YouTube Video — Transcript

This is CA Cupid. In late December of 2011, she was introduced to the world of Monster High.

As the adopted daughter of Arrows, the Greek god of love and family-friendly activities. And although her monster type was at the time unknown, she quickly became an essential character within the Monster High lore, playing a significant role in the "Why Do Ghouls Fall in Love" storyline and hosting the popular in-universe radio show "On the Air with CACID." But it was during this radio show on the 23rd of April 2013 that CADID made an announcement that would change Monster High forever.

[snorts] Mount Olympus has a new assignment for me. I'm excited to announce that I'm starting a new chapter in an enchanting place where I can help others follow their true heart's desires. The radio show is going on break while I pack my stuff and get ready for my clawsome new adventure. In other words, CADID was leaving Monster High and transferring to a new school later revealed to be that of Ever After High. And suddenly, Monster High was no longer a single standalone story. It was just one part of a much larger universe with a pair of worlds that seemed destined to collide.

But if the world of Ever After High has taught fans anything, it's that destiny is often a lot less set in stone than one might think. For example, [music] following CAD's move, it became increasingly obvious that Mattel was laying the groundwork for a full-scale Monster High and Ever After High crossover. And yet, despite literal years of buildup and impossible-to-ignore connections, that crossover never came, leaving an entire fandom wondering how and why one of the most anticipated events in doll media history simply never happened. And more importantly, was it ever actually going to happen at all? Years later, fans would learn the truth, that the crossover they were craving had in fact been in development with scripts written, animators hired, and production ready to begin. But before it could ever release, the project was quietly scrapped, cementing it instead as one of doll history's greatest what-ifs. So, this is the story of a crossover that for years seemed to be coming, but ultimately never did, or at least not in the way fans expected. This is the story of the abandoned Monster High and Ever After High crossover.

As just mentioned, Mattel didn't waste any time establishing the fact that Monster High and Ever After High existed within the same universe. But to truly understand why a crossover felt so inevitable, it's first important to establish how Mattel continued building the connections between the two worlds over time. In simpler terms, the history of Monster High and Ever After High overlapping, which of course began with a certain daughter of Arrows. While the announcement that Cupid was leaving Monster High came in April of 2013, it wouldn't be until August that the two worlds would actually cross paths for the first time. With the Ever After High episode, "Here Comes Cupid," opening with CA stepping through a mirror portal and emerging in the world of Ever After, new whimsical appearance and all. Her subsequent core doll's diary would then elaborate on her transition before her origination at Monster High effectively faded into the background. Though that's not to say the thread was cut. In fact, if anything, the thread would quickly begin tightening as not even a month after CAD's transfer to Ever After High, Monster High 13 Wishes would release on DVD. And almost immediately, sharp-eyed fans spotted an entire collection of fairy tale Easter eggs hidden around Monster High's attic, including the Mad Hatter's hat, a poisoned apple, and the evil queen's mirror. Not to mention towards the film's climax, it was revealed that Giles Grim, one of Ever After High's founders, was actually a key character in Gigi Grant's backstory.

Then, in the years that followed, 2016's Great Scarier Reef featured a poster of Apple, Maddie, and Raven in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo. While over in the fairy tale world, the same year's Ever After High Dragon Game special marked the first time an Ever After High character ever outright name-dropped Monster High. As following Apple White's poisoning and Raven's lament at how she wished she had run away to a place without fairy tales, Meline had her casually respond, quote, "I don't think there is such a place unless maybe wherever monsters come from or something, but who ever heard of a Monster High?" [laughter] Sorry.

Mind you, unprompted, literally no one mentioned monsters. Maybe she heard the narrators say something.

H. But to find the most important and arguably most explicit tease of what was soon to come, we actually have to go back about six months [music] to 2015's Buork Buork. Specifically to the film's post-credit scene, where after a brief guitar battle with Opera, Astronova, the newest student at Monster High, received a phone call from a mysterious pair of voices. And after explaining to them that Monster High and all the other schools they believed to be fictional were indeed real, the characters she was talking to were revealed to be none other than Raven Queen and Apple White. And before the scene cut to black, Astronova turned directly to the audience and winked. Needless to say, the implications of this moment were massive. And just like that, the stage was set. Even without an official announcement from Mattel, the fandom went into overdrive, convinced that a fully fledged crossover event was just beyond the horizon. And they would be absolutely correct because Mattel was in fact working towards that crossover. All the references, Easter eggs, and mentions of characters from the other worlds weren't just moments for attentive fans to spot. They were all leading up to a movie that fans would never see.

