Some Words with a Mummy (Edgar Allan Poe)

I'd like to offer a Summer Reading preview with one of the titles that inspired this idea.  I've read this short story by Poe before, but I thought it would be fun for a reread.

Our unnamed narrator is awakened in the middle of the night by a friend of his who wants him to come and see the mummy that he is going to unwrap that night.  As he tells us this story, the narrator admits that he's not sure if it was real or a dream brought on by eating too much Welsh rabbit.  Either way, we know we're in for a wild ride.

I guess it should go without saying, but please bear in mind that there might be some spoilers ahead.  Thanks!

The unwrapping party is a little different than one might expect, since after the bindings are removed, the group notices that this mummy is not prepared in the traditional way.  He appears to have glass eyes, and his internal organs have not been removed.  Someone has the bright idea to shock the corpse with a battery and see what happens.  Well, what happens is that he comes to life!

So, the first thing that makes our mummy, Allamistakeo stand out is that he's not the sort of violent, deadly terror one comes to expect from a fictional mummy.  In fact, apart from one scene where he quite literally kicks someone out the window (surprisingly, no one was hurt), he's pretty docile.

Rather than being upset and confused about being awakened from his eternal slumber, Allamistakeo reveals that he was part of a special sect of Egyptians who are mummified in a special way, in order that they could be revived in the future to share history and other information with future generations.  This leads to a lively discussion between the gathered friends and Allamistakeo about religion, technology, and other things.

To rate this mummy, I'd say that he was charming and not at all scary.  Bonus points for being incredibly strong and smart.  A mummy that I would not mind meeting.

I would like to point out as a final aside, that the narrator's comments about too much grilled cheese and beer (and even the mummy's name, All-a-mistake-o) points to this being a pretty vivid dream.  A delightful story all the way through, and a pleasantly witty one from the master of the macabre.

31 Days of Halloween #5

Fans of horror literature cannot escape the reach of these two writing greats.  Whether you prefer the classic gnawing chills of a Poe story, or the more visceral, aggression of a King story, you are guarenteed to find something to chill you to the bone in one of these author's collections of stories.  I'd say that mostly I'm a Poe fan, but for now, let's just enjoy a rap battle between two of the greatest minds in horror.

31 Days of Halloween #1

Happy October, everyone!  Welcome to 2015's first of 31 Days of Halloween!

When I was a kid, I always wanted to prove that I was brave...by reading scary books.  I wasn't brave enough to sleep without a night light, or to kill a spider by myself (I still can't do that), but I really wanted to show that I could read scary things and not get all worked up about it.  Goosebumps?  Sure!  I could do that (they were pretty unsettling, and gave me some freaky dreams, but I wouldn't say the ones I read were scary per se).

Reading scary things meant that one time, I tried to read Poe's The Black Cat.  It scared the crap out of me!  And even now, I hate reading that story.  This post isn't about The Black Cat, though.  It's about another Poe story that is near and dear to my heart (Oh my!  Was that a pun?)  You guessed it, folks!  The Tell Tale Heart!

Day 1: The Tell-Tale Heart

This is what I like to describe as your classic chiller.  A man goes mad over the image of his elderly roommate's hideous eye.  What happens next (for those of you who haven't seen it) is a tale of psychological terrors.

First, the story itself.  I'm including two video versions here, and have linked the full text under "Day 1".  First is an animated version, and one of my personal favorites.  It is perfectly creepy and unsettling, but with some moments of humor (but not too much!).

Now, we've heard versions of classic Poe tales told by Vincent Price and Christopher Lee, but this was the first time I found one by Bela Lugosi.  So, the second version I have (included below) is his reading of it (and it is actually quite good, although I'm not sure why I expected anything else!)

Now, this final video is from Thug Notes.  This is a great series on YouTube that provides summaries for classic stories and novels (in the vein of SparkNotes and CliffNotes), but with a "thug" twist.  To see what I mean, take a look :)

What is your favorite Poe story?  Is there anything else you would like featured during this series?  Let me know in the comments :)

Fortunato

The chains are cold around my waist
Half drunk with cheap wine, I giggle,
Then laugh aloud; hollow
false laughter.
Brick by brick,
Brick by brick
You seal me away.
Montresor, I say
This is no longer funny!
But you do not answer.
Brick by brick,
Brick by brick
you seal my fate.
Montresor for the love of God!
The dampness of the catacombs sickens you,
As does the weakening jingle of my bells.
Was this really worth it all, Montresor?
Who can say a man's life is really worth
A fucking cask of Amontillado?

Fun With Google Translate

I was bored...so I decided to play around a bit with the dreaded Google Translate *lightning and thunder* I actually got the idea from a video put out by Smosh where they took one of their old videos, ran the entire script through Google Translate into Japanese, and then back into English. Next, the rerecorded their voices with the "new" script that Google Translate gave them. I decided to do something similar, but instead of going from English to Japanese to English, I changed my entries into several different languages before returning them to English. Here are the results. First, Poe's The Raven:

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,

Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,

While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,

As if some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.

"'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door--

Only this, and nothing more."

~English, French, German, Greek, Polish, Korean, Romanian, Swahili, Welsh, Italian, Irish, Spanish, and BACK to English...

Dark to midnight, and my opinion is weak and tired

Original and very important number of scientific studies, liver

He liked the group below, nearly napping, suddenly and registration

As the light falls, banging on the door of my room.

"It's nice to come with me," says I, who was at the door--

But no more than

And here is another one...This time, Shakespeare's Hamlet:

To be, or not to be: that is the question:

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer

The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,

Or take arms against a sea of troubles,

And by opposing, end them? To die; to sleep;

No more; and by a sleep to say we end

The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks

That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation

Devoutly to be wish'd.

And same languages as before...

A man, that is the question:

What, where, heart honor

Pockets, and outrageous, but the fate of arrow

O army major problem,

Finally, the difference? Looking for death;

There is more to this end the dream

Thousands of unrest and natural motion

Successor body, responsible for

Get a room.

Wow! How does it change so drastically? This is ridiculous! I mean, these two passages barely sound anything like the originals! And, they both sound slightly suggestive, don't they? I mean, with phrases like "successor body, responsible for/Get a room". But, mostly, its gibberish.

I think I might use this sometime on a complete poem, but I'm not sure.