When Fictional Worlds Collide

Have you ever been reading more than one book and thought about what would happen if the characters from all those books met? So for instance what if Poirot found himself in the world of The Phantom of the Opera? Because that is what I have been thinking about as I've been reading my through The Mysterious Affair at Styles and The Phantom of the Opera.

I can't imagine that Poirot would feel out of place in the famous Paris Opera House. Once he had adjusted to having gone back in time that is. I also feel that he wouldn't have any problem working out what was going on behind the scenes. What I would love to see is if the Phantom would let Poirot reveal his secrets, and if Poirot would be able to avoid becoming the Phantom's next victim.

You can guarantee that the one person who would be lost would be Arthur Hastings - I am assuming that he made the journey across worlds with Poirot. When the chandelier comes crashing down in the Opera House he would be thinking that it was just an accident or that the Phantom was in fact just a phantom. In fact I think it would be very entertaining to see what Hastings makes of the whole thing.

Anyway I shall dream on.