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A website like this revolves around people out there willing to make a contribution. Whether it's scanning some items from your huge Evil Dead collection, taking a little time to give an interview, or rooting through that dusty old box in the attic for that thing you never knew anyone would be interested in. So, here is the BookOfTheDead.ws 'ideal world' top wants list, some of which are perfectly possible and just need the right person to get in contact, while others are very very unlikely. Each entry has a detailed explanation including all the information available and any research already done, plus details of what's needed. If you think you can help with anything below, please get in contact via the email address which is
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1. A The Happy Valley Kid, A Bootleg Or Official Release
Explanation: While a fair number of the shorts have either been leaked as bootlegs or released officially over the years, along with Six Months to Live, The Happy Valley Kid is probably the most famous Super-8 short which I've never been able to find a copy of. Directed by Sam Raimi in 1977, it stars Rob Tapert playing a university student who goes on a killing spree dressed as a cowboy. Rob Tapert mentioned in a Xena online webchat that he has an inch tape and a VHS copy in New Zealand, and "The only Super-8 print was virtually destroyed (all the sprocket holes shredded in the projector) in April of 1979 when they we showing the movie to John Cameron, at NYU. Sam still has the film in a bag and is going to restore it one day." Clips from this were also shown on a US TV program; PM Magazine Detroit, with a spot on Renaissance Pictures around 1982, a poor quality recording of which still exists today in bootleg form, and from which the below screenshots were taken.
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Some The Happy Valley Kid screenshots taken from a poor quality recording of US TV program; PM Magazine Detroit around 1982
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What I need: I'm looking for a decent VHS or DVD transfer (or even a Super-8 Telecine DVD transfer). I can transfer NTSC & PAL VHS material to DVD, so if you don't have the equipment do this yourself I can borrow your tape and make a DVD duplicate.
In return: I'd gladly trade items from my Evil Dead Trades List (which you can see here) or even pay for it, so if you have a copy of this on DVD or VHS, then please get in touch at
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2. The Evil Dead 1979 Local Tennessee TV & Newspaper Reports
Explanation: As Josh Becker writes in his 'Evil Dead Journal' on Wednesday, December 5th, 1979; "Also, we (although not I) were on TV yesterday. The Knoxville news filmed this press conference that Gary had set up, then they all went out to the cabin. It was kind of funny." I contacted Josh about this who replied "Sadly, I don't remember a thing about that interview. If I hadn't written it down I wouldn't remember it at all." I've been in contact with all the local Tennessee TV affiliates: ABC, CBS, NBC. The ABC news archivist said he'd send it to me if he could find it, but that was in August of 2008. I have had no luck with the Tennessee Archive of Moving Image and Sound in the East Tennessee Historical Center either. Further to this, there were bound to have been some local Morristown or East Tennessee newspaper articles on the production while it was happening in the area (see images below), so in addition, I'm looking for anything on this too.
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Two unidentified local Tennessee newspaper scans taken from The Evil Dead R1 Anchor Bay Ultimate Edition DVD Stills Gallery
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What I need: Someone who might have managed to search these out themselves, might actually have a copy of this in some form, or even saw it at the time and can give a description. I can transfer NTSC & PAL VHS material to DVD, so if you don't have the equipment do this yourself I can borrow your tape and make a DVD duplicate.
In return: I'd gladly trade items from my Evil Dead Trades List (which you can see here) or even pay for it, so if you have a copy of this on DVD or VHS, then please get in touch at
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3. Recordings Of Six Months To Live's 1977 Airing On The Ghoul Show On Detroit TV
Explanation: Six Months To Live was one of the Super-8 shorts made in 1977 and along with The Happy Valley Kid is one of the most famous Super-8 shorts which I've never been able to find a copy of. It revolves around a man with a terminal illness (played by Sam), seeking the help of Bruce, Scott and others. It's one of their funniest shorts, with Sam's best comedy performance and lots of good gags. It concludes with Sam killing himself. Circa 1977 Scott, Sam & Bruce made contact with Ron Sweed, the host of a local TV show in Detroit called The Ghoul Show; a late-night horror movie and comedy sketch show which ran for various blocks of seasons from 1971 through 2004, and was shown locally (on WXON TV-20 according to Scott, or Kaiser Broadcasting's Detroit-based station WKBD according to Wikipedia). Initially Scott, Sam & Bruce were invited to appear on air alongside Mr Ghoul himself played by Ron, then after seeing it, Ron was so impressed he showed Six Months To Live on air in three parts at five minutes each, and invited them back, which resulted in Bruce & Scott guest-starring on a regular basis, with Bruce once doing a Close Encounters Of The Third Kind parody dressed as a woman. Incidentally, some short clips from Six Months To Live were also shown on a UK TV program; The Incredibly Strange Film Show hosted by Jonathan Ross, originally broadcast on UK television on the 2nd of September 1988, recordings of which still exists today.
