The Mummy Megapack Read online

  Table of Contents

  COPYRIGHT INFO

  A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER

  THE MEGAPACK SERIES

  SYMPATHY FOR MUMMIES, by John Gregory Betancourt

  SOME WORDS WITH A MUMMY, by Edgar Allan Poe

  THE POWER OF WAKING, by Nina Kiriki Hoffman

  THE MUMMY’S FOOT, by Jessie Adelaide Middleton

  LOST IN A PYRAMID, OR THE MUMMY’S CURSE, by Louisa May Alcott

  THE RING OF THOTH, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

  THE GREEN GOD, by William Call Spencer

  THE BOOK OF THOTH, by Lafcadio Hearn

  AN AZTEC MUMMY, by C. B. Cory

  LOT NO. 249, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

  THE MUMMY’S FOOT, by Théophile Gautier

  THE STORY OF BAELBROW, by E. and H. Heron

  A PROFESSOR OF EGYPTOLOGY, by Guy Boothby

  MY NEW YEAR’S EVE AMONG THE MUMMIES, by Grant Allen

  WHATEVER WAS FORGOTTEN, by Nina Kiriki Hoffman

  THE FORSAKEN TEMPLE, by C. W. Leadbeater

  THE DOOM OF AL ZAMERI, by Henry Iliowizi

  THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY, by Théophile Gautier (Part 1)

  THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY, by Théophile Gautier (Part 2)

  OBSESSION, POSSESSION, by Elliott O’Donnell

  THE PERFUME OF EGYPT, by C. W. Leadbeater

  THE MUMMY MEGAPACK

  Version 1.4

  COPYRIGHT INFO

  The Mummy Megapack is copyright © 2012 by Wildside Press LLC. All rights reserved. For more information, contact the publisher.

  * * * *

  “Sympathy for Mummies,” by John Gregory Betancourt, originally appeared in Horrors! 365 Scary Stories (1998). Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “Some Words with a Mummy,” by Edgar Allan Poe, originally appeared in American Review: A Whig Journal, April 1845.

  “The Power of Waking,” by Nina Kiriki Hoffman originally appeared in The Many Faces of Van Helsing. Copyright © 2004 by Nina Kirki Hoffman. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “The Mummy’s Foot,” by Jessie Adelaide Middleton, originally appeared in The Grey Ghost Book (1912).

  “Lost in a Pyramid, or The Mummy’s Curse,” by Louisa May Alcott, was originally published in 1869.

  “The Ring of Thoth,” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, originally appeared in The Captain of the Polestar and Other Tales (1890).

  “The Green God,” by William Call Spencer, originally appeared in All-Story magazine, October 28, 1916.

  “The Book of Thoth,” by Lafcadio Hearn, is taken from Stray Leaves from Strange Literature, published in 1884.

  “Lot No. 249,” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, originally appeared in The Captain of the Polestar and Other Tales (1890).

  “The Mummy’s Foot,” by Théophile Gautier, first appeared in this translation by Lafcadio Hearn in 1908.

  “The Story of Baelbrow,” by E. and H. Heron, originally appeared in Pearson’s Monthly Magazine, April 1898.

  “A Professor of Egyptology,” by Guy Boothby originally appeared in 1904.

  “My New Year’s Eve Among the Mummies,” by Grant Allen, originally appeared in 1880.

  “Whatever Was Forgotten,” by Nina Kiriki Hoffman, originally appeared in Pharaoh Fantastic. Copyright © 2002 by Nini Kiriki Hoffmann. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “The Forsaken Temple,” by C. W. Leadbeater, originally appeared in The Perfume of Egypt and Other Weird Stories (1911).

  “The Doom of Al Zameri,” by Henry Iliowizi, originally appeared in The Weird Orient: Nine Mystic Tales (1900).

  “The Romance of a Mummy,” by Théophile Gautier, originally appeared 1858.

  “Obsession, Possession,” by Elliott O’Donnell, originally appeared in Byways of Ghost Land (1911).

  “The Perfume of Egypt,” by C. W. Leadbeater, originally appeared in The Perfume of Egypt and Other Weird Stories (1912).

