The Stinal Countdown: Goosebumps House of Shivers #03: Night of the Living Mummy

It's that time again. Time to get wrapped up in another edition of House of Shivers. The last one of the year since we're now at two per year. Meaning we're going to be as dry as the Sahara for new Goosebumps content to mine. But we do have ourselves some mummy action. Stine's usually more hits than misses on mummies. And with this being the brand new, ramped up, big boy pants Goosebumps, I can only imagine what he has in store. Though granted, the last time we had mummies in a ramped up Goosebumps series, we had actual gunfire. This book's got some big, bandaged up shoes to fill. It's time to talk about Night of the Living Mummy. I'm sure that was a title Stine wanted to use for years. 

Robert Ball strikes again with another really good cover. I like the use of the reds in the background, giving off this more sinister vibe. Like something is definitely going wrong in this mummy exhibit. Then there's our titular living mummy and his design is pretty cool. The sickly green of the wrappings, the one bloodshot eyeball, the very obvious child build. Perfect front and center monster. So much so that you might miss the hand holding the pedant which is clearly going to be our MacGuffin of the book. Strong stuff all around.

We start the story in Centerville Springs, Indiana, present day. The protagonist, Happy Silverman, is a bit of a mummy nut. Well, that's putting it mildly. Kid's straight up obsessed with them. He has dreams about mummies in ancient Egypt, which aren't nightmares to him and TOTALLY won't play into the plot later wink wink. His cousin Abby says that it's likely because his mom's a paleontologist and studies ancient Egypt in particular. So he knows a lot about mummies. So much so, he tells his science class in detail how the brains were removed from the mummies. This is an old Stine chestnut since way back in the days of The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb. He even brought photos so that everyone can have nightmares tonight. At least until his science teacher, Mr. Horvat, puts a stop to that. Happy then mentions that he wishes living mummies were real, which yeah, that checks out. 

Happy, Abby and their friend Jayden head to Happy's house where he begins to build a pyramid out of yellow Lego bricks because, in case it wasn't obvious, kid loves him some Egypt. It's here we learn that Happy is almost always happy. He was happy when he was a baby. Although his real name is Harry, but he chose to call himself Happy instead. Sadly, he doesn't seem to be a fan of 90s Adam Sandler flicks or Snow White so that's not where he was inspired. But what gets Happy REALLY happy is that the class will be going on a trip to the museum where he'll see an actual mummy up close. And not just any mummy, a king. So that's got Happy doubly happy. But when he dreams about the museum trip that night, he finds himself alone in the museum, with something stalking him, telling him to run while he still can. 

The next day, Happy is first at the bus stop in the middle of a rainy day. Screw pneumonia, mummies await. Mr. Horvat tells Happy and the others not to leave the tour group. So naturally Happy leaves the group and heads to the Egypt exhibit. But it's closed, much to Happy's dismay. And despite his best attempts at reasoning that he REALLY needs to see a mummy, no luck. He tries another way to get into the room, but gets caught. But he manages to escape one more time and almost gets into the exhibit, before being caught by Jayden. However, no amount of trying to convince Happy that this might be a bad idea will work, so Jayden leaves and Happy goes inside where he finds his mummy. A boy king named Raman. Seemingly about the same age as Happy, yet shorter. As Happy ponders what did in Raman, the mummy suddenly rises from his tomb and beckons Happy to come closer. Despite his best attempts, Happy feels himself pushed face to face with Raman. I guess the moral here is to find hobbies that don't involve corpses. 

We then go back to the past. Way back. Thousands of years ago in ancient Egypt as we now focus on Raman. He is vexed over being the king, envious that his brother and sister Omari and Akila are younger so they weren't the immediate next in line after their father Tutanek died. Not only does Raman hold the position of king, but he has around his neck a powerful amulet with the god of Osiris on it, and he's to never remove it. Raman and his mother Isis await his advisor, Khufu, which Raman notes is super old and acts more kingly than Raman and is far more strict. Namely in that he tells Raman to sentence two men to death due to their quarrel over a camel. Raman chooses to not do that, so Khufu thinks him weak and less kingly. 