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Scott Spiegel photographed alongside Ron Sweed in costume as Mr Ghoul on The Ghoul Show circa 1977, shown on local Detroit TV
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What I need: I'm looking for someone who recorded the applicable aired episodes of The Ghoul Show at the time (or has since tracked down and obtained archive recordings from the TV station), and who still owns them on VHS, DVD or any other format. I can transfer NTSC & PAL VHS material to DVD, so if you don't have the equipment do this yourself I can borrow your tape and make a DVD duplicate.
In return: I'd gladly trade items from my Evil Dead Trades List (which you can see here) or even pay for it, so if you have a recording of an original TV airing on DVD or VHS, then please get in touch at
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4. A better quality copy of Within The Woods
Explanation: Within The Woods is probably the most well known of the Super-8 short films. Back in 2002, Anchor bay announced the inclusion of a digitally cleaned version with a newly mastered soundtrack on their The Evil Dead Book of the Dead DVD. At the last minute this feature was dropped and it's never re-appeared on any release since. Don May Jr (the president of Synapse Films and friend of the guys) posted on the AV Maniacs forums on the 25th of September 2006 that; "Within The Woods does indeed exist in a completely remastered form with new replacement music. ABE still probably has it on tape somewhere. but Raimi just had second-thoughts about including it. I actually have a pretty beautiful version that I got from Scott Spiegel years ago. As of 2013, this remastered version hasn't been leaked and remains under wraps. The above aside, it's currently only available as a bootleg, although there are a number of sources out there.
Below are some screenshots; one from each of the nine versions I've collected over recent years. They're listed in order of quality with 1 being the worst, and 9 the best, and you can click for 1:1 uncompressed images. The best quality version is number 9, which was transferred personally in May 2018 from a tape loaned from US fan DeusExMachina, which also contained a number of other previously unavailable Super-8 shorts, additional material, footage & interviews. You can read more on the history of the various bootlegs on the Within The Woods - Releases & Bootlegs page
1 - Within The Woods &
'Book Of The Dead' Trailer DVD
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2 - Peer To Peer 368.27mb
AVI internet version
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3 - Peer To Peer 308.41mb
MPEG VCD internet version
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4 - Sam Raimi Short Films DVD
(standard widespread version)
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5 - Sam Raimi Short Films DVD
(bought at New York comic fair)
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6 - Tansferred personally from
Demonovation's tape in 2008
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7 - Tansferred personally from
Demonovation's tape in 2018
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8 - Transferred via DVD-rec by
US fan eKent in 2008
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9 - Tansferred personally from
DeusExMachina's tape in 2018
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What I need: I'm looking for a decent VHS or DVD transfer (or even a Super-8 Telecine DVD transfer), or at least something better that I have already. I can transfer NTSC & PAL VHS material to DVD, so if you don't have the equipment do this yourself I can borrow your tape and make a DVD duplicate.
In return: I'd gladly trade items from my Evil Dead Trades List (which you can see here) or even pay for it, so if you have a copy of this on DVD or VHS, then please get in touch at
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5. Did you work on any of the Super-8 Shorts or Evil Dead Trilogy productions?
Explanation: I'm always looking to hear from people who worked on any of the Super-8 Shorts or Evil Dead Trilogy productions in any capacity. Even if you don't have time for a proper interview for the site, then it's always nice to be able to fill in some of the background and see what people are up to now. There are a number of people I've already been in contact with over the years who were just too busy, and others I literally have drawn a blank on how to get in touch with; Bruce Campbell (who's just too busy), Sam Raimi (who's also just too busy), Ellen Sandwiess (who's also also just too busy), Rob Tapert (yes, you get the picture) Richard DeManincor (who I even tried writing to, and really would like to track down), Greg Nicotero, Tim Philo, John Cameron, Betsy Baker, Theresa Tilly, David Goodman, Randy Bennett, Brian Rae, Philip Duffin, Gary Jones, Kurt Rauf, Bill Ward, and Mike Ditz. There were so many talented people involved, these are just a few of the names that leaped out.
