A Gothic Horror Tale

The earliest American gothic mummy tale can be traced to Louisa May Alcott who in the best traditions of her heroine Jo March, pens a tale of mystery and horror. It starts out innocently enough, with gentlemen exploring a pyramid. When they get lost, they make a fatal mistake and decide to burn a handy mummy to provide illumination.

Unfortunately it is not just any mummy, but the mummy of a sorceress "who bequeathed her curse to whomever should disturb her rest."

One of the explorers and the other's new bride fall victim to the curse which comes from a seed found in the mummy wrappings which they heedlessly plant. (This is a literary allusion to "mummy wheat" and "mummy bulbs" which were items found in wrappings and which purportedly sprouted thousands of years later). The flower of the plant brought illness, madness and death to anyone who cultivated it or wore it. This is one of the earliest stories about a mummy's curse, and sets the tone for an entire genre of "curse literature" related to mummy unwrapping or desecration, a genre which is still present today in stories and films.