  A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER

  Over the last few years, our “Megapack” series of ebook anthologies has proved to be one of our most popular endeavors. (Maybe it helps that we sometimes offer them as premiums to our mailing list!) One question we keep getting asked is, “Who’s the editor?”

  The Megapacks (except where specifically credited) are a group effort. Everyone at Wildside works on them. This includes John Betancourt, Carla Coupe, Steve Coupe, Bonner Menking, Colin Azariah-Kribbs, Robert Reginald, A.E. Warren, and many of Wildside’s authors…who often suggest stories to include (and not just their own!).

  A NOTE FOR KINDLE READERS

  The Kindle versions of our Megapacks employ active tables of contents for easy navigation…please look for one before writing reviews on Amazon that complain about the lack! (They are sometimes at the ends of ebooks, depending on your reader.)

  RECOMMEND A FAVORITE STORY?

  Do you know a great classic science fiction story, or have a favorite author whom you believe is perfect for the Megapack series? We’d love your suggestions! You can post them on our message board at http://movies.ning.com/forum (there is an area for Wildside Press comments).

  Note: we only consider stories that have already been professionally published. This is not a market for new works.

  TYPOS

  Unfortunately, as hard as we try, a few typos do slip through. We update our ebooks periodically, so make sure you have the current version (or download a fresh copy if it’s been sitting in your ebook reader for months.) It may have already been updated.

  If you spot a new typo, please let us know. We’ll fix it for everyone. You can email the publisher at [email protected] or use the message boards above.

  —John Betancourt

  Publisher, Wildside Press LLC

  www.wildsidepress.com

  THE MEGAPACK SERIES

  MYSTERY

  The Achmed Abdullah Megapack

  The Charlie Chan Megapack

  The Craig Kennedy Scientific Detective Megapack

  The Detective Megapack

  The Father Brown Megapack

  The Jacques Futrelle Megapack

  The Anna Katharine Green Mystery Megapack

  The First Mystery Megapack

  The Penny Parker Megapack

  The Pulp Fiction Megapack

  The Raffles Megapack

  The Victorian Mystery Megapack

  The Wilkie Collins Megapack

  GENERAL INTEREST

  The Adventure Megapack

  The Baseball Megapack

  The Cat Megapack

  The Second Cat Megapack

  The Christmas Megapack

  The Second Christmas Megapack

  The Classic American Short Stories Megapack, Vol. 1.

