So, you’re scrolling through a horror forum or watching Jason Goes to Hell for the tenth time, and you spot it. Right there in the Voorhees house. A dusty, face-bound book that looks suspiciously like the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis. It’s not just a similar-looking prop. It is the actual book from Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead. This discovery usually leads to the one question that has divided the slasher community for decades: is jason a deadite?
Honestly, the answer depends on who you ask, but the evidence is way more solid than just a simple Easter egg. We aren't just talking about fan theories here. We’re talking about the director of a mainline Friday the 13th movie explicitly stating that he built the lore around this exact idea.
The Smoking Gun in the Voorhees Basement
In 1993, horror fans were treated to (or punished by, depending on your vibe) Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday. This movie was a weird one. It tossed out the "silent zombie in a hockey mask" trope and turned Jason into a body-hopping parasite. But the most controversial part wasn't the heart-eating coroner; it was the basement scene.
Steven Freeman, the movie's protagonist, finds the Necronomicon sitting on a table in the old Voorhees house. Moments later, we see a dagger that looks identical to the Kandarian Dagger. If you’ve seen Ash Williams lose his mind in a cabin, you know exactly what those items do. They summon and destroy Deadites.
Director Adam Marcus has been very vocal about this. He’s stated in multiple interviews, including a famous one with Horror Geek Life, that he intended Jason to be a Deadite from the jump. According to Marcus, Pamela Voorhees was so distraught over Jason’s drowning that she used the Necronomicon to bring him back.
🔗 Read more: A Simple Favor Blake Lively: Why Emily Nelson Is Still the Ultimate Screen Mystery
This explains why Jason went from a little boy at the bottom of a lake to a hulking man in a matter of months. It explains why he can survive a machete to the shoulder, a boat propeller to the face, and a house exploding. He’s not just a guy who’s hard to kill. He’s a demonic entity fueled by the "Evil" itself.
Why the Studios Kept it Quiet
You might wonder why nobody in the movie actually says the word "Deadite." It comes down to the boring reality of Hollywood lawyers.
- New Line Cinema owned the rights to Jason Voorhees at the time.
- Universal (and others) held the rights to the Evil Dead franchise.
- A formal crossover would have been a legal nightmare.
Marcus basically snuck the lore in. He reached out to Sam Raimi, who reportedly loved the idea and lent Marcus the actual props from Evil Dead II. So, while the movie couldn't legally shout it from the rooftops, the visual language was screaming it.
The Case Against Jason Being a Deadite
Not every horror fan is buying it. Even if the director says it's true, there are some pretty massive holes in the theory.
💡 You might also like: The A Wrinkle in Time Cast: Why This Massive Star Power Didn't Save the Movie
First off, Deadites are loud. They scream, they taunt, and they have a very twisted sense of humor. They like to play with their food. Jason, on the other hand, is the world's most disciplined silent protagonist. He doesn't laugh. He doesn't tell Ash that he'll "swallow his soul." He just swings a machete.
Then there’s the physical stuff. Deadites usually have those milky white eyes and decaying, possessed-looking skin. Until Jason became a literal zombie in Part VI, he just looked like a deformed guy. Some fans argue that if he were a Deadite, he would have been talking trash to Tommy Jarvis back in the 80s.
The Comic Book Confirmation
If you want to look outside the movies, the Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash comic book series (which was based on a rejected movie treatment) doubles down on the Deadite theory. In this story, Freddy Krueger uses the Necronomicon to "awaken" Jason’s memories and power.
The comic explicitly frames Jason as a special kind of Deadite—one that retains its own will rather than being a mindless puppet of the Kandarian demons. It’s a convenient way to bridge the gap between his silent nature and his supernatural resilience.
📖 Related: Cuba Gooding Jr OJ: Why the Performance Everyone Hated Was Actually Genius
What This Means for the Friday the 13th Canon
The timeline of Friday the 13th is already a mess. Between the lightning strikes, the telekinetic girls, and the trip to Manhattan, the series hasn't exactly been a beacon of logic.
Accepting that is jason a deadite actually fixes a lot of the plot holes.
- It explains the "resurrection" in Jason Lives.
- It justifies his supernatural strength.
- It gives a reason for the "Voorhees" dagger being the only thing that can truly banish him to hell.
In the world of horror, "canon" is often what the fans and creators decide it is at any given moment. If you like the idea of a massive shared universe where Ash Williams could theoretically show up and chainsaw Jason’s arm off, then the evidence is right there on the screen.
If you’re a purist who thinks Jason should just be a "legend of the lake," you can easily dismiss the Necronomicon as a fun nod to a fellow director. But the fact remains: the props are real, the director’s intent was clear, and the book was open.
How to Spot the Connection Yourself
If you want to verify this, go back and watch Jason Goes to Hell. Skip to the scenes in the Voorhees house. Don't just look for the book; look at the way the camera lingers on it. It’s not just background dressing. It’s framed as the source of the nightmare.
Your Next Step in Horror Lore
If you want to dive deeper into how these franchises overlap, your best bet is to track down a copy of the Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash trade paperback. It's the only place where these theories are allowed to run wild without lawyers getting in the way. Alternatively, look for the 2017 interviews with Adam Marcus where he breaks down his "secret" script meetings with Sam Raimi—it’s a fascinating look at how 90s horror almost became the first "Cinematic Universe."