Lost in a Pyramid & Other Classic Mummy Stories

by Andrew Smith (Editor)

‘As he rushed madly and wildly through the night, he could hear a swift, dry patter behind him, and could see that this horror was bounding at his heels, with blazing eyes and one stringy arm out-thrown.’

A mummy disappears from its sarcophagus in the dead of night; a crazed Egyptologist entombs a beautiful young woman; a student at Oxford reveals the terrible secrets of an ancient papyrus. These are among the 12 tales from the golden age of the mummy story collected here—stories that still cast a spell with their different versions of the mummy’s curse, some chilling, others darkly romantic and even comic. This enthralling collection is introduced by Andrew Smith, a leading expert on ghost stories and Victorian gothic.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Anthologies, Classics, Gothic, Ghost Stories, British Literature

224 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2017

About the author

Professor of English Studies, Head of English and Modern Languages and Co-Director of the Research Centre for Literature, Arts, and Science at the University of Glamorgan.

"My research interests are in Gothic literature, literature and science, nineteenth century literature, and critical theory. I have published widely in these areas and have given conference papers on related topics in the UK and in North America, Canada, Spain, France, Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands. In 2007 I delivered a keynote address at the International Gothic Association conference held in Aix-en-Provence. I was elected Joint President of the International Gothic Association in 2009 and re-elected in 2011. I was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 2007 and elected a Fellow of the English Association in 2008."

Reviews

[Jaymee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Personally enjoyed this collection as I've studied mummies myself, hence the stories being appealing. It was a fun tour, and as with other story collections, a mix. Somehow, apart from (or precisely because of) the theme, the stories had the same 'feel' to them.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The blotched skin was drawn tightly from bone to bone, and a tangled wrap of coarse black hair fell over the ears"

A collection of mummy stories from The British Library?? Sign me up! This collection of twelve stories was utterly enjoyable and a treat to read. Ancient Egypt and mummies have always held a fascination for me and this book provided some great tales exploring the mummy legend. The highlights for me were 'Lot No.249', 'The Story of Baelbrow' and 'Lost in a Pyramid, or The Mummy's Curse'. Each story transported me back to an era of archaeological discovery and wonder, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

[Kylie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decently readable and interesting collection, especially considering that most of them don't really get anthologized that often. However some of the inclusions were perhaps less relevant than others, and overall I can't say it's an essential addition to anyone's library unless they are especially invested in stories of the period, or of this particular nature.

[Tim Pendry · Rating 3 out of 5]

The British Library have been publishing 'lost' works of popular fiction from the past under their own label, possibly most successfully in the crime genre, This is one of a number of selections from genre short stories - the Egyptian mummy tale from the 1860s to 1900s.

Unfortunately, while historically interesting, if only as an insight into British colonialist attitudes and prejudices over time, nearly all these stories are second-rate. The series closes with a truly dreadful story, 'The Necklace of Dreams', written in 1910 by the scarcely known W. G Peasgood.

Many of the authors are little known and are writing in fairly transient magazines. The oft-anthologised Arthur Conan Doyle story 'Lot No. 249' stands as possibly the only item worth reading for its literary quality, perhaps alongside the stories of Guy Boothby and Hester White.

The introductions to each story are short and to the point and do not over-play the colonialist or even erotic undercurrents of this genre, allowing the reader to discover these for themselves but, truth be told, this collection is really only one for literary genre completists.

Perhaps the only literary lesson is that we should not see Conan Doyle's efforts or Bram Stoker's 'Jewel of the Seven Stars' as somehow creative bolts from the blue. The genre was well established by the time they were writing. These masters were simply doing a better job than most.

The genre, of course, is best known to us through film - thanks to both Universal and Hammer and is still 'alive' today. It also continued as a theme in Lovecraftian literature and recurs through Tim Powers in the byways of contemporary fantasy and steampunk. It is now part of our culture.

As we say, a book for 'completists' which gives us some background to the genre and links it more clearly to imperial adventurism in Egypt and to the erotic tensions in the English upper middle classes but it is not a collection to spark the modern imagination.

