Chapter 1

Meet the Author

It was late one September night at a museum. The curator, Dr. Dean, an elderly balding man who was wearing glasses, a turquoise shirt, a red tie, and a blueish-gray blazer and pants, walked out of his office with a manilla-colored file folder. He then turned around and locked the door, since it was finally time for him to go home. He passed by the Ancient Greek exhibit, where he was being watched by Velma, who was disguised as a wax figure. He then passed by the medieval exhibit, where both Fred and Daphne were both dressed as Alan A. Dale and Maid Marian from the classic Robin Hood tale. He eventually passed by a flight exhibit, where he was being watch by Pinkie, who was disguised as Amelia Earhart. Pinkie then took off the flight helmet, revealing her pink poofy hair. He passed another medieval exhibit, this one being of a pillory, with Rainbow Dash stuck in it.

Dr. Dean then went towards the Egyptian and early man exhibit, where the rest of the girls, along with Scooby and Shaggy, were disguising themselves. Sunset was disguised with Shaggy as a cavewoman, whereas Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy were all disguised as Egyptian women, with Rarity taking on the guise of Cleopatra. Just then, two of the sarcophagi slowly began to open behind Dr. Dean.

"Is anyone there?" he trembled as he slowly backed into the exhibit button of early man. He then unknowingly hit the button, bringing the information of the exhibit to life, startling him.

"Early man's struggle for survival was a harsh one," said the informative voice from the exhibit speaker. "Threats to his existence were everywhere."

"I really must switch to decaf."

As the voice on the information plaque continued, the sarcophagi opened even more while Dr. Dean picked up the files he dropped. As they were opening, Shaggy, Scooby, Sunset, and Fluttershy all trembled in fear at what they saw.

"Fortunately, man had his greater intelligence to help him survive. It is with the use of tools that humans learned to overcome their savage enemies. Please move to the next exhibit."

Right behind Dr. Dean were two Babylonian mummies. One was wielding a battle axe and the other was wielding the Morning star club. Just as the Babylonian mummies were about to attack, Shaggy decided to speak up.

"P-P-P-P-P-Professor, behind you!" shivered Shaggy.

The very sight of an exhibit coming to life really startled Dr. Dean. Upon seeing the Babylonian mummies, however, Dr. Dean turned tail and ran just before the two could attack him. The very sight of these two mummies were enough to frighten the daylights out of Scooby and Shaggy, as well as Sunset. In fact, their screaming managed to attract their attention.

"Like, stay right there."

The Babylonian mummies slowly made their way towards them. Shaggy then tossed his club and Scooby threw off the Smilodon disguise he was wearing at the mummies.

"Now, Scooby-Doo!" ordered Sunset.

Scooby pulled on a rope nearby, which dropped a net on the two Babylonian mummies.

"Yes!" the three of them said.

"I can't believe that trap actually worked!" exclaimed Sunset.

Just then, Twilight's eyes turned to pinpricks as she saw the Babylonian mummies cutting through the net to escape. Sweat started dripping down her face as she witnessed the event unfold. Sunset noticed it, too, so she tapped Shaggy on the shoulder.

"Uh, Norvie?" She then pointed at the Babylonian mummies right in front of them. "SCRAM!"

The three of them ran for their lives as the mummies chased them throughout the museum.

"Quick, ditch the disguises!" exclaimed Twilight.

"Oh, my," Fluttershy whimpered.

Everyone changed back into their everyday street outfits. Everyone, that is, except for Scooby, Shaggy and Sunset, as they were preoccupied by the mummies chasing them. Scooby even found himself on the skull of a dinosaur. The Babylonian mummy with the battle axe chopped one of the bones, causing Scooby to fall. Thankfully, Shaggy caught him just in time before running away from the mummies again.

Fred and the rest of the girls attempted to go after them, but ended up bumping into each other and falling to the ground.

"Why don't you watch where you're going?" Rainbow snarked.

Fred, now wearing a dark blue shirt, a white long-sleeved vest, blue pants, a brown belt, and brown shoes, slowly got up and rubbed the back of his head.

"Sorry," he apologized.

