Hack/Slash

 

Hey, how are you?  Long time, no see.  Yes, I'm still alive.  I know I haven't updated the blog in quite a while.  I've been working full-time for the past few years (after many years on disability) and frankly, I'm getting tired.  I'm turning fifty in a few weeks and I just seem to be sleeping a lot.  When I am awake and not working, I tend to just watch TV and movies and not write about them so much anymore.  

But I LOVE the TVCU and I don't want it to fade away, and I really want to get back into writing so I'm pledging more writing, at least in the blog if not returning to writing books, in 2023.

I plan on finishing up the Scooby-Doo Team-Up post, and maybe jumping into Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?, and I want to start updating old posts and writing new posts again.

So I'm starting off today (on Halloween at the time I'm writing this), changing things up a bit.  

Normally, I post about TV shows and movie series.  I don't focus on print.  However, today I'm working on Hack/Slash, a comic book that's had a lot of crossovers with characters from TV and movies, and therefore I think deserves to have a post.  

So let's begin.  Note that although it's a comic book, I'm going to write it as if it takes place in real time, rather than comic book time, which makes more sense since it crosses with a lot of TV and film series that operate in normal time.  

Hack/Slash also crosses over with other comic book characters, some already established to exist in the TVCU.

Note that this post is using excerpts from the Horror Crossover Encyclopedia, so I will be using the terms Horror Universe and Horror Multiverse, but the TVCU and Horror Universe are really one and the same.  

Also, this website celebrates it's 12th anniversary on January 10!!!

Ordnance personnel examine a shark on Amity Isle

1990 - Ivan Ronald Schablotski is coerced (to keep his Vogue Rogue friends out of jail) into joining a secret branch of the military code-named the Ordnance. Ivan Schablotski completes Basic Training and upon graduation, Ivan, Blondi, and Janos move to FL. Ivan learns that while his 'official' assignment is to the Navy, the Ordnance does NOT answer to the Dept of the Navy. Ivan's first mission with the Ordnance is to assist an investigation on Amity Island of another Man-Eating shark attack, and the possibility that it is a single creature, returning from the dead on occasion to plague the locals anew. Following this assignment, Ivan is sent to New York to aid in the repair of the Statue of Liberty's torch, which houses sensitive technology damaged by the Ghostbusters on New Year's Eve 1988.

MIB HQ in New York

The Ordnance shows up in various writings by Kevin Heim. It is analogous 
to other covert, military organizations such as SHIELD (Marvel Comics), Project M (DC Comics), UNIT (Doctor Who), Majestic-12 (urban legend, but used fictitiously in several movies, books, games, and television programs like DELTA GREEN and THE X-FILES), the Initiative (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), and many others. Amity Island and its Man-Eating shark(s) gained notoriety in the 1975 film JAWS (the 1974 novel that inspired the film franchise was set on Long Island NY). The idea that the Island is haunted by an undead slasher shark was presented in the 2006 comic book HACK/SLASH: TRAILERS. The Statue of Liberty's technology is a large neuralizer as seen in MEN IN BLACK II (2002). The damage to the torch was caused by the animation of the statue at the end of GHOSTBUSTERS II (1989).

HACK/SLASH: MY FIRST MANIAC # 1 - 4 (IMAGE)

Release Date: June 1 - September 1, 2010 (Setting is 2004 or slightly earlier, as this is Cassie’s first hunt)

Series: Hack/Slash

Horror Crosses: A Nightmare on Elm Street; Halloween; Friday the 13th; Spawn

The Story: The story of Cassie’s first hunt.

Notes: While researching slashers on the internet, Cassie reads of a man who kills in dreams in Ohio (Freddy Krueger of A Nightmare on Elm Street), a masked maniac who terrorizes a small town on Halloween (Michael Myers of Halloween), and a camp plagued for 30 years by a psycho who won’t die (Jason Vorhees of Friday the 13th). She also finds an article about Hellspawn, that includes a picture of Spawn.

2004--HACK/SLASH # 6-- A much more conventional Archie story--with only a normal slasher attacking the gang--is told

HACK/SLASH: EUTHANIZED (DEVIL’S DUE PUBLISHING)
Release Date: April 2004 (Contemporary Setting)
Series: Hack/Slash
Horror Crosses: Friday the 13th; A Nightmare on Elm Street; Hellraiser
The Story: Cassie Hack and Vlad fight an undead slasher who controls an army of undead pets.
Notes: Cassie Hack is the daughter of a “slasher”, and has devoted her life to fighting them. Thus she has become an expert on them. In this story, she knows about notorious slashers such as Jason Voorhees (Friday the 113th), Freddy Krueger (A Nightmare on Elm Street), and Pinhead (Hellraiser).

