The Essential Supernatural [Revised and Updated Edition]: On the Road with Sam and Dean Winchester Hardcover – October 28, 2014

I don't want to re-hash what many others have written here, but this book is amazing. I'm a professional bookbinder (fineblankbooks.com) and I make entirely handmade books custom-made to my customers specifications, so it's kinda hard to impress me with a mass-produced book. This one completely impressed me; both as a beautiful book/object and as someone with a probably slightly over-the-top love for this show. I've watched this show since episode 1 and feel I pretty much know it inside and out and this book has so much great info. in it! It's NOT just a book full of beautiful photos of Jared & Jensen (though it has plenty of those too). My favorite parts are the sections that deal with the behind-the scenes stuff and I especially can't wait to read the section about what goes into the creation of the hotel room sets (I've always been a bit fascinated with how they came up with the distinctive look to the hotel rooms which is definitely unique to this show).You've already read (in the other reviews here) about all the stuff that comes with the book that you can pull out. That's all very cool (though when I received the book, the envelope of posters of the Chuck Shurley book covers had already pulled off the page in transit and taken some of the image with it...luckily, I can do book repair! But it's bad for a book - bad for the binding - to have something that thick shoved into it and I'll probably re-attach the envelope to the page, but leave the folded posters out of it when it's stored; just keep them near it instead of in it).From a bookbinder's perspective, this book is actually SEWN together (in folded sections called "signatures") which is a rarity anymore (often, even large coffee-table books that are mass-produced are glued together instead of sewn). This allows the book to lay open flat and is really the best way to make a book. There's nothing I hate more than paying a lot for a book only to get it and find out it was cheaply assembled. This one was not. (And it helped that Amazon's price on this book was $37 when I ordered it instead of the $50 sticker price; though it's worth $50, in my opinion!). There is a lot of attention to detail in the look and content of this book.I mentioned that it was bad for the binding to have stuff attached to the pages (it adds thickness to the book that puts stress on the spine over time), HOWEVER, with the exception of the thick packet of Chuck Shurley posters, the other things that are attached to the pages are spread around; attached in different places on different pages (they aren't all attached to the center of the pages, for example) and if you're going to attach things to the pages, this is the RIGHT way to do it! It means that no one area of the book ends up with excess thickness...this is the kind of attention to details I'm talking about...someone who designed it knew what they were doing!The only negative comment as far as the binding of this book goes is that it seems that the publisher left out the step of adding backing cloth which reinforces the area where the cover "hinges" open. Publishers often skip this step to save money, but it means that the only thing holding the book into the cover are the endpapers glued to the inside of the front & back covers. It's slightly disappointing to see that they skipped this step with they put so much thought into everything else, but it's more important that the book is sewn together than that they skipped the backing cloth, in my opinion.I recommend, if you are a fan of Supernatural, that you should purchase this book immediately while it's still widely available. It's so much more than a book full of glossy photos. Awesome (as Dean would say)!

I received this item on the promised delivery date. It is a very nice coffee table book with lots of extras (book covers, post cards, BTS pics) that covers seasons 1 through 7. While I am a fan of the Winchester brothers, I must admit that I cannot stand Castiel. He was introduced in season 4. Having him around changes the dynamic of the show, and not for the better. Where before there was badass Winchester action on hunts, road trips, brotherly hurt/comfort and scenes of the brothers researching their supernatural quarry before they actually hunt, with bird butt around there is none of that. He heals them, transports them to wherever they want to go, protects them in fights. Usually when this pigeon is around the brothers' IQs drop 50 points in order to make this new premise work. Depending on who you listen to, he's either a fan favorite or the ruination of the show. Naturally, I vote for the second option.Despite his presence I enjoyed this book and I don't regret buying it. Most of it is, thankfully, devoted to Sam and Dean. I mention cassbutt only because I know there are others out here who can't stand him and who might let that stop them from buying this book.To his minions? Don't bother flaming me about this. I'll laugh at you. And don't complain about what I said. This is my review and I can say anything I want to within Amazon's review guidelines.This volume is filled with information about the beloved Impala, the other props on the show, the supporting cast and the various types of fuglies the Winchesters hunt. I do wish there had been more on Jeffrey Dean Morgan and the late Kim Manners. Mr. Manners gets a one page tribute. That was nice, but the man deserves more than just one page. Mr. Morgan gets none. There are photos of him portraying John Winchester.I do hope that there will be a follow-up for seasons 8 through 10. I'd be especially interested in purchasing such a book with the Demon Dean story arc coming up.The one physical flaw of this book? The binding is rather weak, too weak to support that many pages, especially if this book is paged through too many times. When the binding finally gives way better have some long, strong rubber bands ready.

This arrived today and i'm not sure what I was expecting but this was more than I could have asked for.It is sizeable with excellent quality colour photos, something the season companions are lacking. There are season guides, episode list, cast input, behind the scenes a plenty, graphics from episodes and lots of little extras that just make this book superb.It really is stunning and worth every penny.Only thing is it does talk about the entire 1-7 seasons generally and only being half way through season 6 I skipped over any spoiler bits as best I could.

seriously? THis book is just amazing. I cant stop reading it, touching it, looking at it - take off the cover that means... :Dthe introduction by Kripke himself makes you feel really stupidly proud that you bought that book, but you have to smile. the way the book goes deeper into the matter is great, all those 'useless' props added turn out to be quite lovely - but do not take them out, it wont work! It is perfect material to be signed by the actors, hehe...however, it is very unfortunate that they end after season 7... - but fair enough, why would they include three more not released seasons there, right?

If you like Supernatural you'll love this. It would make a lovely gift for a Supernatural fan. Although it's a bit pricey I think it's worth every penny as it's a well-produced book - just take off the cover and look at the outside - beautiful. It has lots of little extras inside, such as postcards, stickers, posters, etc and I doubt you'll get these if you buy 2nd hand. And as its done by Knight and Kripke you know you're getting the genuine article. Only if you've got all the companions might you think it not worth the money (although the colour pictures and the general information should more than make up for this).

A great looking book, beautifully designed and with interesting tid-bits scattered throughout. I particularly liked the interview with Kripke, it was nice to hear his take of things now that he is no longer the show-runner. There wasn't really anything in here I didn't already know (though a couple of creatures I had forgot, which were described in good level of detail). The pictures, detail of layout, and descriptions were great and made this a satisfying purchase - though, I would also say this is a book written for the fans of the show, not really the casual viewer.

It is a little expensive but when you see the size of the book and the contents it is well worth the money. I absolutely adore this book, it is crammed with information on every season and the characters, the Impala, the guns, every little detail a Supernatural fan should need. It even has some brilliant posters inside and postcard sized pictures of Jensen and Jared that you can pull out but I prefer to keep in as well as stickers and more little accessories that make exploring each page even more exciting. If you're a Supernatural fan this is definitely ESSENTIAL!