Reviewed by Jeanne
I came to this cookbook with two strikes against me:
I don’t really like horror movies and I don’t cook.
But I was intrigued by the concept, especially because the
recipes are tagged as belonging to specific movies, including some not so scary
ones like Coco, The Addams Family, The
Haunted Mansion, Hocus Pocus, Practical Magic and, yes, The Rocky Horror Picture Show. They even have It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. Of course, they also have classic horror
pictures like The Shining, A Nightmare on
Elm Street, and Halloween.
The book is arranged by Bewitching Breakfasts; Spooky Snacks
and Sides; Monstrous Mains; Potions, Drinks, and Boo-zy Cocktails; and Devilish
Desserts. Each recipe gives the movie that inspired it, with a brief
description of the scene. Pumpkin Pancakes
come from a scene in Casper and
genuinely sound delicious, with pumpkin puree, allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon,
ginger, and allspice. Even though it
doesn’t start out with “Buy a box of pancake mix,” I almost think I could make
these. There is not a calorie count, but
then I fear it might be truly terrifying.
Another good-looking dish is Crispy Baked Scrod with Lemon and
Parmesan from Hocus Pocus, inspired
by the scene in which Mary’s child-sniffing nose gets confused by scrod. With two kinds of cheese, lemon zest, and
panko breadcrumbs, this is another dish that looks and sounds so good that I
would like to try them, providing someone else did the cooking.
The section on drinks is robust, and often alcoholic. The IT
Bloodbath Punch really does look bloody, what with the cherry juice, grenadine,
and red food coloring. It also has
pineapple and lime juice—not to mention two kinds of rum and peach schnapps.
However, the photo of Lestat’s Bloody Mary creeped me out. I’m not going to describe it. You have to see
it.
Which brings me to the photos, which are gloriously staged,
appearing both delicious and ghoulish.
They are fabulous.
To me, the recipes skewer more toward adult tastes, which is
fine—they are a number of recipes out there for kids’ spooky treats. I also
like the way the recipes are introduced and written; these guys have a sense of
humor. They are also careful to point
out ingredients that could be confused, like evaporated milk vs. condensed
milk.
The thing I think I love most is that there are several
lists. You can do the recipes by the
movie or by the theme—witches, ghosts, vampires, killers, undead, monsters and
misfits, or family friendly. They have
suggested menus, like Spooky Musical Party or Tim Burton Tribute. There’s even
a list of movies in chronological order.
This is a fun, entertaining cookbook sure to inspire cooks
during spooky season, which now appears to be all year round. I thing they missed a bet, though, by not
including a roast chicken for The Birds.
