*Spooky Cocktails: 100+ Spirited and Wickedly Delicious Drinks* by Clair McLafferty is a visually stunning and delightfully festive collection of recipes perfect for Halloween or any eerie-themed gathering. The photography throughout the book is gorgeous, with strong spooky vibes and excellent art direction that brings each drink to life. I also appreciated the inclusion of alcohol-free options, making the book accessible to a wider audience. Each recipe comes with a creative introduction that helps set the scene, and many feature fun ideas for garnishes and presentation.

Themed chapters inspired by haunted American cities, horror films, and monsters add a playful and immersive touch. Most of the drink recipes are imaginative and sound delicious, but a few standard inclusions like the Moscow Mule and Bloody Mary felt a bit too familiar and out of place in such a creatively themed collection. One notable drawback is the design choice of using white text on beige backgrounds on some pages, which makes the content hard to read. Still, the overall feel of the book is fun and inspiring. It made me want to stock up on ingredients and start mixing drinks for my next Halloween party or horror movie night. I would give this book 4 out of 5 stars. I received an advanced reader copy from NetGalley and Cider Hill Press.

I want to thank NetGalley, Cider Mill Press, and the author Clair McLafferty for the opportunity to read Spooky Cocktails. Halloween is my favorite holiday of the year, so when I saw this book, I was really hoping to get a copy—and luckily, I did!

This book is amazing. Clair McLafferty thought of everything. From explaining the science behind spirits, to offering tips on how to elevate your drink-making, to including fascinating backstories for each cocktail. I especially appreciated how the book is thoughtfully organized into different sections and even includes options for non-alcohol drinkers.

The visuals are stunning, with fun and creative graphics on every page. I also loved how versatile the cocktails are, many can be adapted just by swapping out the base spirit. As a bonus, this book gave me a ton of inspiration for Halloween decorations!

If you're a Halloween fan and love a good cocktail (or mocktail), this book is definitely for you.

Spooky Cocktails will be published on July 8th 2025!

#NetGalley #SpookyCocktails #CiderMillPress #ClairMcLafferty #HalloweenSeason #Creativedrinks

Perfect for spooky season or really any occasion. The photos are perfect for the season and drink and truly highlights the drinks themselves. The recipes are super easy to follow and make delicious concoctions.

What a wonderful opening—warm, non-judgmental, and welcoming. The suggestion to try a drink at the bar before investing in all the ingredients is especially thoughtful and practical. It's a brilliant way to ease newcomers into the experience.

One standout feature is the inclusion of a section on potential risks. It's not something commonly seen in recipe books, and its presence here is genuinely appreciated. Rather than assuming the reader already knows, the book offers a considerate heads-up, which reflects a mindful and inclusive approach.

Each recipe being laid out on its own page with vibrant, colorful spreads is another excellent touch. This design not only makes the book visually engaging but also helps prevent confusion between recipes—a common issue in more densely packed layouts. The inclusion of a photo of the completed drink adds even more value, giving readers a clear goal and visual reference.

The "Ghost Tours" section is particularly captivating. The historical tidbits that accompany each recipe give the book a unique personality, almost like sipping your way through a story. It’s the kind of book you'd proudly leave out at a party for guests to flip through while enjoying their drinks.

Some of the more adventurous ingredients—like eggs or yogurt—offer intriguing and distinctive flavor combinations that would make for memorable party additions.

Overall, this is an excellent resource for anyone looking to explore cocktail recipes without having to hunt them down individually. With its inviting layout, helpful guidance, and delightful commentary, this is the kind of recipe book that earns a long-term spot on the shelf.

The theming of this cocktail recipe book is so perfect, I loved the photography and the drink names. I did find that some of the ingredients I was unable to get hold of in my country such as the absinthe which was featured in quite a few cocktails but there was a large variety of spirits used across the book. I liked the mix of original cocktails and classics. I made the cocktail Hurricane and it might be my new favourite! I also loved the recipe for Painkiller and a super tasty Zombie. I also loved the inclusion of mocktails.

