Return of the Mummy

Return of the Mummy is the twenty-third book in the original Goosebumps book series, and it is a sequel to The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb. It was first published in 1994.

Both the original 1994 and 2010 Classic Goosebumps cover illustrations feature Prince Khor-Ru coming out of a tomb as steam billows out.

Blurb
''DEAD... OR ALIVE?''

After last year's scary adventure, Gabe's a little nervous about being back in Egypt. Back near the ancient pyramids. Back where he saw all those creepy mummies. Then he learns about an Egyptian superstition. A secret chant that is supposed to bring mummies to life. Gabe's uncle says it's just a hoax. But now it sounds like something's moving in the mummy's tomb. No way a couple of dumb words can wake the dead. Can they?

Plot
Gabe is traveling back to Egypt for the summer. He will be staying with his uncle — Ben Hassad — and his cousin — Sari Hassad. Gabe's uncle is a renowned scientist, and his archaeological team has discovered an ancient pyramid with an unopened tomb. As Gabe's flight is about to land in Egypt, he clutches The Summoner, a mummified hand and magical artifact. The hand becomes unusually cold, and Gabe speculates that this is a bad omen. Once Gabe's plane lands, Uncle Ben picks up Gabe at the airport and takes the boy to the archaeological site. Dr. Hassad gives Gabe a necklace. The pendant is made of amber, and it has a preserved scarab inside. According Gabe's uncle, the bite of a scarab means instant death. At night, Gabe is almost certain that he felt the scarab moving around within the amber.

The next morning, Gabe eats breakfast with his uncle. Dr. Hassad explains that the pyramid his team is exploring belonged to Prince Khor-Ru, one of Tutankhamen's relatives. After breakfast, Gabe, his cousin, and his uncle are preparing to go into the pyramid when a woman runs up to them. She introduces herself as Nila Rahmad and says that she is a reporter. Nila begs to allowed access to the pyramid, and Gabe's uncle reluctantly agrees. Nila has a necklace similar to the one Gabe was given, but hers has no scarab inside of it. The group goes into the pyramid, but Gabe becomes separated and falls into a hole filled with spiders. Gabe is rescued by his relatives. He checks to see if he damaged The Summoner during the fall, and Nila recognizes the hand. According to her, she knows a lot about ancient Egypt.

The next day, Dr. Hassad announces that his team has discovered the entrance to the pyramid's tomb. The tomb's entrance features a message that translates to, "Let me rest in peace." One man, Dr. Omar Fielding, demands that they do not enter the tomb, as it violates the prince's wishes. According to him, if anyone reads the words written on the tomb five times, the mummy will come to life. Despite this, the archaeological still enters the tomb. Inside, the group discover a room filled with treasure and a sarcophagus containing a mummy. Dr. Fielding returns with a team of police officers, saying that he wishes for them to protect the tomb.

Dr. Hassad expresses a great distrust for Dr. Fielding. While his is having dinner with his relatives and Nile, he chooses to reveal the ancient words that can supposedly bring the mummy to life: Teki Kahru Teki Kahra Teki Khari. Dr. Hassad leaves to take a call, and Nila decides to depart. Gabe chants the words five times aloud in an attempt to scare Sari, but everything seems to be fine. The kids are met by Dr. Fielding, who is looking for Dr. Hassad. The kids choose to follow the man, and they see him and Dr. Hassad enter the pyramid. Dr. Fielding emerges, but Dr. Hassad does not.

Sari begins panicking. She shouts at Dr. Fielding, but he doesn't even seem to notice her. The kids grab flashlights and enter the pyramid. They make their way to Khor-Ru's tomb, and they find Dr. Hassad trapped inside of the sarcophagus, unconscious. The kids briefly wonder where the mummy could be, but they soon find out. The mummy begins walking towards them from the entrance of the room. The kids sprint past the mummy, and they run into Nila. Nila is holding The Summoner, and she waves it around. She calls to the mummy, calling it her brother. Nila thanks Gabe for The Summoner to Egypt, because the ancient words likely wouldn't have worked without it. Nila demands that the mummy destroy the kids, and the mummy begins moving closer.

