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This section archives this site's past Evil Dead themed competitions; from simple question & answers everyone could enter, to judged 'best entry' contests aimed at more die hard Evil Dead fans.
Each competitions' Evil Dead Trilogy related prize tends towards the rarer and interesting side, not something you can easily pick up on Amazon for peanuts. The prize on offer reflects the difficulty of the competition. The bigger the challenge, the better the prize.
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Previous Competitions & Winners
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November 2019 - The most obscure/best/rarest item in your Evil Dead collection
The tenth anniversary BookOfTheDead.ws competition winner was David Munoz from Texas USA, you can see his entry below; a skeleton from Army Of Darkness. The competition was 'The most obscure/best/rarest item in your Evil Dead collection'. It could be anything Evil Dead related from either The Evil Dead, Evil Dead II or Army Of Darkness. Thanks to everyone else who entered too!
November 2019 - The most obscure/best/rarest item in your Evil Dead collection winner; David Munoz from Texas USA's entry
The prize was something very special, and it took nearly two months and a whole lot of work. It's a self-published A5 size hardback book called Book Of The Dead - 24 Years Of Evil Dead Projects, A Photobook. This book chronicles over twenty-four years of personal Evil Dead related projects; projects where physical items were created and photos taken along the way, along with a catalogue of my personal Evil Dead collection to date. Detailing over sixty projects; from items made in art class at school in 1995, running EvilDeadChainsaws.com over ten years, travelling to The Evil Dead & Evil Dead II filming locations in 2012, making fanfilms, various models and replica items such as the cabin clock, Kandarian Dagger, lantern, and a cabin scale model, as well as authoring various Evil Dead related DVDs, Blu-rays & VHS preservation projects. It contains nearly 600 photos over 200 pages. The pages are printed double-sided on 200gsm satin laserprinted paper, personally bound as a hardback book with a canvas effect printed cover.
Anyone who wants to, can order the Book Of The Dead - 24 Years Of Evil Dead Projects, A Photobook via the Online Store page. There are only going to be be twenty-five copies made, including my personal copy, and this competition prize, so once they're gone, they're gone.
November 2018 - An Evil Dead Themed Photo
November's competition to celebrate the ninth anniversary of BookOfTheDead.ws, was to take an Evil Dead themed photo. It could be anything from a Halloween costume, a spooky cabin in some nearby woods, something you've made, a convention/signing, or something more creative. It just needed to be a photo of something physical.
The winner is Thomas Bicknell from Virginia USA. The prize (detailed below) will be on it's way to him. Thanks to everyone else who entered, you can see all the rest of the entries further down.
November 2018 - An Evil Dead Themed Photo winner Thomas Bicknell from Virginia USA's entry
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All The Competition Entries
(click to display a larger version in a 'Lightbox' window)
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The prize you could win was pretty special. Created to inspire the same feeling to the winner, that I had twenty years ago when I got my first Uncut bootleg VHS copy of The Evil Dead, I'd created a six disc DVD box-set, in a one-off custom made vintage VHS style package. You can see photos below (click to enlarge) and read more further down.
This set was presented in a 6-way standard black plastic DVD case, with a replica vintage VHS tape cover, and an aged custom made cardboard VHS slipcase. It assembled a collection of rarer Evil Dead VHS & Laserdisc sourced material, much of it personally transferred to DVD. Some of the DVDs had menus, some did not. The discs with printed artwork, were as follows;
01. Demonovation's Evil Dead VHS Tapes 2018 Transfer DVD
NTSC Format - MPEG2 720x480 29i CBR / AC3 2.0 192k - Running Time 105m 19s
A personal VHS to DVD transfer from a set of two NTSC tapes borrowed from US fan Demonovation in 2018, full of rare Evil Dead & Super-8 Shorts related material. As of today, the transfers of PM Magazine Detroit, Shemp Eats the Moon, and The Evil Dead reviews here, are still the best quality transfers in my personal collection.