At some point in early 2015, Mattel and No Corpse Entertainment quietly began development on the exact project fans had been begging for since CACID first transferred to Ever After High, a crossover movie under the working title Fairy Tale. The film was set to release in the summer of 2016 and was being developed to act as the 14th entry in the Monster High cinematic universe, meaning it would have been animated in the same CG style as most of the previous Monster High specials and would mark the first time the Ever After High characters would ever be portrayed in 3D. And while not much is known about the project from a data standpoint, based on the Monster High specials created and released around the same time, it can be assumed that Fairy Tale was likely going to run for around 70 minutes and be directed by or at the very least co-directed by William Lauao, who has an extensive and impressive history directing animated films and had led the production of the five previous Monster High films. Edi is also known to have been the project storyboard supervisor and David M. Chambers was responsible for art direction. Though outside of those two, the production crew overall is a bit of a mystery. But nonetheless, a crew was evidently assembled, suggesting production was about to begin. [music] Keyword: about to. Because by late 2015, it was no secret that Monster High and Ever After High were heading in two very different directions. Mattel had just announced that the former was going to be rebooted the following year, and the latter was quickly barreling towards cancellation for reasons that weren't their own video. And unfortunately, somewhere in the middle of all of that, Fairy Tale became collateral damage. Production halted. All existing material was locked away, and the film was ultimately scrapped before a single scene could even be animated. And with no official announcement confirming its development, it was almost as if the film had never existed at all. For all intents and purposes, Monster High Fairy Tale was lost until it wasn't. On the 7th of May 2016, Monster High debuted a short 55-second trailer promoting a new upcoming web series titled The

and production ready to begin. But before it could ever release, the project was quietly scrapped, cementing it instead as one of doll history's greatest what-ifs. So, this is the story of a crossover that for years seemed to be coming, but ultimately never did, or

at least not in the way fans expected. This is the story of the abandoned Monster High and Ever After High crossover.

As just mentioned, Mattel didn't waste any time establishing the fact that Monster High and Ever After High existed within the same universe. But to truly understand why a crossover felt so inevitable, it's first important to establish how Mattel continued building

the connections between the two worlds over time. In simpler terms, the history of Monster High and Ever After High overlapping, which of course began with a certain daughter of arrows. While the announcement that Cupid was leaving Monster High came in April of 2013, it

wouldn't be until August that the two worlds would actually cross paths for the first time. With the Ever After High episode, Here Comes Cupid, opening with CA stepping through a mirror portal and emerging in the world of Ever After, new

whimsical appearance and all. Her subsequent core doll's diary would then elaborate on her transition before her origination at Monster High effectively faded into the background. Though that's not to say the thread was cut. In fact, if anything, the thread would quickly

begin tightening as not even a month after CAD's transfer to Ever After High, Monster High 13 Wishes would release on DVD. And almost immediately, sharpeyed fans spotted an entire collection of fairy tale Easter eggs hidden around Monster High's attic, including the Mad

Hatter's hat, a poisoned apple, and the evil queen's mirror. Not to mention towards the film's climax, it was revealed that Giles Grim, one of Ever After High's founders, was actually a key character in Gigi Grant's backstory.

Then, in the years that followed, 2016's Great Scarier Reef featured a poster of Apple, Maddie, and Raven in a Blink and You'll Miss It cameo. While over in the fairy tale world, the same year's Ever After High Dragon game special marked

the first time an Ever After High character ever outright name dropped Monster High. As following Apple White's poisoning and Raven's lament at how she wish she had run away to a place without fairy tales, Meline had her casually

responded quote "I don't think there is such a place unless maybe wherever monsters come from or something, but who ever heard of a monster hide?" [laughter] Sorry.

Mind you, unprompted, literally no one mentioned monsters. Maybe she heard the narrators say something.

H. But to find the most important and arguably most explicit tease of what was soon to come, we actually have to go back about 6 months [music] to 2015's Buork Buork. Specifically to the film's postredit scene, where after a brief

guitar battle with Opera, Astronova, the newest student at Monster High, received a phone call from a mysterious pair of voices. And after explaining to them that Monster High and all the other schools they believed to be fictional were indeed real, the characters she was

talking to were revealed to be none other than Raven Queen and Apple White. And before the scene cut to black, Astronova turned directly to the audience and winked. Needless to say, the implications of this moment were massive. And just like that, the stage

was set. Even without an official announcement from Mattel, the fandom went into overdrive, convinced that a fullyfledged crossover event was just beyond the horizon. And they would be absolutely correct because Mattel was in fact working towards that crossover. All

the references, Easter eggs, and mentions of characters from the other worlds weren't just moments for attentive fans to spot. They were all leading up to a movie that fans would never see.

