The Definitive List of Fictional Movie Books

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Please contribute to the list as the spirit moves you. It's the Season of the Witch, so EVIL books should start the list. I think fictional diaries and maps count too.



Handbook for the Recently Deceased (Beetlejuice)



Necronomicon Ex-Mortis (Evil Dead)



Book of the Dead (The Mummy)



The Nine Gates of the Kingdom of Shadows (The Ninth Gate)



Death and Taxes (Stranger Than Fiction)
How I Did It (Young Frankenstein)
Misery's Child (Misery)
Tobin's Spirit Guide (Ghostbusters)



Death and Taxes (Stranger Than Fiction)
How I Did It (Young Frankenstein)
Misery's Child (Misery)
Tobin's Spirit Guide (Ghostbusters)

Nice. Do you know the year of release for Stranger than Fiction or who stars? Is this 2008, Mackenzi Astin? Worth a watch?



Nice. Do you know the year of release for Stranger than Fiction or who stars? Is this 2008, Mackenzi Astin? Worth a watch?
2006 and it stars Will Ferrell, Emma Thompson, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Dustin Hoffman and Queen Latifah. It's clever and well written and one of Ferrell's best roles (along with Everything Must Go). I think it's most definitely worth watching.




Title: Handbook for the Recently Deceased

Film: Beetlejuice

Review: "This thing reads like stereo instructions."

In-world Significance: Nothing is more terrifying the bureaucracy in (in)action and what could be more terrifying than dying and finding a baffling array of bureaucratic rules and regulations? This book epitomizes this notion. The humor is in that the true terror of the afterlife turns out to be mundane (the banality of evil, etc.). In terms of emplotment, the confusing nature of "the rules" leads our plucky protagonists to look for outside help. I've already typed the name of this help once in this post, so I dare not mention him again.

Available for purchase: YES

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=handbook+..._2_14_ts-doa-p

Real-world Uses: Halloween costume prop, coffee table book, gag gift for grandpa, a means to psychologically torture people on nursing homes, and on the off-chance that the film was partially documentary, a rule book for the afterlife.






Title: Necronomicon Ex-Mortis (aka Naturom Demonto)

Films: Evil Dead, Evil Dead II, Army of Darkness

Television: Ash vs. Evil Dead

Product Description: Bound in human flesh and inked in blood, this ancient Sumerian text contained bizarre burial rites, funerary incantations and demon resurrection passages. It was never meant for the world of the living.

Review: Will suck your soul out. 10/10 would buy again. Remember,
"Klatoo Verata Nicto" if you need to move it, however.

In-World Significance: MacGuffin of evil lifted from the mythos of H.P. Lovecraft (see https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Hound , and https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Histo...e_Necronomicon). The problem of evil for theist is "Why do bad things happen if God is good"? For horror writers, the problem of evil, "Why do supernatural bad things happen?" This is just as pressing a problem for the horror writer given the ubiquity of naturalism in the modern era. Devices like the Necronomicon are soporific inducements, lulling the rational mind into the seeming plausibility of the irrational, to get the festivities underway.

Available for Purchase: YES

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=necronomi..._ts-doa-p_2_19

Real World Uses: Sex-bane/virginity protector, Comicon trophy, coffee table book for serial killers, potential means to summon Kandarian Demons, potential ticket to visit idyllic Jacksonville, FL.)









Title:
The Book of the Dead (aka The Black Book aka The Black Book of the Dead)

Films: The Mummy, The Mummy Returns, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

Product Description: Cover made of pure obsidian. Contains ancient spells and incantations capable of resurrecting the dead and long-dead warrior-guardians of the book. Also has a delightful recipe for scones.

Review: This thing is heavy and doesn't have many pages. It's not translated, so unless you know Ancient Egyptian it is rather useless. The ornate key for the cover works well as a fidget-spinner.

In-World Significance: MacGuffin for forces of light and darkness to fight over. The good having to keep the thing shut and secret. The evil wanting it to be open and expressed.

Available for Purchase: No. This artifact is far too dangerous to be trusted to mankind (but someone on Pintrest or Ebay probably has one for sale).

Real World Uses: The ultimate coffee table book? I hope so, because it probably won't fit on your bookshelf.






Title: The Nine Gates of the Kingdom of Shadows (aka The Nine Doors)

Film: The Ninth Gate

Review (Amazon): "Still have not had sex with Satan" (three stars)

In-World Significance: Central MacGuffin of the plot. One draw of the book is its rarity and, therefore, its monetary value. But could there be something more to this rare book?

Available for Purchase: YES

https://www.amazon.com/Nine-Gates-Ki.../dp/B003ODB05Y

Product Description (Amazon): Boris Balkan's version of the book of "The Nine Gates of the Kingdom of Shadows." Includes all nine engravings, chapter pages, latin text and cover has worn out leather look. "The Nine Gates of the Kingdom of Shadows" a.k.a. De Umbrarum Regni Novem Portis was written by Aristide Torchia in Venice, 1666. The book contains nine woodcut engravings rumoured to be copied from the apocryphal Delomelanicon, a book purportedly written by the devil himself. The Nine Gates is said to contain within its pages knowledge to raise the devil. The author was burned, along with all his works in 1667. Three copies are known to survive, one with Baroness Kessler, one in the Fargas collection and one previously in the possession of Andrew Telfer but sold to Boris Balkan.

