Escape from the Coolsonian is an online flash game released in 2004 to promote the second live action Scooby-Doo film, Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, which was also released that same year. The game involves Scooby-Doo trapped in the Coolsonian Criminology Museum and must escape by having the player solve various puzzles across three exhibit halls. As a fan of Scooby-Doo growing up I never got the play this game. However, after recently discovering a surprising secret about the game, I’m glad I didn’t. Because Escape from the Coolsonian actually has an insane jumpscare in the game.
Below is a full gameplay of Escape from the Coolsonian. Don’t worry, there’s no jumpscare in this video.
The jumpscare in question is a closeup of a dead mummy, complete with audio of a disturbing laughter-specifically a chilling “Mwa ha ha!” The image takes up the entire screen upon triggering and can be repeated indefinitely throughout gameplay. The mummy is actually based on a real person, Seqenenre Tao who was the pharaoh of ancient Egypt during the Seventeenth Dynasty. To activate the jumpscare, the player has to click on the sarcophagus in the middle of the room. They will then have to use the crowbar in their inventory to pry the sarcophagus open. Once accomplished, the player is greeted with some very eerie text while the music quickly stops. The background is pitch black with some black hieroglyphics stones at the top and bottom of the screen. Small white text then slowly appears, accompanied by haunting scribbling sounds, which reads “Please, haven’t much time. Someone coming. Need help before-” before an image of a mummy’s face suddenly appears on the player’s screen.
The terrifying mummy jumpscare image below.
Here is a YouTube video of the jumpscare in action.
The actual mummy of King Seqenenre Tao’s skull that was used as the jumpscare in Escape from the Coolsonian.
The exact reason for the inclusion of this horrifying image in a Scooby-Doo game is unknown. It certainly traumatized a lot of kids who had the misfortune of stumbling upon this scene. While the Scooby-Doo franchise does center around the main characters escaping various monsters, the monsters are usually cartoony and silly in order to appeal to kids and people of all ages. It’s also interesting to consider that the jumpscare itself is optional, as it only appears if the player opens the sarcophagus as mentioned previously. The infamous mummy jumpscare from Escape from the Coolsonian is without a doubt one of the scariest moments in the entire Scooby-Doo franchise.
Sources
https://scoobydoothemovie.fandom.com/wiki/Escape_from_the_Coolsonian
The Hidden Vault 
Leave a comment