At some point in early 2015, Mattel and No Corpse Entertainment quietly began development on the exact project fans had been begging for since CACID first transferred to Ever After High, a crossover movie under the working title Fairy Tale. The film was set to release

in the summer of 2016 and was being developed to act as the 14th entry in the Monster High cinematic universe, meaning it would have been animated in the same CG style as most of the previous Monster High specials and would

mark the first time the Ever After High characters would ever be portrayed in 3D. And while not much is known about the project from a data standpoint, based on the Monster High specials created and released around the same

time, it can be assumed that Fairy Tale was likely going to run for around 70 minutes and be directed by or at the very least co-directed by William Laauo, who has an extensive and impressive history directing animated films and had

led the production of the five previous Monster High films. Edi is also known to have been the project storyboard supervisor and David M. Chambers was responsible for art direction. Though outside of those two, the production crew overall is a bit of a mystery. But

nonetheless, a crew was evidently assembled, suggesting production was about to begin. [music] Keyword about to. Because by late 2015, it was no secret that Monster High and Ever After High were heading in two very different directions. Mattella just announced that

the former was going to be rebooted the following year, and the latter was quickly barreling towards cancellation for reasons that weren't their own video. And unfortunately, somewhere in the middle of all of that, Fairy Tale became collateral damage. Production

halted. All existing material was locked away, and the film was ultimately scrapped before a single scene could even be animated. And with no official announcement confirming its development, it was almost as if the film had never existed at all. For all intents and

purposes, Monster High Fairy Tale was lost until it wasn't. On the 7th of May 2016, Monster High debuted a short 55 second trailer promoting a new upcoming web series titled The Lost Movie in which, according to the trailer, Draculaura and

Claudine would be reacting to clips from an unfinished Hauntleywood movie that would have featured quote new friends from Ever After High. That's right, on a completely random Saturday, Fairy Tale was revealed. And over the next 2 months, fans would finally get to see

what the anticipated crossover would have looked like. with 12 episodes of this lost movie web series being uploaded to the Monster High YouTube channel. Each one was short, typically just two to four minutes long, but showed a selection of scenes from

throughout the film, confirming not only that the entire project had been fully storyboarded, but also that it had even been partially voice acted before being cancelled. [music] Though, with that said, the web series also excluded large amounts of the film. Most notably, the

entire final act was absent. So once the existence of fairy tale was confirmed, fans were determined to fill in the blanks and hence they began doing what they do best digging. And slowly more and more pieces of the film would be

uncovered. It was found that Sarah Moda had uploaded previously unseen storyboards to her now defunct website while Casey Sandborn had shared character models and production sheets through his online portfolio. But perhaps most importantly, fans discovered that the affforementioned art

director, David Chambers, had uploaded concept art and a fully complete color script to his website, revealing huge portions of the movie's plot that were previously unknown. And so, despite being cancelled and buried more than a decade ago now, by some miracle, Fairy

Tale's plot has been largely reconstructed, which means it can hence be retold. [music] Hi.

Fairy tale would have opened with Draculaura running. She's stumbling around twisting corridors, chasing a mysterious cloaked figure through a seemingly endless labyrinth. But before she can catch them, she's suddenly awoken by nightmare. Huh? Had mistress Bledgood's horse. It was only a dream,

and Draculaura is safe and sound, having fallen asleep in the Monster High Courtyard. Though that doesn't explain the strange old book she still has tightly clutched in her hands.

But around the rest of the yard, the other students are excitedly preparing for the Monster High Medieval Fair.

Claudine is struggling to create a costume for Bloodgood. Lagona and Gil are running a slime and kidney pie stand. And Dracula and Cleo are growing increasingly frustrated, watching their boyfriends goofing around instead of helping. So eventually, Draculaura retreats to one of Monster High's towers

for a moment alone. And there, she goes through the book she was holding earlier. It's revealed to be a journal full of fantastical sketches and notes describing a quote world on a world. All completed by Unona, a childhood friend

of Draculauras, who mysteriously vanished more than 150 years ago. But before she can continue pondering the book's contents, Draculaura is joined by Claudine and Cleo, who dismissed the journal as simply madeup fantasy until Claudine notices something hidden beneath sketches of medieval dresses.

It's a message. To walk between worlds, you must follow these steps. Step one, set the hex. [music] Step two, state your wish. Step three, speak the charm, girlfriend, and find the path. Sounds like trouble. So, the trio head back to

the fairgrounds, unaware that that entire time they were being watched by a shadowed, silent figure through a nearby mirror.

Later that night, curiosity gets the better of Draculaura, and she manages to convince her friends to help her perform the spell from Unona's diary. Cleo provides crystals that they used to set the map texts. And each girl makes their

wish. Cleo jokingly to find her true prince, Claudine to overcome her designer's block, and Draculaura to find Oona and bring her home.

The crystals [music] begin to glow. The girls say the word girlfriend together. The lights unite to form a glowing scallet. And in a blinding flash of light, the three vanish.

Draculora is running once again, dreaming of chasing the cloaked figure. But this time, when she calls for them to wait, the figure listens. And as they slowly begin to turn, Draculaura wakes up. Her Claudine and Cleo are now standing

inside the real labyrinth. A beautiful fountain next to them, and stone walls covered in vines and flowers surround them, almost like something straight out of a fairy tale world.

