Necronomicon Ex-Mortis
Naturom Demonto, AKA Naturan Demanto, AKA Necronomicon Ex-Mortis, AKA "Ancient Kandarian Book of the Dead".
Origin: Evil Dead (1981 franchise)
Contents
Description
A plot device from the Evil Dead (1981 franchise), said to have bee written by one of the "Dark Ones", a Kandarian Demon, in Sumeria at a time when "the seas ran red with blood".
The shooting script for The Evil Dead elaborates on its origins a little more than the film itself: "Excavated from the ruins of Ca'n Dar, the 'Book of the Dead' was one of six volumes of ancient Sumerian burial practices and rites entitled "Naturan Demanto" roughly translated 'Book of the Dead'. It was bound in human flesh, and inked with blood. The other volumes still lost, this particular volume deals with demons and demon resurrection. These are of the Katardi family, meaning those forces believed to inhabit the jungles and woods of man's domain. As legend has it, only the sacred high priests of the Ca'n Dar tribe could possess these books, for they alone could properly control the resurrected demons. It is only through the act of reciting the resurrection passage that these demons would be able to possess the living."
Version 1 (Ash's Copy)
Language: Kandarian(?), the language of ancient Kandar
Physical Description: a roughly quarto-sized volume, with parchment pages bound in (Deadite?) facial flesh and inked in blood; this volume is incomplete, as pages have been torn out a few times over the volume's history
General Content: one volume of a six-volume set; the other volumes have been lost to time; this volume deals with demons of the wilderness, demonic resurrection, and demonic possession; by "Army of Darkness" it apparently also contains information about sleeping potions and time travel
Number of known copies (if rare): this volume may be unique (at least two versions appear in the three original films, but time travel is involved, so these might be the same tome)
Last known location of surviving copies (if rare): Discovered by Professor Raymond Knowby. For the past thirty years the book has been in the possession of Ashley J. "Ash" Williams, a former employee of S-Mart and Value Shop and protagonist of the Evil Dead (1981 franchise).
Mythos Content
Spells: TO DO
- Sanity Loss: TO DO
- Mythos Knowledge: TO DO
- Occult Knowledge: TO DO
Version 2 (Equinox)
Language: Latin(?), Kandarian(?), or other creepy language?
Physical Description: large (roughly folio-sized) leather-bound volume
General Content: apparently contains information about summoning demons, teleportation and magical gates, the construction of protective talismans
Number of known copies (if rare): this volume may be unique
Last known location of surviving copies (if rare): vanished before the last known user barely escaped with his life and was institutionalized?
Mythos Content
Spells: TO DO
- Sanity Loss: TO DO
- Mythos Knowledge: TO DO
- Occult Knowledge: TO DO
Quotes
- "I believe I have made a significant find in the Kandarian ruins, a volume of ancient Sumarian burial practices and funerary incantations. It is entitled Naturum Demontum, roughly translated: Book of the Dead. The book is bound in human flesh and inked in human blood. It deals with demons, demon resurrection and those forces which roam the forest and dark bowers of Man's domain. The first few pages warn that these enduring creatures may lie dormant but are never truly dead. They may be recalled to active life through the incantations presented in this book. It is through the recitation of these passages that the demons are given license to possess the living... I know now that my wife has become host to a Kandarian demon. I fear that the only way to stop those possessed by the spirits of the book is through the act of... bodily dismemberment...." - Professor Knowby on audio tape, The Evil Dead
Appearances
- Evil Dead (1981 franchise)
- Equinox (1970 film) (as an unnamed tome)
- The Slaughter (2006 film) (as an unnamed tome)
- Cthulhu Mansion (1992 film) (as "Cthulhu")
- Transylvania Twist (1989 film) (as "The Book of Ulthar")
- Friday the 13th - Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (a copy can be seen in the background in Jason's house)
- Saturday the 14th (as "The Book of Evil")
Heresies and Controversies
- Otherwise nameless/unidentifiable tomes appearing in 1980s horror films similar in tone to The Evil Dead and its sequels can generally be referred to as Necronomicon Ex-Mortis.
