This was my first time placing an order with Night Worms and I want to start off by saying...I am very much not a fan of subscription boxes. I subscribed to Boxycharm, received a bunch of things I knew I would never use and cancelled after a month because I realized I could use the money I was spending to purchase 5 products I didn't even like, on an item I actually wanted.
So why did I decide to give Night Worms a chance? One day, I just happened to remember the Scholastic Book Club flyer we used to get in elementary school and there was a subscription you could get through them that I believe was either exclusively R. L. Stine books or it was a horror subscription that included a lot of R. L. Stine books. Either way, you would get a horror book every month, with a few fun extras to go along with it. I loved it. I went to Google and searched to see if, 500 years later, it still existed, but it does not. (Seriously, R. L. Stine should start a subscription box with his books.) So, I decided to go with the more grown-up version and give Night Worms a try, after over a year of going back and forth with myself about it. (I did do a bit of searching beforehand and found out that at least one of the books was a short story collection, which meant there was a good chance that there would be something I enjoyed in there.)
Let's talk about what Night Worms actually is. It is a monthly horror subscription and you will receive two books with some extras thrown in. (You'll see examples of those extras further down in this post.) Essentially, it's a horror book club, not your typical subscription box. Each month has a specific theme and the books you receive aren't random, everyone receives the same items (and there will be hints about which books are in each month's box so you're not completely in the dark). The extra items aren't useless things that will sit around collecting dust either, which is nice. There are enough things collecting dust in my room as it is. I'm not sure how book subscription boxes normally work, but I do know with a lot of popular beauty subscription boxes, the value of the box is usually at least "double" the price you pay for it. (Is it really double if the makeup you receive is on sale and can be found at TJ Maxx for a fraction of the price?) Night Worms probably is worth more than what you're paying for it, when you include the extra items. The June box costs $39.99 (if you subscribe monthly, you'll receive a discount) before shipping, and shipping was $8.45, bringing my total to $48.44 before using their code (TAKE5) for $5 off my first order. It's pretty pricey, but if the books are fun, I really don't mind paying that price. It seems like a lot of love goes into these packages.
So, what's in this month's "Darkest Fears" box? (Spoilers ahead.)
The books for this month are Beneath a Pale Sky by Philip Fracassi and Goblin by Josh Malerman. I've never read anything by either of these authors, but I have seen Bird Box...I know, I know, it's not the same as reading the book. I am excited to read both of these books though (and I'll be back with review of them in a couple weeks, hopefully). Goblin is currently available to purchase, but Beneath a Pale Sky hasn't been released yet, so that's another bonus of subscribing to Night Worms, you can receive advanced copies of upcoming horror novels. These are both story collections, although Goblin is a collection of stories that are part of a larger story. Like I said earlier, a lot of the reason I bought this month's box is because I knew there would be a short story collection and I felt like it would increase my chances of enjoying these books. When you're purchasing something without actually knowing what it is, there's always the risk, like I've already said, of not liking it. A short story collection usually has something for everyone. That being said, now that both books are in my possession and I know what they are, they sound really interesting.
How about the extras?
As you can see, there's a lot included here. You get some promotional materials for upcoming horror novels, signed book plates from Philip Fracassi and Josh Malerman, a bookmark with this month's theme on it, a really cute sticker with ghosts inside a mason jar...And then. There's tea. I don't drink tea, the last time I drank tea was like, 6 years ago when my ex brought me tea at work because I wasn't feeling well. This does sound good though, it's peach/apricot green tea, so I'll definitely try it. You also receive a soundtrack to Carpenter's Farm, a serialized novel by Josh Malerman. Does anyone else not own a CD player? I own CDs, I still buy CDs. But I don't actually own a CD player. My PC doesn't even have a disk drive. So I'll need to find a way to listen to this.
Overall, I think my first Night Worms package was really fun. Would I subscribe monthly? No. Here's why. I have no room for any more books. I recently bought a Kindle, even though I hate ebooks, because I knew I could not fit one more book on my shelves or in my closet. (And then I bought 13 more books anyway.) I need to be very selective about what I buy now because I have nowhere to put it, which means it will sit on my desk until the end of time. Would I order again based on the theme for that month? Absolutely. If they have a theme I'm very interested in, I won't even hesitate to order it. This is exactly what I was hoping it would be, an adult version of that Scholastic horror subscription from when I was a kid.
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