But back at Monster High, the students are waking up to a new day. And outside, the school has changed dramatically. A massive enchanted forest now wraps around the campus. And from its shadows arrives an old cloaked woman riding a

carriage full of magical trinkets. She offers each student an object perfectly suited to them. A casket that never misses for Claude, a science kit for Gouia, a perfume for Tori, and more, asking only for a simple signature in

return. One by one, the students comply. And even Bloodgood, despite her suspicions, is eventually pressured into signing the old woman's book through the incredible power of drugs. Drugs. Though at the same time, Dracula, Cleo, and Claudine race through the labyrinth,

searching for an escape, [music] following what they believe is the sound of a nearby echo. Though ultimately, it's not an echo at all. It was the shouting of a group of girls the monsters quickly crash into. Who are

these girls? Well, they introduce themselves as none other than Raven Queen, Apple White, and Meline Hatter, daughters of fairy tale legends. The newly formed group of six spiral into confusion, trying to process the fact that the monster and fairy tale

characters they separately believe to be just stories have in fact been real all this time. Though their confusion quickly turns to panic when Raven realizes that this monster world must be where her mother, the evil queen, has disappeared to. Because if the evil

queen gains access to Monster High, she gains an army powerful enough to conquer both the monster and fairy tale world.

So, the six girls quickly set off to escape the labyrinth and stop their two realities from merging. And as [music] they do, Raven explains that they'll have to complete a series of fairy tale trials. Each one designed to test them

and prevent intruders from leaving the neverending maze. Intruders like the mysterious cloaked figure spying on them from the trees. According to surviving storyboards, the next sequence would have been a musical montage in which the Ever After High Girls guide the monster

trio through the magical world. They would encounter magical creatures, explore a giant mushroom forest, and slowly bond while learning about each other's personalities, worlds, and powers with the sequence ending as all the girls take a selfie together. But of

course, they soon encounter trouble. The girls arrive at a bridge where they are met by their first trial, a cursed Claude Wolf, who explains that they must solve his riddles three or literally be eaten. And while they successfully

answer the first two, Claudine's growing irritation at her brother causes them to fail the third. SO CLAUDE ATTACKS GOBLIN [screaming] TIME AND THE SIX girls leap into the raging magic stream below to escape. While back at Monster High, night falls, and the

boundaries between the monster and fairy tale worlds are beginning to collapse. But even worse, the old woman, who is of course revealed to have been the evil queen, has used the signatures she collected to successfully enslave all the students and staff of Monster High.

All except of course the students currently rushing down the magic stream who are eventually separated by the violent currents. Dracula and Raven are thankfully rescued by the cloaked figure.

Thank you whoever you are. Who is finally revealed to be the Kumiho Una, but the other girls aren't so lucky. Claudine and Maddie managed to fight their way out of the water only to find Maddie now has werewolf senses and

Claudine can pull random objects out of a hat. And elsewhere, Apple and Cleo are washed ashore and awakened to find that they too have swapped powers and color [music] schemes. And the realization hits them all that now they must survive

their fairy tale trials in pairs. Apple and Cleo encounter a giant cobra revealed to be a cursed Duke Gorgon who was defeated after Cleo confesses her love for him. While Claudine and Maddie overpower a cursed Gouia and make their

way to the top of an ivory tower which provides such a beautiful view of the fairy tale world that Claudine can't help but be inspired. And by overcoming their tests, all four girls are able to escape the labyrinth through elaborate

portals. But back with Raven and Draculaura, they've only just made it to Oona's hideout, where Draculaura explains to Raven that her and Oona were best friends as children, bonded through their shared love of all things fairy tales and magic. But after discovering

ancient scrolls beneath Monster High, describing other magical worlds, Oona became obsessed with finding them, causing Draculaura to distance herself from what she saw as a waste of time.

until one day, without warning, Oona disappeared, only leaving behind her journal. And now, after 150 years trapped inside this labyrinth, Oona finally has a chance to escape. Though, to do so, she explains that Draculaura and Raven will need to find a key

guarded by a massive dragon, aka a cursed Jennifer Long. Meanwhile, the other four girls have managed to escape to Monster High, though they find it completely abandoned, say for a shadowy figure lurking in the principal's office. Of course, it's the evil queen who attempts

to get the girls to sign her book, but after they refuse, decides she can use other methods to get what she wants.

[laughter] Raven and Dracula are now Monster High's only hope. And [clears throat] while they seem unable to find the exit's key, they are able to defeat the dragon, [music] opening another portal that allows them passage back to Monster

High, where they must go to save the ones they love. Unfortunately, this is the point in the fairy tale story where the details become a bit muddled, as the Lost Movie web series never shared the finale, and no detailed storyboards of it have ever

surfaced. Meaning from here on out, much of the story has been reconstructed using unverifiable testimonials and David Chambers color script. So it may not be entirely accurate. But with that said, it seems that Raven and Dracula would have led one final stand against

the evil queen as the two worlds began collapsing around them. And just when defeat seems inevitable, Una would arrive on the back of the Ginifier dragon, turning the tides of the battle and helping the girls defeat the evil

queen, restoring the world's balance in the process as the sunrise separates them once more.