HACK/SLASH: GIRLS GONE DEAD # 1 (DEVIL’S DUE)
Release Date: October 1, 2004 (Contemporary Setting, during Spring Break)
Series: Hack/Slash
Horror Crosses: Zatara
The Story: Cassie heads to Florida to stop a Spring Break slasher.
Notes: Cassie meets Laura Loch, who uses a type of magic that requires the user to speak backwards. This was the method used by golden age hero John Zatara in Action Comics, and later by his daughter Zatanna in various DC Comics titles.

 

HACK/SLASH: THE FINAL REVENGE OF EVIL ERNIE (DEVIL’S DUE PUBLISHING)
Release Date: June 2005 (Contemporary Setting)
Series: Hack/Slash; Evil Ernie
The Story: Cassie Hack has to take on the slasher known as Evil Ernie, who comes from an alternate timeline where Earth had been devastated by nuclear war.
Notes: This crossover brings Evil Ernie into the Horror Multiverse. Hack/Slash is already in via a cross with A Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th.

HACK/SLASH VS. CHUCKY (DEVIL’S DUE PUBLISHING)
Release Date: March 2007 (Contemporary Setting)
Series: Hack/Slash; Child’s Play
Horror Crosses: A Nightmare on Elm Street; Friday the 13th; Halloween; Zatara
The Story: Cassie Hack teams up with Chucky for a mutual cause.
Notes: In the story, Chucky compares himself (as being better) to Freddy (Krueger), Jason (Voorhees), and Michael (Myers). Cassie once again meets Laura Loch, who says her spells backwards just like John Zatara and his daughter Zatanna from DC Comics.

HACK/SLASH # 12 - 13 “BUMPED” (DEVIL’S DUE)

Release Date: May 1 - June 1, 2008 (Contemporary Setting)

Series: Hack/Slash

Horror Crosses: BUMP

The Story: Cassie takes on Edgar Dill, an undead lunatic who turns women into killer trees.

Notes: This is a sequel to BUMP, a mini-series from Fangoria Comics.

HACK/SLASH # 15 - 17 “CASSIE AND VLAD MEET THE RE-ANIMATOR” (DEVIL’S DUE PUBLISHING)

Release Date: August - October 2008 (Contemporary Setting)

Series: Hack/Slash

Horror Crosses: Re-Animator (film); Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos

The Story: Herbert West attempts to resurrect Cassie Hack’s slasher mother.

Notes: Horror expert (and editor of this book) Kevin Heim informs: This actually IS the Herbert West from the movies. Note that the logo for RE-ANIMATOR is identical to the one from the movies. Brian Yuzna, director of the 1st movie, endorsed this comic. The Necronomicon is quoted at the opening of the story.

HACKOWEEN (WEBCOMIC)

Release Date: October 15, 2008 (Contemporary Setting)

Series: Hack/Slash; Halloween Man

Horror Crosses: Marvel Zombies

The Story: Cassie is teleported the the strange alternate reality of Halloween Man.

Notes: This story brings the world of Halloween Man into the Horror Multiverse. The heroes also fight an alternate version of the Marvel Zombies.

HACK/SLASH: ENTRY WOUND (DEVIL’S DUE)

Release Date: March 1, 2009 (Contemporary Setting)

Series: Hack/Slash

Horror Crosses: Boneyard; Halloween Man; Living Corpse; Mercy Sparx; Leprechaun; Lovebunny & Mr. Hell

Non-Horror Crosses: Zenescope’s Wonderland; War of the Independents; Proof

The Story: Because of some time and space altering crisis going on elsewhere, Cassie finds herself having to face a number of holiday themed slashers all at once. 

Notes: The crisis of this story is the War of the Independents. That story involves many characters from many different alternate realities. Boneyard, Halloween Man, the Living Corpse, Mercy Sparx, Lovebunny & Mr. Hell, Zenescope’s Wonderland, and Proof are involved. Additionally, Cassie mentions the Leprechaun from the film of the same name.