Real World Uses: You kind of have to be a movie nerd to recognize this one. In the real world, most people will think that you have a weird occult book and probably play heavy metal records backwards to get secret messages. The cover of the book is rather plain, so the reader must crack it open to get the joke. And as this is an obscure fictional text from an obscure movie, the joke isn't likely to land. On the other hand, if you're hoping to conjure the prince of darkness, don't buy this book on Amazon, but contact Jeff Bezos directly (you can lure him with shiny spaceships).








Misspelled name....its just a fancy word for Film!
Aristotle's Second Book of Poetics on Comedy - The Name Of the Rose (1986)

All Of Them Witches - Rosemary's Baby (1968)

The Gospel Of Luke - Exorcist III: Legion (1990)

Book of Black Arts and Spells (Bible of Evil) - Equinox (1970)

Aristotle's book and the Gospel of Luke aren't fictional of course but they do serve their purpose well in the films plots.


some very diverse choices for the Halloween season.
__________________
Its not old, Its Classic!



Aristotle's Second Book of Poetics on Comedy - The Name Of the Rose (1986)

All Of Them Witches - Rosemary's Baby (1968)

The Gospel Of Luke - Exorcist III: Legion (1990)

Book of Black Arts and Spells (Bible of Evil) - Equinox (1970)

Aristotle's book and the Gospel of Luke aren't fictional of course but they do serve their purpose well in the films plots.


some very diverse choices for the Halloween season.
Score! Thanks.






Title: How I Did It by Victor Frankenstein (not to be confused with "If I Did It" by O.J. Simpson)

Film: Young Frankenstein

Review: "It could work!"

In-world Significance: A Deus ex MacGuffina. The impossible problem of bringing dead flesh to life is conveniently solved by the appearance of a detailed manual providing instructions regarding everything that is needed. Where the Nine Gates of the Kingdom of Shadows is nearly impossible to get, this book falls into the protagonist's lap.

Available for Purchase: Kind of... (can be purchased as a notebook prop).

https://www.amazon.com/How-Did-Victo...4792274&sr=8-1

Product Description: Scientific research notes of Victor Frankenstein's experiments with dead flesh and electricity, the ultimate secret being changing the pole from plus to minus and minus to plus. All you need now is a brain from "Abbie Normal."

Real World Uses: Resurrecting life in a tired monster franchise with comedy.






Title: All of Them Witches

Film: Rosemary's Baby (also a miniseries)

Review: Best prenatal/expecting parent book of the year!

Product Description: "All Of Them Witches, by J.R. Hanslet, is a bound book with a black cover and title stamped with golden letters on the front. It is a book of witchcraft that contains basic notions on Dark Arts, i.e., information on the nature of the witches and their rituals, as well as paragraphs and illustrations of famous people such as Adrian Marcato (in the film) and Steven Marcato (in the miniseries)."
https://rosemarys-baby.fandom.com/wi..._Witches_(book)

In-world Significance: Expository clue/looking glass element (element designed to shift our frame into the irrational frame of reference of the movie, in this case establishing the conceit that there are witches).

Available for purchase: No.

Real-world Use: The section on "known witches" should prove useful identifying permanent hosts of The View and future in-laws. A little too faint a reference to score generic reference points with low-level nerds, but an obscure enough reference to score massive reference points with all them true nerds.












Title: The Philosophy of Time Travel

Film: Donnie Darko (2001)

Review: Do not purchase! It is an "ensurance" trap! If I had known that this book was part of a fatalistic loop that makes sure I die to the save the universe, I wouldn't have spent the money.

Product Description: Roberta Sparrow authored this work in October 1944, which may or may not be work of fiction. If not, it is guide in a time of great danger.

In-world Significance: Expository element offered in the attempt to untangle the mess that is the plot of this film (NOTE: This is what happens when you let "dramatists" write time travel stories).

Available for Purchase: Yes (Amazon)https://www.amazon.com/s?k=the+philosophy+of+time+travel&crid=G7GPF921SNLN&sprefix=the+philosophy+of+time+trave%2Caps%2C162 &ref=nb_sb_noss_2

Real-world Use: None, really. There is a real danger with this book. Having it on your shelf will attract Donnie Darko nerds who will insist it is the best film ever and talk you death about their particular take on the causal picture contained in the plot.




I can't believe I remembered something to contribute to this thread, in 2009, Jeff Daniels starred in a film called The Answer Man, about a writer who became famous when he wrote a book called "Me and God" 20 years ago and stopped writing after that. The book became a merchandising monster that Daniels' character lived on for those two decades, he became a virtual hermit and never wrote another word. I found it hard to invest in the film because it's never really made clear exactly what "Me and God" was about.



I can't believe I remembered something to contribute to this thread, in 2009, Jeff Daniels starred in a film called The Answer Man, about a writer who became famous when he wrote a book called "Me and God" 20 years ago and stopped writing after that. The book became a merchandising monster that Daniels' character lived on for those two decades, he became a virtual hermit and never wrote another word. I found it hard to invest in the film because it's never really made clear exactly what "Me and God" was about.

Sounds a bit like the song "Greatest Song in the World" by Tenacious D -- if you actually played the greatest song in the world, it would be obvious that what was played was merely "a song," so the most you can do is gesture, tribute, homage, and employ other vagaries. The best way to protect the premise of "greatest book ever" is probably to NOT tell the audience what the MacGuffin is about.