Perfect for All Hallows Eve. You're going to some weirdly good food that will both surprise and delight your guest at your Halloween banquet. Beetlejuice is one of my favorite characters from a child to now. I always catch it every year and now I can have make some of these frightfully delicious treats.

After being raised in a religious family that didn't allow Halloween celebrations, Zach Neil grew up to love the holiday so much he wanted to celebrate it every day.  That dream became a reality when he opened Beetle House, a Tim Burton-inspired restaurant full of creative and hearty autumn comfort food.

This cookbook contains seven chapters with clever names, covering everything from sauces (Sauces & Dips for the Recently Deceased), appetizers (Nightmares Before Dinner), soups and salads (Herbs, Plants, & Cauldrons), entrees (Platos de los Muertos), desserts (Tricks & Treats), drinks (Poisons, Potions, & Elixirs), and dinner parties (Put the FUN Back in Funeral).

Neil includes a list of must-have tools and ingredients, all common enough you probably already have them in your kitchen pantry. Most recipes include substitutes to make the dish plant based and vegan-friendly.

The book design, layout, and color photographs are well done, fitting the Burton/gothic vibe of the restaurant and its menu.

Some of my favorite recipes included:

-Sweeney Beef (filet mignon served with Sweeney Sauce and garlic mashed potatoes)

-Shrimpy Hollow (sauteed shrimp covered in Hollow Sauce, served with cheesy grits in chorizo oil)

-Victor Van Pork (southern style pulled pork in Soul Sauce with jalapeno coleslaw)

-The Butcher's Stew (richly flavored chili) *I'm already making this a second time!  A new favorite chili recipe for sure.

-The Beetle's Juice (a cocktail of tequila and blackberry schnapps that has non-alcoholic substitutions)

-Edward Sauce (cream based sriracha perfect for burgers and fries)

If you love food, film, fall, and most importantly Halloween, you'll love this cookbook full of classic dishes with unique twists.

Thanks to Quarto Publishing Group/Race Point Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.  The Nightmare Before Dinner was released September 4, 2018.

Fantastic cookbook! It has a lot of creative, in-season, twist on old recipes to give that NBC feel. Plus I love the ideas on how to make a recipe vegetarian/vegan!

This is a wonderfully creative cookbook. It provides a great start with everything you need from a material list to vegan substitution suggestions. Then you get creative chapter titles and recipes titles that you'd expect from such a cookbook -- the talented author and chef does not disappoint. Recipes are easy to understand with some being a little in depth for the cook, but well written, which helps makes the entire process easier. Beautifully colorful pictures throughout help create a delightfully visual cookbook.
You'll find recipes for sauces, jams, appetizers, sides, soups, salads, main dishes, desserts, beverages -- and they look delicious! Not every recipe is ghoulish such as the Giant Peach Salad and Barbarous BBQ Beef Ramen, which look fairly tame and just right for anytime. There are fun items too included in this cookbook. You'll find ideas for creating themed parties, which are fun. He provides menu ideas, decoration suggestions as well as help for invitations. I recommend this cookbook especially if you are looking for some spooky recipes and creative fun.

Completely over the top and representing well its restaurant! Funky and fun and much more practical than expected, despite headings like "deadly ingredients".

Something different! Great ideas for dinner parties/ themed events, most of the recipes look devilious 😉

An absolute must have for any Tim Burton fans. The recipes are reasonably easy and it would make a lovely addition to any film lover's bookshelf.

Race Point Publishing and NetGalley provided me with an electronic copy of The Nightmare Before Dinner. I was under no obligation to review this cookbook and my opinion is freely given.

The Nightmare Before Diner is a cookbook with recipes inspired by the author's love for everything dark and lovely. As the celebration of Halloween was forbidden in his childhood, the author has opened a series of Tim Burton inspired restaurants called The Beetle House. Author Zach Neil clearly has had a great deal of fun in concocting both the recipes and the names for the finished dishes. Separated into sections such as: Beetle House Must-Haves, Sauce and Dips for the Recently Deceased, Nightmares Before Dinner, Platos de los Muertos, and Poisons, Potions, and Elixirs, readers are teleported into the dark but happy place of Halloween. Don't let the theming fool you, these are bonafide recipes. The author has also included vegan substitutes for those who follow a non-dairy diet.