THE LIVING CORPSE ANNUAL # 1 “THE LEGEND OF THE JERSEY DEVIL” (ZENESCOPE ENTERTAINMENT)
Release Date: April 1, 2009 (Contemporary Setting)
Series: The Living Corpse
Horror Crosses: Hack/Slash
The Story: After the obligatory hero fight, Cassie and John Romero team up to take on the Jersey Devil and Old Mother Leeds.
Notes: This story brings in the Living Corpse, a zombie who regained his intelligence and uses his cursed existence for heroic deeds.

HACK/SLASH # 26 - 27 “FOES AND FORTUNES” (DEVIL’S DUE)
Release Date: September 1 - October 1, 2009 (Contemporary Setting)
Series: Hack/Slash
Horror Crosses: Zatara
The Story: A famous Mexican religious figure called Santa Muerte appears in Chicago at the same time as the first slasher that Cassie and Vlad ever faced together.
Notes: This time Cassie meets Laura Loch’s sister Libby, who also performs spells by speaking backwards. This was originally the spell casting trademark of John Zatara and his daughter Zatanna from DC Comics.

 

HACK/SLASH # 28 “SOMETHING’S FISHY” (DEVIL’S DUE)
Release Date: December 2, 2009 (Contemporary Setting)
Series: Hack/Slash
Horror Crosses: Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos; Frankenstein (Mary Shelley); Hellboy; Buffy the Vampire Slayer; Godzilla
Non-Horror Crosses: Archie (See Notes)
The Story: In her continuing quest to recreate reality, the entity known as Mary Shelley Lovecraft tries to alter the town of Haverhill, transforming it from the typical slice of Americana to a Lovecraftian horror story.
Notes: Mary Shelley Lovecraft is a recurring foe of Cassie. She is an otherworldly entity that sees everything as fictional and can traverse through alternate realities. She is obsessed with rewriting reality. Her name is chosen for the inference to Mary Shelley and H.P. Lovecraft. In this story, she turns Deep Ones (from Lovecraft’s Shadow over Innsmouth) into creatures like the original Frankenstein Monster. Mary mentions that with all the monster hunters running around, she is lucky not to have run into that red devil boy with the horns, a reference to Hellboy. She also compares Cassie to the more popular Summers girl, meaning Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Mary also brags that she is Cthulhu, Frankenstein, and Godzilla all rolled into one. The town of Haverhill is a parody of Riverdale, and indeed the characters of the town are all parodies of Archie and his supporting cast. Cassie has been here in a previous story. However, since this is a parody, I’m choosing not to use this to bring in Archie. However, in reverse, Riverdale was actually based on the real town of Haverhill, Massachusetts. Since there are no indications that the comic book or cartoon versions of Archie exist in the Horror Universe, there’s no reason not to believe that this version from this story isn’t the Horror Universe counterpart of Archie and his gang. (At the time of the publication of the Horror Crossover Encyclopedia, indeed Archie didn't exist in the Horror Universe, but Archie does exist in the TVCU, and has his own blog post.)


October 31, 2004--HACK/SLASH # 28/ARCHIE MEETS KISS--James Bojaciuk

So...Since this comic has Riverdale covered with zombies, vampires, and such because of one of Sabrina's misfired spells; so this must happen at the same time as the Hack/Slash storyline where Riverdale was freed from the timelock spell.
Yep. That's another sentence I never expected to type.

After that--Hack/Slash Trailers #2--But...Hack/Slash Trailers #2 has a bizarre short story that opens with a normally drawn Archie trying to buy beer--and then being attacked by Great Old Ones. The rest of the story has Cassie and Vlad at a camp where girls keep being killed--but Cassie and Vlad don't seem to be too concerned. Perhaps the story was exaggerated for "comedic" effect.

On the plus side, that story does give some level of evidence that the timelock spell was restored.

