The Horror Movie Night Cookbook: 60 Deliciously Deadly Recipes Inspired by Iconic Slashers, Zombie Films, Psychological Thrillers, Sci-Fi Spooks, and More
By Richard S. Sargent
Photographs by Nevyana Dimitrova
Ulysses Press
Released July 18, 2023
144 pages
The Horror Movie Night Cookbook: 60 Deliciously Deadly Recipes Inspired by Iconic Slashers, Zombie Films, Psychological Thrillers, Sci-Fi Spooks, and More by Richard S. Sargent [ISBN: 978-1-64604-491-7; $19.95; Ulysses Press; July 2023], a killer new cookbook offering thoughtful and tasty food and cocktail pairings inspired by the actual content of chilling classics like Jaws, Psycho, Scream, The Conjuring, The Evil Dead, Halloween, and more!
If you’re looking for kitschy Pinterest recipes like coffin-shaped cookies or zombie finger sandwiches, look elsewhere. With The Horror Movie Night Cookbook, you’ll find recipes inspired by horror’s most frightening favorites, including:
- Crawling Steak (Poltergeist)
- Campfire Sour (The Blair Witch Project)
- Zombie Baby Kale Salad (Dawn of the Dead)
- Bloody Floaties (Jaws)
- Alligator Bites (Crawl)
- The Mama’s Boy Martini (Psycho)
- And more!
Unlike other movie-themed cookbooks, The Horror Movie Night Cookbook takes you inside the films.
“Inspired by the film itself, the recipes are built around food that is being eaten in the films or iconic lines or characters within. It’s not just a cookbook to pull out in October,” Sargent says. “My recipes are thoughtful and creative meals that can be served any time of the year.”
Enough from the publishers, here’s our opinion. This is one of the most creative and vibrant cookbooks I have seen in a while. The book is divided into sections like Finger Foods (salads, appetizers), Dinner is Served (dinner entrées) and Sweet Tooth (deserts). Sargent does a great job combining cutesy with utility. For instance there is a good, traditional recipe for steak and ale pie renamed “There’s An I in Meat Pie”, inspired by a line from one of my favorite horror comedies Shaun of the Dead. Also, included with the themes are cocktails and drinks to make your horror movie night meal complete. Brilliant!
The cookbook is beautifully photographed by Nevyana Dimitrova and each dish looks simply delicious.
About the Author
Richard S. Sargent was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Some of his earliest memories are of sitting in front of the TV after school, watching reruns of Chiller Theatre with his mom. You can blame her for his obsession with horror films. Richard is an award-winning actor, director, producer, playwright, and filmmaker. You can find some of his short plays published on Amazon via Left Coast Publishing. His short film, Meat, described as “torture porn with bacon,” was released in the horror anthology World of Death. Richard has always been interested in creative cooking. Most of his day jobs were in restaurants and on food trucks. After taking a few cooking classes, Richard decided doing it for a living would take all of the fun out of it. So he found a new way to keep cooking fun: The Horror Movie Night Cookbook! When he isn’t doing theater, cooking for his friends, or watching horror films, he is performing with the band he and his husband created—The Green Winter. You can listen to their music on iTunes and Spotify. To stay up to date with all of his projects, you can find more info on Facebook and Instagram.
The Horror Movie Night Cookbook was released on July 18, 2023 and is available at Amazon and where books are sold.