JULY NIGHTWORMS BOX

It finally happened...I ordered and received a Nightworms box!!!!!  When I received the text that my first Night Worms box arrived, I did a happy dance. I thought no one was watching. My lunch buddy caught me in action and asked what happened. I told him all about the Nightworms box and my Twitter crush on Mother Horror. He said he had never seen anyone get excited about books before. I told him that this will change fast if he keeps hanging out with me.


For those of you who do not know what Nightworms is, it is a monthly curated horror book club box. One of the reasons why I had been so excited about it is because while it has some fun swag like magnets and bookmarks, the focus is on the books that are in there, not the other items. Unlike many companies that have a monthly service Nightworms gives you the opportunity to order only one box which was very appealing to me as well as I am attempting to slow down my book accumulation habits.


I love that the focus is on horror novels, because I have fallen into horror being my biggest literary focus. Earlier this year I cancelled my Book of the Month subscription because most of the titles there were the kind of titles that I would enjoy reading...but then I would be happy to sell the books or give them to a friend after I read them. But horror is my favorite genre to collect. While Nightworms is more expensive I realized that it was worth it to me to save money for since it focuses on the kinds of books I want in my personal library.

I spent $45 on the box...while is more than I usually spend on any bookish excursion. Coming into a full time job after being underemployed for so long I really am committed to saving as much money as I can as life has constantly reminded that economic security can be shattered pretty quickly. However the two things that I really wanted the most when I got my first paycheck from my new job were sandals from the Walking Company and a Night Worms box.

The day I got the message that this box arrived I literally ran across the Mississippi River to my apartment to open the package. I was like a kid on Christmas day.

I was THRILLED with the selections that I received in my package!

The first book that I read right away was The Saturday Night Ghost Club. I had been highly anticipating this book since I saw Mother Horror post about this book on Twitter a year ago. Originally I had pre-ordered it on amazon but I cancelled that order right away when I saw that Nightworms was including it in the July package. And Night Worms provided something extra that I wouldn't find anywhere else...a signed bookplate by the author! Night Worms is good at divulging what will be in their packages which is another thing that I really appreciate. With all of the authors and book reviewers I follow on Twitter I often hear about books that I will want to buy and/or review...so sometimes book surprises are not always a good thing for me. I really appreciate the transparency that this company has because it allowed me to wait until they had selections that I was excited about and not purchasing items that I may already own.

When I read Saturday Night Ghost Club my only critique was that it was too short. It had the perfect combination of 80s nostalgia, coming of age themes and a spooky adventure that I needed so badly after being in withdrawal after finishing Stranger Things Season 3.

The other book I received was Hug Chickenpenny. I really enjoyed this story of an anomalous child being adopted and navigating the world feeling like an outsider. I realized this was not the type of book I may have picked up as quickly on my own and I appreciate that having this in my Nightworms package helped the book get first place in my massive TBR pile. That is the beauty of having people whose tastes in books that I trust be choosing the books that I received in the box.

The other fun item that I received in the package was the July issue of Fangoria magazine. I learned that part of the reason that people loved Fangoria is that before the internet that is how a lot of people discovered horror in their youth. Personally I did not discover horror until later in life. My marriage and my Twitter account are the places that have nurtured my interest in horror. I was a very bookish child and consider myself lucky that my parents had degrees in literature and made the commitment to surround me with books and to nurture my commitment to the arts. However exposure to horror was not a part of my upbringing. So Fangoria was not a shout out to my youth the way it is for many people.

Still, the issue of Fangoria was a treat! Before the internet was the place to find everything I used to love having a variety of magazines around my home.  Moving those tastes to the internet helped with decreasing clutter and saving money. However feeling glossy, beautiful pages with images from horror movies in my hand is a luxurious feeling that I miss from using electronic devices.  I've seen a lot of the newer horror movies that were covered in this issue-Midsommer, the new Child's Play and Anna Comes Home. I also really enjoyed reading about movies that I have yet to discover. Like many treats, it is not the kind of thing that I would justify purchasing on a regular basis but it feels special when I am able to do it.

I loved the reading material in this box quite a bit. But I also enjoyed the swag quite a bit too. My favorite swag item was a wooden bookmark with a vampire and coffin engraved on it. My macabre sense of humor kicked in when I decided to pair it with my meditative read on Forest Bathing.

I really sing praises of my first Nightworms box quite a bit. I also have to give a shout out to their excellent customer service. I noticed that a magnet that had been advertised as being in the box was missing. I reached out to them and let them know that I didn't receive it. They sent the missing magnet out to me promptly!

Would I do this again??? I acknowledge that the service isn't cheap but I do have to consider that a lot of the books that they are choosing to feature are books that I would be buying on my own.  I also take into consideration that I prefer to support independent book businesses when I am able to. I already have orders for the August Summer Vacation box and decided to do an official subscription for the September box so that I do not miss out any of the fun that they might have for October. I also take into consideration that this was an  aspirational purchases for me. Only a few months ago I was broke and rarely justified the cost of brand new books. Now that I am working full time again having a day when I can come home to the excitement of a highly anticipated package is the type of thing that can keep me motivated during the work day. It makes sense for me right now.