The Mummy's Foot

by Théophile Gautier

"The Mummy's Foot" by Théophile Gautier is a horror short story first published in 1840. A man purchases a mummified foot from a Parisian curiosity shop, intending to use it as a paperweight. That night, the foot's original owner—an ancient Egyptian princess—appears with a supernatural demand. What follows is a fantastical journey across time and space, where the boundaries between dream and reality blur mysteriously.