What I need: Ideally I want to get an interview, which I can either do over the phone (at my cost, and you give the call time) or by email, whichever you prefer. Phone interviews I've done in the past ranged from around 20 minutes up to nearly 3 hours (Scott Spiegel is a fantastic guy!). An email interview gives you the chance to carefully write & re-write your answers as much as you want, but will take up more of your time in typing it out. If you don't have time for an interview, then just a quick email to hear from you and finding out what you're up to now is always nice.
In return: There is no way I can pay the hundreds of dollars for an interview which proper magazines would pay, this is a totally not-for-profit website (I don't even have paid advertising). I pay every penny out of my own pocket, just for the love of Evil Dead. One thing I can offer asides from plugging something you might be about to release (such as a book or film), is to put old friends who worked on one or other of the productions back in touch. I've had correspondence with a fair list of people including Tim Quill, Cheryl Guttridge, Josh Becker, Tom Sullivan, Danny Hicks, Scott Spiegel, Angela Featherstone, Mark Shostrom, Bart Pierce, Shannon Shea, Rick Catizone, Howard Berger, Robert Kurtzman, Ted Raimi, Graham Humphreys, all of whom gave interviews which you'll find at the top of the Features section, along with Ellen Sandwiess, Randy Bennett, Greg Nicotero, Tim Philo, Brian Rae, and Bill Ward who I've had contact with. Also if you're interested I'd gladly send you items from my Evil Dead Trades List (which you can see here) as well, so please get in touch at
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6. Book Of The Dead early script drafts
Explanation: The Book Of The Dead script went through numerous re-writes, with one of the earliest drafts more a mix of plot elements from Within The Woods and Texas Chain Saw Massacre. It opened with the car going past a dead animal in the foreground, akin to the dead armadillo in Texas Chain Saw Massacre, then the group stopped at a gas station where a crazy old man warned them about the cabin and it's evil spirits, with the remainder of the story far closer to Within The Woods than the final film. Each consecutive draft diverged further and further from Within The Woods and Texas Chain Saw Massacre as they went along. There are two script versions currently available; one early 33 page script, the 66 page 'shooting script', also a one-page synopsis sheet which was given out to prospective investors.
What I need: Do you have any early version of the Book Of The Dead script, maybe you worked on the production and hung on to it, or were given it by someone on the production? Ideally I'd like to obtain the script itself, but failing that, digital scans would be a gread addition to the site too (at 300 or 600dpi, saved as 95% or higher JPEG files).
In return: I'd gladly trade items from my Evil Dead Trades List (which you can see here) or pay for it (or both), so if you have a copy please get in touch at
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7. The Evil Dead DVD-ROM Folder Project
Explanation: For roughly the last 10 years (and long before I started this site) I've been saving a wide range of material; things like saved websites/pages/forums/threads, PDFs, Photos, Artwork, Magazine/Newspaper Scans, Scripts, Fonts, Music & Audio Files, Videos, Text Files, etc... So much really great stuff is just lost; websites that go down, forums wiped, which is such a shame. For those of you that have my DVDs; The Evil Dead - The Treasures Collection Fanmade DVD or Book Of The Dead Fanmade DVD, you'll notice that there are DVD-ROM folders on each. Each new version of the DVD-ROM folder contains everything from the last version, along with new additional/improved material. The first versions were released on the The Evil Dead - The Treasures Collection Fanmade DVD. As new items were added, this project has become too big for that disc. Rather than remove some of the less important/rare items, and continue trying to fit everything onto that one disc, the DVD-ROM folder releases then became standalone data DVD-R discs, and now simply exist as a very large folder shared on portable hard drives and writable Blu-Ray discs. The DVD-ROM folder will continue to be built, and as of 16/07/13 is 26.1GB in size consisting of 24,661 files in 917 folders. I also keep the working folder plus two mirror backup copies (not all in the same place) as an insurance against loss.
What I need: If you have any rare material that isn't already on this disc, or higher quality versions of any existing items you'd like to contribute to this project and share with other evil dead fans, I'd really like to hear from you. To give examples; This might be something you saved from the internet years ago and haven't seen since (Ebay auction photos are a good example as they are only around for a maximum of 90 days and then they're gone forever), some rare collectable you have that no one else does, and you wouldn't mind taking some photos, or saved offline mirrors of old sites or forums. The current project contains a wide range of material; things like saved websites/pages/forums/threads, PDFs, Photos, Artwork, Magazine/Newspaper Scans, Scripts, Fonts, Music & Audio Files, Videos, Text Files, etc... So get in contact, whatever you have.
In return: I'd gladly trade items from my Evil Dead Trades List (which you can see here), so if you have anything you'd like to share, please get in touch at
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