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Pumpkin Cinema Book Review

If “Pumpkin Cinema” doesn’t get you in the Halloween spirit, I don’t know what will.

Seeing as how it is the night before Halloween, it seems only fitting to be reviewing “Pumpkin Cinema.” While books devoted to horror films are fairly commonplace these days, this hardcover book (which also goes by the title “Pumpkin Cinema: The Best Movies for Halloween”) stands out in that it is very much a love letter to both the Halloween season AND horror films

Written by Nathaniel Tolle, “Pumpkin Cinema” is primarily comprised of reviews (and plot summaries) of hundreds of film and TV recommendations that evoke the spirit of the October holiday. This well rounded book covers horror comedies (like “Army of Darkness” and “Ghostbusters”), overlooked gems (“The American Scream” and “Psychoville”), horror anthology films (“Creepshow” and “Trick ‘r Treat”), classics (“Frankenstein”), cartoons and animated features (“The Nightmare Before Christmas,” “It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”), family films (“Hocus Pocus” and “Ernest Scared Stupid”), the usual list of masterpieces (such as “Evil Dead” and “Dawn of the Dead”), iconic franchises (“Friday The 13^th,” “Halloween,” and “Nightmare on Elm Street”), bad movie classics (“Troll 2”) and even episodes from TV series like “The Adams Family,” “Are You Afraid of the Dark?,” and “Tales From The Darkside.”

As I mentioned before, horror film books (and film list books for that matter) are nothing new, but if you’re a film/TV junkie like me, you just can’t get enough of them. Having read several this year already, “Pumpkin Cinema” is the best if not the best I have encountered in 2014. Not only does Tolle know his stuff, but his enthusiasm for horror is downright infectious. Between his themed top 5 lists and his appreciation of horror anthology films to the “Leprechaun 3” shout-out and his introduction, “Pumpkin Cinema” is a reminder of why I love horror media and Halloween.

Overall Thoughts: Despite the lack of an index, “Pumpkin Cinema” is a must read book for anyone with an interest in horror cinema and television.

October 30, 2014 - Posted by nicklyons1 | Book review | Friday The 13th Films, Halloween Films, Horror Films, Nightmare On Elm Street Films, Pumpkin Cinema Book Review, Pumpkin Cinema: The Best Movies For Halloween Book