In the aftermath, the medieval fair would resume in celebration. Cleo would realize Deuce was her perfect prince all along. Claudine would unveil new outfits inspired by both monsters and fairy tales alike. and the six girls alongside Oona would spend one final day together

hanging out and saying goodbye before the Ever After High girls eventually returned home. Though it's unclear if Oona went with them or stayed at Monster High. But finally, the film would end with Draculaura placing the labyrinth selfie inside her locker as a keepsake.

While somewhere far away, the evil queen is revealed to be imprisoned within a dark forest, perhaps even the labyrinth itself. Finn. And so that was, or at least would have been, Monster High Fairy Tale, the crossover Mattel had

been building up to for almost 3 years. Of course, plenty of details still remain unknown, especially surrounding the film's finale and production. But for now, there is comfort in knowing that unlike many other cancelled films that are ultimately lost to time, a near

complete reconstruction of Fairy Tale's plot is still possible, thanks entirely to the information and production material that has surfaced over the years. Speaking of, there is still one final piece of evidence that has yet to be discussed, but is definitely

important to mention. Because while it doesn't necessarily help reconstruct the film or its narrative, it does offer incredibly valuable insight into what would have been a key part of the film's roll out had it never been cancelled.

I'm of course talking about the fairy tale dolls. On the 20th of October 2022, more than half a decade after the fairy tale film was scrapped, an Instagram user under the name Dolls for the Archive uploaded pictures of what is widely believed to

be the prototype dress for the fairy tale Apple White doll, with the post actually gaining the attention of Garrett Sander, the creator of Monster High, who went on to comment, quote, "If I remember correctly, the dolls for the

crossover had the Ever After High girls adding a monster type to them on top of their fairy tale, and the Monster High girls adding a fairy tale on top of their monster types. So, I think this is Apple White as a vampire. Also, I think

we were going to do the Ever After High girls using the Monster High body molds, maybe with new heads and the Monster High ghouls on the Ever After High body molds. Again, maybe with new heads, but I can't remember for sure. Though, as

intriguing as his comment is, it's also worth acknowledging that it has caused some debate within the fandom. As Sander specifically stated that Apple White's doll would see her as a vampire despite Apple White never inheriting any vampire traits during the fairy tale film. So

from this, two possible theories have emerged as to what the fairy tale doll line was intended to be. The first being that the fairy tale dolls would have featured completely original designs based on a crossover concept with the

line sharing the fairy tale name but not actually being associated with the fairy tale film which while impossible to rule out is a little unlikely as the entire point of Monster High and Ever After High releasing dolls alongside their

animated projects was to cross-promote them. And if the dolls aren't associated with the movie beyond a similar concept, what is there really to cross-promote?

So, the second and arguably more likely possibility is that this dress would have been one of the monster fairy tale hybrid outfits, specifically apples, that Claudine created in the final scenes of the film, suggesting the fairy tale dolls would have featured designs

taken from the film and that when Sander spoke of Apple White being a vampire, he simply meant that her finale outfit would have utilized vampire motifs, not that she would have literally been a vampire. But at the end of the day, with

no other outfit prototypes or design sketches to provide further context, it's impossible to confirm either theory, which isn't to diminish the importance of this dress. As regardless of the debate surrounding it, it still remains the only physical proof that a

fairy tale doll line was being developed alongside the film. And if nothing else, speculation keeps fairy tale in the public consciousness, which could in turn lead to more discoveries in the future.

[music] So, as of now, that is a wrap on the crossover that never was, Monster High Fairy Tale. No new information has surfaced since 2022, and the chances Mattel will revisit the project are practically non-existent. But in that

case, you may be wondering if this is the end of the line for the Monster High and Ever After High crossover.

Why is there still so much of this video left? Well, it's because, as they say in the world of Ever After, the end is just the beginning. And I haven't been entirely honest with you. See, up until this point in the video, I have very

purposefully led you to believe that the Monster High and Ever After High crossover was unfortunately completely abandoned and that all efforts to finally have the two worlds collide were ultimately ill- fated. But that is not entirely accurate. Because while Fairy

Tale never released and a crossover never happened during the height of the two franchises popularity, Monster High did eventually cross over with Ever After High officially and in a way that was both finished and released to the public. It was just through a medium

that fans never expected and [music] to this day many don't even know existed. [music] [music] When Monster High launched in 2010, Mattel broke their usual toy rollout strategy by debuting the brand not just as a doll line, but as a fully developed

franchise with episodes, clothes, stationery, video games, and of course, books. In fact, upon the brand's debut, the books became such an important part of the Monster High media that more than 15 novels and chapter books would be released throughout generation 1 alone,

with many of them becoming bestsellers. So, 3 years later, when Mattel was preparing to launch Ever After High, they immediately applied the same franchise strategy and alongside the dolls and episodes began releasing accompanying books, most notably the core novel series written by Shannon

Hail. The first of these books was 2013's The Story Book of Legends, which was then followed by 2014's The Unfairest of Them All: A Wonderland World and Once Upon a Time. And finally, [music] 3 years later, on the 17th of

October 2017, Little Brown and Co. would publish Hail's final Ever After High book. This one co-written with her husband, The Legend of Shadow High, which, as you can probably tell from the cover, was an official and publicly released crossover between Monster High

and Ever After High. And while it would be great to say that this book was an updated version of Fairy Tale, or just in general the crossover story fans had dreamt of, in reality, that wasn't entirely the case.