Without warning, the mummy lunges past the kids and grabs Nila. It demands to be allowed to rest in peace. Nila drops The Summoner, and Gabe grabs it. Gabe tries to rescue Nila, but he accidentally tears off her pendant and lets it fall to the floor. Nila wails and reveals that the pendant was the key to her elongated youth. Every night, she crawled into it, and that allowed her to live for 3,000 years. As she grasps at the shards of her pendant, Nila turns into a scarab. Dr. Hassad emerges, and the mummy lies lifeless on the floor. Apparently, Dr. Fielding had seen Nila enter the pyramid, and he had brought Dr. Hassad to investigate. Dr. Hassad was knocked unconscious, and Dr. Fielding left to get the help of the police. Dr. Fielding returns with multiple officers, and he apologizes to Sari for not responding. Dr. Hassad tells the officers that Nila simply escaped and that the mummy hadn't walked.

That night, Gabe is bragging about how brave he was. He gloats about breaking Nila's pendant and turning her into a scarab, but Sari warns him that Nila might still be looking for him as a scarab. Gabe crawls into bed and is about to go to sleep, but he cries out in pain.

Reprints and rereleases

 * The Classic Goosebumps reprint was released as a tie-in to the eighteenth Goosebumps HorrorLand book, Slappy New Year!.

Differences

 * The 2006 reprint's cover art is a mirrored version of the original. The image is also a bit more darkened and less saturated.
 * The Classic Goosebumps reprint no longer features the continuity error in which Gabe says the previous book took place during the summer. Instead, he correctly states that it took place during the winter. However, he still says "Sari will be there this summmer, too."
 * Gabe saying the pyramid is over 4,000 years old is changed to just "thousands of years old".
 * The amber pendant is said to be 4,000 years old but this is changed to 3,000.
 * "It was  the  most  amazing archaeological discovery of the century" is changed to "It  was  the  most  amazing archaeological discovery of it's time".
 * "I felt a spider drop on to the top of my head" is changed to "I felt a spider drop onto the back of my neck"
 * "I thought it best to protect the contents of the room" changes "room" to "tomb".
 * "Denmim cutoffs" is changed to "Denim shorts".
 * Khor-Ru is referred to as "it" instead of "he".

Differences

 * In the UK, this is the twenty-first book in the original series.
 * In Portugal, this is the twenty-seventh book in the original Goosebumps series.

TV series
Return of the Mummy was adapted into an episode of the Goosebumps TV series. It is the ninth episode of season one.

Trivia

 * This is the first sequel to have an original title; the previous sequel in the series, Monster Blood II, had the same title as its predecessor but with a Roman numeral appended to the end.
 * The title is a bit misleading however. No mummy from the previous book returns. Prince Khor-Ru is a different mummy altogether.
 * This is Gabe, Sari, and Ben Hassad's final original appearances to date.
 * Due to the ambiguity of the book's twist ending, it's unclear if Gabe died at the end of the book. If so, this would mark the first Goosebumps book where the protagonist dies during the book (unlike Hannah Fairchild who had passed away prior to the beginning of the story).
 * This book contradicts The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb multiple times:
 * Gabe tells the reader that he visited the pyramids during the previous summer. The prequel says that Gabe visited the pyramids during Christmas vacation. However, this mistake was fixed in the Classic Goosebumps reprint.
 * During the celebration scene, Gabe tells the reader that Sari loves being taller than him even though he is older. In The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb, Gabe says that Sari was two months older than him. Unlike the above error, this was not fixed in the Classic Goosebumps reprint.
 * This book references National Geographic, Bart Simpson, Frosted Flakes, Raisin Bran and the Michigan Wolverines.

References in other Goosebumps media

 * Prince Khor-ru appears as a background monster in the Goosebumps film and its sequel Haunted Halloween. Nila Rahmad also appears as a background monster in the Goosebumps film.
 * This book is referenced in Goosebumps: The Game. A portrait of Prince Khor-Ru appears in the living room of Dead House. Also, a sarcophagus appears in a moving van.
 * Khor-Ru and Nila appear in Goosebumps HorrorTown.