Food to Die For

5 stars

This is one of the best and most fun cookbooks/history books I’ve ever encountered.

Right up my alley with the haunted history, and the recipes were amazing. You had my heart with croissant bread pudding…like wth??? Hello, YES!
I dont eat seafood, but even those recipes looked and sounded delicious.

This is an absolute must own. The photos, the history, the easy recipes. I absolutely love this book.

#NetGalley #FoodtoDiefor
A perfect combination or haunted history and recipes within the local geographic and time period. This book is great for anyone who loves haunted history/ true crime and loves cooking. I would like to thank the publishers and NetGalley for letting me read this book in exchange for my honest review.

The cover of this book drew me in and I am ever so glad it did!

A paranormal investigator, Amy Bruni, travels across the country to find the most haunted, notorious, locations and then gives us a history lesson and a recipe! Two of my favorite things!

The photos and the information is great and the recipes are sometimes interesting, but tie in with the location.

What a great idea this was!


NetGalley/ Harper Celebrate July 30,2024

Thanks NetGalley and Harper Celebrate for this arc!

5/5 stars

This is such an interesting concept! I love how there was so much history on each haunted location, it really brought everything together. The photographs were really stunning, however some of them are SO VERY DARK and like I get it for the aesthetic of this book, but I hope they'll be lightened up at least a bit for print as the content is quite hard to see. Some of these recipes sound super good and some I don't think I'd make, but that's more of a me thing than the recipe itself. The extensive bibliography in the back really shows how much work Ami Bruni put into this! I love how it was categorized by location type, and at the back the recipes are organized by course, AND there's a suggested meal planning section too!? How fun! This will be great to have during spoopy season, and for any paranormal investigator lover!

Oh my goodness, I had no idea that I needed a cookbook like this in my life! I love all things haunted and paranormal so to follow these stories up with a dish from that time/location is amazing! I can't wait to try out some of these amazing recipes!

The recipe for this book is 3/4ths haunted happenings and 1/4th cookbook.

While I am admittedly a tad skeptical of the paranormal, I found the framework of mainly focusing on the places

The titling of this book might mislead a lot of potential readers. Those just looking for the recipes will be sifting through haunting accounts and historical information to get to the food!

I do think it's a tad silly that some included recipes aren't even reccomended to eat.

My favorite section being the Hotels and the photographs of the buildings, menus, and other documents.

A collection of recipes based around supposedly haunted places like Lizzie Borden's house and the Stanley Estes Park Hotel (the inspiration for The Shining). The write ups of the locations are very interesting, and the food photographs are gorgeous. Some of the recipes probably won't get many takers (hardtack?!) but there are a few delicious-looking ones! A perfect gift for the spooky cook in your life.

As someone who really like gothic horror, this cookbook is a must to have in my collection. I like that there are lots of featured haunted places, plus a dish to associate it with. Very interesting indeed!

I think it is such a good idea to mix haunting tales with food, it follows my macabre interests and love of food, amazing.

What a gorgeous collection of locations, stories, and recipes! The photography was gorgeous, the layout was easy to read even on an ereader, and each recipe was clearly explained. That said, i probably won't be making most of these recipes either because they include items I can't ingest (alcohol and shellfish) or because they don't sound very good at all without major adjustments (sorry Lizzie, don't ax me, but your meatloaf is boring). Its still a great book to add to your recipe shelf or coffee table for conversations!

Thank you to NetGalley Food to Die For.

I loved this book! It combines two of my favorite things in the world; scary stories and food!

I don't watch reality shows, even supernatural based ones so I wasn't familiar with the author or knew she's a former ghost hunter.

In Food to Die For (I love puns), the author takes us on a paranormal journey through spooky hotels (aren't they all in some way), ghost towns, and haunted homes and bars in this great collection of ghost stories (with recipes!)

I loved the vintage photographs and the historical background behind each of the haunted place and why a particular recipe was chosen. Some recipes are old timey fun timey which adds to the eerie ambiance to a particular spooky story.

I might make a few of these recipes nor are they to die for, but this was a fun, fascinating read.

It has sparked my interest in traveling locally again and visit one (or more) of these haunted locations.

Listen, there is a specific audience for this and I am it! A perfect history / cookbook for lovers of the paranormal and macabre, full of both beautiful and historic photos, creepy haunted stories, and yes, recipes. The recipes are not, to me, the main highlights of this book, but rather a fun concept to deliver the rest of the spooky information. Like the Grand Pecan Balls from the haunted by ghosts Grand Hotel (which are simple to make and delicious. The pecan balls, not the ghosts.) None of the recipes are overly complicated, and you get everything from appetizers to mains to drinks, so you can plan a full menu using this book. In fact, the ending section includes just that, menus based on themes and time periods. Absolutely recommend this for history buffs and Halloween lovers.