02. DeusExMachina's Evil Dead VHS Tapes 2018 Transfer DVD
NTSC Format - MPEG2 720x480 29i CBR / AC3 2.0 192k - Running Time 122m 21s
A personal VHS to DVD transfer from an NTSC tape borrowed from US fan DeusExMachina in 2018, full of rare Evil Dead & Super-8 Shorts related material. As of today, the transfers of Torro, Torro, Torro!, Within The Woods & the Book of the Dead Trailer here, are still the best quality transfers in my personal collection.
03. Book Of The Dead Mexican Videomax Re-release VHS Transfer DVD (1995 - AA2903)
NTSC Format - MPEG2 720x480 29i CBR / AC3 2.0 192k - Running Time 85m 35s
A personal VHS to DVD transfer of the 1995 Mexican Re-release VHS version of The Evil Dead, with the title of Book Of The Dead, along with with a few other minor differences from the theatrical version. This has burnt-in Spanish subtitles.
04. The Evil Dead Japanese Herald Enterprise Inc Laserdisc Transfer DVD (1985 - SF078-5044)
NTSC Format - MPEG2 720x480 29i VBR / AC3 1.0 96k - Running Time 85m 35s
A Laserdisc to DVD transfer of the 1985 Japanese Herald Enterprise Inc Laserdisc of The Evil Dead. This version is worthy of preservation due to its blue colour timing, and wider picture framing, both unlike any other Laserdisc or DVD release to to date. This has burnt-in Japanese subtitles.
05. The Evil Dead UK Palace Pictures Pre-Cert VHS Transfer DVD (1982 - PVC2018A)
PAL Format - MPEG2 720x576 25i CBR / AC3 2.0 192k - Running Time 92m 16s
A personal VHS to DVD transfer of the 1982 UK Palace Pictures pre-cert VHS tape, which was identical to the censored UK theatrical 'X' certificate release. The transfer includes the copyright screen, Palace Pictures Ident, Basket Case, Female Trouble & Eraserhead trailers, and the film itself.
06. Evil Dead II 'Severely Edited For Television' TV Version VHS Transfer DVD (Recorded from Mexican TV in the 1990s)
NTSC Format - MPEG2 720x480 29i VBR / AC3 2.0 256k - Running Time 90m 39s
A VHS to DVD transfer of the Evil Dead II - 'Severely Edited For Television' TV Version as recorded on Mexican TV during the 1990's. This version runs at 90m 39s, (Theatrical; 84m 18s). Between various footage removed & added in, there's 16m 10s of new material here. That includes Ash burning the book, eating cereal & choking, and possessed Ash ating a squirrel. This plays in Spanish without any subtitles, and has periodic advert breaks.
This was a one of a kind prize. I won't be making or trading any additional copies of this DVD set, so the winner has the only one!
November 2014 - A Short Story
November's competition was to write a short story based around the Evil Dead trilogy. The winner is Missy from the East Coast of the USA. A Japanese copy of a The Evil Dead R2 JVD DVD (2000), with all the inserts included will be on it's way to them. Thanks to everyone else who entered too!
It's too late.
Whatever ‘too late' is supposed to mean to Annie now, other than death. All she can feel is the needle-sharp pressure of the dagger scraping against some vital organ secreted deep within her chest and the sensation of the cabin cratering and shuddering around her prone form.
She falls. There is the pain of hitting the cool, hard ground. There's the howl of the wind and Ash's outraged screaming. And then there is nothing but blackness and peace.
***
Annie dreams of nothing in the darkness, content to let it soak through her bones and into her deadened mind. There, she cannot see the withered features of her mother cackling at her, turning into a snakelike monster that was part pig, part woman, part worm. And there she can't be reminded of her father's soul, lost in eternal torment. Had he been saved by what they had done? Have she and Ash wrought some sort of miracle from the torn flesh and dripping blood of their personal sacrifices?
But even this is not the end. There is instead, as the Bible said, light - a white, thin, pale streak of it, then an abundant beam lasering through the midnight entombing her like God's own vengeance.
Blinking into the brightness, Annie cracks open her eyes and tries to move her stiff limbs. The light is coming from high above her - too warm to be a flashlight's beam, filling her eyes with bridal white.
A halting sob comes from her lungs as she shifts toward the light, crawling over splintered furniture to reach it. But it was streaming from a spot beyond the trees and flooding in through a hole in the rubble, and the pathway out of the basement would be a long one. She'd just need to crawl toward it, and general safety, with patience. Annie reaches the gap in the debris ten minutes later and emerges into the light, tossing aside fallen boards and spilled food to reach her goal.
