Bidding for this lot will end on Thursday, March 26th. The auction will begin at 9:00 AM (PDT) / 12:00 PM (EDT) / 4:00 PM (GMT) and lots are sold sequentially via live auctioneer; tune in to the live streaming broadcast on auction day to follow the pace. Note other lots in the auction may close on Wednesday, March 25th or Friday, March 27th.
A screen-matched Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell) "Chosen One" prophecy lost Necronomicon Ex Mortis page hand-illustrated by Tom Sullivan for Sam Raimi's Evil Dead II. Lost Necronomicon pages were brought back from an archaeological dig by Annie Knowby (Sarah Berry) and later used by Ash (Bruce Campbell) to defeat the evil forces in the cabin. Distinctive creasing and weathering intentionally applied by production to this page depicting Ash with his signature chainsaw arm screen-matches to a close-up shot from the film. This specific page also foretells the prophecy that came to pass in Raimi's Army of Darkness, making it one of the most essential pages in the entire Necronomicon.
This thin paper page, from the personal collection of special effects artist Tom Sullivan, is also hand-illustrated with ancient symbols from a language devised by Sullivan and humorously called "Bullskrit." The page was intentionally distressed by production with creasing, brown discolouration, and tearing on the edges. This lot exhibits additional tearing from age and should be handled with caution. Dimensions: 6.5" x 8" (16.75 cm x 20.5 cm)
Sold without copyright; see notice in the Buyer's Guide.
Estimate: $2,500 - 5,000
Special effects maestro Tom Sullivan first met director Sam Raimi in the mid-1970s, forming an immediate bond over their mutual love of practical effects in filmmaking. Soon after, Raimi asked Sullivan to create special effects for his 1978 horror short Within the Woods, starring a young Bruce Campbell. It was through this acclaimed short film that funding was secured to create a feature-length adaptation, The Evil Dead, for which Sullivan again played a vital role in the special effects and art direction. His most celebrated contribution to the horror classic was the iconic Necronomicon Ex-Mortis, the Book of the Dead, for which Sullivan was not only essential in the design and construction, but also in the hand-illustration of all the intricate artwork and symbols written throughout its internal pages. The symbols used in the Necronomicon - an alphabet Sullivan humorously referred to as "Bullscrit" - were of the artist's own creation. After the franchise-birthing success of the film, Sullivan continued to collaborate with Raimi on its sequels, Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness, and worked on other horror films such as Chris Walas' The Fly II and Michael Spence's The Dread. Propstore is pleased to present select artifacts from Sullivan's personal collection, reflecting decades of work on the productions of the extraordinary Evil Dead films, including rare surviving pieces from the Within the Woods short that started it all, hand-drawn Necronomicon pages, original Deadite make-up appliances, a Kandarian dagger, and the only Necronomicon Ex-Mortis (then called the Naturom Demonto) from the first Evil Dead film known to exist today.