HACK/SLASH # 29 - 32 “SUPER SIDEKICK SLEEPOVER SLAUGHTER” (DEVIL’S DUE)
Release Date: December 2009 - March 1, 2010 (Contemporary Setting)
Series: Hack/Slash
Horror Crosses: The Heap
Non-Horror Crosses: Fantomah, Mystery Woman of the Jungle; Daredevil (Golden Age); Airboy; Judy of the Jungle; Captain Fight; Crimebuster; Black Angel; Nightmare and Sleepy; US Jones; Black Terror; Crash Kid; The Flamingo
The Story: Several teens have taken up the mantles of former golden age super-heroes. But when someone wants to kill them, real hero Cassie Hack must save them.
Notes: The teens all take up the mantles of the above listed heroes from the crosses section. None of the modern teens have powers except for Fantomah. The original heroes were all from the golden age and have fallen into public domain. Of significance is that since all these heroes were considered to once be real in this story, that brings the Heap into the Horror Universe. The Heap was a Hillman Comics character. Hillman had many characters who were pilots but also super-heroes. In the case of the Heap, he was a pilot who crashed into a swamp and was turned into a swamp monster, a precursor to the later Swamp Thing and Man-Thing. This author wrote a story for Duel of the Monsters, Vol. 2, from Wild Hunt Press that features the Heap, and is definitely in the TVCU.

DEXTER VS. JASON VS. HACK/SLASH (UNPUBLISHED COMIC PAGE BY SCOTT ALLIE AND TIM SEELEY)
Release Date: June 2010 (Contemporary Setting)
Series: Dexter; Friday the 13th; Hack/Slash
The Story: While Dexter stalks Jason, Cassie stalks Dexter.
Notes: Allie and Seeley created this one page and released it to promote other works. This was never in an officially published comic book nor authorized by any publisher. However, since Seeley is the creator of Hack/Slash, I’d say it counts as canon. Therefore, Dexter is brought into the Horror Universe, but as a non-horror series. Yes, he’s a serial killer, but that alone doesn’t necessarily make the series horror.

 

HACK/SLASH ANNUAL 2010: MURDER MESSIAH (IMAGE COMICS)
Release Date: October 1, 2010 (Contemporary Setting and 14 years in the future)
Series: Hack/Slash
Horror Crosses: Zatara
Non-Horror Crosses: Metalocalypse
The Story: A serial killer, who is Cassie’s biggest fan, is killing the survivors from Cassie’s past adventures. Meanwhile, in the future, the Black Lamp Society rules America and street-witch Liberty Loch is on a quest to find Six Sixx’s guitar.
Notes: After surviving an explosion, Cassie says that her head feels like she spent the night at a Dethklok concert. Deathlok is from the animated Metalocalypse on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim. This story’s plot was Image’s way of assuring readers that they still considered the previous Hack/Slash series from Devil’s Due canon despite now owning the rights, by having the killer going after characters from stories from the previous series. Libby Loch appears again, still using the backwards speaking magic of John Zatara.

 

HACK/SLASH & MERCY SPARX # 1 - 2 “A SLICE OF HELL” (DEVIL’S DUE)
Release Date: November 1, 2010 - July 1, 2011 (Contemporary Setting)
Series: Hack/Slash; Mercy Sparx
Non-Horror Crosses: Masters of the Universe; Thundercats; Voltron
The Story: Mercy needs to obtain an object belonging to a slasher. The slasher is also seeking to retrieve his object. And Cassie wants to slay the slasher.
Notes: Hack/Slash of course has a strong presence in the Horror Universe. This crossover brings in Mercy Sparx. Mercy is an orphaned daughter of two angels who were part of the rebellion against God. When they were cast to Hell, Mercy fell through a crack and landed in a pocket dimension where she grew up with other neutral demons. Eventually, she was recruited by God to travel to Earth to track down rogue angels. In this story, there is a pawn shop in possession of three interesting swords. They are the swords of He-Man, Lion-O, and Voltron. According to the canon of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, He-Man lives on the planet Eternia. His mother was a lost astronaut from Earth. However, in the first comic book series from DC Comics, Eternia is shown to actually be Earth of an alternate universe. So for Horror Universe purposes, we can assume He-Man’s mother was from the Horror Universe Earth while Eternia exists in an alternate universe that is part of the Horror Multiverse. In Thundercats/Superman, the Thundercats series is said to take place in an alternate present day “hypertimeline” called “Third Earth”, which is actually just Earth. Considering the presence of DC stories in the Horror Universe, it’s possible that The Horror Universe and its divergent timelines may be part of the same Hypertime as the DC Universe. The Thundercats themselves came from the planet Thundera of that same reality. Hypertime was a series of divergent timelines that fed off of the central timeline of the DC Universe in its post-Crisis incarnation. Voltron also takes place in a possible future timeline in which humans had journeyed out into the stars to colonize other worlds. Of course, Voltron was a giant robot, so his sword would be huge, appropriate for a giant. The pawn shop possesses a replica that is the normal size of a sword wielded by humans. But is it a replica or a shrunken sword? As to how these swords from the future and other universes wound up here, perhaps the pawnshop owner is more unique than he appears.

