What Is the Story of the Mummy?

What Is the Story Of?

by Sheila Keenan, Who HQ, Carlos Basabe (Illustrator)

Your favorite characters are now part of the Who HQ library!

The Mummy joins other classic horror characters Dracula and Frankenstein in our What Is the Story Of? series.

Unlike the other classic Universal horror movie monsters of their time, the Mummy's origins can't be found in the pages of a book. His story was inspired by the opening of King Tut's tomb in 1922. The world fell in love with all things Egyptian and was enthralled with stories of ancient mummies. The film producers of the early Dracula and Frankenstein films wasted no time creating a character who's been creeping out of his coffin and entertaining audiences since 1932.

Author Sheila Keenan explains the history of the movie and its remakes, the legendary curse of King Tut's mummy, and what lies ahead for this monstrous creature.

Genres: Nonfiction

112 pages, Paperback

Published August 17, 2021

About the author

Sheila Keenan is an established author of fiction and nonfiction for young people. Her books include the Eisner-nominated graphic novel Dogs of War, the picture book As the Crow Flies, I Spy The Illuminati Eye, and O, Say Can You See? America’s Symbols, Landmarks and Inspiring Words, among other selected titles. She lives in New York City.

Reviews

[Emmy]

Creepy, fun, and a nice balance between history and pop culture. Kids will find much to enjoy in this creepy, educational book.

EDIT 5/3/23
I have no memory of reading this book the first time (yikes!) but I certainly enjoyed my second read-through. It provides a nice balance between the stories of mummies and the film version of the monsters. Would definitely recommend.

[Leigh]

This book went beyond what I expected would be included. In addition to learning about natural and artificial mummification, it included information about the movies and also how climate change is negatively affecting mummies especially the natural ones. Having seen the original movie with Boris Karloff, I particular found this part of the book quite interesting. The section on climate change is handled in a factual manner. Highly recommend for anyone interested in the 'original' monsers.

[Heidi]

Too involved to be a kids' series. Unless a kid is an avid fan of mummies and history, this one will not leave the shelf.

[Stephen Chase]

The best book ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Alex]

I feel like most of this book was actually about KIng Tut and not the origin of the mummy, but it was still pretty interesting.

[Tina]

I like to go to museums and visit real mummies. I also like to watch Brenden Fraser fight cgi mummies in movies. Mummies are cool.

[China]

Mummy movies are fascinating to watch and learning about the real thing is even more