Spooky Cocktails has earned a spot in my bar. Besides spooky named and themed cocktails, McLafferty includes spooky history or references to a host of classic cocktails as well. Packed with tips and tricks for novice and experienced bartenders along with images of the concoctions in creepy dressing, every night can be a Spooky Cocktail (or Mocktail!) night.

Spooky Cocktails has mocktails!

Honestly, I really love having a collection of drink recipes, even if I and those I know aren’t exactly frequent drinkers. Having the knowledge on hand is simply incredibly useful and would be exciting to use upon hosting a Halloween party. And the mocktails are especially helpful for those who are sober, can’t drink due to medication, or my sister’s kiddos wanting something cool to drink.

I think the things I appreciated most about this book over the recipes themselves was the blurb at the beginning for how to fix a drink if it tastes too much like one thing and the conversion chart at the end. I’m not sure I’d get a ton of use out of it myself, but there are definitely a lot of people who would and it sure beats scrolling through google for ideas. The only thing I’d probably change about the book is the order of the pictures themselves; I think the recipe should be directly next to the picture for the drink and alternate picture/recipe rather than having two pictures and two recipes side by side. It was a little confusing, at least with the pdf format.

What a fun book for the holidays! I call the the holidays, because like me, so many love Halloween...so consider it a season.
I loved the cocktails, which didn't go too overboard, but stayed in the theme.
It was also great that they could be tailored for any season as well.

Thank you to Cider Mill Press and NetGalley for a digital ARC of this title in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

#NetGalley #SpookyCocktails #HalloweenPartyDrinks #ClairMcLafferty #CiderMillPress

I love the pictures, advice and cocktail recipes. This is definitely a book I would like to have on my shelf to browse and plan events with. Perfect for Halloween or any other spooky themed evening. I would highly recommend.

Spooky Cocktails was a fun read where I look forward to making the drinks featured in it. I enjoyed the informative quality of each recipe with possible variations on the drink and a short history if it was applicable. It was also nice to see a section for non-alcoholic drinks as well. Towards the end of the book, specifically the sections about punch and hot drinks, the focus on connecting the cocktails to spooky or horror topics seemed to drift a bit. It seems like a pretty solid line up of drinks and I look forward to making them in the future!

This book was mainly just classic recipes but with some sort of slight "twist" to be "spooky" and the photos were just classic cocktails on Halloween backgrounds. It's fun to read the blurbs but not worth it for a full book of spooky cocktails as advertised.

This book of spooky cocktails was pleasantly surprising. It had a ton of recipes that stayed on brand with the whole spooky season vibes. Loved the little intros to each and the pictures of the finished drinks. I did feel like some of the pictures looked very "hobby lobby" but still a great cocktail book to add to the collection.

This collection of drink recipes is a “scarily good” assortment. What I did very much enjoy was the blurbs that came along with the recipes. I am a fan of the paranormal so I very much enjoyed the Ghost Tours chapter and the background to some of the most haunted areas in the US. There are many fun facts throughout the book, one in particular I enjoyed seeing was for “Death in the Afternoon” which discusses the origins of absinthe which I personally learned about only because I was on a distillery tour and was able to try absinthe.
One thing to be aware of in advance is that quite a few of these drinks have ingredients that you most likely do not have in your kitchen. A trip to the store may be necessary to experiment with some of these delicious sounding spirits.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing this ARC. 

This book has a very cool cover and a concept that sounded great, but unfortunately it didn't deliver. 

I expected the book to have new and interested cocktail recipes, but instead it just includes classic cocktails photographed in front of a spooky background. Putting a margarita or an eggnog in front of Halloween decorations doesn't make them into spooky cocktails in my opinion.

The cocktail recipes are good, but simce they're literally just basic cocktails, you can find the same recipes anywhere else. 

The writing also felt pretty pretentious at times, which I wasn't a fan of. It also discouraged experimentation which in my opinion is always a bad sign for q recipe book. 

Might be what some people want, but it wasn't what I wanted it to be.

Great recipes, I can't wait to try them. The graphics were great. I would love a version for all of the different holidays