Necronomicon ex Mortis
The Necronomicon ex Mortis (the Book of the Dead) is an ancient tome of dark magic and forbidden knowledge, connected to a being called the Dark Spirit. It can only be safely taken from where it lies by the incantation "Klaatu, barada, nikto."
Contents |
History
The ancient Book of the Dead was bound in human flesh and penned in human blood by Sumerian sorcerers centuries ago. The book was most earliest found in a graveyard somewhere in 14th-century Britain, where it was claimed by the time-displaced hero Ash. But he took it without speaking the correct incantation, and it unleashed an army of deadites. The undead were defeated, and the sorcerers of the castle Ash helped defend sent him home with the book’s magic.
The book remained in that castle until modern times, when it was found by an archaeologist named Professor Raymond Knowby, who took it to a remote cabin in the woods to study it. He (foolishly) read a spell in that book that summoned the Dark Spirit into the forest. Knowby was slain, and his wife Henrietta possessed. Four people- Ash (identical to the Ash mentioned earlier), his girlfriend Linda, and his friends Scotty, Cheryl, and Shelly - entered the cabin, and, during the night, they played a recording of the incantation, calling the attention of the Dark Spirit.
By the end of the night, everyone but Ash had been demonized or slain. Ash himself barely survived, losing a hand that had become possessed. Soon, two locals named Jake and Bobby Jo, Professor Knowby's daughter Annie, and her boyfriend Ed came, and they were all slain, but Annie had a spell from the Book that made it possible to banish the Dark Spirit from the Earth plane. This also created the temporal warp that sent Ash back to the 1300s.
Ash vs. Evil Dead
In an effort to find answers, Ash had Lionel summon a demon in order to consult it. The creature summoned was Eligos of the mindscape who only taunted the humans, Eligos was freed before he could be banished when the summoning circle surrounding him was disturbed causing him to attack the humans around him. This was until the Necronomicon was pushed into him thus banishing back into the book.
Overview
In appearance, the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis, also known as the Book of the Dead, was a grotesque tome bound in human flesh and inked in human blood. The front cover bore a face, or the crude impression of one—stretched and mummified skin contorted into a permanent scream or leer, depending on how the light hit its warped surface. Its eyes were either hollow or bulging, appearing subtly different to each observer. The book varied slightly between accounts, but it consistently radiated a dark presence—moist to the touch, strangely warm, and always accompanied by the faint stench of decay and old blood. Its pages were thick, yellowed, and irregular, resembling stretched parchment made from flayed skin. The text was incomprehensible to the uninitiated—filled with arcane glyphs, Sumerian invocations, and horrific illustrations of demonic rites, mutilations, and sacrificial diagrams. When opened, the book seemed to breathe or sigh, as if exhaling trapped centuries of malevolence. Most disturbingly, its physical form was indestructible by conventional means. Fire, acid, and gunfire did not damage it; instead, it would vanish and reappear, drawn to the living and the curious like a parasite awaiting a host.
The Necronomicon Ex-Mortis's purpose was to serve as a conduit between the mortal world and the demonic realm of the Kandarian spirits. It was not merely a spellbook but a supernatural key—an artifact of pure evil that, when read aloud, could tear open the veil between dimensions and unleash the Deadites upon the world. The incantations contained within were designed not just to summon, but to enslave, possess, and corrupt. Its influence was not passive; the very act of reading the Necronomicon aloud, even phonetically and without understanding, invoked its power. Once summoned, the Kandarian demons could possess the living, animate the dead, twist the environment, and manipulate time and space itself. The Necronomicon contained resurrection rituals, soul-binding rites, and possession charms, but also traps—spells that twisted the user's body and mind, often leaving them permanently cursed or worse. It could create time portals, alter memory, and manifest nightmares into physical form. Most terrifying of all, it had a will of its own, often turning on its wielder. What initially promised power instead delivered torment.
Those who encountered the Necronomicon were marked, spiritually and psychologically. Survivors such as Ashley J. Williams bore scars both physical and metaphysical, becoming unwilling champions against its spread. The book did not simply exist in one location—it appeared wherever the veil grew thin, often in cabins, crypts, and ruins touched by ancient rituals or blood sacrifice. Several conflicting volumes of the Necronomicon existed in alternate timelines or realities, each sharing the same evil origin but differing slightly in content or appearance—suggesting that the book itself could replicate or adapt to new contexts. It had no known origin beyond vague references to the Dark Ones, a race of primordial sorcerers who compiled it in ages before humanity. Every attempt to destroy or bury the tome failed; it returned again and again, drawn to fear, death, and curiosity. More than a grimoire, the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis was a curse—an ancient evil shaped into words, its very syllables echoing with the promise of damnation.
Users
- Raymond Knowby :
Notes
- The Necronomicon ex Mortis was designed by Tom Sullivan where it featured in the setting of the Evil Dead universe.
- In the Evil Dead reboot, the 2013 live-action film had the book named as the Naturom Demonto. Steven Freeman, while investigating the Voorhees home in 1994, discovered a copy of the Necronomicon ex Mortis.
In other media
Films
- In Friday the 13th, Necronomicon ex Mortis made a cameo appearance in the setting of the live-action film. It is unknown if this is the same as the one encountered by Professor Knowby and Ash, although it does look identical.
Video games
- Ash returned to the cabin again and was forced to face the Deadites once more, travelling through time. He was finally able to scatter the Necronomicon across time, only to return to a devastated present filled with mass-market copies of the book.
Comic Books
Appearances
- Evil Dead:
External Links
This article is a stub. You can help Multiversal Omnipedia by expanding it.
