The Black Cat

Every Thursday I will post excerpts from the Horror Crossover Encyclopedia regarding a specific film or television series.  For more crossover goodness (horror or otherwise), check out the sidebar on the right hand side of this blog for more blog post subjects as well as where to buy the Horror Crossover Encyclopedia.

ANNO DRACULA (SERIES BY KIM NEWMAN)

Release Date: 1992 - 2013 (so far) [Setting is 1888 -1991 (so far)]

Series: Anno Dracula

Horror Crosses: Dracula (novel); Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde; Invisible Man (novel); The Island of Doctor Moreau; The Vampyre; Varney the Vampire; The Soft Whisper of the Dead; They Thirst; Hotel Transylvania; The Black Castle; The Vampire Tapestry; Stephen King Universe; Carmilla; Good Lady Ducayne; The Tomb of Sarah; Ken’s Mystery; The Mysterious Stranger (story); The True Story of a Vampire; Carnacki Ghost Finder; Black Sabbath; The Picture of Dorian Gray; Interview with a Vampire (Anne Rice Vampire Lestat series); The Werewolves of London (Brian Stableford); Count Yorga; The Fearless Vampire Killers; Brides of Dracula; Vampire Circus; Dracula (Universal); Dark Shadows; El Vampiro; Black Sunday; Martin (George A. Romero film); Kolchak the Night Stalker; Blacula; Nosferatu; Kiss of the Vampire; Mr. Vampire; Blood of the Vampire; Daughters of Darkness; Dracula (Hammer); Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos; Averoigne; Grave of the Vampire/Seed of Terror; Hellraiser; Alraune; The Black Cat (film); Lemora: A Child’s Tale of the Supernatural; The Vampire Thrills; Faustine; Near Dark; Forever Knight; Fright Night; The House of Dracula (novel by R. Chetwynd-Hayes); Anak Pontianak; Necroscope; Revelations in Black; The Dragon Waiting; The Bloody Pit of Horror/The Crimson Executioner; The Playgirls and the Vampire; The Niece of the Vampire/Fangs of the Vampire; The Phantom of the Opera; Incense for the Damned/Bloodsuckers; Addams Family (television); Frankenstein (Universal); The Monkey’s Paw; Three Mothers trilogy; Toby Dammit; The Exorcist; Cave of the Living Dead; The Golem (1920 film); The Old Dark House; Cat People; Black Magic (film); Spirits of the Dead; Les Vampires; The Awful Doctor Orloff; A Bucket of Blood; Those Who Hunt By Night/Immortal Blood/Traveling with the Dead; The Hunger; Fevre Dream; Empire of Fear; Dr. Blood’s Coffin; The Vampire’s Ghost; The Horrible Sexy Vampire; Mark of the Vampire; Vampire (1979); Vampyr - Der Traum des Allan Gray; El Hombre Lobo; Curse of the Undead; Circus of Horrors; The Horror Chamber of Dr. Faustus; Twice Bitten/Vampire Hookers; The Lost Boys; Deathmaster; Velvet Vampire; I, Vampire; Nancy Baker’s Vampire Stories; Sunglasses After Dark; Vamps (Vertigo Comics); Blade; Scooby-Doo; Hellboy; Nocturna; Rosemary’s Baby; American Psycho; Lost Souls; Elvira; Rosemary’s Baby; The Films of Tarantino and Rodriguez; Light at the End; Andy Warhol’s Dracula/Blood for Dracula; Geek Maggot Bingo; Daughter of Darkness; Nightmare in Blood; Madhouse; Vampire Junction/Vanitas; Buffy the Vampire Slayer; Shadowman; Werewolf of London; Little Shop of Horrors; Texas Chainsaw Massacre; The Howling; Gremlins; Suckers: Bleeding London Dry; Desire the Vampire/I Desire; The Creature Commandos; The Vampire (1957); The Vampire (Sydney Horler)

Non-Horror Crosses: Too numerous to list.

The Story: In 1888, during the events of Bram Stoker’s novel, events diverge and Dracula marries Queen Victoria, causing a major alteration in the socio-political world for the next 125 years and beyond.

Notes: This is a divergent timeline, but not a parallel universe. In my theory, a parallel universe is created at the dawn of time at the same time as the main universe and other parallel universes. They may evolve similarly, but they are separate. Meanwhile, each universe has a main timeline, and at each moment, there are an infinite number of divergent timelines created off of the main timeline. When thinking of divergent timelines, try picturing a fork in the road. Both paths lead in different directions, but they both start at the same point, and once were the same road. The Anno Dracula timeline has shown to be an alternate timeline of the main Horror Universe in several other entries in this reference guide. Because it’s a divergent timeline, the above horror crosses, though depicted in an alternate manner, should still count for inclusions in the Horror Universe. Some of the above crossed series are already in, and the others are brought in via this crossover series despite being an alternate timeline series. For the record, the complete Anno Dracula series (thus far) consists of Anno Dracula, the Bloody Red Baron: Anno Dracula 1918, Judgement of Tears: Anno Dracula 1959 (aka Dracula Cha Cha Cha), Coppola’s Dracula (from the Mammoth Book of Dracula), Castle in the Desert: Anno Dracula 1977, Andy Warhol’s Dracula: Anno Dracula 1978 - 1979 (from the Mammoth Book of Vampires), Who Dares Wins: Anno Dracula 1980, The Other Side of Midnight (from Vampire Sextette), You are the Wind Beneath My Wings: Anno Dracula 1984) and Johnny Alucard.

