What’s better than watching a favorite movie or rereading a beloved book? Enjoying a themed dish or cocktail alongside it. Kierra Sondereker, associate editor at Ulysses Press, says that for The Horror Movie Night Cookbook, author Richard S. Sargent aimed to remain faithful to the genre’s grittiness while suggesting recipes to enhance a watch party, striking a balance between “more traditional movie-related food,” such as microwave popcorn two ways, “and fun plays on food that was actually featured in the movies.” This season brings numerous tie-in cookbooks titles that invite fans to experience old favorites in a new way; here’s a sampling.
Eddie Muller’s Noir Bar
Eddie Muller. Running Press, May
Muller, host of TCM’s Noir Alley and the author of books including The Art of Noir and Dark City, brings his movie expertise to the world of cocktails. More than 50 traditional and original drink recipes celebrate film noir flicks and stars, such as the Sailor Beware, a Muller creation that honors Orson Welles’s 1948 thriller The Lady from Shanghai. Original movie posters and stills round out the package.
The Horror Movie Night Cookbook
Richard S. Sargent. Ulysses, July
Actor and filmmaker Sargent debuts with 60 recipes drawing on genre classics—Cujo, Jaws, Psycho, and more. For instance, Crawling Steak is a more palatable riff on a memorably disgusting scene from Poltergeist, while a Campfire Sour might comfort scaredy-cats after a viewing of The Blair Witch Project.
I’ll Drink to That!
Laurence Maslon and Joan Marcus. Weldon Owen, May
Thirty recipes for classic cocktails, originals, and those that fall somewhere in between pay homage to Broadway in the latest from Maslon, a professor at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and the author of several theater books. A Sidecar Named Desire, for instance, nods to the Tennessee Williams play by adding Peychaud’s
bitters, which originated in New Orleans, to standard sidecar specs. Archival images of performances accompany the text; veteran theatrical photographer Marcus contributes the drinks photos, taken at Sardi’s in the theater district.
Recipes for Murder
Karen Pierce. Countryman, Aug.
Self-described Agatha Christie superfan Pierce pairs each of the mystery writer’s 66 novels with a food or drink recipe in her debut. Canapés Diane, for instance, is among the dishes on the deadly menu in Three Act Tragedy; lobster salad, meanwhile, is the sort of elegant fare Hercule Poirot might have enjoyed while traveling by plane, as he does in 1935’s Death in the Clouds.
Recipes from the World of H.P. Lovecraft
Olivia Luna Eldritch. Thunder Bay, July
This debut compilation is organized by course, from “Breaking Fast,” “Lighter Bites,” and “Strange Feastings” (heartier fare) through “Toothsome Sweets” and “Potions & Concoctions” (drinks). Vintage-style illustrations accompany contemporary food photography, bringing to life Cthulhu Tentacles, a calamari dish; Moon-tree Wine, named for a plot point in the Lovecraft novella “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”; and other “recipes inspired by cosmic horror.”
