Gooseblog: Goosebumps #23: Return Of The Mummy

Oh goody. It's time for another sequel. And to a book that I wasn't overly fond of the first time. Can this book fix the problems I had with the first one? Let's shamble forward and wrap up Return Of The Mummy AKA Sandopolis Zone Act II.

COVER STORY

I like this cover a bit more than the original, as it does feel a lot more energetic than Jacobus' first take. The mummy starting to open the sarcophagus, the arm sticking out as if to grab the reader, while the stench of centuries of rotting flesh billow out. It definitely builds to the imagination a lot more than ol' Driver's License photo did, that's for certain.

STORY

Guess who's back? It's Gabe. After my sarcastic "oh goody", we learn that it's been one year since his last adventure in Egypt. So I believe this makes for our first 13-year old protagonist. He's visiting Uncle Ben and Sari in Egypt once more as Ben has been exploring another pyramid, recently finding a tomb that hasn't been opened for centuries. Also don't worry, Gabe still has his deus ex mummy hand from the last book as well. Only now it's ice cold. Gabe thinks this could be some sort of omen, but keeps moving forward. After a scare where he leaves the plane and runs into some creepy bald man, he meets up with Uncle Ben and Sari, who is still being written as ultra competitive. Only now Gabe isn't whining about her being better at Mario World.

Gabe gets scared by who he thinks is a mummy, but is just some guy named John who's filming a commercial for a brand of bandages. After that stock scare, Uncle Ben gives Gabe a pendant with a piece of amber on it. Inside the amber is a scarab beetle. He tells Gabe that keeping a scarab was a sign of immortality, but if it bit you, it meant instant death. Keep that in mind for later. Of course, after Uncle Ben tells him this, Gabe goes into a panic, fearing that the bug will break free and bite him. Great uncle-ing there Benjamin.

The next day Ben tells the kids about the tomb they've uncovered. He believes it's the tomb of Prince Khor-Ru, the cousin of King Tut. Khor-Ru was also known to be rather loaded, and maybe the tomb could have riches aplenty. Sari is a bit concerned about her father, she fears that in his hopes to become famous for this find, it's going to end up like Al Capone's vault. Completely empty! But before the kids can ponder over it, a woman with a camera begins to talk with Uncle Ben. This woman is named Nila, and she wants to come with our heroes into the pyramid. To be there when the tomb is opened so she can be the first to report on it. She notices Gabe's scarab pendant and shows him hers. That seems a bit ominous, huh?

The foursome head deep into the pyramid. Gabe notices a piece of ancient Egyptian art, but it turns out that someone from Ben's crew just drew Bart Simpson on the wall. Because nothing says "preserving ancient artifacts" like pulling an El Barto. Ay Caramba! So, just like the last book, Gabe ends up lost from the others. He leans up to a wall, but it suddenly opens up, causing him to fall into another room. After a spider and snake attack, Gabe is eventually rescued by Ben and Sari. He checks his mummy hand to see if he lost it, only to see that the fingers appear to be moving. So yeah, a good ton of bad omens seem to be piling up.

They leave the pyramid and a few days pass. It's now the big day where Ben can finally open the tomb, and he wants Gabe and Sari to come with him for the big reveal. Nila comes too, wanting to still report on the findings, though Ben tells her that he wants no pictures taken. Before Ben can break the seal, they hear someone screaming "LET ME REST IN PEACE!" This is coming from a partner of Ben's named Omar Fielding, who is trying to warn them about Khor-Ru's last warning. That if the seal is broken and the words written on the tomb walls are uttered five times, great evil shall be unleashed. But Ben, focused entirely on being the science guy, simply brushes it off as superstition and chooses to press on. Omar's like "okay, screw you I'm out" and Ben is happy to be rid of him, worrying that all Omar wanted was to steal his glory. Yeah, to say the fame's getting to his head would be a massive understatement.

Ben opens the tomb, and indeed it's completely empty. Or not I guess because there's yet another seal that needs to be opened to another room in the tomb. It was a false chamber to screw with would-be tomb robbers. They open this seal, and inside is the real deal. It's Khor-Ru's tomb all right, and it's loaded with riches. There within is also the sarcophagus (or mummy case as Jovial Bob writes it) of Khor-Ru. They open it, revealing the centuries-old mummy inside. But before they can do anything else, police officers raid the chamber, guns pointed at our heroes. They were sent by Omar to protect the contents of the tomb. He congratulates Ben on the find, but Ben is still suspicious about Omar's true intentions.

They talk a bit about the tomb, which Nila claims might be fake. She brings up the six words that could bring the mummy to life, which Ben recites. "Teki Kahru Teki Kahra Teki Khari!” are those six words. Of course Gabe, being an idiot chooses to recite the words five times. They then see Omar leaving the pyramid, and spy on him talking with Uncle Ben. They watch as Omar forces Ben into the tomb. A while later they see Omar leave, but no sign of Ben. They try to confront him, but Omar just walks off on them. So the kids enter the pyramid in search of their uncle. They discover him trapped inside a sarcophagus, unconscious. But if Ben's in there, then where's the mummy?

Just then, they see the body of Prince Khor-Ru begin to shamble. This time there's no disputing it, the kids are witnessing a living, breathing mummy. Gabe reaches for the deus ex mummy hand, but it's missing. They run into Nila, who says that the kids are going to ruin everything. It turns out that Nila was an ancient princess and her brother is Prince Khor-Ru. She also stole Gabe's mummy hand and is using it to control her brother. She orders Khor-Ru to kill them, but in a swerve, he goes after her and begins to choke her out. Gabe grabs for the mummy hand, but ends up knocking off Nila's amber pendant. It shatters and suddenly she begins to shrink, turning into a scarab beetle. She scurries away just as Uncle Ben awakens. He tells them that it wasn't Gabe that woke Khor-Ru, but Nila. That's why Omar rushed Ben into the tomb, to stop her. And he ran off into the night to get help. So, with all loose ends tied up, it's looking to be another happy ending.

TWIST ENDING

Sari tries to tease Gabe that maybe Nila will try to get revenge now that she's a scarab beetle. Gabe shrugs it off as nothing to get worried about. He puts on his pajamas and gets into bed. And we end the book with him screaming "ouch!" So chances are he got bitten by scarab Nila. And if you remember the thing from earlier, a scarab bite means instant death. And we never hear from Gabe again after this book. He's not the focus of any other mummy book. So, do we leave it as ambiguous, or is he up in heaven with Petey, Mr. Mortman, Spidey, and the bee? I'll leave that up to you, dear reader.

CONCLUSION

Return Of The Mummy is much better than the first book. Granted, it's not perfect, and is slowly paced in a lot of places. But it does feel like more happens, they throw in a few twists and turns as to who the real villain is before Nila's big turn, and we do get more time with a mummy than we got in the last book. It also feels like Gabe is less of the focus of the story's progression. In this case, it's almost entirely focused on Uncle Ben, whose dreams of fame from this expedition fuel the story's progress. There wasn't much for horror in this book, but Stine does map out a far better adventure story this time around. It's no classic, but after my issues with the first, this definitely felt like doing a mummy story right. Return Of The Mummy gets a C+.