Episode 35: Five Mummy Books to Buy This Month

Il-wey! With the holidays fast approaching, you might be looking for mummy books to buy yourself or someone who is interested in mummies, tombs, or mythologies residing the same realm. Here are five books, fiction and non-fiction, you should check out. 

The Bog

Released this past spring, Shelby Popham, a professor in the Writing Programs at UCLA, wrote this horror novel about bog bodies, which is not often the subject of fiction tales.  In this story, Popham weaves together the destinies of a number of characters while revealing in twists and turns ancient rituals of Irish folklore. Although I felt the book had a rocky start with the opening narrative structure, once Popham focused in on Rob’s journey, The Bog becomes suspenseful and engrossing.

Amazon purchase link here

Mummy Knows Best

I like collections of short stories as they are great ways of being exposed to new voices and mummy stories.  I have several anthologies in my library and I picked this one edited by Theresa Derwin because she collects stories from contemporary writers.  Derwin includes over two dozen clever tales that include a story about a rock band with a secret (E.F. Schraeder’s “The Mummy’s Curse”) and Anthony D. Redden gives an unsettling new perspective in “M.I.L.F.” I’m still in the process of reading through all the tales, but initially, I think this anthology is worthwhile. 

Amazon purchase link here

The Nyarlathotep Cycle: Stories about the God of a Thousand Forms

Readers of H. P. Lovecraft will recognize the name, Nyarlathotep, an Outer God who shifts his appearance to serve his interests.  Renown writer Robert M. Price edited and introduced this collection of short stories from a who’s who of Lovecraftian writers commencing with Lord Dunsany through Gary Myers, each exploring and providing their own interpretation on Nyarlathotep.  I picked this book up specifically for Robert Bloch’s “Fane of the Black Pharaoh” and I was not disappointed.  The illustrations with Egyptian motifs are gorgeous. 

Amazon purchase link here

The Seventh Plague

Part of the Sigma Force novels written by James Rollins, I’ll be honest, the scarab beetle on the cover of the mass market paperback version I saw in my local grocery store one day caught my attention.  The book opens on describing an ancient ritual of self-mummification a woman subjects herself to.  Her body is tattooed with secrets – think Ahmanet’s tattoos in the 2017 mummy film – which is found in contemporary times and has ramifications of epic proportions.  Because this is part of an ongoing series featuring recurring characters, I didn’t get all of the inherent dynamics that comes from prior knowledge, I still enjoyed and was entertained by The Seventh Plague. 

Amazon purchase link here

Tomb, Treasures, Mummies Series (reprint from out-of-print hardcover)

Founder and editor of KMT journal, Dennis C. Forbes has written a series of informative books titled Tomb, Treasures, Mummies.  In each volume, Forbes typically provides an in-depth historical study of two tombs accompanied with a generous number of photographs.  Additionally, he has included details endnotes so readers can seek out more information if interested.  Forbes spotlights two royal mummy caches, TT320 discovered in 1881 and KV35 discovered in 1898 in the first volume. They are definitely worth the (average) $35 - $40 per volume. 

Amazon purchase link for volume one here

Have you read of any of these? What did you think of them, and what books would you recommend? 

Senebti! 

Banner image from the cover of James Rollins’ The Seventh Plague