The Watchers Guide Buffy The Vampire Slayer (Paperback)

But the book serves novices and obsessive Buffy fans equally well. Each episode of the first two seasons gets a snappy yet learned summary, including a "Quote of the Week," a quick recap of each love entanglement and relationship switcheroo (and no soap opera is tanglier than Buffy), a "Pop-Culture IQ" guide (when Oz hunts for Buffy--who's been turned into a rat--that's Michael Jackson's "Ben" he's singing), countless pop-up balloons of fun facts (Buffy was turned into a rat in order to free up her schedule to host Saturday Night Live), and a catalog of "Buffy's Bag of Tricks"--her weapons, plus all the spells, chants, incantations, and previously incomprehensible rock-band lyrics on the show.

There's way more than we can list here. Not only do we get an ample sample of dialogue nearly as clever as Seinfeld's, there are scenes from the original scripts that were cut for length and cast interviews. Every single vampire, demon, witch, zombie, mummy, werewolf, shape shifter, ghost, reanimated cadaver, invisible killer, prehistoric parasite, monster puppet, and psychotic robot on Buffy's acrobatic dance card gets its due.

Get this book, then send one as a gift. Friends don't let friends miss out on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Exclusive Interviews, Totally Pointy Profiles, Behind-the-Scenes Info, and Other Buff-stuff About the Hit Show.

Sarah Michelle Gellar, David Boreanaz, Nicholas Brendon, Charisma Carpenter, Seth Green, Alyson Hannigan, Anthony Stewart Head, James Marsters, Juliet Landau, Mark Metcalf, Robia La Morte, Armin Shimerman, Joss Whedon, and more!

Love Bytes: Boy meets Girl, Girl meets Monster: does anyone live?

A Walking Tour of Sunnydale's Hot Spots (both of them)

The Slayer Handbook (according to Buffy Summers)

Character Guide -- who knew what and when?

Monster Guide -- vampires vs. Bezoars: who's deadlier?

Special Guest Stars -- John Ritter?!

Playlist -- what song did Buffy and Xander slow dance to?

Don't Try This at Home -- an interview with the show's stunt coordinator!

Bonus! Never-filmed dialogue from the original scripts!

Never-seen, behind-the-scenes photos -- Seth Green in makeup, Xander's closet, those icky fish guys!

The Monsters, The Mythology, The Villains, The Victims, The Fashion

Don't be caught dead without The Watcher's Guide.