  The Classic Humor Megapack

  The Dog Megapack

  The Horse Story Megapack

  The Military Megapack

  The Talbot Mundy Megapack

  SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY

  The Edward Bellamy Megapack

  The First Reginald Bretnor Megapack

  The Philip K. Dick Megapack

  The Randall Garrett Megapack

  The Second Randall Garrett Megapack

  The Murray Leinster Megapack

  The Second Murray Leinster Megapack

  The Martian Megapack

  The Andre Norton Megapack

  The H. Beam Piper Megapack

  The Pulp Fiction Megapack

  The Mack Reynolds Megapack

  The First Science Fiction Megapack

  The Second Science Fiction Megapack

  The Third Science Fiction Megapack

  The Fourth Science Fiction Megapack

  The Fifth Science Fiction Megapack

  The Six
th Science Fiction Megapack

  The Robert Sheckley Megapack

  The Steampunk Megapack

  The Time Travel Megapack

  The Wizard of Oz Megapack

  HORROR

  The Achmed Abdullah Megapack

  The E.F. Benson Megapack

  The Second E.F. Benson Megapack

  The Cthulhu Mythos Megapack

  The Ghost Story Megapack

  The Second Ghost Story Megapack

  The Third Ghost Story Megapack

  The Horror Megapack

  The M.R. James Megapack

  The Macabre Megapack

  The Second Macabre Megapack

  The Mummy Megapack

  The Vampire Megapack

  The Werewolf Megapack

  WESTERNS

  The B.M. Bower Megapack

  The Max Brand Megapack

  The Buffalo Bill Megapack

  The Cowboy Megapack

  The Zane Grey Megapack

  The Western Megapack

  The Second Western Megapack

  The Wizard of Oz Megapack

  YOUNG ADULT

  The Boys’ Adventure Megapack

  The Dan Carter, Cub Scout Megapack

  The G.A. Henty Megapack

  The Penny Parker Megapack

  The Pinocchio Megapack

  The Rover Boys Megapack

  The Tom Corbett, Space Cadet Megapack

  The Tom Swift Megapack

  AUTHOR MEGAPACKS

  The Achmed Abdullah Megapack

  The Edward Bellamy Megapack

  The B.M. Bower Megapack

  The E.F. Benson Megapack

  The Second E.F. Benson Megapack

  The Max Brand Megapack

  The First Reginald Bretnor Megapack

  The Wilkie Collins Megapack

  The Ray Cummings Megapack

  The Guy de Maupassant Megapack

  The Philip K. Dick Megapack

  The Jacques Futrelle Megapack

  The Randall Garrett Megapack

  The Second Randall Garrett Megapack

  The Anna Katharine Green Megapack

  The Zane Grey Megapack

  The Dashiell Hammett Megapack

  The M.R. James Megapack

  The Murray Leinster Megapack

  The Second Murray Leinster Megapack

  The Talbot Mundy Megapack

  The Andre Norton Megapack

  The H. Beam Piper Megapack

  The Mack Reynolds Megapack

  The Rafael Sabatini Megapack

  The Saki Megapack

  The Robert Sheckley Megapack

  OTHER COLLECTIONS YOU MAY ENJOY

  The Great Book of Wonder, by Lord Dunsany (it should have been called “The Lord Dunsany Megapack”)

  The Wildside Book of Fantasy

  The Wildside Book of Science Fiction

  Yondering: The First Borgo Press Book of Science Fiction Stories

  To the Stars—And Beyond! The Second Borgo Press Book of Science Fiction Stories

  Once Upon a Future: The Third Borgo Press Book of Science Fiction Stories

  Whodunit?—The First Borgo Press Book of Crime and Mystery Stories

  More Whodunits—The Second Borgo Press Book of Crime and Mystery Stories

  X is for Xmas: Christmas Mysteries

  SYMPATHY FOR MUMMIES, by John Gregory Betancourt

  I brushed dust from my eyes, then zippered the tent’s flap shut. The wind was coming up again, sighing through our camp. It was a sound I had grown used to over the last two months.

  “Everything locked up?” asked Linda, my wife.

  “Yep,” I said. As director of the excavation, I had to make sure everything was put away before I turned in. Stretching sore muscles, I peeled off my dust-and-sweat-impregnated shirt, then washed up in a basin. “We’re getting close,” I said.

  We were excavating the tomb of Atenkham, a court official in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings. Tomorrow we would reach his burial chamber. There was little chance of riches; Atenkham hadn’t been a king. But artifacts were gold, metaphorically, to archaeologists.

  “Still not worried about the curse?” Linda asked.

  “What Egyptian tomb doesn’t carry a curse?” I asked with a laugh. I toweled off, then leaned over and planted a kiss on her full red lips. “Besides, curses only apply to big rich tombs when the moon is full and you haven’t said your prayers by night.”

  “Mmm.”

  “So I get my movies mixed up.” I crawled into my sleeping bag, exhausted. It was nearly midnight. I’d be up in five hours.

  “Besides,” I muttered, “what kind of curse could a bureaucrat muster?”

  * * * *

  At dawn the next morning, I was ready for work. Although this was my seventh tomb, I still felt a mounting sense of excitement.

  I had dreamed of Atenkham’s mummy. I saw priests removing his organs and preserving them in jars. I saw them filling his veins with embalming fluids and carefully wrapping his body in layers of white cotton swathing. But mostly I had seen papyrus scrolls, thousands of them, the life’s work of this ancient Egyptian bureaucrat. Those scrolls were the sort of treasure I sought.

  Now I would see what truth lay in my dream.

  My grad students were sitting our breakfast table with someone. I sighed when I recognized Mr. Abdul from the Department of Antiquity. He was in charge of excavation permits.

  “Mr. Abdul,” I said to him, “what brings you here?”

  “Paperwork, Mr. Jones,” he said in his succinct British accent. He passed me a sheaf of papers.

  “What’s this?”

  “New regulations go into effect this morning,” he said. “First of the month. I told you last week, as you may recall.”

  “Yes, yes,” I said. He had mentioned something of the sort.