She only looks back once - to rip the dagger out of her back. Pain rushes through her body, followed by a welter of adrenalin. The wound can be treated when she reaches civilization; what matters now is reaching warmth and sanctuary. She clutches the dagger to her breast and staggers into the streaming light...
...and trips over some fast-moving creature as it screeches by.
Annie has grown too used to hitting the ground at full force. The impact barely knocks the wind out of her when she hits the dirt, and her eyes raced toward what had interrupted her path.
But this was no innocent field mouse. Instead, it was a gruesome reminder of the demons she had just battled; a severed hand - presumably ASH'S severed hand - and it is racing about the forest floor as if its stump were on fire.
It takes a bit of effort, but Annie manages to trap the cursed thing with a rock. She rises above the fallen creature, hands upon her hips, eyes blazing with fury. "Guess it's up to me to send you back to where you came from," she snaps, the dagger nearly a part of her hand now, a natural extension of her disgust.
The hand cheeps once - in fear, maybe in apology too, though she cannot hear either over her shriek of anger as she desiccates it into a mass of bleeding sinew and bone.
***
Annie manages to climb out of the woods on her own, a feat she'd never been forced to accomplish on her own. She hadn't ever imagined, either, that her Girl Scout training might someday come into lifesaving play as she uses trail signs to follow the river, forage for food and staunch her own wound with leaves.
Annie does bump into a demonic squirrel. Just one. But she manages to rid the world of it with less fuss than she'd ever thought she'd display at the sight of a dying former animal.
She also never thought she'd be so happy to see a paved road glittering in a wave of bright light, but when she feels the nubby texture under her aching feet she nearly falls to her knees and kisses it.
***
She spends four days in the hospital. All of the nurses are impressed with her first aid skills; not everyone heals so well and so quickly from strange ‘hiking accidents' such as this. They release her soon enough, with stitches itching on her wound and a pack of antibiotics in her pocket.
The first thing she does on her way out of Tennessee is stop in a whiskey bar by the Carolina border. There will be questions when she gets home to Miskatonic, and she knows that she must take on her father's mantle as an archaeology authority when she reaches civilization. The bartender eyes her nervously when she places her order; sweat pops out along his collarbone as she slugs it down in a single heartbeat.
She orders a double and when it too joints its brethren in her belly and the glass empty in her palm, she catches Ash standing there, waiting in the corner, courting a strange woman. He goes white when he sees her.
He reaches for the gun.
She shakes in her seat but her eyes are steel bright. Then she picks up a knife from the place setting before her, sees his reaction to her action. Watches him calm significantly.
At last, he pulls away from the other woman and ambles over. The knife stays where it is. As she turns toward him, she muses to herself that there's no way he could make this situation even more awkward than it already is.
But this is Ash. "You're supposed to be dead," he observes, sounding amazed.
She shakes her head. "Did you check for a pulse?"
"Lady, I got sucked hundreds of years into the past by a tornado two seconds after you bought it. Sorry I didn't take the time to do CPR or...or something! "
But there are more interesting things to think of besides his failings as a pulse-checker. Especially when she spots his hand shining in the low lights. "How in the world did you get that?"
"The hard way," he says. Then he pats the bar. "Double vodka..."
"Oh, I don't think I can..." Annie murmurs.
"Double vodka. You'll need it." He sits down on the stool and sighs, scrubbing those metal fingers over his face. "Guess I'll start at the beginning. But I gotta warn you, man - it's not a story for the faint of heart. There's been a whole lotta ugly spit in my face these past few months, but I've come up grinning."
"I don't scare easy," she says. True now, if not always.
He raises an eyebrow. He even seems mildly impressed.
"So how does the story go? I'll tell you mine if you'll tell me yours," she says.
He shakes his head, clearing out those dusty old cobwebs from the past. Even gives her a thin smile.
"I was a slave..." he begins.
