Return of the Mummy (Goosebumps #23)

## He's back...from the dead!

More fun than my negative rating implies, Return of the Mummy is held back by some outdated stereotypes and ignorance of foreign cultures. It's a cheeky followup to Goosebumps fun early entry, the Curse of the Mummy's Tomb. Cheeky because it follows most of the same beats, and feels like the same book.

[N.B. This review includes images, and was formatted for my site, dendrobibliography -- located here.]

I feel cognitive dissonance on this one: While I adore stories set around Egyptian mythology, mummies coming back to life, hidden tombs -- all the good Egypt stereotypes -- for fueling so many great childhood memories, stories like this are born from ignorance of other cultures that borders on tacky.

Gabe show more returns to Egypt to visit his Uncle Ben, a famous archaeologist on the verge of discovering a new, untouched tomb, and his cousin Sari, with whom he has a competitive rivalry. The untouched tomb his uncle's found is also conveniently located in one of Egypt's great pyramids right beyond Cairo's busy streets, and belongs to an even wealthier relative to King Tut. As the family descends into the pyramid, they're joined by Uncle Ben's grumpy academic associate, Dr. Fielding, and a local news reporter, Nila. Both are soon cast into suspicion as the tomb is uncovered, a mummy discovered, and superstitions erupt over a vengeful spirit and curses.

Don't worry, there's definitely a mummy shambling around, seeking revenge for being disturbed.

The Egypt of both Goosebumps mummy stories is built on Karl Freund and Boris Karloff's 1932 film. It's a very white and western vision belittling people who can't reply. Stories like this don't really work anymore, because they're built on ignorance and distrust over anything not western (even if it's totally benign and meant for kids). So, even though I can vouch for this tale being just as fun as the preceding Gooseboops yarns, it repeats too many beats from Gabe's earlier adventure, and the reduction of Egyptian culture and history to basically being evil, beautiful white people who speak perfect English has gotten harder to look past as an older reader.

Not one of the better Goosebumps adventures.

R.L. Stine's Goosebumps (1992–1997):
#22 Ghost Beach | #24 Phantom of the Auditorium show less

Another excellent throwback read for me!

I used to binge Goosebumps like they were the only books available on Earth. They are spooky, quick paced, and just all around fun.

In this book, Gabe, his cousin Sari, Sari's Dad and a lot of other adventurers are on an expedition. There's a Mummy's tomb they want to open and see what's inside. But there's a traitor in their mix that is going to mess with this Mummy...

This book was fun and fast paced! Each little cliffhanger, twist and turn was packed full of fun and made it super enjoyable for me. I ended up binging the whole book because it was just so fun! It's not scary to me as an adult, but it did have me on the edge of my seat. I can easily see young horror lovers grabbing this book. It's show more definitely one of my more favourite Goosebumps books.

FYI - this is the sequel to The Curse of the Mummy, but you can easily pick this book up without reading the last book.

Four out of five stars. show less

Readers Beware, you're in for a [a: R.L. Stine|13730|R.L. Stine|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1194380070p2/13730.jpg] sequel!

I previously praised [b: The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb|125601|The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb (Goosebumps, #5)|R.L. Stine|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1328867783s/125601.jpg|120966] for evoking severe claustrophobic feelings. The dark musty interior of the pyramids were brought to life, along with the terrifying possibility of venturing down those ancient halls and never finding your way back. You're stuck forever there, amongst the scarabs, scorpions, and spiders. You're stuck breathing the ancient air and choking on the dust of uncountable centuries.... This book didn't exactly evoke the same level of show more visceral feelings as the first, though it certainly tried at times.

The failure of this book, for me, apart from the rather repetitive plot to the first title, was the fact it focused a bit too much upon the horrors of mummification. The fear of being lost in the pyramids was more effective to me than any grossness surrounding the embalming process, though for a lot of kids I doubt that would be the same case. This book was more magical than the first, though it did raise some interesting archaeological points.

What do you do when the dead want to be left alone? show less

R.L. Stine was one of my first favorite authors growing up and the goosebumps series my first fiction love. When I saw my library had the new classic goosebumps audiobooks, I was thrilled! I never did read every single goosebumps book like I wanted to, and I have wanted to delve back into the series since I have found a new love for middle grade books this year.

Return of the Mummy is the second mummy book in the classic goosebumps series. Gabe's Uncle Ben, a famous archaeologist, invites him back to Egypt to explore a new, previously undiscovered tomb. He is thrilled he might be part of uncovering a new tomb, but he's not thrilled to have to put up with his know-it-all cousin Sari again.

You might not be aware of this, but I love all show more things Ancient Egyptian so it was exciting to be on this journey with Gabe and Sari, even if their teasing and pranks made me roll my eyes a bit. Mostly because it felt a lot like growing up with two annoying brother. ;)

The plot was pretty simple, but it's expected with these books. It didn't get in the way of my enjoyment and there was a few plot twists that really shocked me! I would have given this a solid four starts if it wasn't for that classic, but super annoying cliffhanger that R.L. Stine is known for. I saw it coming, but siggghhhhhh. Cliffhangers really bug me these days.

I was planning to scour my favorite used bookstores for more goosebumps books, but after enjoying the narration that Kirby Heyborne brought to this book, I so want to see what Scholastic Audio has in store for the rest of the series! He really made Return of the Mummy come alive. I just borrowed the first mummy book The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb and it looks like he's narrated this one too. I'm so excited to visit Egypt with Gabe again and see what sort of spooky mischief he and Sari got up to in this one.

I recommend Return of the Mummy to anyone who loves middle grade horror. If you haven't tried R.L. Stine's classic goosebumps books, what on earth are you waiting for?! show less

Gabe heads back to Egypt on an archaeological dig with his Uncle Ben and cousin Sari—only to uncover an ancient chant that could reawaken the dead. When spooky occurrences escalate, the real question becomes: can Gabe break a mummy’s curse before it strikes closer to home? Classic Goosebumps chills with a cultural adventure twist.

Great kids book. Has a good story line, suspense and unpredictablility. Great for newer independant readers as the language isn't too advanced (ie not written at an adult level but also not too "babyish"). Goosebumps books are one of the few fiction books my 8 year old son will read.

Apparently this was a sequel book to another book within the wider Goosebumps series. I had no idea until I was reading it, then it was pretty quickly made evident that I was missing something. It didn’t affect my enjoyment of it but I do definitely want to go back and read the first book so I can get more of a background on the characters and stuff.