Amy Brunei's "Food to Die For" is a gastronomic journey though the weird and creepy. The recipes look delicious, and the stories and photos are really interesting. I really like this book, it's genius.

Special thanks to Netgalley and Harper Celebrate for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I LOVE this cookbook. It was informative, beautifully done, well well-researched, and the recipes are fun.

The story behind each place was great (and gave me a good list of vacation spots)! The recipes were also very straightforward and I can't wait to try them out.

3.25/5

A mix between cookbook and supernatural anecdotes. While an interesting twist on the classic cookbook concept, I wasn't wowed, not by the recipes nor the tales. It's fine for the first couple pages then it falls into the same format again and again: Introduce spooky place, mention supernatural happenings that may or may not be real, insert recipe, profit. The recipes were generally simple enough, I think anyone with a modicum of cooking experience could easily follow along and achieve a tasty meal. I found the layout of the book to be quite nice, it looks professional and glossy, but some of the food pictures left a lot to be desired, I think they weren't sure if the pictures should have more of a spooky or an appetizing vibe. A little more food styling could've gone a long way.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Celebrate for the ARC!

An interesting idea of a book, but it seems a little... over-designed. Half spooky travel coffee table book with the basics of each 'haunted' place, half haphazard recipe book with something tangentially related to that place. I would've preferred much more about each individual place and their hauntings rather than pages of photos, personally. I doubt I'll go back to it for more than a recipe or two. As someone who is very much into the spooky aesthetic and who also loves to cook, you'd think this book hits my sweet spot, but it just... doesn't. Disappointing.

Amy Bruni's Food to Die For is the perfect balance of a cookbook and collection of paranormal tales from the United States. I have loved the shows she has appeared on throughout her career, so I feel like I was a bit predisposed to enjoy this book as well. Even without any previous knowledge or interest in ghost stories, the historical information Bruni provides is a fantastic introduction to the stories of each location. I bookmarked several of them as places to look into when planning future trips with my friends. The recipes are written in a manner that is simple and straightforward. I appreciate the inclusion of the information about where the recipe is adapted from as a description on the recipe page. I also enjoyed the very last section where Bruni includes suggestions on how to pair up recipes for gatherings. It was very fun! I highly recommend this cookbook to anyone interested in the paranormal or general history that is off the beaten path.

I love cookbooks and food histories that allow for multi-layered interaction with them, and this is an excellent example of that concept being executed adeptly by the author.

The recipes here are paired with the haunted history of a location they have a connection to, and I was delighted by the idea of making some of these and then sharing the related haunted history from the book with my husband while we eat.

I thought the photography was beautiful and evocative, and the haunted histories intriguing and well-researched. I prefer the inclusion of recipes with a real connection to the original purpose of the place rather than, say, something currently being served in the restaurant of the location in its current iteration as a tourist attraction. I’m also not sure about the recipe section from jails. Sure, the haunted histories of these are just as interesting as the rest, but is anyone really going to make these? They are, in most cases, foods meant to keep inmates alive, not things to be enjoyed.

In all, it’s a really solid collection of tales and recipes and a great concept that was well-executed by the author. My favorite section was that on Haunted Hotels, but there’s loads of good stuff in almost every section of the book.

The history in this book was amazing! I'm not one for it but I'm down for spooky places. I tried a few of the recipes and they were really good. I cannot wait for this to publish so I can have a physical copy

Cooking is something I struggle with. I am a super picky eater and most of the time cookbooks are filled with recipes that I either can't make or don't sound appetizing. But Food to Die For not only has a few recipes that I would like to try out, but it also is filled with super interesting histories of the places those recipes are inspired by. I can't wait to make Mary Todd Lincoln's cake.

5 stars

This is so very up my alley. An intersection of some of my favourite things - food and spooky things. I loved the photography in the book I loved flipping through it and the written sections were also interesting. So pleased to have been granted this ARC!

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.

I’ve watched many Ghost Hunter episodes but could not place the author who has a connection to the show. I don’t think it’s a necessary connection to digest the book, just a table setting reference…

Overall, I’m fairly torn on this book. As an interesting read it is filled with a mix of history and paranormal stories grouped by hotels, homes, other establishments, landmarks, institutions and ghost towns. You’ll learn something and be fascinated.

However it was set up as “food” to die for and therefore its layered with recipes for each referenced location and on that it missed for me on a couple of levels. I actually didn’t like the food related pictures and as a lover of cookbooks I found a majority of the food pictures made the food look unappetizing - that can’t have been the intent right? Additionally the recipes are so random because the book is organized by location types.

I think if this was a book about food first and grouped that way i could have enjoyed it more. Organized the way it is, I think it would have been better just as a book history and paranormal stories.

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.

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.

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.

I enjoyed reading about spooky and haunted places with recipes from those places, people, and eras. The book is heavy on the spookiness which fleshes out the cookbook nicely. Sadly, I don't think I will be making many of these as they are not to my taste. But, this adds a nice touch and some inventive for a book about spooky places.
There are some gorgeous photos as well as old-timey photos The problem is that in several general sections, pictures are not captioned and I have no idea where they are or the story behind them.

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

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.