Rating: 
Summary: Respect For Samhain While Celebrating Halloween Fun
Review: This book combines excellent scholarship with creativity and a joyful sense of fun. It explores the popular holiday of Halloween as well as the more serious and spiritual side of the pagan sabbat Samhain. You don't have to be a pagan to enjoy this book because it has many, many lighthearted and clever ideas that will entertain even if Halloween is purely a fun night of make-believe for you. Fortunately it takes Samhain seriously enough to be satisfactory to pagans who require a bit more substance in this holiday's revels. Interspersed with seasonal artwork the book starts out with a thorough look at Samhain and Halloween history. Customs and traditions such as Jack-o-lanterns, trick-or-treating, bonfires, among others are discussed. Superstitions and many Halloween symbols are detailed. The chapter on divination is informative and lots of fun. Colorful kitchen witchery offers up some delicious recipes that are wonderful for parties or just for seasonal family fare. A meaningful and enjoyable section on Halloween Magick shares ideas for spells, blessings, charms, and ritual. An important aspect of Samhain, that of honoring the dead, is discussed with helpful ideas for adding meaning and respectful reflection. Many delightful poems from various sources grace the opening chapter pages and they in turn can be used when crafting one's own sabbat rituals.
This book does not tippy-toe around and pretend to be a book that won't offend anyone. It is a book by a Wiccan for other Wiccans but as always, the door is open, step through and enjoy as you will.
Rating: 
Summary: Fun for planning a Samhain celebration
Review: This is a fun book but nothing to take too seriously. There are a lot of games, spells and other assorted crafts that are perfect for little ones. My favorite section to read were the recipes (specifically the desserts) that come with their own cute little enchantments.
Although, a slight caveat is coming here. The recipe for Candied Love Apples features a big oopsie & makes me wonder if the author ever tried to make these herself. It says to place all of the various sugars in a pan on medium heat for 8-10 mins and then begin dipping the apples. Uh, uh. Doesn't work. Trust me on this. Try more like 20-30 mins of continued boiling (and NO stirring which the author also doesn't mention). It also would've helped to have a tip or two about using a candy thermometer to test for doneness or at the least a mention of using the old drop in cold water and it's done when you see threads trick. Also a word of warning: WEAR SOCKS AND SHOES AT ALL COSTS. I make candles and should've known better but I'm also blonde and tend to forget these things. No bare feet, no pretty little open toed sandals. They do not mix with this recipe. I discovered the hard way that hot candy dropped on bare toesies hurts for weeks. You've been warned.
As for me, I don't know if I'm brave enough to attempt another of Silver's recipes but the games appear fun . . .
Rating:
Summary: Halloween from a witches viewpoint!
Review: This is a very good book for those who need to learn more about the various Sabbats. I hope Silver will write aout some of the others as well. As always Silver does her research well and this book is no different, she offers plenty of information about the history of the Craft and the holiday itself. Is it slanted in "our direction"? Probably a bit, but that's okay, we deserve a small break. The has seven chapters, is filled with lots of "fun stuff", great recipes, and interesting tidbits of information. she does her best to dispell misconceptions about the Craft, although I doubt that this book will be read by "those folks." It will be read by thousands of young folks and people who have open minds and are seeking information. They won't be disappointed! Silver RavenWolf is one of our strongest writers and a true advocate for women and spiritual activism. I am a friend and a fan of Silver's and I consider her contributions to this world to be of real importance. She gets people to think, to act, and to be the best that they can be!
Rating:
Summary: Just Good Fun
Review: When I purchased this book, I didn't expect it to be a scholarly work. I've run into too many "fluffy" books by Llewellyn (publisher), and while I've never read any of Silver Ravenwolf's work, those that I respect have considered her work to be superficial as well. So my expectations were that this would be a fun and fluffy book...and it is! This book's format follows the same as "Yule", another "Sabbat Series" book that I've purchased. The first three chapters cover history, customs, symbols and trivia. As with "Yule", the focus is more on modern Halloween rather than Samhain. At least this book was given an honest title. Again, expectations play a major part in opinions. The rest of the book is all about fun, in my opinion. The chapter on Halloween Divinations reminded me a lot of childhood days with a Ouija board...no serious divination going on here, just party fun. The chapter on Halloween Magick was pretty light and fluffy as well but I found it fun to use with my kids. The last chapter on honoring the dead can't exactly be called "fun" but it was similar in nature to the others. My favorite part of the book was the chapter on recipes. It's totally true that there are multiple recipes on apples, pumpkins and such (as one reviewer noted). These are all the mainstream favorites for the season...candy apples, pumpkin pie, caramel corn, apple cider, etc. Nothing new here but I still enjoyed having it all in one place since we throw a kids Halloween party every year. For more serious recipes for *Samhain*, I recommend "Witch in the Kitchen: Magical Cooking for All Seasons" by Cait Johnson. Johnson provides earthy, warm recipes for Samhain and other times of the year. So, all in all, a fun book for our family for *Halloween*. For a more serious approach of *Samhain*, we look to other texts.
Rating:
Summary: Just Good Fun
Review: When I purchased this book, I didn't expect it to be a scholarly work. I've run into too many "fluffy" books by Llewellyn (publisher), and while I've never read any of Silver Ravenwolf's work, those that I respect have considered her work to be superficial as well. So my expectations were that this would be a fun and fluffy book...and it is! This book's format follows the same as "Yule", another "Sabbat Series" book that I've purchased. The first three chapters cover history, customs, symbols and trivia. As with "Yule", the focus is more on modern Halloween rather than Samhain. At least this book was given an honest title. Again, expectations play a major part in opinions. The rest of the book is all about fun, in my opinion. The chapter on Halloween Divinations reminded me a lot of childhood days with a Ouija board...no serious divination going on here, just party fun. The chapter on Halloween Magick was pretty light and fluffy as well but I found it fun to use with my kids. The last chapter on honoring the dead can't exactly be called "fun" but it was similar in nature to the others. My favorite part of the book was the chapter on recipes. It's totally true that there are multiple recipes on apples, pumpkins and such (as one reviewer noted). These are all the mainstream favorites for the season...candy apples, pumpkin pie, caramel corn, apple cider, etc. Nothing new here but I still enjoyed having it all in one place since we throw a kids Halloween party every year. For more serious recipes for *Samhain*, I recommend "Witch in the Kitchen: Magical Cooking for All Seasons" by Cait Johnson. Johnson provides earthy, warm recipes for Samhain and other times of the year. So, all in all, a fun book for our family for *Halloween*. For a more serious approach of *Samhain*, we look to other texts.
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