# Untold Stories from fiction. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 11, 2004, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/untold-stories-from-fiction/268689 "2004-10-11T19:11:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Waccoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Waccoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waccoe)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/untold-stories-from-fiction/268689/21 "2004-10-13T21:46:03Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > George MacDonald Fraser has **filled** the _Flashman_ books with untold stories. A lot of us are going to be really cheesed if George kicks off before telling us what really happened to Flashman during the American Civil War, for instance. All we get are clues, and the knowledge that he served on both sides in a very high capacity. He’s given up, hasn’t he? He’s quite old, and the geometric progression would predict maybe one more book in 2007 or so and that’s yer lot. So if we get the Civil War, we’ll have missed out on, lessee…Khartoum, the Australian Gold Rush, Mexico and Montezuma, the full story of the Zulu Wars, the War of 1870, probably the Gunfight at the OK Corral, the Boxer Rebellion…somebody should take it over. ---
**Author:** ![Waccoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Waccoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waccoe)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/untold-stories-from-fiction/268689/22 "2004-10-13T21:47:47Z")
Er, for Montezuma, read Maximilian. Losing it. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/untold-stories-from-fiction/268689/23 "2004-10-13T22:13:22Z")
> [@Number Six](#): > > Example 1: Hamster Huey and the Gooey Kablooie: we never get more than the title. This is how to do it right. Much later, the author of _Hamster Huey_ comes out with her next book: _Commander Salamander and the Doublehander Bellylander_. (I’m working from memory here, so I may not have that perfectly.) I’m a \*\*HUGE \*\* fan of C&H, but I always thought that title was a bit of a stretch. > [@Bippy the Beardless](#): > > What about the real reason that the Prisoner resigned? Obviously, the OP would be the _last_ person in the world to bring up _that_ question. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/untold-stories-from-fiction/268689/24 "2004-10-13T22:59:56Z")
> [@cher3](#): > > …but I think we still don’t exactly know what is in scumble, besides apples. [5th item down](http://www.bursarvixen.com/beer.php3)😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mystery\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f14d63/32.png) [@Mystery\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mystery_Dog)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/untold-stories-from-fiction/268689/25 "2004-10-13T23:17:50Z")
Many episodes of “Moonlighting” contained references to an ongoing and complicated investigation called “The Anselmo Case”. Exactly what that case involved was never explained, but it dragged on for years. At the end of the last episode, the following text appeared on screen: “Blue Moon Investigations ceased operations on May 14th, 1989. The Anselmo Case was never solved … and remains a mystery to this day.” ---
**Author:** ![c\_carol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e79b87/32.png) [@c\_carol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/c_carol)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/untold-stories-from-fiction/268689/26 "2004-10-13T23:58:06Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > It’s seriously implied that the “ginger beer trick” involves taking a highly carbonated bottle of ginger beer, shaking it violently, and then inserting it… :eek: …under the person’s _nose_. [Cite](http://www.co.uk.lspace.org/books/apf/night-watch.html) ---
**Author:** ![AveDementia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@AveDementia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AveDementia)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/untold-stories-from-fiction/268689/27 "2004-10-14T07:52:53Z")
I loved Hamster Huey from Calvin and Hobbes! One of my very favorite strips was centered around that. After complaining about Calvin choosing it a million times as a bedtime story, Calvin’s dad wanted to read something different, but Calvin insisted on Hamster Huey. They argued, and Dad gave in, but the last panel shows a shocked looking Calvin and Hobbes huddled together in bed: Calvin: Wow, it never ended like that before! Hobbes: I wonder if the townspeople ever found Hampster Huey’s head? Instant classic. Whats the “noodle incident”? I don’t remember that one. ---
**Author:** ![The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_King_of_Soup)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/untold-stories-from-fiction/268689/28 "2004-10-14T08:18:47Z")
Not precisely from fiction, but – Joe Gould’s Oral History of the World. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/untold-stories-from-fiction/268689/29 "2004-10-14T13:47:58Z")
> [@AveDementia](#): > > Whats the “noodle incident”? I don’t remember that one. Well, that’s kind of the point. No one knows. There are several strips in which Calvin mentions “the noodle incident” while protesting his innocence, or at least claiming that nothing was ever proved. I believe it was supposed to have happened at school, but that’s about all we can say. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/untold-stories-from-fiction/268689/30 "2004-10-14T14:12:35Z")
> [@cher3](#): > > He’s dropped a few more hints. It is significant that the Three Jolly Luck was a take-out _fish_place. On _Dagon_ street? I suspect Mr. Wong loved his craft. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/untold-stories-from-fiction/268689/31 "2004-10-14T14:15:09Z")
