Sightings Podcast – “Our Favorite Creature Story: The Mummy’s Curse”

Host: REVERB | QCODE
Episode Date: December 15, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode of Sightings dives into the legendary tale of the so-called "Mummy's Curse" connected to the discovery of King Tutankhamun’s tomb. The hosts, McLeod Andrews and Brian Sickley, dramatize the unraveling horror supposedly experienced by Howard Carter and his team, blending historical facts with creative storytelling. Following the immersive dramatization, they unpack the real history, cultural context, and enduring superstitions behind Egypt's most famous archaeological find.

Main Segments & Timestamps

• Immersive Storytelling: Howard Carter’s Descent (01:24–29:18)
• Hosts’ Discussion: Fact & Fiction (31:52–47:13)

1. Immersive Storytelling: The Unveiling and the Curse

(01:24–29:18)

The Discovery

• Howard Carter (as dramatized): Journals his discovery, expressing awe at the Valley of the Kings and enduring six seasons of fruitless digging.
  • “Six years of excavation. 200,000 tons of earth moved bucket by bucket through scorching heat. And for what? ...then, finally, a discovery that far exceeded our wildest dreams.” [03:12]
• Carter describes the moment he glimpses into the tomb:
  • “...I could only reply, yes, wonderful things.” [04:45]

The Haunting Developments

• The tomb’s opening is soon followed by a string of odd and deadly events.
  • Lord Carnarvon dies of an infected mosquito bite. Rumors swirl: the power in Cairo allegedly failed at his passing. Carter’s driver claims a cobra (the pharaonic symbol) killed Carter’s canary—a bad omen.
  • Carter attempts to dispel superstitions: “There is no curse on that tomb…This is tomi rot.” [10:43]

Increasing Paranoia and Loss

• Additional deaths are recounted:
  • George Jay Gould dies of a fever after visiting the tomb.
  • AC Mace, a close colleague, dies from a mysterious pneumonia. His last words reference the strange "pink film" in the antechamber.
  • Richard Bethel dies suddenly in London, his face “a mask of absolute terror.”

Psychological Unraveling

• Carter’s narrative grows increasingly disturbed. He reports relentless nightmares and apparition-like experiences:
  • “I wake in a cold sweat every time, my heart threatening to burst from my chest.” [20:09]
  • He finds hieroglyphs carved into his bedroom wall: “The dead have awakened. The scales are weighted. Your ka is forfeit.” [25:59]
  • In tomb photos, a shadowy figure draws ever closer to the camera in each image.
• The story ends with Carter’s confession:
  • “There was indeed a tablet in the tomb. A warning, carved in limestone...I destroyed it. Smashed it to dust…I couldn't risk the workers' superstitions derailing my work, my great discovery. What a fool I was.” [28:16]

Memorable Quotes:

• “Sometimes, disturbing the past comes with a price one paid not in gold, but in blood.” — Howard Carter [01:47]
• “I should never have opened that tomb.” — Howard Carter [24:21]

2. Hosts’ Discussion: Separating Myth from Reality

(31:52–47:13)

On Storytelling and Historical Reality

• McLeod applauds Brian’s dramatization of Carter’s psychological descent.
  • “Just what. Brian, what you did with that story...the levels that this guy was experiencing. Carter. Whoa. Good work.” [31:57]
• Brian clarifies creative liberties taken:
  • Carter never kept audio diaries; the descent into madness is fictionalized.
  • The deaths connected to the tomb were real, but Carter himself was always a rational skeptic.

The Real “Curse” and Deaths

• 36 deaths are popularly attributed to the curse; actual connections remain tenuous.
• Brian: “Of those 25 people, Lord Carnarvon was the only one who got sick and died…Then once they opened up the actual burial chamber, there were 58 people present. Only eight of those people died over the following decade.” [42:50]
• Carnarvon’s death: mosquito bite + infected shaving nick, pneumonia, and blood poisoning.
• Others died at various intervals, from plausible causes: pneumonia, cancer (including the radiologist, likely due to X-ray exposure), mysterious poisoning, accidents.
• The story was sensationalized by media at the time, igniting public imagination.

Curse Tablets and Ancient Context

• Curses were rare in genuine Egyptian culture; most tomb warnings focused on blessings.
  • “Curses weren’t that common in ancient Egypt... But as soon as they opened the tomb...rumors started swirling right away...” — Brian [35:19]
  • Example of genuine curse: “As for all men who shall enter this tomb impure, I shall seize his neck like a bird.” (paraphrased) [35:52]
• The infamous “curse tablet” in King Tut’s tomb has never been found.

Alternative Explanations

• Environmental factors: The “pink film” found in the tomb may have been bacteria.
  • Ancient meats and organics in sealed tombs could have harbored toxins harmful to modern explorers.
  • “There is a type of bacteria...can infiltrate the bloodstream through wounds or open sores...and can lead to pneumonia...” — Brian [45:48]
• The “curse” deaths could be explained by illness, environmental hazards, or coincidence.

Why the Myth Endures

• Mystique of ancient treasures, the unknown, and moral cautionary tales about “plundering graves.”
  • “More money, more problems, basically. And so it doesn’t strike me as odd that...treasure would have curses attached to them.” — McLeod [41:40]

Other Famous Cursed Artifacts

• The “cursed mummy" and the Titanic myth.
• The Hope Diamond, originally from India, also blamed for tragic fates.

Skeptic vs. Believer Takes

• McLeod: “My skeptical gecko... none of these deaths, especially for the time period, can necessarily be attributed to a curse... The believer beaver side, it’s just cool. You also can’t prove a negative. You can’t prove there’s not a curse.” [43:29]
• Brian: “It's a compelling story...there’s a value system undergirding the curse—which is, don’t go plundering people’s graves, maybe.” [44:32]

3. Notable Quotes & Moments with Timestamps

• On finding the tomb:
  • "I could only reply, yes, wonderful things." — Howard Carter [04:45]
• On the first “curse” casualty:
  • “Lord Carnarvon has passed beyond...a mosquito bite that became infected, triggering blood poisoning.” — Howard Carter [09:53]
• On skepticism:
  • “There is no curse on that tomb. Indeed, the sentiment of the Egyptologist is not one of fear, but of respect and awe.” — Howard Carter [10:43]
• On the legend vs. scientific explanation:
  • “There is a type of bacteria... that can infiltrate the bloodstream through wounds and open sores like a mosquito bite or a shaving nick... and can lead to pneumonia.” — Brian Sickley [45:48]
• On haunted morality:
  • “It’s the possibility that we were never meant to find that tomb at all. That some secret should have remained buried in the sand.” — Howard Carter [27:11]

4. Closing Reflections

• Brian and McLeod agree the story’s allure lies in its ambiguity and the unanswered, spooky possibilities:
  • “His [Carter’s] was actually the cruelest fate of all.” — McLeod [46:05]
  • The hosts invite listeners to share their own curse theories via social media.

Takeaways

• The legend of the “Mummy’s Curse” endures through a cocktail of historical tragedy, media sensationalism, and the irresistible thrill of the unknown.
• Most deaths attributed to the curse have scientific or coincidental explanations, but the power of myth continues—a testament to humanity’s need for both cautionary tales and supernatural mystery.

For Further Information

Visit sightingspodcast.com for sources and upcoming episodes.

End of Summary