The great HP Lovecraft has cited Necronomicon: The Book of the Dead in numerous of his works, and it has also been an essential part of the Evil Dead franchise. So, what is the Necronomicon exactly, and how did it come to be? According to Lovecraft’s pseudo-historical work The History of the Necronomicon, published in 1938, the book was born when an Arab man from the 8th century began worshipping ancient gods like Cthulhu.
Naturally, he had access to dark information and secrets that these gods shared with him. Abdul Alhazred, an Arab guy with extraordinarily superior and equally dark supernatural talents, set everything down in a book. The book was eventually translated into a number of languages and distributed throughout the world.
The book’s content, however, was so horrifying, terrible, and blasphemous that Pope Gregory IX officially banned it. Although all copies of the Necronomicon were burnt and burned, it is thought that a few copies were retained in secret by organizations such as the British Museum.
The Necronomicon: The Book of the Dead, its origins, abilities, and influences on the Evil Dead franchise are all explored in this film.
What is Necronomicon, the Book of the Dead?
In many of his horror stories, H.P. Lovecraft has mentioned Necronomicon: The Book of the Dead as a grimoire to talk to, raise, and find dead and monstrous beings. According to the author, the book is a fictional account used as a plot device for his other horror fiction. Lovecraft first mentioned this book in his 1924 released short story “The Hound,” and he finally explained the origins, powers of the Necronomicon, and the ways to summon the “Old Ones” in his book “History of Necronomicon.”
The work seemed so authentic that many readers would ask Lovecraft about the authenticity. Even after he would reply that it is a work of fiction, people would practice many spells mentioned in the Grimoire. According to the book, the mere act of reading Necronomicon will bring terrible fate to the reader, including imminent death. According to Lovecraft, the title comes from a Greek word that means “an image of the law of the dead.” He would often be inquired about how he came up with the title. In a letter Lovecraft sent to Willis Conover, it was declared that the “terrible and forbidden” books were pure imagination.
As far as the book’s fictional history is concerned, it was written by an 8th-century Arab man named Abdul Alhazred, who was also known as the Mad Arab. Pretty obvious, isn’t it? He used to be a poet and a nobleman, but soon left his city of Sanaa to wander in the deserts, probably seeking some kind of dark knowledge.
He soon started worshipping Lovecraftian gods such as Cthulu and Yog-Sothoth, and traveled great distances to visit places such as Babylon, which we now know as Syria, the temple of Nug and Yeb in the Crimson Desert, etc. In due course of time, the worshipper of these Old Ones was guided by Yog-Sothoth, and the ancient god also told him about the lore that’s contained within the pages of Necronomicon. However, according to Lovecraft himself, no man called Abdul Alhazred ever existed.
How Does The Necronomicon Work?
According to Lovecraft, the Necronomicon: the Book of the Dead means “the book of the dead customs or laws,” while a more precise translation is “the book of dead names. It is a fictional history of our world and the beasts who controlled it and other realms ages ago. Other authors later gave the “Necronomicon” its reputation as a grimoire, but that does not appear to have been Lovecraft’s original aim, except to deliver a connection with 18 of his horror stories and some highly sketchy descriptions of summoning procedures.
After reading the Necronomicon, many of Lovecraft’s stories finish with one or more characters going insane. Lovecraft emphasized that these creatures were so far beyond human comprehension that merely thinking about them for a few seconds could cause mental distortion. Most religious and political groups outright forbid the book in Lovecraft’s works since it is associated with madness and tragedy.
Miskatonic University and Arkham, in truth, are both Lovecraft creations that do not exist. Some authors set up fake versions to forward Lovecraft’s vision, while others did so to profit from the unsuspecting readers. Several different versions of the book can be found in bookstores and on the Internet.
They’re either wrong imitations of Lovecraft’s literary style or strange mash-ups of Cthulhu mythos and other earlier mythology. In the end, the “Necronomicon” is a literary element used to give otherwise implausible stories a sense of validity and plausibility. It appears to have far broader implications than the author anticipated.
What Kind of Powers Does Necronomicon Possess?
Necronomicon introduced many spells and summoning rituals to bring the dead to this world, and even the most underrated procedures and spells from the book are deadly. I mean, in one of the instances, the book was known to trap a demon inside itself and traveled from Egypt to the United States. Let’s explore a few of these powers and abilities of this nefarious and evil book, shall we?
Awakening The Kandarian Demon
Recitation of this line summoned the Kandarian Demon to the living world, usually at the spot where the passage was read. Professor Raymond Knowby read this chapter aloud and recorded it on a film tape recorder while at his cabin.
Opening a Rift in Time and Space
Another chapter of the book enabled the reader to create a time and space breach. Some versions suggest that the reader can choose their intended location merely by thinking about it while reading the spell, while others believe that the book determines the destination for them. Annie Knowby recited this chapter to stop the Kandarian Demon from destroying her family’s possessions.
Funerary Incantations
This spell is not very popular in the books, but it is supposed to help the deceased move on to another plane.
Prophecies
The Old Ones obtained visions of the future through unknown sources. The Necronomicon recorded these visions, some of which included elaborate illustrations.
Resurrecting the Dead
The book can resurrect a deceased individual as an emotionless corpse with no free will, obeying whoever possesses the book or fully restoring a corpse by repairing disintegrated flesh and allowing the original spirit to re-enter the body. However, it is best known for being able to unleash the Kandarian Demon.
Transfer of Power to a Human
The Necronomicon can transmit its powers and spells to humans after being “defaced.” While staying at the Knowby cabin, this was done to Pablo Simon Bolivar. Over time, his body became covered in the different charms and incantations included within the original book.
Evolution of Necronomicon In The Films
The Evil Dead franchise has become a legend in the horror genre, starting way back in 1978. Directed by Sam Raimi, the story was developed based on H.P. Lovecraft’s books. The book, formerly known as ‘Naturom Demento,’ is first seen in The Evil Dead with a brutally disfigured appearance, bound in human flesh and its pages written in blood. Also visible on the book’s backside is a human ear, which could indicate that blood sacrifices were performed to make the book.
The book next appears in The Army of Darkness, the third installment of The Evil Dead Franchise, and it works as a means of time travel and has some potion recipes to make potions that can give the user the ability to sleep for a century. The Necronomicon makes a comeback in the latest remake of Evil Dead, released in 2013. They stepped up the game by removing the book from its ancient and unholy origins of antiquity to being an accessory filled with horrible obscenities. The book remains undamaged by fire, unlike in the first film.
In chapters on summoning demons, the book also includes parts on how to destroy them and hints regarding their motivations and goals. The series Ash Vs. Evil gives us further information about the Necronomicon’s origin and creation. Ash releases hell on Earth while being high in this Horror comedy series to impress his girlfriend, following the same destructive path that countless men and women followed before him. The book has appeared in many films like Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Fantasy; The Dunwich Horror; Out of Mind: The Stories of H.P. Lovecraft, and even has an origin story in the film Necronomicon: Book of the Dead.
It has been associated with countless legends and fake tales, but it has been a source of great entertainment for the fans of the horror genre. All in all, irrespective of your belief about the book’s real or fictional origins, one thing that’s certain is that you can not help but feel extremely disturbed by the very idea of Necronomicon, and its existence. Let alone reading it!