[Lotte Houghton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Victorian and Edwardian Egyptology is always a fun setting, I would say though that the only strong story really is the Arthur Conan Doyle one. I enjoyed it a lot though…definitely would like to reread Orientalism in conjunction with this.

[Nick Forbes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Silly but very entertaining

[Edward · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting collection of Mummy adjacent stories, worth a look if you like that sort of bandaged thing. There will be some overly familiar stories such as the excellent "Lot 249" for those like myself, who have read (too?) many other collections of macabre stories. There were also some stories that I had never heard of before and was happy to discover. Andrew Smith provides a good forward and a short but informative introduction to each tale. Recommend.

[4cats · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you are expecting a book filled with stories similar to the classic Mummy film (Boris Karloff) then you will be disappointed with this collection. This short story collection feels dated, there is little to no horror or darkness to them. Disappointing as I was expecting so much.

[Amolhavoc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Occasionally creepy, often silly, blessedly distracting.

[Michael F Simpson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been looking to read this anthology for a while as a huge fan both of the underrepresented mummy horror subgenre, and of the British Library Tales of the Weird series that would succeed it. That said, it was definitely more of a mixed bag than the anthologies to follow - either they hadn't got into their groove quite yet, the mummy story really is as rare as it seems, or both.

The best story here, by far, is Arthur Conan Doyle's 'Lot No. 249,' brilliant enough on its own to justify this book's existence. It's the first I've read by this author and finally convinced me I need to read some of the Sherlock Holmes stories. Other strong entries take on more of a fantasy vibe, or even a comedic vibe, but are still entertaining and interesting.

Holding the collection back is primarily diversion from the theme, many of these stories not relating to mummies, horror or otherwise, and sometimes only tangentially to Ancient Egypt. On top of this, the weaker stories here included a lot more dated language and stereotyping than those usually chosen for British Library anthologies. Pair all this with the greater number of weaker stories, and the anthology is left at a lower consistent quality than its successors.

Even so, the tropes used are interesting enough, and the best stories good enough, that I'm glad to have finally got hold of this one and read it for myself. It really proves there is a great need for inspired stories about the mummy in horror to bring it up to the level of its undead siblings.

[Jay Maxfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well selected anthology of mummy short stories (titles and authors listed below). I hadn't read any of these stories before and was pleasantly surprised at how readable they were, with the exception of A Night with King Pharaoh. One of the stories (The Story of Baelbrow) even combines mummies with another well known horror - which I don't wish to mention as this would be a spoiler. If Gothic/Ghost/Weird short stories are your thing then I would highly recommend this anthology - but remember the stories are taken from the period 1869 to 1910 - so you have to take this into consideration when reading them. I would give this book 8 out of 10.
Lost in a Pyramid, or the Mummy's Curse. (1869) Louisa May Alcott
A Night with King Pharaoh. (1869) Baron Schlippenback KSL
My New Year's Eve Among the Mummies (1879) Grant Allen
Professor Petrus (1884) Justin Huntly McCarthy
The Curse of Vasartas (1889) Eva M. Henry
Lot No. 249 (1892) Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The Unseen Man's Story (1893) Julian Hawthorne
The Story of Baelbrow. (1898) Kate & Hesketh Pritchard
The Mysterious Mummy (1903) Sax Rohmer
The Dead Hand (1904) Hester White
A Professor of Egyptology (1904) Guy Boothby
The Necklace of Dreams (1910) W. G. Peasgood

[Elisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

As someone brought up on Scooby Doo, I was fairly excited about the prospect of reading some mummy stories when I was asked to do so for university. I mean, I can't say I've ever had any strong desire to seek out works featuring mummies since my Scooby Doo days, but that kind of made the prospect of this collection more exciting, as it promised something very different and hopefully quite fun. And it was ok. Generally, I enjoyed reading it. There's a real mix of stories within this collection which makes it interesting: some feature your typical Scooby Doo reanimated/zombie-like mummies, in some the main supernatural element comes in the form of a curse, one blends mummies with the more Western myth of the vampire, and one literally depicts a group of very witty mummies (sans bandages) having a party in a pyramid and very humorously criticising the 'savage' English guy who has stumbled in. The variety in this book was wild, which is not something I was necessarily expecting. However, I can't say that I found that many of the stories memorable. My favourite was probably the title story, Lost in a Pyramid, by Louisa May Alcott, and Arthur Conan Doyle's Lot 249 was fun too, but even they weren't amazing enough to really inspire me or make me want to reread this collection. And some of the others were so plain bizarre or offensive that I wish I could unread them. So, a mixed bag really, with nothing that really stood out.

If you're interested in colonialism, then I would recommend reading this because the history and context surrounding it regarding the Suez Canal and Britain's occupation of Egypt is a fair bit more interesting than the stories themselves. There's also a lot of interesting readings you could do around the recurring motif in these stories of a valuable item being removed from its place in Egypt by a white person and proceeding to haunt that person. Within these stories, there are comments on guilt, entitlement, differences in culture, and who has a right to the artefacts of the past. That, however, doesn't necessarily make them great narratives to read. Overall, a varied and interesting collection, but not one that I think will remain long in the memory.

[Mestor · Rating 5 out of 5]

A superb collection of mummy and curse related narratives. The inevitable highlight of the collection is Arthur Conan Doyle's 'Lot No 249', given how it is the pinnacle of this sub-genre. Other gems include Louisa May Alcott's 'Lost in a Pyramid', Justin Huntly McCarthy's 'Professor Petrus' (a highly atmospheric tale), and 'The Story of Baelbrow', which clearly owes much to Conan Doyle's mummy tale but which is extremely entertaining in its own right. Another anthology in this genre would be a bonus, should suitable material come to light from the archives.

[Karen Kohoutek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another super-fun collection from the British Library. Due to the nature of the theme, all revolving on mummies in some form, there was a little less variety than in most of their collection, as far as the style and tone. So, you know, you have to be interested in weird stories about mummies, the British in Egypt, and Egyptology. But I enjoyed it a lot, and appreciated the introduction, which gives context about the historical period, and the ambivalent feelings a lot of writers had toward the imperial project in Egypt, and the morality of tomb raiding and artifact collecting.

[Clare · Rating 4 out of 5]

An eclectic and educational mix of old tales of mummies and spooky doings in Egypt. It is educational for the insight it gives into the clash of horrific prejudice against the 'modern' Egyptians with the in many cases reverential light ancient Egyptians were held, along with their supposed lost wisdom. Some of the tales are quite dark, others silly. Some try to be 'authentic', others play fast and loose with what was known at the time. It was interesting to see well known authors trying their hands at the genre as well as encountering writers as lost to us as their subject!

[Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Certainly a gem for those seeking out spooky mummy stories mostly written in the latter half of the 19th century. I know that's niche, but I'm one of those people! There's something for everyone in this collection, with a mix of classic horror, introspective, and even comedic tales. Highlights include 'Lot No. 249', 'Lost in a Pyramid, or the Mummy's Curse', and 'The Necklace of Dreams'. I've been on the hunt for horror stories with some focus on ancient Egypt and this collection of mummy stories did not disappoint! Will remain a fixture in my library.

[I.D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some really interesting stories and a few muddling ones from the mid to late 1800s and early 1900s. If you're expecting universal horror style tales you're not going to get them. These are more artefact based, dream like, cautionary style. Quite a different read.

[Steven Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting collection of 19th/early 20th century Victorianaesque Mummy and Aegypt-associated tales.

[Melissa Joulwan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars. Not scary, but plenty of atmosphere and charming 19th-century language.

[Patrick · Rating 1 out of 5]

the style of these is all too dated, the outcomes are also very very dated.

[KDS · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent enough collection whose value mostly lies in discovering rarer works rather than exceptional stories. The Conan Doyle, Sax Rohmer and Alcott stories are the stand outs and they are excellent. The rest aren't going to leave a lasting impression

[Mills College Library]

Fiction L883 2016