BOMB QUEEN VS. HACK/SLASH # 1 (SHADOWLINE/IMAGE COMICS)
Release Date: February 1, 2011 (Contemporary Setting)
Series: Bomb Queen; Hack/Slash
The Story: Cassie travels to an alternate universe (again) to stop a demonic slasher, and gets assistance from resident comic villain, Bomb Queen.

HACK/SLASH MEETS ZOMBIES VS CHEERLEADERS # 1 (MOONSTONE)
Release Date: June 1, 2011 (Contemporary Setting)
Series: Hack/Slash; Zombies vs Cheerleaders
The Story: Cassie goes undercover as a Washington State student to investigate the disappearances of several students.
Notes: The school is the setting of Zombies vs Cheerleaders, an anthology series where every self contained story takes place at the same high school that is suffering from a zombie problem, that oddly stays contained to the school.

Hack/Slash vs. Vampirella (Dynamite Entertainment)

Release Date:  2017  (Set sometimes during the original run of Hack/Slash)

Series:  Hack/Slash

Horror Crosses:  Vampirella

The Story:  Cassie teams with Vampirella in Vegas.  

HACK/SLASH # 5 “MYSTERY WOMAN” (IMAGE COMICS)
Release Date: June 1, 2011 (Contemporary Setting)
Series: Hack/Slash
Non-Horror Crosses: Fantomah, Mystery Woman of the Jungle
The Story: The vigilante Fantomah comes to Cassie for help.
Notes: Cassie previously met Fantomah in the Devil’s Due Hack/Slash series. Fantomah is a teen who has taken up the mantle from the golden age heroine of the same name. The original Fantomah was introduced in Jungle Comics # 2 from Fiction House and is known as being the first comic book super-heroine, pre-dating Wonder Woman.

HACK/SLASH/EVA: MONSTER’S BALL (DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT)
Release Date: May 25 - November 2, 2011 (Contemporary Setting)
Series: Hack/Slash; Eva, Daughter of Dracula
Horror Crosses: Frankenstein (Universal); Creature from the Black Lagoon
The Story: When Dr. Pretorius teams with Mary Shelley Lovecraft to destroy reality, monster hunters Cassie Hack and Eva must team-up.
Notes: Hack/Slash and Eva are already independently brought into the Horror Universe. Dr. Pretorius is from Universal’s Bride of Frankenstein. Pretorius has a Gill-Man contained in his lair. There is no indication that Mary Shelley Lovecraft has any real connection to Frankenstein or Lovecraft despite the connotation created by the name.

HACK/SLASH # 9 - 11 “INTERDIMENSIONAL WOMEN’S PRISON BREAKOUT” (IMAGE)
Release Date: November 1 - December 28, 2011 (Contemporary Setting)
Series: Hack/Slash
Non-Horror Crosses: Bomb Queen
The Story: Bomb Queen and several other inmates escape from prison and travel from their universe to Cassie’s world.

2011--

Chuck Finley and the Vogue Rogues

DEC - Ivan joins fellow Vogue Rogues Jennifer, Gus, and Andre in Jacksonville, Florida for Christmas, and Ivan discovers that Miami has had an incredibly large number of serial killers over the last few years. Suspecting a hellmouth or other such anomaly the four friends quickly run afoul of Assistant District Attorney Chuck Finley who assures them that the situation is under control, the Bay Harbour Master, IceScream Man, Trilogy, Doctor Doomsday, and Father Rage are all dead or behind bars, and there is nothing 'spooky' about the area. As far as any "Hellmouth" is concerned, Chuck recommends that next time they get that Buffy chick. Once they've left, "Chuck Finley" calls a friend confirming that Ivan Schablotski's burn notice status is still in effect.

