by R. L. Stine
“Have we gone back in time?” I cried. “It’s like … we’ve stepped back into ancient Egypt!”
“Totally cool!” Peter declared.
My head was spinning. There was so much to see! The walls of the room looked just like pyramid bricks. They were covered with paintings of Egyptian cats, and pharaohs, and sphinxes, and all the stuff you see in museums.
Statues and strange animal sculptures filled the room. A small yellow-brick pyramid rose up beside the fireplace.
“What’s that weird writing?” Peter asked Jonathan. He pointed to a large framed document on the wall. “Is that hieroglyphics?”
“Yes, it is,” Jonathan answered. “The written language used by the ancient Egyptians. We have been able to translate some of it. But a lot of the symbols remain a mystery.”
I stopped in front of a table that contained several tiny bird sculptures. They were dark blue and very shiny. I knew they were really old, but they looked new.
Jonathan saw me admiring the sculptures. “The Egyptians had a shade of blue that we cannot create today,” he said. “Even with all our modern science we cannot match their glaze.”
He sighed, and his eyes appeared to dim. “They were ahead of us in so many ways.”
A faded orange-and-yellow painting of the sun hung on a wall over a tall stone sculpture. The sun had rays shooting from it and there were Egyptian symbols all around the borders.
“The Egyptians worshipped the sun god, Ra,” Jonathan said. “That painting was made over two thousand years ago.”
“Wow! This is amazing!” I exclaimed.
Jonathan smiled, the smile that crinkled up his face. “I spent a good part of my life in Egypt,” he said. “As you can see, I’m a collector. I brought back many priceless treasures.”
“Did you bring back a mummy?” Peter asked. “My friends and I are totally into mummies.”
Jonathan smoothed his black mustache with his fingers. He narrowed his eyes at Peter. “You might see a mummy or two before your visit is over,” he said.
“Cool!” Peter exclaimed. “Can I touch one?”
Before Jonathan could answer, a woman stepped into the room. She was short and plump with a round face and rosy cheeks. She had springy gray curls on her head. She wore a flowered apron over a long black housedress that hung down to her ankles.
Her glasses had slid halfway down her broad nose. She flashed us a toothy smile as she came nearer. “Faith be praised, Jonathan. Your house-guests have arrived at last!” she said. Her voice was very musical. She practically sang the words.
“Yes,” Jonathan replied. “We’ve been waiting so eagerly, haven’t we, Sonja?”
“Eagerly,” Sonja repeated, grinning at me. “Yes, that’s the truth of it.”
Jonathan introduced us. Sonja was his housekeeper. “Sonja will see that you get everything you need,” he told us.
“Have you seen the mummy?” Peter asked her.
The question startled Sonja. Her cheeks turned bright red. She squinted at Peter through her glasses. “Mummy? Upon my soul! No. Is there a mummy in this house?”
GOOSEBUMPS HorrorLand™
ALL-NEW, ALL-TERRIFYING
#1 REVENGE Of THE LIVING DUMMY
Also Available on Audiobook from Scholastic Audiobooks
#2 CREEP from THE DEEP
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#3 MONSTER BLOOD FOR BREAKFAST!
#4 THE SCREAM OF THE HAUNTED MASK
#5 DR. MANIAC VS. ROBBY SCHWARTZ
#6 WHO’S YOUR MUMMY?
#7 MY FRIENDS CALL ME MONSTER
#8 SAY CHEESE — AND DIE SCREAMING!
GOOSEBUMPS®
NOW WITH BONUS FEATURES!
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FOR EXCLUSIVE AUTHOR INTERVIEWS AND MORE.
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DUMMY
DEEP TROUBLE
MONSTER BLOOD
THE HAUNTED MASK
ONE DAY AT HORRORLAND
THE CURSE OF THE MUMMY’S TOMB
BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR
SAY CHEESE AND DIE!
Copyright
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.
Goosebumps book series created by Parachute Press, Inc.
Copyright © 1993 by Scholastic Inc.
Cover art by Brandon Dorman
Cover design by Steve Scott
First printing, February 2009
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E-ISBN 978-0-545-40581-2
“Behind the Screams” bonus material provided by Matthew D. Payne
