Anyone who has followed the career of Bruce Campbell knows that the actor has a talent for turning up in colorful, eclectic, and sometimes downright bizarre projects. So it makes sense that Campbell's nearly two decades of living in Southern Oregon have been lively. As the cult favorite writes in his new memoir, "Hail to the Chin: Further Confessions of a B Movie Actor," since moving to Southern Oregon in 1998, Campbell and his family have encountered gun-toting neighbors, wayward skunks, severed deer legs, and other Northwest folkways.

When the Michigan native decided to move to Oregon, Campbell writes in "Hail to the Chin," his mother was living in Ashland. Campbell and his wife, Ida, were itching to get out of Los Angeles, especially after Campbell realized his work as an actor took him all over the world, so he could live almost anywhere.

Campbell asked his mother, who was dabbling in real estate at the time, to send the actor some real estate listings. He and his wife flew up and went with Campbell's mother to visit some property in the Applegate Valley, situated, Campbell writes, "on a hill with spectacular south-facing views of the Siskiyou Mountains."

Campbell was smitten. "Just like that, Ida and I were done with Los Angeles," Campbell writes. "Our new life in the wilderness had begun!"

While "Hail to the Chin" is written in the same flamboyant style as Campbell's previous memoir, "If Chins Could Kill," Campbell is straightforward when it comes to his adopted home state.

"I like Oregon," he says in a phone interview. "I like it a lot. I probably shouldn't praise it so much. Next time, I'll just write that it rains all the time."

Campbell is calling from Phoenix, a stop on his book tour. The cross-country tour will bring Campbell back to Oregon. On Oct. 13, he'll talk about "Hail to the Chin" at Powell's Books at Cedar Hills Crossing, in Beaverton. And on Oct. 14, Campbell will be at the Barnes & Noble in Medford.

In "If Chins Could Kill," Campbell wrote how he first came to fame playing Ash, the chainsaw-wielding hero of the "Evil Dead" movies, low-budget horror flicks known for their over-the-top-gore, outrageous humor and the directing flair of Campbell's former high school buddy, Sam Raimi.

Campbell shares more self-deprecating stories about his career in "Hail to the Chin," including his stints playing small roles in the three "Spider-Man" movies Raimi directed, and costarring in the USA series "Burn Notice," which filmed on location in Florida.

But time and again, Campbell returns to Oregon, which he writes about with humor and verve. Campbell even includes an extended discussion of the Bureau of Land Management, and its policies.

"BLM was my neighbor on three sides, so I started to attend meetings, symposiums and lectures on land stewardship," Campbell writes. "'How to use land' is also a divisive topic. Show ten people a landscape and you'll get ten different opinions about what to do with it."

Campbell admits it's a bit unusual for an actor's memoir to include detailed explanations of how the BLM works.

"I put that in there because when I first moved to Oregon, I didn't know any of that," Campbell says in our phone interview. "I got chided by my cowriter, Craig Sanborn, for that. He goes, 'Really, Bruce, you've got a whole chapter for BLM? Do you really think that's what people are going to want?'"

But Sanborn "got his comeuppance," Campbell says. "His mother was talking to him, and she said, I really enjoyed the book, especially all this stuff about the government."

Campbell sounds amused that his book includes both "horror and BLM. Our lives should all be that rich. It demonstrates a life well lived."

Among the other Oregon-centric sections are Campbell discussing the meth problem where he lives, and how locals call Medford "Meth-Ford"; working with Portland-based Dark Horse Entertainment on filming the movie, "My Name Is Bruce," which Campbell says he was foolish enough to shoot on his Southern Oregon property; and being a member of the Ashland Elks Lodge.

"It's spectacular," Campbell says of the Elks Lodge. "You can play cards there, the pool is 25 cents a game, unless the pool table thing is broken, and then it's just free. It's the cheapest booze you'll ever find. It's all local. And the funny thing is, they do lots of charitable stuff."

Back on showbiz topics, Campbell says he's not sure when Starz will air the completed Season 3 of "Ash vs. Evil Dead," in which Campbell plays an older version of his "Evil Dead" character.

"When you find out, will you give me a quick call?" Campbell jokes. "We're searching for an air date right now. We think it's going to be the first quarter of 2018."

(Update: Starz has announced "Ash vs. Evil Dead" Season 3 will premiere Feb. 25 2018)

Campbell's not sure if there will be a fourth season of "Ash vs. Evil Dead."

"Our bosses have new bosses now," he says referring to the Lionsgate entertainment company's acquisition of the Starz cable network. "Ash vs. Evil Dead" has done very well in DVD sales, and is distributed overseas, Campbell says. "We're also one of the most illegally downloaded shows. What does that say about our fans? They're a bunch of jerks -- 'We want it, we like it, we just don't want to pay for it.'"

Campbell says Season 3 is "very solid," and if it should prove to be the final one for "Ash vs. Evil Dead," "we made sure our storyline was wrapped up in a good way."

Bruce Campbell will discuss "Hail to the Chin: Further Confessions of a B Movie Actor," at 6 p.m. Oct. 13 at Powell's Books at Cedar Hills Crossing, 3415 S.W. Cedar Hills Blvd., Beaverton.

-- Kristi Turnqust

kturnquist@oregonian.com

503-221-8227

@Kristiturnquist