Beautiful Madness Book Case Review + Coupon- Chapter Five

Beautiful Madness Book Case is a brand new subscription service for bibliophiles! Each month they send one book along with two to three items that compliment the theme of the box, plus a drink and a snack.

This box was sent to us for review purposes. (Check out our review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)

The Subscription Box: Beautiful Madness Book Case

The Cost: (new pricing update) $39 a month, $114 for a 3-month prepay subscription and $222 for a 6-month prepay subscription. Shipping varies by address and Tennessee residents will be charged sales tax

COUPON: Use code SIMPLYMAD to save $4 off your first box!

The Products: One handpicked book, a snack and a make-able drink, (think coffee, tea, hot cocoa), and two to three bookish items that round out the theme for that month

Ships to: U.S., Canada, and the UK

Check out all of our Beautiful Madness Book Case reviews the Book Subscription Box Directory!

Keep Track of Your Subscriptions: Add this box to your subscription list or wishlist!

This is the fifth box from Beautiful Madness, and the theme is “It Was a Dark & Stormy Box.”  It’s definitely that time of year!  This list was included, detailing the contents of this month’s package.  Above that is the standard bookmark they send every month.

This is the back of the info card.

A Season With the Witch by J.W. Ocker – Value $13.89

[https://www.amazon.com/Season-Witch-Mayhem-Halloween-Massachusetts/dp/1581573391]

This book is all about Halloween in Salem, Massachusetts, home to the infamous Salem Witch Trials of 1692.  I have been there before, but never during Halloween.  I bet it’s wild! From Amazon:

Salem, Massachusetts, may be the strangest city on the planet. A single event in its 400 years of history?the Salem Witch Trials of 1692?transformed it into the Capital of Creepy in America. But Salem is a seasonal town?and its season happens to be Halloween. Every October, this small city of 40,000 swells to more than a quarter million as witches, goblins, ghouls, and ghosts (and their admirers) descend on Essex Street. For the fall of 2015, occult enthusiast and Edgar Award-winning writer J.W. Ocker moved his family of four to downtown Salem to experience firsthand a season with the witch, visiting all of its historical sites and macabre attractions. In between, he interviews its leaders and citizens, its entrepreneurs and visitors, its street performers and Wiccans, its psychics and critics, creating a picture of this unique place and the people who revel in, or merely weather, its witchiness.

The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury – Value $5.39  [https://www.amazon.com/Halloween-Tree-Ray-Bradbury/dp/0375803017]

My favorite kind of month is DOUBLE BOOK MONTH!  I love it!  I also have been a fan of science fiction writer Ray Bradbury for a long time now, and I’m so pleased to get another great read from him.  From Amazon:

“A fast-moving, eerie…tale set on Halloween night. Eight costumed boys running to meet their friend Pipkin at the haunted house outside town encounter instead the huge and cadaverous Mr. Moundshroud. As Pipkin scrambles to join them, he is swept away by a dark Something, and Moundshroud leads the boys on the tail of a kite through time and space to search the past for their friend and the meaning of Halloween. After witnessing a funeral procession in ancient Egypt, cavemen discovering fire, Druid rites, the persecution of witches in the Dark Ages, and the gargoyles of Notre Dame, they catch up with the elusive Pipkin in the catacombs of Mexico, where each boy gives one year from the end of his life to save Pipkin’s. Enhanced by appropriately haunting black-and-white drawings.”–Booklist

Monster Socks by Gumball Poodle – Value $11

[http://www.gumballpoodle.com/products/monster]

They’re alive!  My husband is super jealous of these socks.  I plan to get an insane amount of use from them in the next few days!

Halloween Mini Figurine by Enesco – Value $10.56  [https://www.amazon.com/Enesco-Halloween-Yacula-Figurine-1-5-Inch/dp/B00SLHDL32]

This cute little guy is not even two inches tall!  I’m afraid he will get demolished in my house, so I think I will pass him on to my Mom.

Beautiful Madness sent a packet of fun extras this month!  There’s a guide to Salem Halloween events, a signed book plate by author J.W. Ocker, erasers, stickers, and a couple of promotional bookmarks for scary books!  Fun!

Mulling Spices by Knudsen – Value about $0.50  [https://www.amazon.com/R-W-Knudsen-Organic-25-Count-1-75-Ounce/dp/B004SI6MYI?th=1]

This is actually a clever drink for the month!  Well done, Beautiful Madness!  They are tea bags filled with mulling spices, so you can heat apple cider and add the spice bags to individual cups.  Or wine.  I’m just saying.

Treats! – Value about $3

Yum!  I added these to our outbound candy bowl for Halloween night.

Verdict: Beautiful Madness Book Case has become one of my favorite subscription boxes!  Especially when it’s DOUBLE BOOK MONTH!  I think they did an excellent job curating around the theme this month, and so far they seem to pull it off beautifully every month.  The value this month comes to about $45, but I didn’t list values for all the extras they included, so I’m sure it more than clears the $46.50 cost of the box.  Plus the signed bookplate!  That’s so awesome!

What do you think of Beautiful Madness Book Case?