Beetles
In early 20th century England, Arthur Hartley (Rod McCary), an amateur American archeologist, returns to his holiday cabin in Southampton with a plethora of Ancient Egyptian artifacts looted from an ancient tomb in Giza. What truly captures Arthur's interest is a sarcophagus which contains a mummy with rubies where her eyes should be. He is soon visited by a mysterious Muslim man named Hammid Bey (Sirri Murad), who warns him against touching the mummy (a templar virgin who defiled her vow of chastity and was put to death), as it is under the enchantment of Krepri, the Ancient Egyptian scarab god. When Arthur ignores Hammid's warning and touches the virginal mummy while plundering the rubies, as well as an ancient box of jewelry it holds under its wrapping, he discovers that scarab beetles have mysteriously begun appearing throughout his house, popping up in the most unexpected places after Arthur inflicts Krepri's curse upon himself.
Tropes:
- Adventurer Archaeologist: Arthur plays the role of one of these on the surface, but he's actually a grave robber who covets the jewels inside the stolen sarcophagus, and is later being killed by inflicting the curse of Krepri upon himself.
- All Myths Are True: Hammid tells Arthur that the Ancient Egyptian gods didn't die out, as Arthur invoked the wrath of the scarab god Krepri by defiling the mummy and the jewels in the sarcophagus under his protection.
- Asshole Victim: Arthur made a living looting ancient ruins and tombs, and he ends up devoured by the swarm of scarabs that his latest stolen treasure grants him.
- Big Creepy-Crawlies: The scarab swarm are the usual size for such beetles, but the swarm itself is immense, individual beetles appearing everywhere after Arthur touches the forbidden treasure.
- Bottle Episode: The episode is set entirely inside Arthur's cabin.
- Chromosome Casting: No women are present, given the episode’s turn-of-the-century exploration motif.
- Curse of the Pharaoh: Whoever defiles the sarcophagus housing the cursed mummy of the defiled virgin is tormented by a swarm of scarab beetles, which will ultimately kill them.
- Dangerously Close Shave: A nonlethal variation occurs when a bunch of scarabs appear on Arthur's chin while he's in the midst of shaving. They disappear when he runs outside in a panic, causing him to dismiss it as an attack of nerves.
- Disappears into Light: The first scarab Arthur spots is seen crawling out of the pouch he filled with the virginal mummy's jewelry, but it disappears when he turns on the lamp, leading him to believe it was only a nightmare.
- Do Not Taunt Cthulhu: The sarcophagus that Arthur steals is under the protection of the Egyptian scarab god Krepri, who plagues the grave robber with a swarm of scarab beetles for violating the mummified virgin and coveting the treasure inside.
- Downer Ending: Arthur is overwhelmed by the scarab swarm, and the ending reveals that the swarm is still eating him by the time his body is discovered.
- Dramatic Shattering: In the first scene of the first act, Arthur discovers a scarab in an empty cup on his table. He throws the cup to the floor to kill it, but finds that it's disappeared before the cup is smashed to pieces.
- Get Out!: Arthur tells Hammid this before and after he curses himself by defiling the mummy, the latter time pulling a gun on him and forcing him to leave.
- Grave Robbing: Arthur stole every artifact in his possession from Egyptian tombs, and he goes so far as to pilfer the treasure out of a sarcophagus protected by Krepri, invoking the god's curse of scarabs for doing so.
- Homage: The episode can be seen as one to the story "They're Creeping Up on You!" from Creepshow, directed by series producer George Romero, given that a villainous character is menaced by a neverending swarm of dangerous insects as punishment for their misdeeds.
- Hypocrite: When Hammid confronts him, Arthur accuses him of wanting the jewels of the mummified virgin within the sarcophagus. Which was exactly what he was planning to do.
- I Never Told You My Name: Hammid already knows Arthur's name before he introduces himself, having been preparing to warn him about Krepri's curse in advance.
- Insistent Terminology: Arthur feels the need to point out to Bert and Sid that the "coffin" they're lugging into his cabin is actually a sarcophagus.
- I Warned You: As Hammid tells Arthur, he was warned about coveting the jewels inside his new sarcophagus, yet it went in and out of Arthur's ears, resulting in the archaeologist being eaten by the scarab swarm Krepri manifests.
- Karma Houdini: Assuming that he is indeed responsible for the swarm of scarabs, Hammid gets off scot free for enticing them to kill Arthur.
- Large Ham: Arthur has a few freakouts as the effects of Krepri's curse make themselves known.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Averted. The mummified virgin appears to have red eyes as Arthur removes her wrapping, but they're just a pair of rubies housed where her eyes would be.
- Robbing the Dead: Arthur brings an Ancient Egyptian god's curse upon himself by looting the treasures and making physical contact with the mummy housed within an enchanted sarcophagus.
- Running Gag: The sound of drum beats and an Egyptian flute usually foreshadow whenever a scarab is going to appear, which prompts Arthur to look at the window to see where the noise is coming from before finding said scarabs. The end of the episode shows Hammid actually playing the latter instrument to goad the scarabs into killing Arthur.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: The cursed mummy of the templar virgin and her personal jewelry, housed in a sarcophagus protected by the magic of the Ancient Egyptian scarab god Krepri.
- Set Right What Once Was Wrong: Once he's become aware that Arthur cursed himself, Hammid tells him that the only way to remove the curse is to have the mummy and jewelry given to him, so he can return them to where they belong. Arthur predictably refuses, resulting in his eventual death.
- Spot the Thread: As Hammid questions what very likely happened after Arthur defiled the mummy, he refutes the accusations while instinctively holding the pesticide can he was spraying, gradually revealing that he's been cursed to suffer an onslaught of scarabs.
- Tempting Fate: After firing his gun outside at what he thinks is Hammid tricking him, Arthur is confident that he scared him away and goes to pour himself some wine. Soon after he says this, Krepri's scarabs attack him in full force, eating him alive all through the night.
- Those Two Guys: Bert and Sid, the movers who help Arthur unload his new collection of stolen artifacts.
- Detective Richards and his constable acquaintance also fill the role at the end of the episode.
