Review: Elvira's Cookbook from Hell by Cassandra Peterson

    

Print Length: 224 pages

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (September 30, 2025)

From Goodreads.com: Hello darling, it’s me, Elvira—the afterlife of the party—here to bring the “Hell” to your next Hell-raising gathering! Ready to unleash your inner party monster? Well, I’m here to prove that the devil is in the details. 

Shock your fiends with sinister snacks, demonically delicious dishes, and cocktails so wickedly good they’ll make your head spin! 

But this isn’t just a cookbook—think of it as your Necronomicom of party planning. Between these pages lies everything you’ll need to make your next get-together a graveyard smash! From a “Beastly Bloody Brunch” to a “Romantic Graveside Picnic” to a “Creepy Cocktail Party” to “Having Your Friends for Dinner”—Elvira's Cookbook from Hell is a volume bound to raise any party from the dead!

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My Rating: 4 stars out of 5

DISCLAIMER #1:  I am reviewing a partial digital excerpt of this cookbook, not the entire cookbook itself. 

I'm not usually one to request cookbooks, but when I saw this one, I just couldn't resist requesting it. Growing up, Elvira was such a huge part of Halloween (I'm old enough to remember when she even had a haunted house virtual ride at some amusement parks), that I knew I had to get my hands on her cookbook. Even if it was just a pre-release excerpt. 

Right off the bat, let me tell you that as I was reading the quirky passages between in recipes? I absolutely read them in her iconic voice. Everything about that part of the book was exactly as I had expected. I enjoyed how she put her own trademarked Halloween spin on things, making it fun to read instead of the usual boredom I feel when you have to read a paragraph before getting to the actual recipe ideas. 

The recipes themselves however? Left a bit to be desired. Now granted as I said above, I only received an excerpt of the book and my copy contained ideas to host a brunch. I definitely wish there had been a bit more variety, maybe one or two ideas from each of the chapters that will be in the finished product so that I could speak more about them. As it was, while the lead up was original and quirky, the recipes themselves seemed to be the same run of the mill ones you could find anywhere on the internet just by searching "spooky brunch ideas" or "Halloween brunch recipes". 

Even with that, I would definitely buy a copy of this cookbook when it comes out! I can't wait to try not only the recipes, but to see what other fun and spooky ideas she has for hosting the perfect Halloween party! 

DISCLAIMER #2: I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.