After his little brother shoves Raman and then talks about wanting to be king, Raman talks with his mother about his issues with Khufu, but Isis tells him to be patient. Khufu was his dad's advisor so he totally must want the best for Raman and isn't, you know, gonna kill him. Figures. They had Goosebumps parents in ancient Egypt too. That night, Raman gets attacked-or more so tickled, by Amila and Omari, who also swiped the necklace from Raman's neck. At dinner the next day, things are looking fine until a snake emerges from one of the bowls and bites Raman in the neck, killing him. Damn, props to Goosebumps, we actually get a hardcore kid killing. Maybe these are ramped up just right. But yeah. Raman's dead. Khufu says that since Omari's too young, he could do the job, but he'll send for the wizard Vathor instead. So when the inevitable swerve in the book comes, try not to be too shocked. He arrives and places some magic dust on Raman that's supposed to wake him up, but doesn't.

Raman is mummified and prepared to be put to rest in his tomb, but Isis notices that the amulet is missing. She suspects Khufu, who says that it couldn't have been him. I mean, he was a bit harsh to the kid and was talking a lot about wanting to be king, but he wasn't one to just snatch away a powerful amulet. So they search for it to no avail. Three months pass and Raman finally awakes, but mutters that it's too late for him. But he asks for them to find Vathor to thank him for bringing him back to life, even if it took a little too long given he's a mummy and all. But when they seek Vathor, he's gone. With his assistant mentioning that Vathor's not just no longer in Egypt, he's no longer in this time period, having used time travel powers to head to the future. Raman, realizing that Vathor must have the amulet, says that he must go to the future to stop him before it's too late. So we have a time travel story. Hopefully a better attempt than Cataluna Chronicles, but we still have over half a book left, so time will tell.

We return back to the present with Happy face to face with the awakening Raman. Suddenly, his brain goes into a fog and when he awakens, he now has the voice of Raman in his head, saying that he needs Happy's help to recover the amulet. Happy refuses, which angers Raman enough to cause the pair to switch bodies, with Happy in Raman's body. Well now I'm glad I read The Haunting Hour before this one. But the now mummy Happy says that, given the possible outcome of being stuck as a mummy, he'll agree to help Raman given, you know, ancient Egypt boy might not know what's up with the modern world. I mean, he wouldn't have the foggiest what brat means. Raman brings Happy back to his body and tells him to keep all this a secret. So naturally he blurts to Jayden and Abby that Raman is in his head. Maybe Raman should have left him to rot in the mummy body if he's going to be this stupid. They don't believe him, obviously. 

 Happy heads back on the bus with Raman noting how strange everything is in the future. Mr. Horvat talks with Happy about him going to the exhibit and that he should do a report on Raman since he was so up close and personal, in a way that totally screams "I hope you don't know what anagrams are". After Happy returns home, Raman says that he senses the amulet nearby. So Happy heads out and eventually finds his way to Mr. Horvat's house who mentions that the house next door is empty and abandoned. Kids throw rocks at it, use it as a haunted house, maybe store their werewolf skins or future predicting cameras, who knows? But Raman definitely can sense the amulet coming from the abandoned house. That night, Happy heads inside to find the amulet, but gets stopped by an old man. Raman suspects him to be Vathor, but it's actually just a guy named Angelo Fitzgerald, a carpenter who squatted in the house ever since his was destroyed in a fire. Reader beware, the housing crisis kinda sucks, huh? He asks for money, which Happy gives him some and then Happy runs off. 

The next day, Jayden shows up, noting that Happy is acting stranger than usual, before they head to school and Mr. Horvat's science class. Horvat arrives late, but Raman's radar goes off, noting that the amulet is in Horvat's bag. He must be Vathor! Which, I mean, evil wizard travels to the future to be a science teacher. I've heard of stranger concepts. Raman wants Happy to attack Horvat, but he can't, since it would admittedly be weird for him to just wail on his teacher during class, so Happy says it's best to wait until after class when the room is empty to nab the amulet. Happy manages to get the amulet, but Jayden shows up, demanding Happy hand it over. Yeah, turns out that Vathor also thought up the whole "invade a kid's mind" thing as well. Happy and Jayden fight over the amulet when a bolt of lightning flashes. 

Happy wakes up back in ancient Egypt, face to face with Vathor, who has possession of the amulet. He also has an army of cats, which is neat, but without a dead cat tornado is it really that impressive. Raman is also still in Happy's head, ready to deal with Vathor once and for all. Before Vathor can turn Happy into a mouse or bird, Isis arrives and snatches the amulet from him. She utters a chant that turns him into a snake. As she's about to stomp on him, Vathor manages to escape into the night. Isis thanks Happy for recovering the amulet and that they can bring Raman's mind back to his body, but it might not be so easy sending Happy back. He takes Raman back to his tomb and Raman returns to his body. Happy then is given the amulet to place upon the neck of Raman, but he wishes to return home, which causes a flash.