Mainly because, as just mentioned, this book came out in 2017, meaning Monster High was deep into the widely disliked generation [music] 2 era, and Ever After High had, in all important respects, already been cancelled, despite Mattel not confirming

that fact until 2018. [music] and because it's a book and a lot of people don't like reading. So ultimately, The Legend of Shadow High was very different to the crossover fans had wanted and expected. Yes, there were some

similarities to Fairy Tale, but overall the two stories couldn't have been more different. And for that reason, it's only fair to also retell the plot of this book, especially considering it has become a notoriously difficult book to get a physical hold of, particularly for

those of us outside North America. I paid $60 and waited a month for this. Of course, if you can read it, you absolutely should. It's a very good book. But otherwise, it's time to transform with the power to

read. Sit back, grab a drink of choice, and allow me to tell you the story of the legend of Shadow High.

It's a regular morning at Monster High. The wind is blowing, the students are chatting, and Draculaura and Frankie Stein are nervously preparing for a history class presentation on the creation of their beloved school.

Though, they're under some unique pressure. As in Generation 2's law, the pair actually founded Monster High. So, if anyone is going to nail this presentation, it pretty much has to be them. And thankfully, their presentation does start strong. But just as their

confidence builds, a comedy of errors begins, leaving their class running, their teacher literally frozen, and the two ghouls being given 48 hours to come up with a new presentation, with the caveat that this second attempt has to be about a school other than Monster

High, which leaves them with Normie High, the nearby high school for humans and the only other school the ghouls know of. But Frankie simply isn't contempt with that. And determined to do something different, the two girls sneak into Dracula's office to search for

information on literally any other option, which they find in a stack of old parchment with all its ink suspiciously erased, except for two words: Shadow High. Naturally, the girls attempt to ask Dracula about this obscure school. And though he admits the

name is strangely familiar, he's distracted by the distant sound of dripping. Must just be some pipes leaking. So, the two girls head off to ask the school's janitor, who also thinks the name sounds familiar, but is also distracted by the same

dripping. Frankie and Draculaura quickly realize that that intrusive sound only seems to occur when someone mentions Shadow High.

And that realization, paired with their general curiosity, means that they've just found the topic of their new report.

Later that night, Frankie and Draculaura are looking over a map of their monster world and theorizing that they could potentially use their mapalog.

The monster? What a what? The monster mapalog. It can locate any monster in the world. Just say the name of the monster you're [music] looking for and zap. The mapalog will teleport you right to them to locate Shadow High's principal and by

extension the school. So, they go to act on their theory, but a plopping noise distracts them.

They go to try again and a violent force knocks them back. Must have been an earthquake. Okay, one more try and this time the entire room shakes. Books fly off shelves and more alarmingly, a mirror on the wall suddenly cracks in

two. Though unfortunately, the girls are still in their room. Their transportation attempt unsuccessful, but not entirely useless because the map sitting on Frankie's desk has changed. A completely new continent has appeared and it reads Ever After High.

In the world of fairy tale and storybook characters, it's a regular morning at Ever After High. The birds are chirping, the flowers are blooming, and Raven Queen and Apple White are heading to class. They discuss the possible consequences of Raven refusing to sign

the story book of legends and attempt to assure each other that everything will work out how it's meant to eventually.

But in the middle of Raven's dark sorcery class, the ground begins to shake and the teacher, Baba Yaga, immediately senses something is wrong.

She casts a spell to uncover the tremor source, only to be left whispering one question. What is shadow eye? Before she faints and unfortunately for the panicked raven, when she regains consciousness, Baba Yaga remembers nothing and quickly moves on. Though not

everyone is so easily diverted because deep within the mirror prison, the evil queen also felt the tremors. And through her mirror, she catches a glimpse of two unfamiliar girls discussing Ever After High and Shadow High. The latter's name

alone is enough to intrigue her, and her plan to learn more is immediately set in motion when she notices the newly formed crack in her mirror.

After class, Raven rushes to find Maline Hatter, but instead runs into Apple. And as the two continue towards their next class, they notice an old woman staggering in front of them with an eerily similar posture to Raven's mother. So, of course, they follow her

and are led into the school library where the woman has disappeared. The only clue to her whereabouts being a broken mirror that when the girls look closer at seems to actually be a door with an empty room behind it. Does he

know about the do? Huh? The door. They probably shouldn't go in, but they will.