**The King in Yellow** , by Robert W. Chambers, is a collection of short stories that deal with a book called **The King in Yellow**. Although it’s said to be a beautiful and fascinating work of literature, it drives people mad and may even kill them if they read it. The contents of the book are alluded to, but not explained in detail. . .for much the same reason that Monty Python’s fatally funny joke (the one about the milkman) is never revealed. ---
**Author:** ![Waccoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Waccoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waccoe)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/untold-stories-from-fiction/268689/32 "2004-10-14T14:38:20Z")
There seems to be a fair bit of interest in the missing Holmes stories. I had a book once which attempted a dozen of them, imitating the Doyle style. Whoever the author was, he didn’t attempt the Giant Rat of Sumatra, but he had a go at the chap who forgot his umbrella - James Phillimore, I think it was, and also Wilson, the notorious canary trainer. As you might expect, it wasn’t very satisfying - the Wilson story was exactly the same plot as _The Speckled Band._ ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/untold-stories-from-fiction/268689/33 "2004-10-14T14:47:12Z")
> [@](#): > > Where did the Harlequin get the jelly beans? You’d think the TickTockMan’s spies would have eventually figured that out. Great reference! ---
**Author:** ![LateComer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b5ac83/32.png) [@LateComer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LateComer)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/untold-stories-from-fiction/268689/34 "2004-10-14T15:12:39Z")
What, exactly, was in the Penske file? ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/untold-stories-from-fiction/268689/35 "2004-10-14T15:30:30Z")
And what is “the move” that Jerry told Putty and George about? ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/untold-stories-from-fiction/268689/36 "2004-10-14T16:01:06Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > **The King in Yellow** , by Robert W. Chambers, is a collection of short stories that deal with a book called **The King in Yellow**. Although it’s said to be a beautiful and fascinating work of literature, it drives people mad and may even kill them if they read it. The contents of the book are alluded to, but not explained in detail. . .for much the same reason that Monty Python’s fatally funny joke (the one about the milkman) is never revealed. We do have a few fragments of the play **TKiY**. Luckily, Chambers didn’t include the whole first act. Readers may want to do further research, but it’s at their own risk. In somewhat the same vein, Lovecraft and his collaborators referred to several books that are best left unread. The so-called modern translations of the _Necronomicon_ are of course obvious fabrications. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/untold-stories-from-fiction/268689/37 "2004-10-14T21:21:19Z")
Several episodes of “Murphy Brown” have people commenting on the title characters’ bad behavior at the 1984 democratic convention. I don’t think they ever explained that. “Seinfeld” - the outcome of the infamous “contest” (to see who could hold out from \<_ahem_\> "doing _that_ was kept a secret for almost a year. (George initially was deemed the winner, but on the last episode confessed that he lied.) “the Simpsons” - on the way to ‘Itchy & Scratchy-land’, the family takes a short-cut down a rural road. Their car is shown turning onto the road, the next scene shows the car turning off the road. Every member of the family has a shell-shocked look in their eyes and Homer says “Well so much for the short cut, let us never speak of it again!” Also on “the Simpsons” - there are the many adventures that occur to the family during the nine months that Manjula was pregnant: Marge worked on the Krusty the Klown show as ‘Sideshow Marge’ and Bart learned the true meaning of Arbor Day, among other exploits. ---
**Author:** ![AveDementia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@AveDementia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AveDementia)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/untold-stories-from-fiction/268689/38 "2004-10-14T21:29:10Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > Well, that’s kind of the point. No one knows. There are several strips in which Calvin mentions “the noodle incident” while protesting his innocence, or at least claiming that nothing was ever proved. I believe it was supposed to have happened at school, but that’s about all we can say. Perhaps I should have been more clear that I was asking for context, not explanation. I don’t know what “the move” on Seinfeld was either, but in context it was definitely sexual in nature. (As opposed to something you do while playing sports, for example.) Thank you for the information. ---
**Author:** ![The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_King_of_Soup)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/untold-stories-from-fiction/268689/39 "2004-10-14T21:32:17Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > **The King in Yellow** , by Robert W. Chambers, is a collection of short stories that deal with a book called **The King in Yellow**. Although it’s said to be a beautiful and fascinating work of literature, it drives people mad and may even kill them if they read it. The contents of the book are alluded to, but not explained in detail. . .for much the same reason that Monty Python’s fatally funny joke (the one about the milkman) is never revealed. _The King in Yellow_, I believe, is also one of Raymond Chandler’s short stories, pre-1940. ---
**Author:** ![Big\_Norse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/big_norse/32/9954_2.png) [@Big\_Norse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Big_Norse)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/untold-stories-from-fiction/268689/40 "2004-10-14T22:24:10Z")
Was anything ever written on _Buckaroo Banzai against the World Crime League_? Did any more than the first chapter of the _Princess Bride_ sequel: _Buttercup’s Baby: S. Morgenstern’s Glorious Examination of Courage Matched Against the Death of the Heart_ get finished? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/untold-stories-from-fiction/268689.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/untold-stories-from-fiction/268689.md?page=3)