October 2014 - A Simple Trivia Question
October's competition was to answer the following question; Name three or more actors/actresses who played or Shemped
for the character of Linda on screen, in The Evil Dead? The winner is Nikolay Yeriomin from Donetsk in Ukraine. His answers were as follows;
- Cheryl Guttridge, twice: Linda in the grave scene and a close-up of her leg being infected. Confirmed by both commetary tracks first recorded for Elite DVD release and, as well, her interview for this very website.
- Barbara Carey, also twice: as Linda's being put to the grave by Ash and later in the shot when she wounds his legs. Confirmed by both commentary tracks yet again.
- Ted Raimi, in some of the shots of burial sequence, as confirmed by Bart Pierce interview. The shots are yet to be identified and, in fact, remain only unidentified shemp moments by Ted, as it is perfectly known in which two shots he's Cheryl and in which one he's Scott.
- Mary Beth Tapert, a sister of Robert Tapert. Confirmed by Bart Pierce interview and commentary tracks, though, yet again, it isn't known exactly where she is.
- Robert Tapert himself shemps for Linda in some shots, though he's uncredited so he may not count as an actual, credited, fake shemp.
- "Wannabe Actress" mentioned by Bruce Campbell on the commentary track may or may not be Barbara Carey. If she isn't, then probably she's Joann Kruse, Gwen Kochanski, or Debbie Jarczewski.
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Two The Evil Dead (2003) & Evil Dead II (1987) Japanese 'Chirashi' promo flyers are on their way to him. Thanks to everyone else who entered too!
September 2014 - Best fanmade Artwork
The winner of August's competition is Gianni Crivello from Italy, father to huge Evil Dead fan Emanuele Crivello. A photo of Gianni's entry are shown below, which was a pencil scretch drawn around a year ago. A well deserved copy of a 1987 Evil Dead II 24-page Japanese Movie Programme is on it's way to him. Thanks to everyone else who entered too!
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September 2014 - Best fanmade Artwork winner Gianni Crivello from Italy's entry
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August 2014 - Best fanmade or fan-found replica prop
The winner of August's competition is Danish fan Jesper Mørch, photos of his entry are shown below. It's his The Evil Dead 'Book of the Dead' prop replica. Probably the best and most accurate Book replica created by a fan, with fantastic attention to detail. If you want to read more about the creation of this item, Jesper actually provided a write-up of this project (with photos) to the site in 2013 which you can read on the Replica Book Of The Dead page within the Features section. A well deserved copy of a 1985 The Evil Dead Japanese Large 'Chirashi' Foldover Promo Flyer is on it's way to him. Thanks to everyone else who entered too!
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August 2014 - 'Best fanmade or fan-found replica prop' winner Jesper Mørch from Denmark's entry
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July 2014 - The most obscure/best/rarest item in your Evil Dead collection
The winner of July's competition is Jean K from France, photos of his entry are shown below. It's a set of ten NTSC VHS tapes, probably created in the late 1990's, containing around four hours of The Evil Dead raw film footage. These are really rare with only four sets of these tapes thought to exist; one owned by Sam Raimi, the second by Elite Entertainment, the owner of the third is unknown, and the fourth is shown here. It was from these tapes that the twenty-minute 'Behind The Scenes Footage & Outtakes' featurette on the 1999 US R1 Elite Entertainment Special Edition DVD was assembled. Primarily the four hours of footage consists of alternate and longer takes of shots used in the finished film, and while much of the footage is silent, there are a few interesting new and longer scenes in there too.
A well deserved copy of the 1987 Japanese Shochiku Home Video Laserdisc of Evil Dead II, with OBI & insert (SF078-5254) is on it's way to him, along with a DVD transfer copy in there as well. Thanks to everyone else who entered too!
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June 2014 - 'Best Evil Dead trilogy related fanmade costume' winner Jean K from France's entry
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June 2014 - 'Best Evil Dead trilogy related fanmade costume' winner
The winner of June's competition is Bri Cummings from the USA, shown below dressed as Ash for Halloween 2013. A 1983 UK PAL VHS copy of The Evil Dead released by Palace Pictures is on it's way to her. Thanks to everyone else who entered too!
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June 2014 - 'Best Evil Dead trilogy related fanmade costume' winner Bri Cummings from the USA, dressed as Ash for Halloween 2013
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