A Horror Tale of Egypt and Ancient Magic
Author: H.P. Lovecraft
In collusion with the famous escape artist, Harry Houdini, H.P. Lovecraft weaves an exotic story set in the heart of an Egyptian night in 1910. Written in 1924 on commission for Weird Tales magazine upon a supposedly real life experience of Houdini (and credited as written by him until 1939), the story follows a hapless traveler as he explores the pyramids by day and, knowing much of Egyptology and occultism, wonders what lies in the cut off corners where the tour guides do not go. Soon, his inquisitive nature will attach him to a mysterious man who looks like an ancient Pharaoh. Kidnapped and bound, Houdini is thrown down a pit near the Sphinx of Gaza. Seeing his own escape wizardy as an affront, Egypt is ready to show him her dark heart and the power of true magic. Torn, bleeding, and afraid, Houdini wonders beneath Egyptian sand into an ancient ceremony of the dead to encounter the real creature behind the legend of the Sphinx.
Unlike Lovecraft’s other tales, detailing the mythos of the Elder Gods and the depraved cults of Cthulhu, Under the Pyramids (also known as Imprisoned with the Pharaohs) leaves behind the slicing coldness of chill, abandoned climates for the warm, sand soaked real of antiquity. While the monsters and the narrator are of a different sort, and the story is told as one that occurred and not as a research project which reveals a sinister past, the Lovecraft atmosphere, wording, and ability to conjure the horrific while cloaking it in an air of mystery is distinctly authentic. Richly detailed the atmosphere of a hot desert and the curiosity of an occult escapist transfixes the reader, and the midnight battle atop the pyramid gushes with beauty and terror. The descent leaves readers aching along with the hapless Houdini, and the final encounter is particularly imaginative, enthralling, and oddly (uncomfortably) believable.
Having engaged in a ritual with my boyfriend, on quiet moments during the work day, we put on a little background Lovecraft horror, allowing the thrills and chills to spill into text messages and ponderings on Lovecraft (although, I must admit, he’s far ahead of me). In the spirit of adventure, instead of seeking the most widely acclaimed Lovecraft works, I typed into YouTube and settled on the first story that displayed a reasonable time. I listened to the recording while taking my daily walk and was mesmerized with the environment, vividness, and depth of feeling exhibited throughout the tale. The particular recording I listened too seems to come from an old audio cassette book, and the narrator’s sonorous tones lead me to continually seek more from this mysterious series of records.
In the lovely spirit of that rare bird, free fiction, I’ve also discovered a website which has posted the full story for readers’ enjoyment. A twisting tale with all the sordid, sanity leeching horror one expects of a master storyteller, Under the Pyramids is an enjoyable and brief short-story. Recommended.
- Frances Carden
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