Rogues Christmas Reunion

Chuck Finley is an alias used by retired US Navy SEAL Sam Axe 

Miami Dolphin Cheerleaders with Ivan

on the television series BURN NOTICE (2007-2013). The Bay Harbor Butcher, Ice Truck Killer, the Trinity Killer, and the Doomsday Killer are serial killers from the book DARKLY DREAMING DEXTER (2004) and its follow-up books and shows. Father Wrath is a slasher from HACK/SLASH: GIRLS GONE DEAD (2003). Hellmouths and "that Buffy Chick" are references to the BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER tv series (1997-2003), though the quote is a line spoken in MY NAME IS BRUCE (2007) by Bruce Campbell, who also played Sam Axe / Chuck Finley.



HACK/SLASH ANNUAL 2011: HATCHET/SLASH # 1 (IMAGE)
Release Date: December 7, 2011 (Contemporary Setting)
Series: Hack/Slash


Horror Crosses: Hatchet; Child’s Play
The Story: Cassie heads to New Orleans to stop Victor Crowley.
Notes: Crowley is the slasher from the Hatchet films. Cassie also refers to her previous encounter with Chucky from the Child’s Play films.

2012--

Ivan at Archie's

Cassie Hack

OCT 26 - Ivan visits Archie (Andrews)'s Little River Alehouse in Riverdale MA while investigating reports of cult activity at Bradford College. Cassie Hack is also in town, and the fact that she sees a Ghostbuster in Riverdale leads her to suspect that Mary Shelley Lovecraft has returned. Fortunately no evidence is found to support this theory. Ivan and Cassie briefly discuss the possible connection between the Black Lamp Society and the Church of the Sleeping God.

Archie Andrews and Riverdale first appeared in Pep Comics #22 (December, 1941) but thanks to a Time-Lock, Archie remained a young man into the modern era. The situation with Riverdale has kept all its inhabitants from aging appreciably, though there have been occasions that the Time-Lock was (temporarily) disabled. Cassie Hack first appeared in HACK/SLASH #1 (2004), while the first appearance of Mary Shelley Lovecraft was in HACK/SLASH: ENTRY WOUND #1 (2009). Their fight in Riverdale (referred to as Haverhill in the comics) occurred in HACK/SLASH #28 (2009). The Black Lamp Society first appeared in HACK/SLASH #20 (2008).

HACK/SLASH # 20 - 25 “FINAL” (IMAGE)
Release Date: November 1, 2012 - March 2013 (Contemporary Setting)
Series: Hack/Slash
Horror Crosses: Evil Dead; Hoax Hunters
Non-Horror Crosses: The Answer
The Story: Samhain is preparing a war with slashers as his army.
Notes: This is the final story arc of the Image series. Cassie next appears in Dynamite’s Army of Darkness vs. Hack/Slash. The crossover (via references) in this story is a foreshadowing of that crossover event. There are also references to the super-hero called the Answer and to the Hoax Hunters, an Image series about those who seek out the supernatural so they can cover it up.

December 21, 2012--The end of the world is averted.  Though those involved are not known, theories apply credit to the Doctor, the Avengers, Buffy, Ashley J Williams, Vampirella, Red Sonja, Herbert West, Dracula, Eva, Athena, the Winchesters, the Ninja Turtles, Cassie Hack & Vlad and Austin Powers.

ARMY OF DARKNESS VS. HACK/SLASH # 1 - 6 (DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT)
Release Date: July 2013 - February 2014 (Contemporary Setting, shortly after the final issue of Image’s Hack/Slash)
Series: Evil Dead; Hack/Slash
The Story: Cassie has been trying to live a normal life, but she isn’t getting it as she finds herself attacked by Deadites and introduced to Ash.
Notes: This one almost didn’t make it into the book, only because I kept thinking it was in. How could I forget this teaming of two of the greatest unconventional monster hunters?

2013--ECTOBER

Entering the distortion

Early OCT - Because the Ghostbusters, Miskatonic University, and the crew of the Lord Kitchener already closed the case, Ivan convinces his brother Fritz to travel with him back into the Bermuda Triangle to further investigate the cause of the Sharknado phenomenon. This time a space-time distortion sends them into the past, and they find themselves briefly onboard the RMS Titanic in April 1912, during a singularity event. Returned to the present, they are attacked by a monstrous scarred great white that Ivan believes to be the same one he encountered in 1990; an undead shark referred to as Bruce. Ivan tries to take samples from Bruce, but the aquatic predator is too strong and fast, and quickly overpowers its bipedal opponent, even on the dry deck. Ivan discovers that sharks are among those animals capable of killing werewolves and barely escapes with his life. Hurt, and with nothing to show for it, Ivan promises to leave the matter alone after this.

