The Horror Movie Night Cookbook
This is a fun cookbook with 60 haunting recipes Cover Design: Raquel Castro
AUTHOR: ARTSY CHOW ROAMER
THIS POST FIRST APPEARED IN A SHORTENED VERSION IN SMOKE SIGNALS NEWSPAPER
The HORROR MOVIE NIGHT COOKBOOK
RECIPES FOR SPOOKY FUN
Every Halloween, I look for something new, fun and delicious to add to my festivities list when inviting friends and family over for fright night. This year I got a timely email regarding a wonderful new cookbook by Richard S. Sargent.
With 60 haunting recipes, The Horror Movie Night Cookbook is centered around all your favorite scary movies from the 60’s on. Drinks, finger foods, main dishes and desserts have all been developed with a particular set of films in mind.
I especially like this approach for entertaining as it gives you a full menu paired with a great horror flick so you can decide how to theme your own get-to-together with your favorites playing in the background. BTW, there are two popcorn recipes which makes for a perfect movie-night experience.
Headshot of the author, Richard S. Sargent Photo: Courtesy Pacific & Court
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Richard grew up in Pittsburgh, PA where some of his earliest memories consisted of fun afternoons watching reruns of Chiller Theatre with his Mom after school. She’s the reason he went cray cray over horror films; an obsession that continues into adulthood.
An award-winning actor, director, playwright and filmmaker, his short plays are available on Amazon from Left Coast Publishing. A short film Meat, described as “torture porn with bacon”, was released in the horror anthology World of Death.
Always interested in cooking, Richard took some classes and worked in restaurants and food trucks. Turns out he is pretty good in the kitchen as his friends will attest to but cooking for a living takes all the fun out of it right? So he found a way to join the two passions in a delicious way that you will enjoy as well. Check out the video below for more info and a look at his horror-themed creations.
Author Richard Sargent gives you more info and a look at his recipes
ABOUT THE BOOK
The book begins with an interesting introduction which tells you how Richard came up with the idea of horror movie night. A lot of his friends hadn’t seen or heard of many of his favorites and “rightly so” he reckoned since many are full of bad acting, gratuitous nudity and violence.
But he was more interested in the fact that the genre holds a mirror up to society to make a statement about life in order for us to think about it and maybe change things for the better. He felt he needed to introduce his friends to his favorites but he didn’t just want to binge watch Netflix at Halloween while ordering a pizza.
He began movie nights with three carefully chosen films that had a theme in common and started developing menus and recipes that supported those characters, lines and foods seen in the classics. Viola a book idea was born! Richard gives you a page for how he lines up movie nights but you can mix it up and create your own with the help.
Sip a Campfire Sour while watching The Blair Witch Project Photos: Ulysses Press/Nevyana Dimitrova
A recipe for this yummy signature cocktail
DRINKS & FINGER FOODS
Signature cocktails kick off the party and I was drawn to a Campfire Sour, being a Southern gal, with 3 ounces of bourbon, 1 ounce of lime juice, 1/2 ounce of maple syrup and the sweet bitterness of singed rosemary. This is a sophisticated cocktail which the book suggests you take a drink of every time someone screams in The Blaire Witch Project. Given that, you might just wanna sip instead!
Sargent provides you with a brief description of the suggested movie plots that spark the creations along with funny tips, hints, kill levels, body counts and prep times. Beautiful photographs give you an idea of how to style the finished recipes in a haunting fall-ish sort of way.
I’m a little fond of alligator and even though you will have to order it online when unable to get it in a local store, it is well worth it. I loved the idea of this fried bite appetizer with a spicy mayo dipping sauce with Cajun flair that matches up well to the scary hurricane feature Crawl.
Fried alligator bites with a spicy dip are the perfect starter while watching Crawl
DINNER IS SERVED
There were so many tasty choices offered up for the main entree, it was hard for me to pick just one to highlight. Stir of Echoes, was the muse for Tom’s Ghost Pepper Curry. A telephone operator named Tom Witzky begins to have ghostly visions after being hypnotized in the mesmerizing plot.
A really hot spicy dish might not be everyone’s cup of tea but you can always substitute your favorite sweeter pepper and still have an awesome turn out. Coconut milk, ginger, smoky paprika and two kinds of curry will create a luscious sweet creamy sauce that is fantastic with jasmine rice.
Tom’s Hypnotic Ghost Pepper Curry is a hot one!
Stephen King fan? Yep, me too. When Cujo is your flick pick for the night, you’re gonna want to go with The Dog Bowl for your main dish. Molds bring a unique shape to the tortillas so you can fill them with all your favorite taco ingredients. The great spin to this recipe is slow-cooked rabbit loin and pinto beans. Yum! Cool things down with a nice avocado salad and sour cream while adding some rice to the mix and dig in! A bloody hand print and a few bats sprinkled around will add a nice touch too.
Shout out to Jack-O-Lantern Bites as a main as well since it is a wonderful fall ravioli dish with sweet pumpkin filling, brown butter sauce and a crunchy pecan finish. The inspiration is from the classic original horror movie Halloween with Jamie Lee Curtis. Who isn’t going to cue that one up with a Michael Myers Martini?
The Dog Bowl is a fun homage to Cujo…a Stephen King classic
SWEET TOOTH
Finally, you have your choice of ten different wicked desserts with appropriate sweet cocktails to go with them. If you have a sweet tooth-this will be the section you struggle with. I liked the looks of Burial Plot paired with Night of the Living Dead.
A light creamy pudding is created with cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, whipped topping and vanilla pudding. Add crushed Oreo cookies for the dirt and some gummy worms and you got a pretty creepy looking but delicious ending to the meal.
Another shout out for Bird’s Nest Pie from Hitchcock‘s spooker, The Birds. Where were those winged devils from and why were they so mad?
Burial Plot is a genius sweet dessert with dirty cookies crumbs and worms
Don’t forget the worms!
CONCLUSION
I think this is a fun cookbook that clearly will be a treasure you would like to have if you enjoy entertaining for the trick-or-treat spooky night. But the thing I enjoyed most about it is every recipe is usable throughout the year, not just at Halloween.
These are not “kitschy Pinterest recipes” in the shape of coffins, ghosts and witches but thoughtful tasty creations that have been friend tested and proven to please. Grab a copy from Simon & Schuster now and start planning some horror movie nights of your own. Feel free to play and change things up to personalize the experience for you and yours. “In the words of Julie James…what are you waiting for?”
Enjoy another interview with info on the book
If you enjoyed what you read, you might also like other posts under Edible Fare and Artful Ideal. Look for my upcoming post in Guest Bloggers on Namibia, Africa. Until then…
Cheers,
Artsy Chow Roamer
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