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Fun fact in the original Lovecraft mythos the Necronomicons were normal ass books that just happened to hold eldritch and arcane knowledge. Im sure anyone who has had the misfortune of opening up a copy of Wealth of nations or Capital knows the feeling.
Well, normal is a stretch. It was still forbidden to read and written by a madman in his own blood, driving anyone reading it at least partially insane.
Lovecraft was basing it on The King in Yellow by Robert Chambers. The character itself also appears in the Lovecraft pantheon as Hastur.
Pretty sure that counts as a normal college paper, but yeah it did have some secondary properties to it. But it wasnt bound in flesh or anything, plus by Lovecraft standards thats still pretty tame.
I think it being a normal book on the outside is actually scarier. The knowledge in the book was dangerous, not the object itself.
I would never open the Book of the Dead from Evil Dead but I might open the Necronomicon if I find it at an antique bookstore or something.
Which is also why it works, much like most threats it looks utterly mundane on the outside but once ya look closser you see its true threat. A good example is an old crate of dynamite which may look fine externally but its likely the nitroglycerin has seeped out and if you move that crate you are being annihilated.