Curse of the Mummy

In 1910, an expedition led by Sir Joseph Wimple uncovered a forgotten tomb in a remote Egyptian valley. The entrance bore no royal seal or grand statues—only a single inscription carved into black stone: "Death is only the beginning." The local laborers refused to enter, whispering of a priest who "loved too much" and tried to steal life from the gods. Inside, the tomb's walls were covered not with prayers for peace but with scenes of punishment, chains, and flames. The burial chamber held a massive stone sarcophagus layered with warnings, as though every priest who had ever entered wished to ensure whatever rested inside never emerged.

When the lid was removed, the mummy inside was perfectly preserved. Around its neck hung an ornate amulet of gold and lapis lazuli. Beside the body lay an ancient scroll sealed inside a carved casket—the Scroll of Thoth, which a terrified linguist identified as a book that "teaches the dead how to return." A young archaeologist named Ralph Norton broke the seal and began reading aloud. The torches flickered. A cold wind swept through the sealed tomb. The mummy sat upright, climbed from its coffin, picked up the scroll, and walked past the frozen expedition into the darkness. Ralph Norton never recovered; he spent the rest of his life in a Cairo hospital, staring through open windows with a vacant smile.

The priest who refused to die