When you think The Evil Dead, you probably picture Bruce Campbell screaming with a chainsaw strapped to his arm, blood, demons, and the word “Groovy.”

But what if I told you Sam Raimi’s cult classic didn’t just spawn a horror legend… it secretly opened the gates to a shared universe that links Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, and even the Creeper from Jeepers Creepers?

Yeah…. It’s true!

Buckle up. This rabbit hole goes deep and it’s dripping in blood.

From Cabin to Cosmos | The Rise of a Horror Legend

I think if you are here, you probably know how It all started in 1981 with Raimi’s scrappy indie The Evil Dead.

A no budget gorefest where five friends find a cursed book called the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis, bound in human flesh and written in blood and accidentally unleash hell in a backwoods cabin.

Ash Williams, the lone survivor, became horror’s most reluctant and eventual groovy hero battling Deadites, the possessed corpses of his friends, with a chainsaw and sheer panic.

Then came Evil Dead II (1987)… a confusing film that is part sequel, part remake, but full insanity. Ash chops off his own hand, the furniture laughs at him, and by the end he’s sucked into a medieval time warp.

By Army of Darkness (1992), Ash is fighting skeleton armies in the Middle Ages, wielding his “boomstick” like a medieval action hero.

But here’s the detail that changed everything… the movie revealed there are three Books of the Dead (Necronomicons), not just one. That single revelation actually set up a multiverse decades before Marvel… We just didn’t know it.

The 2013 “Remake” That Wasn’t a Remake

Fast forward a couple decades to 2013 and a new generation discovers Evil Dead through Fede Álvarez’s brutal reboot.

But surprise!… it’s not a reboot.

Director Lee Cronin (who later made Evil Dead Rise) confirmed that the 2013 film is actually a continuation taking place in the same universe as the originals. It’s one of the other Necronomicons introduced in Army of Darkness.

So while Ash was fighting the undead centuries ago, Mia (Jane Levy) was going through her own personal hell in another corner of the world. Three books. Three stories. One curse.

That “remake” was really just another chapter in the same demonic saga.

The Necronomicon: The Book That Binds Them All

Now, at the heart of every Evil Dead story lies the Necronomicon or the Book of the Dead.

Written by ancient demons known as the Dark Ones, it summons Kandarian spirits who possess the living and turn them into Deadites.

Every time it’s read, another nightmare begins.

From the 1981 cabin to the 2023 apartment building in Evil Dead Rise, the same evil echoes across different timelines… each tied together by those cursed pages of flesh and blood.

Horror’s Hidden Multiverse: Freddy, Jason, and The Creeper?!

Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash is a six-issue comic book limited series that was released in November 2007

Here’s where things get fun and wild.

Raimi didn’t just make horror classics he accidentally built the nexus of horror itself.

Freddy Krueger

In Evil Dead II, Freddy’s glove is literally hanging in the cabin’s tool shed.. This was Sam Raimi’s nod to Wes Craven, who had Nancy watch The Evil Dead in A Nightmare on Elm Street.

That fun director rivalry evolved into the idea of a Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash film that never came to be. However, it was later turned into a comic thus officially connecting the Necronomicon to Freddy’s dream world.

Jason Voorhees

In Jason Goes to Hell, the Necronomicon shows up again in the Voorhees house, alongside the Kandarian dagger.

Director Adam Marcus later revealed his intent:

“Jason Voorhees is a Deadite. Pamela Voorhees used the Necronomicon to bring him back.”

That explains Jason’s immortal power. He isn’t just undead… he’s cursed by the same demonic magic that torments Ash and many other’s through the Evil Dead series.

The Creeper

The 2001 Horror hit, Jeepers Creepers, may not share direct continuity, but the similarities are chilling. An ancient demon that regenerates from human flesh every 23 years? That sort of sounds like a Deadite cousin to me.

Even Director Victor Salva admitted Evil Dead inspired the Creeper’s design which is another echo of Raimi’s twisted mythology.

The Evil Dead DNA Everywhere

Raimi’s influence spread across horror like a demonic infection.

Cabin in the Woods literally lists “Deadites” on its monster whiteboard.
Resident Evil 7 recreates the chainsaw duels of Evil Dead II.
Raimi’s Drag Me to Hell feels like a spiritual sequel full of curses, chaos, and even that same Delta 88 Oldsmobile that’s appeared in every Raimi project — including Spider-Man and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

The man’s car has more cameos than most actors.

Why This Matters | Horror Did the Multiverse First

Before the MCU made shared universes the Hollywood standard, The Evil Dead… maybe unknowingly, was already playing with parallel timelines, alternate realities, and crossovers.

Freddy’s glove, Jason’s resurrection, the Creeper’s ancient evil… all roads lead back to that damned book!

With Evil Dead: Burn coming in 2026, the series has a chance to make continue the trend of expanding the universe even further and unleash the true Evil Dead Multiverse.

Final Thoughts: Hail to the King, Baby

What began as a micro budget nightmare turned into a mythology spanning timelines, worlds, and monsters.

The Necronomicon isn’t just a prop… it’s become the spine of modern horror, stitching together franchises we never realized were linked.

So next time you see a cabin, a creepy book, or a blood soaked chainsaw… remember… it’s all part of the same cursed story.

As Ash would say

“Good. Bad. I’m the guy with the boomstick.”

The Evil Dead Multiverse | How Sam Raimi Accidentally Created Horror’s Most Twisted Shared Universe