Meanwhile, Shaggy, Scooby and Sunset eventually climbed up a tapestry, which then fell over, covering themselves and the mummies. One of the mummies yanked it off, revealing that the two scaredy-cats were on their shoulders, with Sunset clinging on to Shaggy. The three of them kept running from the mummies until someone from behind a tapestry extended their foot, which tripped up the mummies. The resulting crash into the medieval artifacts managed to knock the two of them out, thus capturing the monsters.

"Nice going, guys. You caught 'em," said Fred as the museum lights turned on.

"Uh, right. No problem, Freddy," Shaggy said nervously. "But like, we had a little help."

That's when a man stepped out form behind the tapestry and revealed himself to the friends. He was a tall man with black hair tied in a ponytail, black eyes and a black beard. He wore a black shirt underneath a reddish-brown blazer, matching brown trousers, a black belt, black shoes, and thin-framed glasses.

"Who are you?" asked Daphne.

Suddenly, both Velma and Twilight gasped. They couldn't believe what they were seeing.

"You're Ben Ravencroft, the famous horror writer!" gasped Velma.

"That's right," said Ben. He then walked over to the mummies and prepared to unmask them while the police finished handcuffing them. "And let's see who they are."

Ben took off one of the masks to reveal a man with brown hair, a brown mustache and thin-framed glasses.

"It's Perkins!" gasped Dr. Dean.

"And Griswold," added Twilight, pulling off the other mask, revealing a man with long, black hair. "Disgruntled archeologists from the museum's Babylonian project. They were upset with you when you cut their funding, Dr. Dean."

"And we would've gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for this meddling… writer!" grumbled Perkins.

Everyone stood there flabbergasted. For them, it was the first time that culprit referred to anyone but them for meddling in their criminal affairs.

"That's weird. Doesn't the culprit usually call you guys meddling kids and that blasted dog?" asked Pinkie.

"Dog? Where?" asked Scooby, looking around.

"Oh, Scooby," cooed Fluttershy, scratching his ears.

"Yeah. That's usually what happens," Fred groaned. "I hate that."

"Guess you beat us to the punch, Mr. Ravencroft," Daphne complimented.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to upstage you," said Ben.

"So what were you doing here?" asked Fred.

"I was doing research on my latest novel, when I saw the archeologists acting suspiciously and decided to investigate."

"Mr. Ravencroft, Twilight and I are huge fans of your work," beamed Velma.

"Yes. Indeed. We've read every single one of your books that have been published so far," added Twilight. "And in our personal opinions, they are the absolute best horror stories ever written comparable to the iconic stories by Stephen King."

"Uh, thanks, Twilight," he said, shaking her hand.

"You know my name?"

"Of course. And Daphne's, and Fred's, and Velma's, and Rainbow's, and well, pretty much all of your friends, even Scooby and Shaggy, too. I've admired you work unraveling supernatural mysteries for some time now. I mean, basically, we're in the same business of mystery and the occult, right?"

"Please. What we do pales in comparison with the sheer palpable fright of your novels," said Velma.

"I wouldn't say that."

"I mean, take The Dead Mall, for example. That creepy jewelry store owner was an incredibly complex character."

"You're very kind. Listen, I'm going back to my hometown in Massachusetts this weekend to the house where I wrote my early books. I go back every year for the fall color. It's very peaceful and relaxing. Why don't you and your friends come visit?"

"Really? That would be great! Wouldn't it, gang?"

"Yeah! We could use a break from all these spooky mysteries," said Daphne.

"That's for sure," Fluttershy said meekly.

"Plus, it seems like we're getting nowhere with finding the geodes mentioned in Morgan Moonscar's final letter," added Sunset.

"As long as there's good food, Scooby, Shaggy and I are definitely in!" said Pinkie.

"Well, Oakhaven does have one of the best restaurants in New England, Miss Pie," said Ben.

Pinkie stuck out her tongue in delight, since, like Shaggy and Scooby, she absolutely loves a good five-star meal, especially desserts.

"Like, we're sold. Eh, Scoob?" said Shaggy.

"Reah," chuckled Scooby.

Looks like everyone is in agreement to go to Oakhaven for some rest and relaxation to get away from their usual supernatural mysteries for a while. Little do they realize, however, that by doing so, that they will soon get wrapped up in an unexpected mystery that could change the fate of the entire world.