Under the Pyramids (Fantasy and Horror Classics)

Under the sands of Giza, the world's greatest escape artist discovers a prison from which no one returns.This thrilling and unique tale is narrated by the world-famous illusionist and escape artist, Harry Houdini, who was a friend and occasional collaborator of the author.While visiting Egypt, Houdini is persuaded by a suspicious guide to explore a supposed secret chamber beneath the Great Sphinx of Giza. True to his skeptical nature, Houdini is initially dismissive. However, he is quickly separated from his party and plunged down a hidden shaft into a subterranean labyrinth that defies all known history.Trapped in the suffocating darkness, Houdini discovers that the tunnels are not Pharaonic; they are cyclopean and non-Euclidean--vast architectural remnants built by immense, non-human entities. He is soon forced to confront the impossible: the grotesque, enormous creatures that have been slumbering beneath the ancient sands, waiting for the right moment to stir.Houdini's legendary composure shatters as he realizes his greatest skills are meaningless against a horror that transcends space and time. He witnesses the appalling, primeval dance of the Great Old Ones and barely escapes with his life, forever marked by the ultimate, cosmic truth.Under the Pyramids (also known as "e;Imprisoned with the Pharaohs"e;) was ghostwritten by H. P. Lovecraft for Houdini in 1924. It is a spectacular fusion of pulp adventure and Lovecraft's signature Cthulhu Mythos, showing that even the master of illusion is powerless against the universe's ultimate, horrifying reality.