The Halloween Movie Cookbook: 65 Hauntingly Delicious Recipes Inspired by Your Favorite Spooky Movies by Ryan Alverez and Adam Merrin

 

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.