Ivan tries to take a sample from Bruce

Bruce tries to take a sample from Ivan

The RMS Titanic sank on its maiden voyage, a trip that has appeared in numerous works of fiction. SHARKNADO is a 2013 SyFy exclusive film that garnered undeserved popularity for its over-the-top premise. Bruce the Great White Shark was introduced in the 1975 movie JAWS (though he was only referred to as Bruce behind the scenes), but has been proposed to be a recurring undead "slasher" in the 2006 comic book HACK/SLASH: TRAILERS. 

Nailbiter/Hack/Slash  

Release Date:  March 4, 2015 (Contemporary Setting)

Series:  Hack/Slash

Horror Crosses:  Nailbiter

The Story:  Serial killer versus serial killer killer.  

Hack/Slash vs. Chaos!
Release Date: April 2019 (Contemporary Setting)
Series: Hack/Slash
Horror Crosses: Evil Ernie; Purgatori; Chastity; Cremator; The Chosen
The Story: Cassie teams up with Evil Ernie.
Notes: I may have missed some crossovers in this story. Evil Ernie here is the TVCU version and not the one she previously met from another universe.

The Crow/Hack/Slash

Release Date:  June 2019 (Contemporary Setting)

Series:  Hack/Slash

Horror Crosses:  The Crow

The Story:  The latest to be resurrected by a crow is believed to be a slasher and hunted by Cassie.  
 

2020--OCT 30-31 - UNIVERSAL MONSTERS [ANTILOGY]

Ivan arrives in Derry, Maine to help confront whatever is coming through the portal alongside Dracula, the Frankenstein Monster, the Bride, the Wolf Man, and the Mummy. Plenty of other monsters are already on site, including Slenderman and a Babadook, who are siding with the Crashers, Weeping Angels who are surprisingly allied with the Keepers, and plenty of vampires on both sides. The Malandanti witches begin the incantation to open the portal, and taunt the  Benandanti monsters for supporting a stagnant status quo where anything that does not fit a narrow view of 'normal' gets marginalized and persecuted into extinction. 

Ivan is surprised to find that several slashers he has  encountered before, including Leatherface, Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers, and Chucky, have gathered around the Fraidy Man in a new body. Ivan approaches them as the ReAnimator to avoid triggering a fight and determine which side they are on. Fraidy reveals that he has connections to the Old Ones, but he's always been dependent on human fears for strength, so if anything worse than him comes through the portal, he may find the human race too despondent to manifest nightmares anymore, assuming they survive at all. Fraidy reveals that the Cult of the Ebony Bloom, who are responsible for many of the revenants walking the Earth, seek to purify the human race, not destroy it, and have been employed by the Arcadian Assurances Adjustments Agency, as was the Fraidy Man, to forestall this particular apocalypse.

Members of the Church of the Sleeping God attempt to set up their
own ritual to take advantage of the portal once it is open, but the combined forces of the Church of Starry Wisdom's Deep Ones and the Wolf Hallow preserve werewolves keep them from organizing an effective summoning circle. The witches ward the portal with a Sphere of Influence, which makes anyone who touches it believe they have already achieved whatever goal they were trying to accomplish so they will leave. Only Ivan is able to pass through the Sphere, by using the Juxtapositron with the Anti-Logic to call out to his own extra-dimensional counterparts, each with their own, often conflicting goals, so the visions the Sphere produce cannot dissuade him. 

Because Ivan is the only one to make it through, no one is able to stop the Portal from opening at Midnight, and even firing his proton pack into the portal does no good, as he has no other streams to cross. Unsure if anyone else will make it through the bubble, Ivan steps into the portal to buy the others time. Ivan finds the way blocked by Pennywise Jr and other clowns, who swear that they will ensure one of the Old Ones makes it through this time, and mention the Grey Man, Hylineous, Nefren-Jahad, and Vinz Clortho as hopeful candidates. After a brief struggle, Ivan threatens to use the Ritual of Chüd, the Necronomicon, the Juxtapositron, a Ghost Grenade, and assorted charms (against Leprechauns, Demons, etc.) to reverse the gate, which would banish anyone coming through to an empty beam outside the Macroverse (a bluff, as Ivan is incapable of performing magic or casting spells), and the clowns leave him to his fate. A few Gremlins also stand in his way, but Ivan makes short work of them.

