In Need of Experts, Part One

Beverly Hills, February 15, 1924



Dear Ms. Mackenzie

I have not had the pleasure of meeting you in person, yet, I had the pleasure of meeting your late father some years ago, and he spoke very warmly of your academic prowess. I will proceed to introduce myself: I am a film producer, and I have been working in this field for just about a decade. As you are well aware of, the current fad for all things Egyptian has been well spread, and I am planning on producing a frightful and shocking film about a dead priestess brought back to life in pursuit of long-lost love. The film will star William Gerrymor, Rita Zann, and Reginald van Buren, names who you might be acquainted with. The film will be directed by Gerhard Besser.

I have some truly excellent actors, a great director and a fantastic script to use, but I want the audience to truly experience the spirit of ancient Egypt through the silver screen. My films aspire to perfection, and that is why I am reaching out to you. I am most aware of you and some of your friends and colleagues being very knowledgeable about Egyptian history, a field that I am decidedly less qualified to engage in. My previous films, for example Vanity Fair and Three Wise Fools, have been praised by the press for their authenticity, and I am committed to following this path. I would therefore like to ask you and colleagues to advise myself and the director, Mr. Besser, so that we may complete the film in a way that will provide alluring, yet authentic.

The film is to be shot in Hollywood, which is in Los Angeles, California. I will provide you with a suitable salary as well as compensation pertaining to travel and accomodations. Please do let me know if this seems amenable to you at your earliest convenience.

Most sincerely

Samuel Goldwyn

Samuel Goldwyn. He has recently formed the production company Samuel Goldwyn Productions, and the first film released was Potash and Perlmutter, a comedy based on a Broadway play. The film premiered in September 1923. The Curse of the Mummy will premiere in the summer of 1924. It is based on the short story Cagliostro. The film will be shot both in a Hollywood studio and in the Nevada desert.

Reginald van Buren plays Felix Temple, a young Egyptologist, as well as Prince Akhenaten

Rita Zann plays Aaliyah Bey and Priestess Ankh-su-namon

William Gerrymor plays Professor James Applebee

The director, Gerhard Besser, one of the rising stars of Hollywood.

The Plot of The Curse of the Mummy:

 In 1911, an archaeological expedition led by Sir Arthur Temple (Keith Shelley) finds the mummy of an ancient Egyptian priestess named Ankh-su-namon (Zann). An inspection of the mummy by Temple's friend and advisor Dr. Schaffhausen (Reginald de Vries) reveals that the viscera were not removed, and from the signs of struggling Schaffhausen deduces that although Ankh-su-namon had been wrapped like a traditional mummy, she had been buried alive. Also buried with Ankh-su-namon is a casket with a curse on it. Despite Schaffhausen's warning, Sir Arthur's assistant Brian Nunn (Charles Bernard) opens it. He reads aloud an ancient life-giving scroll, the "Scroll of Thoth". Ankh-su-namon rises, the sight of which snaps Nunn’s mind and causes him to laugh hysterically, as the Mummy shuffles off with the scroll.

Ten years later, Ankh-su-namon is masquerading as a modern Egyptian woman named Aaliyah Bey covering herself with makeup. She calls upon Sir Arthur's son Felix (Van Buren) and Professor Applebee (Gerrymor) and shows them where to dig to find the tomb of the prince Akhenaten. After locating the tomb, the archaeologists present its treasures to the Cairo Museum and thank Aaliyah Bey for making their discovery possible. It is further revealed that Ankh-su-namon's horrific death was punishment for sacrilege: attempting to resurrect her forbidden lover, Prince Akhenaten.

Ankh-su-namon has realized that Felix Temple bears a striking resemblance to the prince. Believing him to be Akhenaten's reincarnation, she attempts to kill him, with the intention of mummifying him, resurrecting him, and finally making him her immortal love. Felix is rescued when he remembers his ancestral past life and prays to the god Ra to come to his aid. The statue of Ra raises its arm and emits a flash that sets the Scroll of Thoth on fire. This breaks the spell that had given Ankh-su-namon her immortality, causing her to crumble to dust. At the urging of Dr. Schaffhausen, Professor Applebee calls Felix back to the world of the living while the Scroll of Thoth continues to burn.

The Case of Auntie Tilda, part 3. Showtime!

It was surely an evening to remember. The sight of Jules Pollack’s infested body in the spore-laden cold air of the drawing room, and then the light bulb exploding and plunging the room into utter darkness sent the investigators scrambling in what seemed to be an organized fashion. Flashlights were secured by Mackie, Moira got her hands dirty with the slime, phlegm and mucus that was covering much of Jules, and Henry went to the rather well-equipped gardening shed to find useful tools and perhaps even protective gear. Jules was alive, but just…well, altered in some horrifying way. Nevertheless, Moira made sure that Jules was stable, and as Mackie returned with two flashlights, Moira grabbed one and headed for the basement while Mackie and Henry checked the upstairs bedrooms.

