Conventional electron microscopy operates with flat electron wave fronts. Employing attenuative or electrostatic phase plates allows transversally modulating the wave front, enhancing cross-sections of particular scattering channels. Utilization of light from coherent ultrafast sources allows modulating electrons phase both transversally and longitudinally. This results in a plethora of phenomena, as well as conceptually new techniques such as non-local electron holography of light fields and generation of ultrafast electron vortex beams, which we present in this contribution.