WEBVTT - The Monstrefact Redux: The Mummy

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio.

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<v Speaker 2>Hi, my name is Robert Lambin. This is the Monster Fact,

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<v Speaker 2>a short form series from Stuff to Blow Your Mind,

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<v Speaker 2>focusing in non mythical creatures, ideas and monsters in time.

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<v Speaker 2>In this episode, I like to discuss one of the

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<v Speaker 2>classic monster icons of twentieth century horror cinema, the Undead Mummy.

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<v Speaker 2>You've all encountered some variation on this monster before, if

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<v Speaker 2>not in the original six part Universal Pictures Mummy franchised,

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<v Speaker 2>then perhaps in nineteen eighty seven's The Monster Squad or

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<v Speaker 2>nineteen nineties Tales from the Dark Side, the movie which

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<v Speaker 2>has a very memorable adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's

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<v Speaker 2>Lot two forty nine, which I'll touch on again in

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<v Speaker 2>a bit. For my own part, I fondly remember reading

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<v Speaker 2>a pair of kids books from the late eighties and

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<v Speaker 2>nineties when I was a child, by Alita E. Young,

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<v Speaker 2>Terror in the Tomb of Death and Returned to the

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<v Speaker 2>Tomb of Death, both of which featured undead mummies and

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<v Speaker 2>ancient Egyptian curses. Now, to properly understand mummy horror fiction

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<v Speaker 2>in general, we have to recognize its place within the

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<v Speaker 2>larger world of Egyptomania. The term Egyptomania is more often

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<v Speaker 2>used to refer specifically to nineteenth century European fascination with

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<v Speaker 2>all things Egypt in the wake of Napoleon's Egyptian campaign,

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<v Speaker 2>but it can also generally be leveled at different points

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<v Speaker 2>in time when various cultures have pursued an interest in

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<v Speaker 2>ancient Egyptian civilization and culture. In the excellent book Egyptomania,

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<v Speaker 2>author Ronald H. Fritz discusses various forms of Egyptomania over

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<v Speaker 2>the ages, from the ancient Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans to

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<v Speaker 2>Europeans and afrocentrist movements. He also devotes a chapter to

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<v Speaker 2>Hollywood movies and literature. He writes that Egyptian themed fiction

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<v Speaker 2>in its current forms emerged during the nineteenth century, again

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<v Speaker 2>after Napoleon's campaign in Egypt inspired a new surge in

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<v Speaker 2>European Egyptomania, surplanting Egypt's smaller place in the European culture

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<v Speaker 2>of the time period, where it was mostly relegated to

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<v Speaker 2>its role in Shakespearean theater, freemasonry, and sporadic fictional treatments.

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<v Speaker 2>Fritz writes that Egyptian themed fiction basically falls into a

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<v Speaker 2>number of subgenres. There's historical fiction, biblical fiction, mysteries and thrillers,

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<v Speaker 2>occult fiction, and yes, there is the mummy fiction. But

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<v Speaker 2>where does the idea of undead mummified ancient Egyptians come

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<v Speaker 2>from in all of this? Well, the nineteen thirty two

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<v Speaker 2>universal horror movie The Mummy might seem like a good

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<v Speaker 2>place to start, after all, it kicked off a rather

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<v Speaker 2>influential franchise, but Fritz shares that early versions of the

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<v Speaker 2>script didn't feature an undead mummy at all. This settlement

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<v Speaker 2>was only added later in subsequent rewrites. Unlike Dracula and Frankenstein,

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<v Speaker 2>the Mummy frame was not rooted in a particular work

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<v Speaker 2>of literature, Though there are clear literary forbears, nineteen thirty

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<v Speaker 2>two is The Mummy wasn't even the first mummy motion picture.

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<v Speaker 2>Consider instead that the likes of nineteen eleven's The Mummy,

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<v Speaker 2>in which a scientist revives an Egyptian mummy with electricity

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<v Speaker 2>and then falls in love with her sadly lost, is

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<v Speaker 2>just one of a flurry of silent mummy movies from

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<v Speaker 2>the nineteen tens. As for literary sources, Sir Arthur Conan

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<v Speaker 2>Doyle's short stories The Ring of Thoth eighteen ninety and

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<v Speaker 2>Lot Number two forty nine eighteen ninety two are important

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<v Speaker 2>to note, as is Brahm Stoker's The Jewel of the

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<v Speaker 2>Seven Stars from nineteen oh three. Fritz singles out The

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<v Speaker 2>Mummy or a Tale of the twenty second Century by

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<v Speaker 2>Jane C. Loudon from eighteen twenty seven as the earliest

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<v Speaker 2>long work concerning a reanimated mummy. Other early examples of

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<v Speaker 2>reanimated mummy story include Theophile Gottner's The Mummy's Foot and

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<v Speaker 2>Edgar Allen Poe's eighteen forty five story Some Words with

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<v Speaker 2>a Mummy. These stories, according to Fritz, arise in general

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<v Speaker 2>again out of nineteenth century Egyptomania, but also out of

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<v Speaker 2>European and American fascination with mummies and mummy unwrapping parties.

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<v Speaker 2>In particular. He also writes that we can't underestimate Victorian

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<v Speaker 2>colonial guilt and misgivings about the desecration of Egyptian tombs

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<v Speaker 2>and artifacts as a strong motivation for summoning so many

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<v Speaker 2>tales in which over eager American and European archaeologists on

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<v Speaker 2>Earth ancient tombs ancient curses and invoked the wrath of

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<v Speaker 2>the untead. In fact, he points out that initially mummy

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<v Speaker 2>stories cast archaeologists firmly in the role of villains, but

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<v Speaker 2>then the needle moved in the opposite direction quote after

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<v Speaker 2>the discovery of Tutenkammen's tomb nineteen twenty two. Thanks to

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<v Speaker 2>the film industry, archaeologists were portrayed as heroic, scholarly adventures,

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<v Speaker 2>while angry mummies were not avengers but the revived, corporeal

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<v Speaker 2>forms of a mindless ancient evil. This shift is in

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<v Speaker 2>effect an affirmation or vindication of imperialism and colonialism. On

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<v Speaker 2>top of all of this, there's, of course the influence

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<v Speaker 2>of pre existing tales of cursed objects and the unsettled dead,

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<v Speaker 2>which would have found new life in Egyptomania fuel creations.

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<v Speaker 2>These various elements all would seem to have contributed to

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<v Speaker 2>the undead mummy's place in our horror fiction. Tune in

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<v Speaker 2>for additional episodes of The Monster Fact or The Artifact

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<v Speaker 2>each week. As always, you can email us at contact

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<v Speaker 2>at stuff to Blow your Mind dot com.

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