Do you hear that? On the other side of the mirror, Raven and Apple discover a hidden room full of old scrolls and forgotten books. Among them, two recently disturbed. One describes a monster high school full of vampires, zombies, and other creatures that Apple

dismisses as madeup campfire stories, and the other a book of a raised ink with only a few words legible. Shadow High, power, narrators, the breaking of the world, world of stories. The two girls start discussing what the words

could mean, and the dripping returns. Apple wants to investigate, but Raven dismisses them. So slowly the sounds disappear and Maddie bursts into the room. She's been sent by the narrators to deliver the message stop all capitals and the narrators are never

meant to interrupt like this. So something must be seriously wrong. Hence the girls want to continue investigating but the bell ultimately interrupts them and they rush off to class. [music] Though as expected, the old woman the girl saw was indeed the evil queen who

sensed the Monster High scroll emanating a powerful magic and recognized it as being caused by someone or two someone's trying to teleport out of Monster High.

So using a surge of magic from the scroll, the evil queen is transported into Monster High while at the [music] exact same time Frankie and Draculaura finally succeed in activating the mapalog. And after calling for the principal of Ever After High,

the two ghouls find themselves in front of a tall man with gray hair and a blue suit. Headmaster Grim.

Bad idea. The arrival of actual living monsters sends Ever After High into total chaos.

So, following a brief chase, Frankie and Dra are rushed into Grim's office where Maddie and Apple are entrusted with guarding them and who immediately invite Raven. Of course, the five girls struggle to accept the fact that their fictional stories are real. And Raven

begins to suspect that if Frankie and Draculaura are now in her world, her mother may have escaped to [music] theirs. A theory that much to the group's distress is immediately confirmed when Raven checks the mirror prison and finds the evil queen gone

because she's currently at Monster High attempting to recruit monsters as her minions, though only Monica Decay agrees to help. After all, the two share a desire for world domination. So, they searched Dracula's office for information on Shadow High, only to

uncover the mapalog and a single scroll titled the Path of Shadow, which was borrowed centuries ago from some place called the Lost Library. And all those nearby dripping sounds lead the queen to a dangerous realization that plopping isn't random. It's the narrators trying

to stop her and by extension stop this story from unfolding. We actually learned this all the way back in chapter 2, but I kept it a secret for dramatic effect. Anyway, nightfalls over Ever After High, and with it, the tremors

return, waking Frankie, Draculaura, Raven, and Apple to find Maddie missing, having been abducted by the Zombo. But even worse, outside, Ever After High has become a floating island, surrounded by a thick sea of fog that a spell to

locate Maddie leads the group to enter. Over the next couple of chapters, the girls use an enchanted compass to traverse through the mist, which the reader actually learns is a place called the margins, a space between stories that has the ability to bring

imagination to life and therefore forces the girls to confront their fears, nightmares, and general thoughts until eventually they are led to the lost library where Maddie is being held hostage. The girls are attacked, albeit slowly, by Monica and the Zomboys. And

most dangerously, the evil queen has used the mapalog to reveal the location of Shadow High.

As Raven, Apple, Frankie, and Draculaura frantically fight off the Zombo, a dripping in the distance becomes a loud collection of long and short drops. It's Morse code. The narrators are begging the girls to stop the evil queen, but

it's already too late. While Frankie and Apple hold back the Zombo, Draculaura and Raven head into the lost library where they are able to rescue Maddie, but find the evil queen using magic to pull Shadow High across the margins. The

narrators beg her to stop, warning that her actions will have apocalyptic consequences. But the queen is too far gone, revealing that she plans to steal the narrator's powers as she believes they will allow her to control fate. So

despite her daughter's please, the queen summons the key to Shadow High. It's a chisel. And suddenly, as the evil queen stands there, Shadow High moves closer and faster.

As Shadow High approaches, reality itself begins collapsing. Lava rises from the margins below, and everything it touches becomes nothing but a collection of words. It's unmaking, and even the queen quickly recognizes the danger. Her and Raven attempt to push

Shadow High back, but they can only slow it down. And as more islands begin to appear through the margins fog, the group realizes there's only one way to stop the imminent destruction. They have to go to Shadow High. Brooke Paige, the

teenage narrator of this story, finally demands her parents tell her the truth of Shadow High. And reluctantly, they agree. See, long ago, the first author, used a magic chisel to carve the first ever story into stone, which created an

infinite world of stories that the narrators would retell for readers beyond the fourth wall. But one narrator Misdirection believed narrators should control stories rather than just guide them. So she created a magic capable of breaking down stories to rewrite them and founded a school

dedicated to teaching this new [music] skill, Shadow High. But quickly, the magic spiraled out of control, consuming Shadow High itself and forcing the other narrators to separate the world of stories using the magic chisel. And [music] for centuries, the worlds

remained safely isolated until Frankie and Draculaura accidentally reconnected them. Realizing the only way to save their existence is to return the chisel to Shadow High, Raven, Apple, Maddie, Frankie, Dracula, and the evil queen all journey towards the Shadow Highland,

where they find a giant volcano surrounded by a crumbling castle. Its walls no longer made of stone, but rather words themselves. And inside, they meet misdirection. or at least the collection of words that remain of her.

