It's pretty safe to assume that a lot of [[Laird Barron]]'s stories and novels are connected in some way. Some connections are very clear and obvious, such as characters like [[Jessica Mace]] or the scientist duo of [[Toshi Ryoko]] and [[Howard Campbell]] appearing in multiple stories, or the like [[The Broadsword (Building)]] functioning as the backdrop for multiple stories. Other connections are far less apparent and invite the readers to [craft their own theories](https://www.ligotti.net/showthread.php?t=7486&page=3) surrounding the stories' connections. There are theories floating around that all of Barron's works fit into one of two separate universes: the universe of [[Old Leech]] and a universe where [[Transhumanism]] is the overarching theme. Barron himself stated the following in [a 2014 interview](https://unwinnable.com/2014/06/09/laird-barron/): "There are several story threads worming their way through the overall narrative,” says Barron. “The Children of Old Leech tales are related to, but distinct from, the transhuman storyline of The Imago Sequence, Hallucigenia, Bulldozer, and The Light Is the Darkness. Details are further blurred, because if you read Parallax, you’ll receive the hint that these tales occur in two parallel universes. Which is which isn’t mine to divulge.” ### __Antiquity__ With the opening section of [[The Croning]], Barron created one more world: [[Antiquity]]. In this dark fantasy, medieval version of America, the famous fairytale of [[Rumpelstiltskin]] takes a dark turn. Barron has written more stories set in Antiquity since and is working towards an Antiquity-only story collection. With the creation of Antiquity, Barron also introduced [[Alter Ego]] versions of recurring characters, such as a Antiquity version of [[Isaiah Coleridge]] and his gang appearing in the story [[Uncoiling]]. ### __General Philosophy__ In a [great interview](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caA1o0O58qw) on the YouTube channel Chtonica, published on July 1st, 2021, Barron gave a bit of insight into the general philosophy behind the interconnectedness of his works. "At first I was very studiously lining everything up that I ever did. After a while I said no, this is the wrong way to do this. "It’s a 2000-piece jigsaw puzzle and some of the pieces don’t fit correctly. Or they may even belong to a different puzzle. "I’ve fallen in love with the idea of 'sometimes they’re the same person'. "I’ll have Delia. Delia is an heiress in the Coleridge series. She’s a black magician in my Antiquity series. She’s one of the worst people alive. "She keeps reappearing. She’s not the same person in all of them, but she is." (Chtonica Interview) The fact that there's no definite answers and we're dealing with a 'quantum narrative' pretty much means that the [[Laird Barron Mapping Project]] is probably inherently flawed. Or at least, it means there's never gonna be a definite answer to some of the mysteries. But questions are infinitely more interesting than answers anyway. So this isn't really a problem, is it? Concerning the idea of a quantum narrative, one sentence in the story Uncoiling gives us something to think about. In the middle of a conversation, Robard asks Coleridge a seemingly completely unrelated question: “Can the same matter occupy the same space?” (Cosmic Horror Monthly, January 2022, p. ) Robard almost seems to ask this for us, the readers. When reading a story set in alternative version of historic America dealing with alter egos of recurring characters, we might wonder about the bigger picture of Barron's fiction and some idea of a Multiverse or quantum narrative and ask ourselves that very same question. #Theme #Meta #Antiquity