Victorian Mummymania

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Before Tutankhamen unleashed his curse and Universal Studios’ mummy shuffled onto our screens, Victorian society was swept up in Egyptomania. Dr Jay Sullivan, author of Egyptian Gothic, unearths the mostly-forgotten trend that was originally more popular than vampire fiction: a 40-year craze for novels about reanimated mummies, cursed jewellery, and nightmarish museums.
But sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. At the same time, a magical secret cult formed in the galleries of the British Museum, the rich held mummy unwrapping parties, and the casual Egyptian tourist opted to bring more than a postcard back from their Thomas Cook trip.