This time I kept track of the easter eggs. Not that I still might have missed a few, but on the whole the yard should stink less of forgotten rotten eggs than it did with As Far As Souls Go.
You’re still welcome to send in a missive to inform me you’ve found more easter eggs, but look at this list. Don’t we have enough already? Do you really want to add to that?
You do, don’t you? Yeah, I understand.
BE AWARE!
The following contains spoilers.
The first two chapters don’t seem to have anything, so we’ll start at…
Three
“You should understand my apprehension towards cake, as a gamer.”
This is, of course, a reference to the game Portal. If you haven’t played it, you should.
“Let him eat cake,” he said.
This is in reference not to Marie Antoinette, but to Killer Queen by Queen. Who reference Marie Antoinette. So… Referenception?
Problem is, Marie Antoinette likely never said it.
Motionless she stood there for a few moments, as if facing a T-Rex from the early 90s.
In reference to the original Jurassic Park where the now disproved, and rather silly claim was made that Tyrannosaurus Rex couldn’t see you if you kept still.
“I always bring a towel.”
Asphyxia says she’s bringing Eddie a towel, but he doesn’t need it because a wise man once told him to always bring one.
That wise man is, of course, Douglas Adams.
Five
…stepping onto the patio of number 73.
Jolene’s trailer has the number 73 because Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” was released in 1973.
“…I’m talking about Jolone. Lene. Jolene.”
I actually just made a typo here, but considering everybody’s drunk at this point, I just left it in and went with it.
Nine
666-1318.
Still the same number. We went over this. The number of the beast, Revelations 13-18, and the intro to the Iron Maiden song of the same name.
“I told you, the system has failed.”
The System Has Failed is the tenth studio album by Megadeth. Not one of my favorites, but it’s where my mind immediately goes when I hear the phrase.
“Yeah, tell it to Twisted Sister…”
Eddie says this when Lilith tells him disco is still doing alright. Twisted Sister famously had a grudge against disco, which can best be heard in “Rock ‘n’ Roll Saviours.”
Ten
“Damn, I love you.” “I know.”
Star Wars reference. And it also references the first book a little bit, where it plays out much the same when Eddie comes to rescue Rosalie.
“…Janick’s mostly harmless.”
Hitchhiker’s Guide reference. According to the Guide, Earth is mostly harmless. You can assume that every time I say something is mostly harmless, I’m referencing that.
“Focus on me, you little bastard! …”
Lilith says this as she pushes Eddie up against a ‘55 Porsche Spyder. As will become clear later, this is James Dean’s supposedly cursed Little Bastard.
“Man, there’s a V8 Interceptor just behind you…”
Mad Max’s car. This doesn’t actually put Mad Max in the Accidental Universe. The V8 Interceptor was actually built, so it exists outside the Mad Max universe, and I’m pretty sure that monster has some soul alright.
Eleven
Paul, the giant octopus
Technically he was in part one as well, but he wasn’t named. I named him after that octopus that predicted the results for the 2010 World Cup.
Don’t mail me to talk about the most recent match of Fuckham United – FC Dullards, or whatever. I don’t care for the game, or most sports, it just makes me laugh how people are so horny for gimmicks.
Twelve
“Mike, get captain Fokke over here, please.”
That would be Bernard Fokke, the Dutch captain who was believed to be the Flying Dutchman. Or at least, one of the captains who was believed to be the Flying Dutchman, but I couldn’t resist a little Dutch reference.
Thirteen
“I’m your boss, Michael. It’s my mighty, mighty bosstone.”
Seemed like fun to reference the Mighty Mighty Bosstones for no reason at all.
Sixteen
Peter examined him. “Have we met before?”
Since this is the Peter, I thought it would be funny to have Eddie deny three times that they knew each other.
Seventeen
“…I have to be back here in three hours to pick up David Jones…”
Raphael says this when he tries to hurry Jonah and Eddie on the tour. An extra hint will tell us this is David Bowie, who died around the same time the story is set.
Bowie changed his name as to not get confused with Davy Jones of the Monkees, and Raphael prefers to use souls’ actual name, as opposed to the name they’re know by.
Little extra bit of trivia: Davy Jones of the Monkees should have changed his name as well, because for a long time I didn’t understand why pirates kept talking about him.
Eighteen
And in large friendly letters, too.
The letters on Michael’s keycard. Of course, this references the Hitchhiker’s Guide again, which has the words “Don’t Panic” written on it in large, friendly letters.
Nineteen
“Hi there, hello…”
Barely noticeable, this one, but it’s how Ryan George usually opens his skits on Youtube.
Twenty-One
“Anderson. Jesus Anderson. Sorry.”
Jonah says this when Rooney asks him if he’s the actual Jesus Christ.
It’s a surprise easter egg found by Dunja Duys. One could argue that it’s not a real easter egg, considering I didn’t put it in to be an easter egg, but the planets aligned perfectly for this one. Check it out:
In the book, Heaven looks like The Matrix. In The Matrix, Neo’s real last name is Anderson. He’s the movie’s savior, and an obvious Christ-analogy.
I was just using a random name for a throw-away joke, but I guess my subconscious came up with this for the actual Jesus Christ in the book.
“…Mostly tables, chairs, and oaken chests.”
From the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar:
Tables, chairs, and oaken chests | Would have suited Jesus best | He’d have done nobody harm | No one alarmed
Jonah took a scrap of paper from his pocket with pigeon coop measurements on it,
Very deep cut. Only I know what this means.
In the very first version of this book, Eddie met Jonah because he needed a pigeon coop built for Willie, who was reincarnated as a pigeon.
“Who’s John1919? …”
From the (New American) bible, John 19:19:
Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, “Jesus the Nazorean, the King of the Jews.”
Twenty-Two
A pale blue Suzuki Liana
Everybody will know that this is the original car from the Top Gear segment Star In A Reasonably Priced Car.
Twenty-Three
“Now, you put that thing back where it came from or so help me, …”
I’m quoting directly from Monsters Inc. here and you can’t stop me.
Twenty-Five
“…Arnold Schwarzenegger went there once, that one.”
Helen is referring to the original Total Recall. As far as I’m aware, Arnold never actually went to Mars, but I’m willing to accept he did.