The Temple of the Monster

Enter the Temple of Doom

The Temple of the Monster is a classic trope that can be found in many different types of Pulp stories. The idea of a group of explorers finding a lost temple or other ruin only to find it protected by a monster, predates the Pulps. King Solomon’s Mines by H. R. Haggard (1885) is an obvious adventure precursor. Short story writers like H. G. Wells wrote “The Treasure in the Forest” (Pall Mall Budget, 23 August 1894). This is a very Gothic trope, something from the past trying to destroy the present. Many horror tales have the idea that very old things may still have a malignant influence on those living today. Basil Copper used this old chestnut brilliantly in his Lovecraftian novel The Great White Space (1981). Scott Smith to a lesser degree in The Ruins (2006).

Weird Tales

Weird Tales was always a great place to find such fare in the Pulps. Here is just a random selection: “The Jungle Monsters” by Paul S. Powers (March 1926), “Spider-Bite” by Robert S. Carr (June 1926), “The Monster-God of Mamurth” by Edmond Hamilton (August 1926), “The City of the Spiders” by H. Warner Munn (November 1926), “The Demon of Tlaxpam” by Otis Adelbert Kline (January 1929), “The Cyclops of Xoatl” by Otis Adelbert Kline and E. Hoffman Price (December 1936) and “The Nameless City” by H. P. Lovecraft (November 1938). There were many others. All these stories have adventurers of one sort or another going to a remote place to horror. Sometimes Science Fiction writers produced their own version of the idea.

Robert E. Howard

Pulpsters like Robert E. Howard used this scenario frequently for adventure and Sword & Sorcery stories. Conan, Bran Mak Morn and Kull, all get into trouble when they go into old ruins or other terrible places. The most obvious example of this is Howard’s “The Fire of Ashurbanipal” (Weird Tales, December 1936) which I wrote about here. Another in the Sword & Sorcery line is “The Gods of Bal-Sagoth” starring Turlough O’Brien (though the comics changed it to Conan). The idea of a barbarian, often alone, sneaking into a temple for treasure, has become part-and-parcel of Sword & Sorcery as well as role-playing games like Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. Later S&S writers followed REH, like Henry Kuttner in “Thunder in the Dawn” (Weird Tales, May 1938), Roger Zelazny in “The Bells of Shoredan” (Fantastic, March 1966), John Jakes in “The Unspeakable Shrine” (Brak the Barbarian, 1968), and Lin Carter in “Thieves of Zangabal” (The Mighty Barbarians, 1969).

Four Color Terrors

The Jungle comics used ancient temples often, though not always with a monster. Tarzan, Jo-Jo, Sheena and Kaanga all faced evil in jungle ruins. The horror comics weren’t shy of using the idea either. Here is a few examples I liked.

“The Weird Dead” (Voodoo #6, February 1953) was written by an unknown author. Matt Barstow and his friend Hank enter the old Aztec temple. Their native guide runs away when he sees the sign of Zabo, the Feathered Serpent. (I guess Quetzalcoatl was too much of a mouthful?)

Zabo shows up and the men run. Matt escapes but Hank is not so lucky. Matt thinks the snake is guarding treasure and wants to find a way to stop it. When Matt gets back to camp, Ben asks where Hank is. Matt lies, says Hank is looking at runes in the temple.

Matt is reading up on Zabo and learns that the ancients used to make human sacrifices to it. When Ben accuses Matt of killing Hank, Matt knocks him out and takes the unconscious man to the temple.

Ben ends up snake chow too.

Matt watches the locals sacrifice a girl to the snake. They mention to each other that it is the blood that attracts the serpent. Matt returns later with the men at gun point. He shoots all three of them and waits for Zabo to eat them. He runs into the temple for the treasure while the snake is distracted.

There is a surprise waiting for Matt. A note left by Ben tells he has taken the treasure and hidden it. As a disappointed Matt is about to leave the snake has returned….

“Idol of Evil” (Voodoo #10, July 1953) was also written by an unknown author. Two rogues, Baldy and Red, plan to rob the temple of Kublai.

The priest of Kublai tells the men to leave. They kill him and go on.

The thieves find what they are looking for, the Jeweled Snake of Kublai! It rests on the neck on a strange white idol. The snake won’t come off so Baldy cuts off the statue’s head with a machete. The head of the statue groans! The two men now have the snake. Baldy pulls his gun and shoots Red. He leaves with the snake around his neck.

The statue of Kublai has other ideas. It chases Baldy through the jungle. Baldy finds a tiger pit trap. He tries to lure the walking idol towards it. But the statue calls to the snake and Baldly is strangled. He also falls into the pit.

Kublai feeds Baldy to the crocodiles then returns to his temple. He kills one of the priests for allowing white men to defile the temple. Kublai waits for more invaders.

“True Tales of the Supernatural #43” (The Beyond #22, September 1953) was written and drawn by unknown creators. Two men steal the golden snake urn of the temple only to suffer a just end. This idea reminds me of Conan in “The God in the Bowl” (Space Science Fiction, September 1952).

“The Curse of the Temple” (Ghost Manor #58, January 1976) was written by Joe Gill. Those who defy the snake god die….

“The Temple” (Ghost Manor #71, November 1983) was written and drawn by Dick Piscopo. Professor Carruthers and Manning are wandering the jungle, looking for the Temple of Gwarunga. Manning is ready to quit but the Professor hears the sound of a gong.

They have found the temple at last!

Inside the ruins they find gold and other valuables. Manning wants them but the Professor is intrigued by the wall murals, showing strange-looking humans fighting on the backs of dinosaurs. Manning says it is impossible, but the Professor isn’t so sure.

Carruthers and Manning argue over the wealth all around them. The Professor is only interested in the wealth of knowledge for Science. Manning wants gold and goes looking for it. He finds something else… an inhabitant. The old mummy looks like the men in the wall mural.

Manning finds the Treasure of Gwarunga but the Professor isn’t interested. He has deciphered the mural. The writing is in a form of Egyptian! Stranger yet, the men of Gwarunga were not of this earth but aliens.

Manning has had enough. He murders the Professor, killing him on a sacrificial altar with a knife. Finding the treasure below, he stops admiring his new-found wealth to see that the door above him is closing. He is trapped. And a certain mummified face grins at him as he is trapped forever.

The ending of this one reminds me of two movies: Tarzan and the Valley of Gold (1966) and The Jungle Book (1994) with Jason Lee. Both films end with bad guys getting their comeuppance like Manning. Piscopo’s inspiration is without doubt Von Daniken’s Chariot of the Gods.

Some of these comics are available at DCM.

Conclusion

The haunted or dangerous temple has become such a part of our collective storytelling. There is no mystery why Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) starts in a temple, or that the sequel should be The Temple of Doom (1984). Spielberg has fun with “The Temple of the Monster” in varying degrees throughout the series. Intrepid Indiana Jones is going to go into a Mayan, Egyptian, Crusader or Indian temple to try and take out some archaeological treasure. Those who oppose him pay the price, getting their faces melted off or similar terrible ends.