Spooky Box Club: Spooky Stationary Box [Subscription Box Review]

Introduction:

Thanks to a devastating disaster involving my phone, I lost all the pictures I had taken of the Elegant Fripperies, Memento Mori, Gothic Globetrotter and Sweet Nightmares boxes for review. I am absolutely gutted about the loss of the images, especially for the Gothic Globe Trotter and Sweet Nightmares boxes. They were absolutely amazing and filled with incredibly useful, beautiful and unique products. So, I have hyperlinked each of the boxes mentioned above so as you can head over to the Spooky Box Club site yourself and see all the fantastic goodies the boxes are filled with – many of the boxes are still available for individual purchase. Before I venture into the Spooky Stationary Box review, I would like to note that I think that with each Spooky Box theme that goes by, the contents of each Spooky Box get better and better. Now, onto the Spooky Stationary Box!

Where do I start with this box? I guess I’ll start with the fact that on a base level a stationary box is right up my street. As some of my previous reviews will have made you aware of by now, as a writer I absolutely love stationary. As such, the second the Spooky Box Club posted on their Instagram that an upcoming box was dedicated to all things stationary and spooky I nearly pee’d myself with excitement. The box did not disappoint. Usually when I open a subscription box there is at least one item I am not fussed about. But I loved everything in the Spooky Stationary Box, especially the pencils which fell in line with my dry sense of humour. The contents were worth far more than the price I paid for the box both in terms of monetary and personal enjoyment value.

General House-Keeping:

The Spooky Box Club is a UK based subscription service providing their customers with an exclusive range of ‘alternative lifestyle goods with an emphasis on cute, witchy, gothic, interests and styles.’

As each box contains 8+ items made by various manufacturers, it can take 8 to 12 weeks from your initial payment until you receive your first box. After this initial delay, the boxes generally arrive consecutively each month. However, sometimes boxes can take a little longer to dispatch and receive. This delay is due to the fact that items collated for each themed box are custom made specifically for the Spooky Boxes and as such, the Spooky Box Club depend on the various independent manufacturers to finish creating the custom pieces. Due to the aforementioned box time periods, the Spooky Box Club do not offer specific dispatch dates for their boxes. Instead a countdown timer is offered on their website which gives an estimated shipping date. However, the boxes are definitely worth the wait!

Currently, the Spooky Box Club operates a subscription and a pre-order service. The purpose of the pre-order service is to allow customers the option to ‘skip’ a box where the theme does not take their fancy. Consequently, this removes the hassle of rotating between subscribing and unsubscribing to avoid receipt of certain boxes. For me, I just keep the subscription rolling on, as there is usually something I love in each box.

The monthly cost of the box is £21 plus £3.98 UK delivery. International delivery is charged at £14.50. Boxes can be purchased by clicking on the ‘subscription’ and ‘pre-order’ links, above. Prices are the same regardless of whether you subscribe or pre-order your boxes. In addition, the company donate a percentage of each box sold to charity.

The Spooky Stationary Box can be purchased here.

The Box Itself:

Spooky Boxes have a different theme each month, for example the theme that follows the Spooky Stationary Box is the Witches Cottage box.

The Spooky Stationary Box contained: a ‘Witch Crafting’ handmade pencil case; plain black coffin notebook; 5 Spooky, black pencils embossed with creepy sayings; set of three embroidered and handmade felt page markers in pumpkin, skull and bat designs; a pin; a bone shaped pen; bone shaped paperclips; a wooden bone shaped ruler and a black lollipop. NB: as per usual, I ate the lollipop before I got to the taking pictures stage – sorry! They are just too damn tasty.

All of the above items were custom made for the Spooky Stationary Box.

Embossed Pencils:

Holy moly, these are amazing. As soon as I saw them and their hilarious creepy messages I burst out laughing. They are so me and my dry and strange sense of humour. I mean, there is no better give for me and my gothic side. I posted an image of them on my Instagram story immediately (pictured below).

Black Coffin Notebook and Handmade Felt Page Markers:

These were another win for me. The notebook is exquisite, with its soft exterior and its purple lined hard cover you can just feel the detail in its craftsmanship. Once I fill up my current blogging notebook this shall be the next notebook to scribble down my mis-matched, messy thoughts and opinions (think traditional messy academic surrounded by books and random papers and that is me).

Next, the page markers. They are very detailed and remind me of a much cooler version of Fuzzy Felts. They are awesome and the little bat is so, so cute. I put him to good use straight away. He is currently holding my last read page on my latest read; ‘One Dark Throne’ aka a sequel I had long waited for.

Bone Shaped Pen and Pin:

I was so excited when I saw the pen. Under the stationary umbrella, for me, funky and random shaped pens are a must. This pen writes beautifully too. And the pin, what can I say? It was attached to my faux leather bomber jacket alongside its Spooky Box Club pin comrades. Just awesome.

Ruler and Paperclips:

The paperclips are amazing, as I am forever writing notes for university I find paperclips incredibly useful and these little guys blow their regular, uninteresting counterparts out the water. I say writing notes, but it more a series of random ideas written across various bits of paper that later need comprised into some sort of coherent document. This is the reason I find paperclips so useful and these bone shaped little ‘uns have made a miserably messy re-organisation process a little more chipper.

The ruler is super cute and although I have not used a ruler in years I am definitely going to put this cutie to good use.

The Pencil Case:

I really like this pencil case. Pencil cases also fall within my love of stationary items. This pencil case is large and feels of excellent quality. I love that its badge is made of vegan leather. This, to me, add to the value of its inclusion into the Spooky Stationary Box.

Conclusion:

Yet again, the Spooky Box Club has exceeded my expectations. Everything within the box was perfect and useful in nature. I love the fact that I have a whole host of one-of-a-kind goodies that I can use for uni, as well as scribbling down ideas for blog posts and other randomness.

The Spooky Box Club is 100% perfect for fans of the alternative/gothic scenes, as well as those who enjoy filling their home with non-generic handmade goodies.

Due to the fact that all items are custom made for Spooky Box Club boxes, monetary values are difficult to decipher. However, based on the exclusive, high quality and handcrafted nature of the products given, I highly recommend the Spooky Box Club as providers of excellent value for money. This confident assertion is despite the fact that I am aware that estimating the value of Spooky Box Club boxes is purely subjective.

As stated previously, there can be a long wait between making your initial payment and receiving your first box. So, if you like to know precise shipping dates and seek a speedy dispatch after purchase, the Spooky Box Club may not be for you. I personally do not mind waiting for my box, as the items inside are so unique and well-crafted that I find the box is worth waiting for.

Do you subscribe to Spooky Box Club? How do you think Spooky Box Club compares to other gothic/alternative subscription services? I would love to hear your thoughts, as well as any recommendations for other alternative/gothic boxes.