There are sauces such as Edward Sauce (p. 17), a cream-based sriracha sauce that is designed for the Edward Burger Hands (p. 62) but can also be used for sandwiches or a dipping sauce. The Hollow Sauce (p. 21), made with homemade ketchup and gochujang, is great for chicken, fish, or shellfish. In the Nightmares Before Dinner section, my hands-down favorite is the Charlie Corn Bucket (p. 43). This cheesy casserole can be adapted for vegan eaters and is a great side dish with its cheesy sauce and sprinkling of bread crumbs on top. Herbs, Plants, and Cauldrons includes soup and salad recipes, such as Barbarous BBQ Beef Ramen (p. 54), a delicious and hearty ramen that will satisfy and nourish. Platos de los Muertos has main dish entrees, like Cheshire Mac and Cheese (p. 61) and Sweeney Beef (p. 66). Love It Pot Pie (p. 78) is a hearty dish that includes a cornbread base and a beetle jam. Tricks and Treats has dessert offerings to die for, such as Bloodbath Cobbler (p. 92-93), with its dark cherry and blood orange filling. Poisons, Potions, and Elixirs has deadly drinks and cocktails that are great for any Halloween party. Put the Fun Back in the Funeral shows readers some themed parties that they can throw, with photos of the previously listed dishes to inspire.

Although the theme to The Nightmare Before Dinner may be Halloween inspired, the recipes contained within will be phenomenal any time of the year. I would definitely recommend this cookbook and I look forward to visiting one of the author's restaurants in the future.

I was underwhelmed by this book. The food doesn’t look particularly nice and I find the graphic design on the recipes ugly. The recipes also don’t seem themed - I expected them to look good and have a spooky element, maybe something that would be good for a Halloween party. The dessert and cocktail sections had some interesting ideas, but the savoury and mains are just very basic recipes that you could find in any cookbook. To be fair, I didn’t make any of them, so perhaps they’re all delicious and just don’t look that great in photos. Also the book really doesn’t travel well, as many of the recipes mention American brands and types of food (what is half and half? American cheese?)

As a fan of The Nightmare Before Christmas fan i really loved this cook book. I loved the idea and illustrations. It was definitely a collection book.

This is a great cookbook. It will inspire you to want to through your own Halloween party. I really like how the book also gives you ideas on how to do a themed party. The pictures of the food are lovely and made me want to try them all!

If you like entertaining for Halloween this is the book for you. This cookbook plays off some of the classic Halloween and horror movies. The chapters have titles such as Sauces and Dips for the Recently deceased and Poisons, Potions and Elixirs. It gives list of the kitchen gadgets you will need for each section and list of ingredients. There are Vegan substitutions for those that need those. I love the recipe names like Silence of the Lamb chops. Even if you didn't want to have a Halloween party these would be great movie night dishes. This might be one of those cookbooks you don't use every week but it is a fun one to add to your collection. Have fun with food.

The Nightmare Before Dinner: Recipes to Die for is brought to us by entrepreneur and chef Zach Neil, and is based on his Halloween themed Beetle House restaurants in Los Angeles and New York. This is a very fun book to add to your cookbook collection. The theming is perfect: definitely halloween-y...lots of black, purple, orange, red...the fonts are vaguely reminiscent of Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas. The graphics evoke pumpkins and tentacles...it definitely puts you in the Halloween mood. Many of the recipe descriptions also contribute to the Halloween theme...Ingredients are often referred to as "Deadly Ingredients". It's all very fun! The author offers tips, both at the beginning of the book, and in some of the recipes themselves, to convert many of the recipes to vegan--so this cookbook can be a great option for vegan cooks as well. The recipes are shared in a variety of themed sections: Sauces and Dips for the Recently Deceased [Sauces], Nightmares Before Dinner [Appetizers], Herbs, Plants and Cauldrons [Soups, Salads, Stews], Platos de los Muertos [Entrees], Tricks and Treats [Desserts], Poisons, Potions and Elixirs [Cocktails and beverages], Put the FUN back in Funeral [Party theme ideas and planning suggestions]. The book includes an Introduction, Tips for Veganizing Recipes, Table of Contents, and a detailed Index. The recipes themselves are clearly written; many are fairly simple. Some are pretty complicated, but the directions are clear. There is no nutritional information provided. If you or someone you love is a Halloween fan, a Tim Burton fan, or loves Nightmare Before Christmas, I definitely recommend you check this out. I think you will find it fun and you will find some unique recipes you'll want to try this Halloween.