What a fantastic cover! If you love spooky things, you will love this book about real places and recipes associated with them. There are hotels, historical houses, old prisons, even entire ghost towns. The recipes are perfect for the book, and every recipe has a gorgeous full-color illustration showing what the completed dish will look like. The recipes are simple but tied to the locations, using traditional ingredients and styles. I don't really cook but I think I could make most of these. Thanks so much to NetGalley for letting me read this!

A fun and spooky cookbook filled with haunted locations and even more amazing recipes. This book combines eerie hotels, haunted homes, hellish hospitals, and spooky ghost towns with recipes related to each place and fun back ground history too. I had so much fun reading this and looking at the stunning food photos as well as the charmingly creepy stories. This book is a must have for anyone who enjoys spooky things and fun cooking/baking!

*Thanks Netgalley and Harper Celebrate for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Food to Die For by Amy Bruni is aesthetically stunning, highly interesting and utterly intriguing!

I am not into paranormal investigation techniques, or ghost hunting, but I am absolutely here for the history and stories behind them, the locations and now, the recipes! Very well written, Bruni explores the location, the history of the location, the ghosts and stories behind them and caps the section with a recipe related to the location

The book has prep guides for ghost hunting and vintage cooking and this was a really nice touch imho

When I say this book is gorgeous, I mean absolutey, deliciously gorgeous. A dark gothic aesthetic for the photography, bright vivid pictures of the locations and beautiful typesetting and borders for the recipes. This book is an absolute keeper for any kitchen (the recipes are pretty awesome too)

Thank you to netgalley, Harper Celebrate and the author Amy Bruni for this gorgeous ARC. My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own

This was such an interesting book. I found it awesome, the recipes were great as well. Each recipes story was well written and wonderfully researched. I enjoyed it immensely. Recommend this to any slightly macabre friend.

Love, love, love! This recipe book is spectacularly spooky! I love the idea of this and it's fabulously well-executed, and just a beautiful piece to have in any kitchen or home! I especially like the intro of Lizzie Borden's meatloaf. True crime, horror, and paranormal fans will eat this right up!

Each section contains stories detailing famous scenes/buildings of notorious hauntings, along with stunning photos, and accompanying recipes that are from chef's who worked in these places, popular dishes at the location, or meals inspired by. Where has this been all my life? I adore the backstory along with the recipe, and I'm more inclined to want to try them, I'll be honest!

An absolute must have! I'll be grabbing up a physical copy to have of my own. Such a beautiful and fun read regardless of your cooking expertise!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Food to Die for has different locations and stories of paranormal or eerie places paired with different recipes. There are beautiful photos throughout.

The cookbooks sections are eerie hotels, horrifying homes, otherworldly watering holes, hair-raising historic landmarks, hellish institutions, ghoulish ghost towns, and meals to die for.

There is a wide array of different recipes from seafood chowder to lady fingers. It is very interesting the pairing of history with related recipes.

I loved the historical facts in this and the recipes were all interesting.
I enjoyed the menus at the back. Perfect for someone planning a themed party.
The pictures were great, I would have liked each food-related one to be of the actual recipe, but it was still good.
This would make a great gift for foodies who like macabre history.
I received a copy from NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

I came for the ghost stories and the recipes were an added bonus. Plan to indulge in stories and fill up on recipes. The photos alone will make you drool! This is a great book to gift!

Creepy and delicious - the best words I can think of to describe this highly unusual and well-written book. Amy Bruni brings years of experience exploring the paranormal together with historic recipes that represent some of the most haunted locations in the country to produce one of the most entertaining cookbooks I’ve read.

Bruni is a born storyteller and communicates the ghost stories associated with the chosen locations in a way that induces shivers and delight at the unusual details, such as Marilyn Monroe appearing in mirrors at the Hollywood Roosevelt in Los Angeles. The accompanying recipes are carefully chosen to complement the ghost story and include some really delicious offerings.

Fans of the paranormal will thoroughly enjoy this as will cooks and bakers who enjoy a little scare with their culinary experiences.

💀🍽️ Food To Die For 🍽️💀

This book is a deep dive into ghostly history with a splash of recipes - old and new. Written by Amy Bruni, known for her work on SyFy's Ghost Hunters and the TLC docu-series Kindred Spirits, Bruni weaves her personal experience visiting haunted locales with historical information on the locations.

I expected the cookbook parts of the book to be recipes inspired by the locations but most were modern recipes from the actively open haunted hotels and restaurants. We get more unique recipes in the section of the book on haunted houses - like Lizzie Borden's meatloaf, taken from a handwritten recipe card by Borden herself.

The majority of the recipes are simple enough to produce at home and the history of haunted places make for a fascinating read. If you know a lot about haunted history, you might already recognize quite a few of the locations described in the book but if you're looking to dip your toe into ghostly territory then this would be a fun read or a great gift for the budding supernaturalist.

I can definitely say I'd like a sequel especially living in a state known for it's many ghost towns and it's haunted history. There's so much out there to explore for future books!