  “If you would fill it out, please.”

  I stared at the forms. None were in English, of course.

  “This will take me hours,” I said. I glanced over at the tomb. We were so close —

  “Paperwork,” he said, “must be done properly. I shall leave you to it.” He crossed to his Jeep, got in, and drove off in a cloud of dust.

  “Shall we start anyway, professor?” Neal Jameson asked me. He was a young, eager, promising grad student.

  “No,” I said, imaginary bandages tightening around my chest and throat. “Mr. Abdul doesn’t like me. If we begin without the paperwork, we’ll be shut down.”

  “He can’t —”

  “He can,” I said.

  * * * *

  My Arabic was lousy, and making sense of the application was a dense process, even with an interpreter. This, I thought at one point, is the curse of Atenkham: buried alive in paperwork.

  I kept thinking of his mummy, swathed in hundreds of yards of cloth, surrounded by scrolls, laughing at me.

  * * * *

  Picketers arrived at two o’clock. They stood outside our camp waving signs: “Egyptian Tombs for Egyptian Archaeologists” and “No Foreign Digs!” It was an old dispute. Foreigners received more excavation permits than Egyptian archaeologists.

  Promptly at three o’clock, Mr. Abdul returned. He had two men in uniforms in his jeep. When Abdul gave the picketers a nod, I felt Atenkham’s door slam shut in my face.

  “Your papers,” I said numbly.

  He barely glanced at them. “Permit denied,” he said. He stamped the documents in red ink.

  “Why?” I asked.

  “Improperly filled out. And an objection has been raised.”

  “Them?” I gestured at the picketers. “You sent them here!”

  “Me, Professor?” He raised his eyebrows, feigning indignation. A cheer went up from the picketers as the guards took positions near the tomb entrance.

  “And so,” I whispered bitterly, “the curse is made true.”

  “That’s it?” Neal Jameson demanded, looking from Abdul to me, shock and outrage on his face.

  “Afraid so,” I sa
id. “The curse wins out.”

  “He can’t —”

  “He did,” I said.

  Mr. Abdul smiled.

  Atenkham must have been like him, I thought to myself.

  I knew, suddenly, why pharaohs buried their bureaucrats.

  SOME WORDS WITH A MUMMY, by Edgar Allan Poe

  The symposium of the preceding evening had been a little too much for my nerves. I had a wretched headache, and was desperately drowsy. Instead of going out therefore to spend the evening as I had proposed, it occurred to me that I could not do a wiser thing than just eat a mouthful of supper and go immediately to bed.

  A light supper of course. I am exceedingly fond of Welsh rabbit. More than a pound at once, however, may not at all times be advisable. Still, there can be no material objection to two. And really between two and three, there is merely a single unit of difference. I ventured, perhaps, upon four. My wife will have it five;—but, clearly, she has confounded two very distinct affairs. The abstract number, five, I am willing to admit; but, concretely, it has reference to bottles of Brown Stout, without which, in the way of condiment, Welsh rabbit is to be eschewed.

  Having thus concluded a frugal meal, and donned my night-cap, with the serene hope of enjoying it till noon the next day, I placed my head upon the pillow, and, through the aid of a capital conscience, fell into a profound slumber forthwith.

  But when were the hopes of humanity fulfilled? I could not have completed my third snore when there came a furious ringing at the street-door bell, and then an impatient thumping at the knocker, which awakened me at once. In a minute afterward, and while I was still rubbing my eyes, my wife thrust in my face a note, from my old friend, Doctor Ponnonner. It ran thus:

  “Come to me, by all means, my dear good friend, as soon as you receive this. Come and help us to rejoice. At last, by long persevering diplomacy, I have gained the assent of the Directors of the City Museum, to my examination of the Mummy—you know the one I mean. I have permission to unswathe it and open it, if desirable. A few friends only will be present—you, of course. The Mummy is now at my house, and we shall begin to unroll it at eleven to-night.

  “Yours, ever,

  PONNONNER.

  * * * *

  By the time I had reached the “Ponnonner,” it struck me that I was as wide awake as a man need be. I leaped out of bed in an ecstacy, overthrowing all in my way; dressed myself with a rapidity truly marvellous; and set off, at the top of my speed, for the doctor’s.