The main character of the story is Harry Houdini - the supposed author of the work, a magician, and a specialist in extraordinary escapes. During his trip to Egypt, his abilities are horrifyingly put to the test, and he confronts ancient nightmares in the underground chambers beneath the Sphinx.
Lovecraft wrote the text on commission for the owner of 'Weird Tales.' Harry Houdini, the famous escape artist, had a column in the magazine in 1924. Writers who contributed to the magazine created stories with him as the protagonist, and H.P. Lovecraft was chosen as the author for one of them. The writer received an outline of the scenario upon which he was to create the story. The story seemed credible to him, but when he learned that it was entirely fictional, he requested creative freedom regarding the extent of fantastical elements. Houdini was thrilled with the story. He and Lovecraft became friends. The famous magician even helped H.P. Lovecraft look for work in New York. The story was published under Houdini's name, with a changed title: 'Imprisoned with the Pharaohs.'
Hear an actual cylinder recording of Harry Houdini: "...Ladies and gentlemen. Introducing my original invention, the Water Torture Cell. Although there is nothing supernatural about it, I am willing to proffer the sum of $1,000.00 to anyone who can prove that it is possible to consume air inside of the Torture Cell when I'm locked up in it in the regulation manner after it has been filled with water. Should anything go wrong when I'm locked up, one of my assistants walks through the curtains, ready to rush in, demolishing the glass, allowing the water to flow out, in order to save my life.
- I, Houdini, October 29, 1914, Flatbush, NY."
Harry Houdini's greatest escape ever.
While visiting Cairo as a tourist, Houdini and his wife are shown around the pyramids by a mysterious and slightly sinister guide who has a strange hollow voice and looks like an old pharaoh.
What starts as a strange traveller's adventure to witness a duel at midnight on the summit of one of the pyramids, turns into a nightmare as Houdini is seized, tied up and lowered on a rope far into the bowels of the earth to an unknown tomb where the oldest and most sinister of the Egyptian Pharaohs dwell. While Houdini is more than capable of escaping his bonds....can he escape the putrid undead Pharaohs and their servants? Will he ever find his way out of the undiscovered tomb through the labyrinth of passages? Can he discover the true origin of the terrible Sphinx? Will he even get out of the tomb alive?
Ghost written by H. P. Lovecraft. Unsuitable for claustrophobics, people of a nervous disposition or people with a vivid visual imagination....