Thank you to NetGalley, Harper Celebrate, and Amy Bruni for allowing me to read this book as an eARC.

“Food to Die For: Recipes & Stories from America’s Most Legendary Haunted Places” by Amy Bruni is a surprising book. It’s got history, ghost stories and food recipes. It’s not what I expected from the description or the book cover. (Great cover, by the way!) The author is a professional ghost hunter involved in several paranormal TV shows. Honestly, I love history and recipes, but I don’t believe in ghosts. The paranormal aspect of the book’s locations didn’t interest me at all, but the historical aspect was fascinating. There’s quite a variety of recipes; they are an interesting mix. A few examples are Lumpy Dicks (a pudding) from Donner Pass; Mining Camp Cornmeal Pancakes from Coloma, CA; Delicate Ladyfingers from The Mark Twain House & Museum; Ernest Hemingway’s Bloody Mary; and Lizzie Borden’s Meatloaf from the Lizzie Borden House. Like I said, an interesting mix of recipes. I enjoyed the book immensely. I do wish the photos scattered throughout the chapters had captions. Location types include hotels, historic landmarks and residences, ghost towns, prisons and mental institutions, and “watering holes.”

As someone who enjoys history, travel, paranormal, and food, this one checks all those boxes! Organized by type of building/place, it exposes hotels, homes, former institutions, ghost towns, and more throughout America, Some of the recipes have absolutely been added to my to be tried list. The history and stories attached to each location are fascinating and I learned quite a bit from this book.

This is easily my favorite book of 2024. I love Amy Bruni's storytelling style. From her work as a ghost hunter to her podcast, she tells spooky stories with a side of history. The pictures are beautiful, and the recipes were interesting. I highly recommend the book for fans of ghost stories.

This is a great book. Delicious recipes for your new favourite seafood chowder or your next best Bloody Mary - Hemingway style (which is essentially, just add the whole bottle of vodka, you know you want to!)

Also full to the brim with interesting locations, historical facts and true crime stories. I loved the old buildings section the most.

A really great read for any true crime or creepy cooks you may know. 4.5/5

This cook book was incredibly unique and unlike anything I've ever seen before! The recipes were easy to follow and the art in here was so absolutely stunning.

Want to scratch a travel itch while spooking yourself making dinner? This right here is what you need.

This book is just as much a history book as it is a cookbook but with a flare.

The photographer for this killlllled - pub intended. I love food and an easily influenced by good pictures but this has me wanting to try everything (even though I suck at cooking and don’t love all the ingredients used)

My personal favorites were Alcatraz and Williamsburg VA (not far from where I live so always is interesting to me)

Have you ever read a book and thought— this would be perfect for insertnamehere? I had that thought for multiple people throughout.

This book is perfect for your all things spooky loving person in your life. The haunted history placed throughout the book was a lot of fun to read alongside the recipes.

The recipes for both drinks and food are approachable and require everyday ingredients. The directions are easy to follow. I would put this at an intermediate level as some recipies - such as Lizzie Bordens Meatloaf - does not have fully clear ingredients or measurements for all items needed for the recipe.

While this is billed as a cookbook, it's definately so much more. The spooky stories of historical sites and buildings really make this a fun read with treats to make sprinkled throughout.

I requested this book mainly because it was written by Amy Bruni, who I've been watching since her days on Ghost Hunters. I was interested to hear about the places she's investigated and this book scratched that itch. The recipes were interesting but the stories Bruni shared along with the history of the numerous haunted locations were fascinating.

I understand that not all books can be sent to Kindle, but there's got to be a better way to share heavily illustrated books. I'm unable to download the NetGalley app and it's extremely difficult to read these books on my phone.

A very fun and unique cookbook. It is evident that a lot of time, research and dedication has been put into this book. The recipes are simple and there are some really delicious looking ones. There are even some cocktail recipes which I am excited to try.

I love history and cookbooks, so this may be the perfect book for me! Food to die for has recipes from and inspired by haunted houses, hospitals, asylums, and ghost towns across the United States, with lots of cool photos from the sites as well as the dishes.

Belief in the supernatural isn't required in order to enjoy the stories and photos from sites considered haunted, or at least, super creepy. The dishes are plated and photographed with a spooky, gothic aesthetic, which adds to the macabre tales contained within. Most of the recipes are not complicated and easy to follow, so readers of all skill levels should find something to suit them.

I really liked the concept of this book! How unique and fun.

I received a free ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

I received this DRC from NetGalley.

I thought this was a fun theme for a cookbook. The photography was really nice. Each of the featured places has its own blurb about the history behind it and photography of the site. Some of the recipes related more to the place than others. A wide variety of recipes are included. The inclusion of a nutraloaf amused me. All of the recipes looked accessible, and I appreciated the stylized photos of the food alongside each. I'm not a big fan of cocktails being included as recipes, since that's not much of a recipe at all, but there aren't too many of those.