With just her words, she easily forces the group into submission. With only Maddie capable of resisting her commands, and with Brook's narrator powers not being strong enough to overpower misdirection, she realizes there is only one person who can save

all the worlds. The reader. You. Brooke runs through the land of narrators, climbs over the fourth wall, and begs you, the reader, to help her, turning the story into a choose your own adventure where you select the series of

events that help the girls free themselves from Misdirection's control. And it [music] works. The group race to the volcano's summit while around them the worlds begin colliding and at the peak they work together to put the chisel in its rightful place with Raven

almost getting close enough before Brooke reveals the last narrator to place the chisel was never seen again.

And in that moment, the evil queen understands what Raven is sacrificing. So she stops her. The evil queen takes hold of the chisel, looking at Raven and admitting [clears throat] that as tempting as it is to let the worlds

perish, she ultimately prefers a world where her daughter gets to live. [music] And as she slams the chisel into place, she whispers one final message that whether she survives or not is ultimately up to us. A blinding light

erupts. The worlds separate once more. And as reality begins to restore, the new group of friends realize that this is where they must all go their separate ways.

Joining in a hug to wish each other one final farewell. Raven, Apple, and Maddie safely return to Ever After High, where they reunite with their friends and calm the panicked headmaster Grim, though they can't help but wonder if their

monster friends safely made it back to their world. And [music] in the case of Raven, what became of her mother? So, she's overjoyed when she checks the mirror prison and finds her mother alive. Angry to be trapped once again,

but alive nonetheless. Well, like we couldn't let her die. But meanwhile, it's a regular morning at Monster High and Frankie and Draculaura are presenting their report on Normi High because at the end of the day, they can't risk others knowing of Shadow

High. Though they can't resist ending their presentation with a small symbol of remembrance, a show of fireworks.

Purple for Raven, red for Apple, and blue for Maddie. And later that night, as Frankie tries to sleep, she finds a tiara left behind by Apple that when placed on their adventures now powerless compass causes it to softly hum to

sleep, meaning she completely misses that a faint green glow begins to form and the barest hint of an arrow points west.

The Legend of Shadow High is an incredibly interesting book, both in terms of its story and formatting, with its brief footnotes by the narrator and training Brooke and its choose your own adventure element towards the end, adding some unique literary features

that really set it apart. It also introduces some compelling lore that if you choose to believe this book exists within the cannon, can really alter the way you think of the two franchises. For example, the reveal that some narrators

believe characters should relive the same stories, while others believe characters should be free to live out their own could explain why the Monster High characters don't have to follow their monster parents' narratives because the Monster World's narrators believe the latter philosophy. But

anyway, regardless of which crossover story you prefer, it's undeniable that the Legend of Shadow High book acted as a beautiful conclusion to the Monster High and Ever After High companionship, ending with the promise that even if the two worlds could no longer exist

together, they would still both be there and that there was even still hope that one day the two worlds could possibly reunite, which does raise the interesting question, could Ever After High and Monster High cross over again in the future?

Future Rumors of an Ever After High comeback have been floating around the fandom since at least 2024. And while there is still an active trademark for the franchise, Mattel hasn't given any solid indication suggesting they actually plan on reviving it. So from that angle, no.

Ever After High won't be crossing over with Monster High again anytime soon simply because the former franchise is effectively dead and buried. However, this is Cupid Hysteria.

[music] In July of 2025, she was introduced to generation 3 of Monster High as this era's equivalent to CAD. And if you recall from the beginning of this video, CAD's introduction to Monster High was what eventually led to the introduction

of Ever After High. So maybe, just maybe, Mattel is secretly developing an Ever After High reboot. And the comeback of Cupid is their version of hinting at what's to come. Probably not. But when looking at the Monster High and

Ever After High crossovers, it can be easy to focus on the fact that fans never really got their crossover happily ever after they were hoping for. Monster High Fairy Tale was cancelled. The Legend of Shadow High was released at an

awkward time and Ever After High is dead enough that a new crossover is not exactly in the cards. But there's also an entirely different way to look at the whole situation and that's from the angle that fans have kept it alive. The

Monster High and Ever After High fandom have managed to almost entirely reconstruct a cancelled film, while The Legend of Shadow High has slowly become a beloved entry in the paired franchises media. And of course, fan art and fiction continue to be released

exploring the possibility of a crossover. So, at the end of the day, I think this is a story of fandom resilience and how the real legacy of these Monster High and Ever After High crossovers isn't their lost or arguably

forgotten status. It's the passion fans still have for them years later. But I still want an Ever After High reboot, Mattel. Don't get it twisted. Or at least all reproductions, please.

Does he know about the do Ari? Huh? The door. Thank you so much to my patrons, including Charlotte and Dia.

Thank