Happy wakes back up in his science classroom, as he's greeted by his new teacher Miss Bethany, who gives him great news. They'll be going back to the museum on Monday and this time the Egypt exhibit will be opened, so Happy can finally see a real mummy... Again!

If i could sum up this book in one word, it would be "ambitious". It's a very ambitious book, what with it being a book with two focused protagonists, a story that centers around a different time period in ancient Egypt, and a more unique adventure than we usually get with these types of stories. Add in some time travel to boot. Which does make it feel like it lifts a lot of stuff from A Night in Terror Tower. A horrific act done in ancient times and characters who wind up in the present time. Thankfully it's not as much of a ripoff in plot. But I do think that Terror Tower has a far more cohesive story overall than this one. Because while I love the concept and think it's one of Stine's more unique and, again, ambitious books, there's just a few things in it that make it fall kind of flat overall. Namely the general conflict over the amulet. 

So, it's this super powerful amulet that can affect the world if used. Why then did Vathor take it, travel to the future and... just become a science teacher? He could have used the amulet at any time and doesn't until the final conflict. My only real guess is he didn't fully know how to use the amulet to its fullest potential and thus was ultimately bested. Part of me thinks that Stine wanted the villain to be Khufu, but hit a wall in how to keep the plot flowing from the past to the future, so added a new villain in Vathor who could head to the future. But because he had no real idea how to make that work as well, he had Vathor be Horvat all along. And for all the ballyhoo, he gets easily beaten by Isis who turns him into a snake and almost gave some kid the gateway drug to a crush fetish, which Stine thankfully pivoted. I hate to say it, but I almost wish this was a special edition as the extra pages could have built to a more interesting finale.

The amulet is also another issue I have in that it feels like it suffers from the same problem as Scariest. Book. Ever. That we have this powerful MacGuffin that we spend the entire book chasing after, only for it not to do much overall. I will say that this book has a better flow to the chase than Scariest, namely in that we don't have a dozen Uncle Wendells to sus out, but it does already feel like a case of an early rut to the plots of House of Shivers. Cursed objects that we don't see much of the actual curse. Not every book will do that, but I hope it's a case of not being the complete norm of this series. And the twist feels super rushed. Like with no real added beat to make it feel more memorable. Just a "here we go again" vibe. Though would Raman even bother Happy this time if everything seems to have worked out for the best and Vathor's vanquished? Seems like less of a scary final beat than Stine intended.

Happy is a decent protagonist. He has his mummy obsession that plays into the early part of the story, and while a bit dumb in just blurting out Raman being in his head, he does seem to be a smart kid who tries his best to help Raman out. Raman also works as a secondary protagonist. One that, while clearly a good kid who was also a fair and just king, he doesn't hesitate to punish Happy for not wanting to help him. The book allows him to be headstrong, but also naive enough to not fully grasp that Horvat is Vathor until later in the story. Vathor is okay as a villain, but super rushed that he doesn't get much time to do much of anything. Jayden is mainly here for the friend role and Abby is our Superfluous Clay. Probably the most superfluous we've had in a while with Goosebumps. I like Isis as she's one of the few Goosebumps parents who actually feels important to the plot and not just shoved into the background to be the one who doesn't believe their kid. Stine seems to be doing better with getting out of that trope in these later books so that's a plus. Maybe he's listening. Maybe he's listening to ME. And if, so, Hi  Bob. I hope you don't take my condescending tone too seriously.

Overall, this is a decent book. A fun enough adventure with a couple decent dark moments, namely in Raman's murder, and it flows quite well. It suffers from a rushed climax, a weak twist and some real logic holes, but not enough to make this one come off so bad. It's a recommend one for sure. It does enough fresh that I will say that House of Shivers still feels like new Goosebumps. I mean, you don't get a lot of snake-related murders in classic GB that's for sure. And as previously stated, it's the last new book for 2024, meaning it's going to be a good while until we talk about the next book, which even with the scant preview chapters and synopsis, I have no idea what this is about. "Grab bag" Stine might be back, but we'll know for sure in March.