Customer Reviews:
 A comprehensive guide with some excellent recipes September 25, 2008
Wayne Redhart (West Midlands, UK)
2 out of 8 found this review helpful
Halloween tends to be an interesting time of year in the Redhart household. Personally I am always ready to get into the party mood, although in the past there has rarely been so much as a 'ghost' of a chance that my wife might join in. Indeed, Doreen has always demonstrated a rather pronounced level of disdain for youngsters- the roots of which could probably be traced back to the birth of our daughter Dawn. Sadly the careless 'mistakes' that have since led to the arrivals of both Horace and Crispin did little to change her mind about the merits of children. Anyhow, although Doreen would never participate, I have had some cracking parties in the past. Sadly, however, in 2006 Doreen decided to ban Halloween altogether, much to the fury of the trick or treaters who came to our door...
Well, you should have seen the mess our house was in that night! There was rude graffiti daubed across the garage wall, an assortment of rubbish strewn all over the lawn (including a USED contraceptive!), and traces of human excrement smeared down the lounge windows. Indeed, with the house already in such a terrible state, I wouldn't have thought that a few Halloween pranks could very well have made things any worse. How wrong I was! Much as I would like to think that we are part of a highly respectable neighbourhood, I wouldn't deny that there are a few unsavoury kids in the community. However, the last thing I would have expected to receive through my window was a pig's head tied to a brick!
Anyhow, Doreen was absolutely furious! While she can be grumpy at the best of times, she was sorely unimpressed at having a severed head invade the privacy of our bedroom at 2 am (although, by the next day, she had calmed down enough to use it as the basis for a very lovely stew). Still, last Halloween, Doreen seemed to have learned her lesson from this incident, for she picked up a copy of this extremely helpful book and set about organising celebrations herself! I am pleased to say that we had an absolutely cracking party! The book covers anything and everything, including party games and how to make scary costumes (which Doreen had never previously been known to wear- aside from her négligée, that is!). There are also some very wise recipes for healthier alternatives to sweets and chocolate. Indeed, when trick or treaters came to the door, they were greeted by a cackling, gap-toothed old witch (kitted out in a werewolf costume) who was extremely generous about handing out some nutritious (yet tasty!) treacle flapjacks. How surprising it was to see Doreen getting into the swing of things with quite such verve! It was only later on that I discovered an empty bottle of high-strength laxative solution in the kitchen bin, but I'm afraid it was already far too late to do anything about it. Some of the kids who called by had been wearing extremely high-quality costumes. If they had been hired from a fancy dress shop, they almost certainly would have had to put down a sum of money that would be retained in the event of damage. Yes, let's just hope that any 'deposits' that were left on the costumes were not especially sizeable!
PS. While Doreen must take full responsibility for her unconscionable actions, I can't help but feel that a fair chunk of blame lies at my own two feet. A few days after the pig's head came crashing into my home, I found out that it was actually a reminder from Mickey 'Gold Teeth' O'Flanagan about my considerable debts on the greyhound track- but, of course, I wasn't exactly going to tell Doreen about that!
 Light on.. November 8, 2008
Lothdoren (Queensland, Australia)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Nice photos, and some good ideas, but there are so few of them! Has the potential to be great, but it's just too short. Divided into sections, with 3 or 4 items in each. The title says it all: 'shown in 120 photographs'. Lots of photos, little to actually read. What's there is good, but there's just not enough of it.
Halloween Celebrations - not really much detail October 15, 2009
Julia
To be honest I bought this book BEFORE I read other feedback, which I now know was a mistake. The book arrived much quicker than I had anticipated which was a bonus but it still leaves a lot to be desired. Personally I think for the price it should be much more substantial and detailed. I don't think there's a single thing in it that I haven't already thought of or done myself in past years. I purchased it for inspiration but am sadly disappointed.
 Lame from start to finish! January 14, 2008
Tracy Hoffmann (Downingtown, PA USA)
12 out of 13 found this review helpful
I just received this book, which I pre-ordered last August. What a disappointment! Boring recipes for things like pumpkin soup and pumpkin muffins, boring costumes (cat, skeleton, vampire) and boring decorations. This book was previously published as Trick or Treat, and now has new photos, but isn't worth the price of shipping, much less the cost of the book.
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