creature from the Black Lagoon bring in not only the 80s Scooby movies, but also the Hanna-Barbera versions of Dracula and Frankenstein. If this film were set in the time it aired, 1988, Shaggy would be in his late 30s by this point and Scooby and Scrappy would be fairly old, especially for dogs. (And with Scrappy still claiming to be a puppy.) Either the trio are immortal, or this story actually takes place in the 1970s, at a point where Shaggy is still in his early to mid 20s. As for explaining Scooby and Scrappy, there are a couple of stories referenced in this guide in which talking cartoon animals are explained as expiriments of Doctor Moreau or his family. This could be a possible explanation for Scooby and Scrappy’s intellegence and speech, but still does not explain why people aren’t surprised when they encounter talking animals. I could blame it on Sunnydale-itus, the phenomenon where rational people tend to dismiss anything out of the ordinary, but this solution still leaves me slightly unsatisfied. The Dracula and Frankenstein Monster here are the Hanna-Barbera versions, likely another soul clone and copycat creation, respectively. Their daughters are on the school’s volleyball team. At the end of the film, two new students are females from the same species as both the Gill-Man (Creature from the Black Lagoon) and Godzilla. Note that there must be more than one of the Gill-Man species, and in fact, there are in-story references that state that the Gill-Man is the same as the Deep Ones of Innsmouth and the Silurians from Doctor Who. As for Godzilla, it would seem that there is also more than one of this species. In fact, in the classic series of films, it’s stated that the Godzilla from the original film was destroyed, and the one from the rest of the films was a second one.
SHADOWS OVER BAKER STREET “THE MYSTERY OF THE HANGED MAN’S PUZZLE” (SHORT STORY BY PAUL FINCH)
Release Date: 2003 (Setting is 1897)
Series: Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos; Sherlock Holmes
The Story: Holmes finds himself again mixed up with the Mythos.
HCU Comments: This time around, Obed Marsh, Innsmouth, and the Deep Ones are involved.
THE LOST CULT (NOVEL BY E.E. KNIGHT)
Release Date: August 2004 (Setting is after the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq)
Series: Tomb Raider
Horror Crosses: Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos; Creature from the Black Lagoon
Non-Horror Crosses: Sherlock Holmes
The Story: Lara Croft discovers the existence of the Deep Ones.
HCU Comments: This Lovecraftian tale brings Lara Croft into the Horror Crossover Universe. The Deep Ones are the “fish men” of Innsmouth. The Deep Ones are said to be led by Uhluhtc. (Spell it backwards.) Lara also consults Von Junst’s Unaussprechlichen Kulten. Von Junst is likely a misspelling of Von Juntz. This book is also from Lovecraftian lore. The Deep Ones are said to resemble the Creature from the Black Lagoon. It’s possible that they are the same species or a closely related species. Lara also quotes from Sherlock Holmes. Since Holmes’ existence is concrete in the Horror Crossover Universe, she is clearly quoting a real historical figure, rather than a fictional character.
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