Ivan is pulled violently into the void between space and time, an
"anti-dimension" that cannot truly be considered existence. Ivan is able to witness everything he has ever been and everything he could ever have been, and realizes that the Juxtapositron is still tethering him to his alternate selves. He also sees that the Void is no longer truly empty; Yog-Sothoth is making a run for the portal. Ivan briefly ponders the paradox of an entity that is supposed to comprise all space and time actually trying to travel through time to enter physical space. Then Ivan ponders the lack of significant effect being in the Void is having on him, given how badly the experience of falling halfway into the Void affected him back in 1987. It dawns on Ivan that the difference is Anti-Logic, which is a fraction of the power intended to create an avatar for Azathoth, the one being believed to be bigger than all space and time, the superior of Yog-Sothoth, and the entity who must never be called forth, lest sentience erase everything everywhere.

Once again channeling Anti-Logic through the Juxtapositron, Ivan draws upon his counterparts to merge with him, making him one being in every dimension at the same time. Travis of Maplecroft (a privateer in the Dreamlands), Steven Pertwillaby (a monster-hunting adventurer), Ted Reilly (a vigilante called the Scarlet Scarab), Kevin Wilson (the super-powered Kid Kilovolt), Alan Tillinghast (a noir detective), Devin Danvers (the Leaping Lycosa), Commander Jerry Striker of Star Command, etc.; all have been touched by Anti-Logic, and all have a prophesy to fullfill. Resolving to be the Anti-Champion that the Order of Chaos needed him to be, all of Ivan's selves merge in the Void and initiate a lycanthropic transformation, though instead of becoming a werewolf, he/they become the Kavaruu, a manifestation of a wolf-like entity called Mh'ithrha. Mh'ithrha is the predator that hunts the god-entity, destined to hunt each other forever, destined to destroy each other at the end-time, just as Fenris Wolf and Odin will slay each other during Ragnarok. Kavaruu leaves the portal behind and begins the hunt for the ultimate prey. Kavaruu also guards the portal to keep any other Old Ones from approaching it, for Kavaruu exists everywhere outside of time and space, but cannot travel through the round Portal.

Derry Maine, Pennywise (The Grey Man), and the Beam are from Stephen King's IT and the DARK TOWER saga. Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, the Bride, the Wolf Man, and the Mummy are all versions from Universal Studios' Classic Monsters films. Slenderman is a Creepypasta / Urban Legend monster who has appeared in a variety of films and videogames. The Babadook is from the 2014 film THE BABADOOK. Weeping Angels are from DOCTOR WHO. Leatherface is from THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE. Jason Voorhees is from FRIDAY THE THIRTEENTH. Michael Myers is from HALLOWEEN. Chucky is from the CHILD'S PLAY / CHUCKY franchise. The Fraidy Man is based on Freddy Krueger from A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET. ReAnimator, Church of Starry Wisdom, the Necronomicon, the Dreamlands, Yog-Sothoth, Azathoth, and Deep Ones are from Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. The Cult of the Ebony Bloom is based on the Black Lamp Society (from HACK/SLASH), the Cult of Thorn (from the HALLOWEEN franchise), and the Black Lantern Corps (from DC Comics GREEN LANTERN). The Arcadian Assurances Adjustments Agency is a counterpart to the firm Wolfram & Hart from ANGEL: THE SERIES. Hylineous is Hylinus, a goat-man avatar of Nodens in Brian Keene's LABYRINTH books. Nefren-Jahad is a composite name suggesting one of the Neflords from HACK/SLASH, one of the Ogdru-Jahad from HELLBOY, and Nephren-Ka, one of the many avatars of Nyarlothotep from Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. Vinz Clortho is the Key Master of Gozer (both from GHOSTBUSTERS, as is the Ghost Grenade), who may be a form of Yog-Sothoth from Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. Gremlins are from the GREMLINS movie franchise. Steven Pertwillaby, Travis of Maplecroft, Gavin Chesterfield, Ted Reilly, Kevin Wilson, Alan Tillinghast, Devin Danvers, Jerry Striker, etc. represent, as does Ivan Ronald Schablotski, fictional counterparts to this author, Kevin Heim, though most have yet to be mentioned in published works. Mh'ithrha is from CALL OF CTHULHU suppliment UNSEEN MASTERS published by Chaosium and set within Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos.