1993. Goosebumps is about half a year old at this point with the first four books released. In that span of time, it was still expected that the series would finish after six books (hence why early release versions have no numbers on their spine). But word of mouth began to build and book sales started to grow. And thus Goosebumps expanded forward. But smack in the middle of the first era is our first mummy book. A chance not just to give us a setting outside of America, but a chance for Jovial Bob Stine to play Mr. Educator. But does that mean that we're in for a good book? Let's get wrapped up with The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb.
THE CURSE OF THE MUMMY'S TOMB
RELEASE MONTH: January, 1993
FRONT TAGLINE: What will wake the dead?
COVER STORY
I like this cover, though of the first batch, it's probably my least favorite.I like the detail as Tim does great work with the bandages, the cracked stone wall and the sinister glowing red eyes. The only thing that bugs me is just how still the mummy is. I get why, since the point is more that it's being awakened, but part of me would have preferred a more dynamic shot of the mummy advancing towards the reader, ready to strike. Overall, it's a classic cover, but just feels like a real come down after the quality of the previous book's cover.
SOMETHING DEAD HAS BEEN HERE...
Gabe just got lost-in a pyramid. One minute, his crazy cousin Sari was right ahead of him in the pyramid tunnel. The next minute, she'd disappeared.
But Game isn't alone. Someone else is in the pyramid too. Someone. Or some thing.
Gabe doesn't believe in the curse of the mummy's tomb.
But that doesn't mean the curse isn't real.
Does it?
STORY
Our protagonist is Gabe who is spending his Christmas in Egypt with his parents. His parents sell refrigeration equipment and are here to hock wares. Egypt is also where Gabe's uncle, Dr. Ben Hassad, is currently excavating the pyramid of Khufu. Gabe, not unlike Evan from Monster Blood, is rather whiny and annoying, as we see in the first couple pages as he complains about being thirsty and thinking about Coca-Cola. We even get a minor mention of New Coke, just so you know this book is ancient. He also mentions having a cocker spaniel named Elvis back at home. Okay, that's three books in a row with cocker spaniels, Stine. You're getting lazy already. Gabe's parents have to leave to tend with a customer in Alexandria, so they decide to let Gabe stay with his Uncle Ben and his cousin Sari (Shari minus the H, so still lazy). Gabe is excited to visit Uncle Ben and possibly enter the pyramid, but whines about how Sari is so stuck up and better at Super Mario Land than him. And she somehow plays it on Super Nintendo, like pre-Super Game Boy. Why don't we lay off the vidja game talk, Jovial Bob.
Gabe's parents leave while Gabe waits in the hotel room watching Arabic television that he can't understand. He pulls out a small mummy hand that he just happened to get in a yard sale, because that's not weird. It's called a summoner and is supposed to be good luck, but Gabe has no idea about what good it can do him. Suddenly, he hears footsteps. The door opens and a mummy enters the room. Gabe freaks out, but it's soon revealed to be Uncle Ben and Sari playing a trick on him. After the reunion, Uncle Ben tells Gabe that due to no other alternative, he'll have to take him with them when they enter the pyramid. Gabe is excited since it means he might see a real life mummy, but Uncle Ben tries to calm him down, while Sari brags a lot.
Cut to the next day as Gabe and company arrive in the pyramid. Sari mentions that Gabe's shoelace is untied, which is going to be a recurring issue for our protagonist. Before entering the pyramid, Uncle Ben just makes mention that there's been claims that due to them disturbing this pyramid, that a curse may have been placed on them, but Uncle Ben is a man who believes no such superstitions. They enter the pyramid, and upon going lower, Gabe hurts his hands on the rope and falls, only to be saved by Sari. Gabe whines about why he can't be the hero instead. Only 30 pages in and I really hate this kid. After fixing his shoe, Gabe sees that they've arrived at the excavation site. One of the men, an Egyptian man wearing all white with a red bandana named Ahmed, is Uncle Ben's assistant. He doesn't say anything to Ben or the kids. Ben says that he's the one whose been talking about an ancient curse, but Ben doesn't buy it.
While Ben and the others continue work, Sari and Gabe wander off. Gabe's shoe unties again (dude, just wear velcro), and when he looks back up, Sari has disappeared. Gabe searches for her and ends up finding a small room with a sarcophagus, or as Stine writes it, "Mummy Case". He opens it, only for Sari to pop out and scare him. She gets her laugh in before Uncle Ben shows up, pretty pissed that the kids wandered off, but as they leave, laughs with Sari over scaring Gabe. The next day, Uncle Ben gets the call that his workers are starting to get ill all of a sudden, so he has to head to the hospital, but forbids Gabe and Sari from leaving. So, of course, they leave and visit the museum. This gives R.L. Stine the chance to play "Mr. Educator" and teach the reader about the mummy preparation, mostly through Gabe trying to gross out Sari.
The kids then notice Ahmed, looking pretty angry and starting to chase after them. The kids make a run for it, but end up cornered. He tells them that Uncle Ben returned already and wants to meet them at the hotel. So, not fully learning the old lesson of not riding with strangers, they go into Ahmed's car, only Ahmed seems to be driving pretty far from the hotel. The kids, realizing they're being kidnapped manage to escape the car and hop a taxi which refuses to drive off to the hotel... because it's parked at the hotel. Reader beware, you're in for convenience.
Gabe and Sari return to the hotel just as Uncle Ben arrives, saying that two of his workers are in a strange state of shock, unable to speak. They tell him about Ahmed, and unlike Goosebumps parents who would shrug this off, he is actually concerned that this man he hired with credentials might be up to no good. He returns to the pyramid, and with no other recourse, he brings Gabe and Sari with him, making them promise not to run off again. At the pyramid, he hands the kids beepers that will bring him to them should they get lost. Gabe's shoe is untied again, so you know what that means? Like I said, just wear velcro.
Lost from them yet again, Gabe wanders through the pyramid, deciding not to use his beeper like the idiot he is. This backfires when the ground from under him literally falls apart and he crashes to the ground below. Gabe recovers, only to come face to face with an actual mummy. But no, it's not alive or anything, it's just one of many mummies inside this strange room. A strange room with a square in the center that's like a tar pit. In fact, the whole room looks to be where mummies were prepared. But before he can do much else, he suddenly gets attacked by a nest of scorpions before Sari arrives to save him again. Gabe shows her the mummies in the room and she excitedly beeps for her father. But before they can react, they see that Ahmed is in the room too.
Ahmed tells them that he was trying to warn Ben about not violating this pyramid, the pyramid of the priestess Khala. The workers weren't stricken with the curse, but scared by Ahmed into a catatonic state. The reason is that it is believed that Khala would place a curse on anyone who would violate her chambers, and it was up to him, her descendant to make sure anyone who tried would pay. He mentions that many of the mummies in the room aren't ancient Egyptian, but rather other would-be violators who got too close to the chamber. And now he intends to mummify Gabe, Sari and Uncle Ben. Uncle Ben manages to arrive in time, only to end up conked on the head by Ahmed's torch. Ahmed then places the kids inside a large case as he plans to mummify them.
But Gabe and Sari are saved by Uncle Ben, who manages to help them escape. That doesn't last long as Ahmed catches them once again, and readies the trio to be placed in the tar pit. Gabe then remembers the mummy hand he had and holds it up. Ahmed freaks out, saying that it's the hand of Khala. Suddenly, all the mummies in the room begin to move. They grab Ahmed and try to lower him into the tar pit. Gabe shuts his eyes, but when he reopens them, he sees Ahmed fleeing while the mummies return to their original spots. The three escape the pyramid and return to the hotel, now glad to be past all this, when they hear pounding at their door. It's just Gabe's parents. No, I'm not dignifying this as a twist.
CONCLUSION
The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb is a dry book. Really dry. Like Gabe in the desert dry. It's a very slow start for this one, which made re-reading it take much longer this time than before. But upon re-reading it, I don't think it's as bad as I made it out to be before. Once the plot actually moves, there are some great set pieces, like the chase with Ahmed, the first foray into the pyramid, and the ending which is a decent conclusion. Giving us minor mummy action, but I'd say enough that it doesn't feel too cheap. The only problem is a lot of the conflict has to be set up in a very clunky manner, like Gabe being lost twice because of his shoelace. Or having the conflict just end in a silly manner like the whole cab scene. This feels like Stine being a bit lazy.
Gabe is annoying and whiny, more so than Evan. They give him reason, the constant scares by Sari and constantly feeling embarrassed, but at least Evan's issues were deeper than just being jealous that his cousin can win at Super Mario Land. Sari's alright, kind of written too much as a prankster, but not to the point of being irredeemable. Ahmed's a pretty forgettable villain unfortunately. The book sets up his motivations and makes him threatening, but not enough to leave a lasting impact. And like I said, the pacing is messy in this one with how slow we start, but when we pick up, there are some decent scenes. And Stine does an okay job at being educational in this one without being too boring. In the end, this is the weakest book so far, but while I was harsh on the first go, this time was a bit more fair. Will I still like the sequel? That's for another time, but for now, mum's the word.
STORY: GG
SCARES: G
TWIST: .5
ENJOYMENT: GG
OVERALL: 1.5 Gs
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