I received a digital ARC from Netgalley and Quarto Publishing in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.

This is an amazing recipe book from the creator of the eaterie The Beatle House. This is perfect for Halloween parties and is full of a selection of recipes relating to various spooky movies such as Beatle juice and Edward scissorhands. There is a wide array of recipes for burgers, cocktails and salads. The final section of the book is something slightly different and has ideas for throwing particular theme parties from Willy Wonka to Nightmare Before Christmas. It goes throw what items you could have on your menu and what props and decorations you need also. . This is a different and beautiful collection of recipes.

Plenty of fun and easy to make Halloween themed recipes sure to give your Halloween party an extra boost. Many of the recipes play on favorite Halloween movies like The Deetz Shrimp Cocktail and The Edward Burger Hands. I also love when I'm flipping through a cookbook and feel like I can make the recipes. The Alice in Wonderland inspired Cheshire Mac & Cheese was another must try recipe. I received an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Grab this cookbook for your Halloween, Nightmare Before Christmas fanatic it is the PERFECT Gift!

I really like how the book starts out with the basic Tools & Ingredients that you should have in your kitchen for these recipes. AND if your Vegan the author gives you ways to substitute ingredients to accommodate your dietary needs. I am definitely making the sorbet & pop rocks as a dessert staple in my house along with several of the cocktails. I really enjoyed the theme meals along with suggestions for props and a menu. This book is a fun cookbook that will make a great hostess gift to give.

Fun idea but lacked substance. The pictures were great and the recipes seemed interesting but overall they felt disjointed - instead of doing the recipes by category and then outlining party ideas they should've just been organized by party ideas since that's clearly how they were developed.

The Nightmare Before Dinner is a new theme restaurant inspired cookbook from Zach Neil and the Beetle House. Due out 16th Oct 2018 by Quarto group's Race Point imprint, it's 192 pages and available in hardback and ebook formats.

Whilst I've never generally been a fan of 'theme' restaurants, I do adore Tim Burton and whimsy along with the Gothic aesthetic. This cookbook is full of all of the above along with genuinely delicious recipes for appealingly presented food with a lot of humor.

I tried one of the very first recipes in the book, Edward Sauce, and it's wonderful. It's a sour cream and mayo based dipping sauce with a fair bit of kick from the sriracha and other ingredients. Really delicious.

A lot of restaurant based cookbooks, and indeed quite a percentage of restaurants are unbelievably pretentious and recreating the recipes takes a lot of specialist ingredients which are difficult to source alongside a lot of eye-wateringly expensive equipment. This cookbook is afflicted with neither problem. The ingredients are easy to find and the equipment is likely to be had in any home kitchen.

The chapters are roughly arranged in meal order: sauces & dips, appetizers, soups & salads, main courses, desserts, drinks, with a chapter of fun theme menus at the end.

The author has included tips for making the dishes vegan friendly (mostly consisting of using vegan friendly ingredients). All these dishes could easily be 'tamed down' somewhat and incorporated into a regular meny that wouldn't scandalize your elderly auntie. There are a number of dishes with a decidedly spicy twist, chipotle, cayenne, and sriracha sauce figure large in many of the recipes, so proceed with caution if you have a gues who doesn't tolerate a bit of heat in their foods.

Appealing, irreverent, funny, and tasty. As an example... here are the how-to instructions for the aforementioned Edward Sauce:

To Make It
1. Place all the ingredients in a bowl and whisk the shit out of them. Your finished sauce should have the consistency of mayonnaise.

Four stars, I'll be making a lot more of these recipes regularly.

Really great quirky cooking book, I wish I had one of these restaurants close enough to visit. Looks so amazing. If I ever visit USA this will be on my list of things to do and see!

I love, love, love this book! I am very obsessed with all things Tim Burton and this cook book was perfect! it covers everything from decorating your table to the food and drinks you prepare to set on it! It also covers more than just Nightmare Before Christmas! It covers many, many Tim Burton films. be sure to pick this up and try out all the fun, food, and party ideas listed within!