As Moira opened the door to the basement stairs, she noticed that the indescribable odor of both growth, fertility and fetid decay grew stronger, and the stairs were covered by even more of the pungent slime that had graced Jules. It was only matter of second before she slipped on the stairs, rolling down into the abyss and landing on something disturbingly soft as the basement door slammed shut. Moira dropped her flashlight in the fall, and it rolled of only to reveal a glimpse of something horrific that seemed to have been biding its time in the womb of the basement: a brownish-gray tentacle horror of unspeakable quality, something that was not of this world, yet part of some unwholesome fertility spectacle. Moira tried to get up the basement stairs, slipping, shrieking and cursing while clawing her way to the closed door.

This was, of course, noticed by Henry and Mackie, and perhaps even at some level by Jules, and Henry, now fully equipped with a shovel, a pickaxe and protective gear and looking like a sick and twisted garden gnome butcher started working on opening the door, tightly followed by Mackie, who was brandishing a sturdy cast-iron poker from the fireplace. A filthy, bruised and distraught Moira was pulled out into the hallway, and it was decided that it was time to leave the house and clean up, at least for a bit. However, as Henry gathered some of his possessions as well as a change of clothing for Moira and Jules, he gazed into a mirror and saw a reflection of that very same mass of tentacles that Moira confronted in the basement. Shrieking, Henry ran down the stairs, arm flailing and babbling uncontrollably.

By then, even Jules had been persuaded to come out into his own garden, and after being thoroughly cleaned, supplied with a change of clothes, and having taken a swig or two from his generous hip flask, his senses seemed to return. Moira was also rinsed off in the cold rain, and although she was cold, she felt much more composed. The investigators huddled on the front porch, trying to figure out what their next step would be. The party’s suspicions focused in on Mr. Simmons, the gardener, who had seemed quite unaffected by the many unfortunate events that had struck the various inhabitants of Hampton Hill House. Would Mr. Simmons return? None of the investigators were willing to go back into the house, and it was decided to keep a lookout in Jules’ automobile while the rest of the party took turns napping in the gardening shed.

At around 3 am Moira was struggling to stay awake in the front seat of the auto, but sudden movement outside Hampton Hill House made her wide awake. A furtive figure carrying some form of equipment and perhaps a sack moved up to the front door and into the house. The intrepid adventurers armed themselves as best as they could: Mackie had her poker, Henry had his pickaxe (the shovel had been lost), Moira picked up a vicious-looking tree secateurs, and Jules opted for a croquet set. Armed and somewhat dangerous, the investigators entered Hampton Hill House, with Jules and Moira going upstairs while Mackie and Henry started stacking furniture in front of the door to the basement door.

As Jules and Moira entered the master bedroom, they did indeed run into Mr. Simmons. The gardener had previously not been threatening, but now Moira noticed what seemed to be a writhing mass of mucous matter underneath his shirt. Jules was more concerned about Simmons pointing a shotgun in their direction, and he launched one of the croquet balls at Simmons. The throw was not great, but Simmons was distracted enough to fire the shotgun up into the ceiling, raining plaster on everyone while Moira lunged at Simmons with her vicious secateurs. Simmons was impaled just below the throat, and ooze and ichor spurted out of Simmons’s near-severed neck as he lay shrieking and flailing on the floor until Moira finished off his miserable existence. 

The polite and pleasant-looking unspeakable horror that was Mr. Simmons.

Meanwhile, Mackie and Henry heard faint scratching against the basement door, and Henry leaned forward, putting his ear to the door. He could not have anticipated the unearthly tendrils that writhed into his ear, piecing his ear drum and pinning him to the door, Fortunately, Mackie had her trusty pocket knife, and at the cost of one-third of Henry Chester’s ear, he was free.

By now, the entire house was buzzing, vibrating, and leaving the investigators with a feeling of distinct queasiness as well as with headaches all around. As Mackie quickly ran off to make a couple of Molotov cocktails out of Jules’s liquor cabinet, Jules ran down and fired into the basement door, only to see a distinctly unwholesome tentacle probe its way out of the hole in the door. Pulling out his favorite revolver, Jules fired off a round at the tentacle, which promptly withdrew. This was followed by doors opening and closing, glass breaking, lights fluttering, and a dreadful chill descending on the house as the windows were filled by visions of the ungodly tentacle menace that seemed to be very close to actually fully materializing. It was time to leave Hampton Hill House, and although the front door was locked, sheer desperation forced it open, and Mackie decided to give the house a farewell in shape of her two extra-stuffed Molotov cocktails. The house was consumed at an alarming rate, and the investigators had to run away from Hampton Hill as the house seemed to implode, extinguishing the fire and leaving the investigators out in what was now a slight drizzle. Only faint markings were left of Hampton Hill House as well as a strangely inscribed metal plaque where the basement used to be. It was time to return to Arkham.