THE GAME OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN (BOARD GAME)

Release Date: 2004

Series: League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

Horror Crosses: Every Horror Cross from League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, plus Sweeney Todd; the Black Cat; Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos; Frankenstein (novel); Carmilla; The Legend of Sleepy Hollow; The Island of Doctor Moreau

Non-Horror Crosses: See Notes

The Story: This game is an extension of the story from the graphic novel.

Notes: First, let me mention this is the first board game to be brought into the Horror Universe as a legit crossover. This game is meant as an expansion of the world created by the graphic novel. Thus it includes everything from the book, plus the crosses above. See Jess Nevins’ annotations for more on the non-horror crosses which are just too numerous to list here.

A BOOK OF WIZARDS “SORCERER CONJURER WIZARD WITCH” (SHORT STORY BY KIM NEWMAN)

Release Date: April 2008 (Setting is 1933)

Series: Diogenes Club

Horror Crosses: Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos; Dracula (novel); Carnacki Ghost Finder; Chandu the Magician; The Magician; Rosemary’s Baby; A Visit to Anselm Oakes; The Black Cat; Casting the Runes; The Picture of Dorian Gray; Varney the Vampyre; Pandora and the Flying Dutchman; The Department of Queer Complaints; Green Tea; Carmilla; The Vampyre; Dr. Silence; The Dream Detective; The Secrets of Dr. Taverner; Some Ghost Stories

Non-Horror Crosses: Sherlock Holmes; Fu Manchu; Fantomas; Arsene Lupin; Kim Newman’s works; Decline and Fall/Return of the Native; Dr. Nikola; Doctor Who; The Man Who Would Be King; Blandings Castle Saga; Henry Merrivale; Bulldog Drummond; The Green Archer; The Saint; Sexton Blake; Jeeves and Wooster; Hercule Poirot; Rebecca; Lord Peter Wimsey; Philo Vance; Miss Marple; The Hands of Mr. Ottermole; The Drones Club; The Duc de Richelieu; Harry Dickson

The Story: Charles Beauregard of the Diogenes Club becomes involved in a wizard war.

Notes: All the crosses above have characters or things that either appear or are referenced in this story. As usual, Kim Newman packs another story chock full of crossover goodness. By now, I don’t think I need to explain Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos or Dracula. Carnacki is the famed Ghost Finder. Chandu is the main character of a 1930s radio series and two film serials. Both the films and the radio series are considered different perspectives of the same series, so the Chandu of this tale is the character from both radio and film. The Magician is a 1908 novel by W. Somerset Maugham. It is a story loosely based on true life occultist Aleister Crowley. Rosemary’s Baby is a classic movie about a woman impregnated by the devil. A Visit to Anselm Oakes is another story featuring a character based on Crowley, this time written by Christopher Isherwood. The Black Cat is another classic horror film. Casting the Runes is a collection of ghost stories by Montague Rhodes James. The Picture of Dorian Gray is the classic tale of the man who was immortal, while his picture aged. Varney the Vampire aka the Feast of Blood is one of the earliest vampire tales. Pandora and the Flying Dutchman is a tale of of woman named Pandora (who isn’t the one with the box), who becomes involved in events involving the legendary ghost. The Department of Queer Complaints from Carter Dickson is a secret group that solves cases that are unusual and unexplained. Green Tea is a story by J. Sheridan le Fanu, the author of Carmilla. And speaking of which, Carmilla is of course one of the first vampire books to have survived to today. The Vampyre is the book which features Lord Ruthven, who not only likely wrote the Ruthvenian (the vampire bible) but may also have been Angelus aka Angel (real name Liam) from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. Dr. Silence is Algernon Blackwood’s occult detective. The Dream Detective is Sax Rohmer’s occult detective Morris Klaw. The Secrets of Dr. Taverner are the adventures of “the occult Sherlock Holmes”. And I wasn’t being funny with Some Ghost Stories. This is a reference to a collection of stories from Alfred McLelland Burrage. As for the non-horror crosses, there’s no way I’m going into all of those as well. Suffice to say, all of those series, like the horror crosses, are in the Horror Universe.

THE BLACK CAT (FILM)

Release Date: 1934 (Contemporary Setting)

Series: The Black Cat

The Story: A lovely young couple find themselves victims to a mad scientist who worships Satan.

Notes: This film is very, very, very loosely based on Edgar Allan Poe’s story of the same name. Since they are different enough, it’s okay that both are brought in. Poe’s version is in via League of Extraordinary Gentlemen while Rovin’s Return of the Wolf Man brings the film in. In further entries, I don’t make a distinction between the film and story when listing them as crosses. This film has been “non-cross” referenced in such films and shows as Young Frankenstein, the Fallen Vampire, and Masters of Horror. It is also spoofed in the Rocky Horror Picture Show and Scary Movie 2.

THE DEVIL’S BROOD (NOVEL BY DAVID JACOBS)

Release Date: 2000 (Contemporary Setting)

Horror Crosses: Werewolf of London; Frankenstein (Universal); Dracula (Universal); Wolf Man (Universal); Invisible Man (Universal); Black Cat

Non-Horror Crosses: Fantastic Four

The Story: All the monsters rise...

Notes: Sequel to Jeff Rovin’s Return of the Wolf Man. Note that Latveria is mentioned, the nation ruled by Doctor Doom, foe of the Fantastic Four. We can assume that a version of the Fantastic Four must exist in the Horror Universe, though they likely operated only for a brief period in the early 1960s.