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{Samhain Review} Sacred Space Crate: The Gold Standard For Witchy Subscription Boxes

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Let’s talk about subscription boxes. You can get one for just about any product and or genre under the sun and brings immense joy to those of us who await it’s monthly arrival as it seems like Christmas once a month- which in itself is totally worth all the joy. For those who practice the craft of nature’s infinite knowledge and spell casting, Sacred Space Crate might just be the gold standard for monthly witchy subscription boxes.

Following the wheel of the year, Sacred Space packs a magical array of goodies essential to any craft in accordance with the seasons and whether you’re a novice or an experienced practitioner, each item can be used with ease along with hefty directions and care instructions for each individual piece. This month of course, is all about Samhain and was pretty blown away by the attention to detail and items packed in this box. Not only were they beautifully and carefully packaged, the energy of intention put into this bundle were beyond my expectations and immediately felt so much joy and connection with each individual piece.

Here’s what was included with the Sacred Space Crate Samhain Box and a little review of each piece:

  • Samhain Wall Plaque- A custom designed plaque celebrating Samhain and an affirmation invocation to bring down the spooky blessings. It’s a really cool and unique wall hanging to display above your altar or anywhere you deem fit.
  • Black Obsidian Pendulum and a Ouija Board Coloring Page- a divination pendulum adorned with the powerful protective Obsidian crystal adorned with the all important chakra beads for balancing. It was wrapped in a pretty box in a bed of moss for earthly charging purposes and after messing with it a bit, I can attest it does what it supposed to do. The Pendulum Board paper page that comes in the box is meant to be used with the Pendulum itself and you can color it with your intentions, making it that much more potent! A velvety soft bag with sugar skull charms, one attached and one detached are included for safekeeping.

  • Samhain Ritual Candle- Oh boy, this candle is ahh-mazing. It is spell-crafted with guiding your ancestors to you and to be used on Samhain or Dia de los Muertos. Filled with black opal chips and infused with frankincense, myrrh, lilac, and rosemary brings together a wonderful magical scent. I’ve yet to burn it of course (saving that for later) and I don’t even know if I want to because it’s so pretty. AND IT HAS LITTLE PUMPKINS IN IT.

  • Summon Spirits Conjuring Oil and Rosemary Powder- This hand-crafted oil used for communing with the spirits was curated under the Dark Moon according to the inserts via that came in the box, including the herbs and chips used to make it; which I wont disclose fully here- that I feel is for subscribers only as it contains passed down family information. However, I can tell you it smells heavenly and may be attracting all the deceased if I don’t stop dousing myself in it. Oh well. The Rosemary powder, I was especially excited to see as I use Rosemary quite often myself. This just made dressing my candles MOUNDS easier and is perfectly potent at that. PATTI TIP- take a tiny bit, place in an air tight bag of your choosing, and insert into your pillowcase to promote a restful nights sleep.

  • Heart Tea Infuser and Handcrafted Tea with Ancestors Pouch– Another family recipe from Sacred Space Crate concocted for ancestral magik. This can obviously be ingested but be warned it doesn’t taste that great! However, it was made for the intentions and not the taste so keep that in mind. It can also be sprinkled on your altar for ritual purposes if you’re not so much a tea drinker. The tea infuser spoon was a nice addition seeing as I don’t own one (I’m a tea bag gal). Sturdy and reliable. What more can you ask for.
  • Hypersthene Stone– I’m ashamed to admit I had never even heard of this one, (I have quite a few crystals too) so I’m glad the inserts explained everything I needed to know about this little bad boy. Enabling the third-eye chakra, its a powerful psychic stone activating your own spiritual awareness and abilities; also a good stone to have around when feeling overwhelmed or stressed. The color is dark blue black and apparently hats sunlight, so I keep it in a little pumpkin container on my altar. It seems happy to be there when not in use.

  • Beyond the Veil Incense- Blended with Bergamot, lemon, white lilies, cedarwood, and patchouli, are hand-dipped and leave a powerful energetic scent throughout the room and space. When I lit it, I scryed the smoke to understand the energy coming off it, and it is most certainly a whimsical dark dance of energy. At least that’s what I got from it!
  • Tummy Salve- As a woman with recurring vertigo and PMDD issues, I was pretty STOKED to see this and try it. A blend of ginger, peppermint, and lavender in a sensitive balm mix works just as good as Zofran in my opinion. Maybe not for everyone depending on severity, but a wonderful natural alternative route to easing nausea and tummy troubles. I tried this the first day and IT WORKS.

As stated earlier, the box comes with inserts providing detailed information on hot properly care for, and use these items. In this box, a Moon in the Zodiac calendar following the moon phases and a Samhain Book Of Shadows insert is included as well. Each monthly box is packed with 10-14 magical items along with  a Moon in the Astrology Calendar. Each box contains at least 1 beauty product and/or 1 healing product from Sacred Space Crate Apothecary. Monthly boxes run about $60 in the USA and they do offer international shipping at a slightly higher price. Boxes can be purchased on a one-time basis for those unsure of committing, but I can guarantee you’ll be hooked your first time. The website also has a shop filled with all kinds of magical items featured in past boxes along with everyday witchy essentials.

You can check out the website and order through here, and as November’s box is an anniversary milestone for the company, you can probably expect this one to be one you really don’t want to miss!

Big thanks to Scared Space Crate for sending this box to me for review purposes! Just take my wallet now because you’ve gained a loyal customer. Now to just break it to the husband. Eesh.

Full Disclosure: I was sent a free box for review purposes, however the review is unbiased and I have never used nor received this prior; nor am I paid or coerced to post any sparkling reviews. Thanks!

Lists

Books To Read For Halloween Part II Stephen King Edition

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Welcome back, my Nasties! It’s time to dim the lights, cozy up with the corpse of your dreams, and spice the cider as we discuss more terrifying tales to titillate your tinglers this Halloween!

In my previous post, there was a definite lack of Stephen King’s wide variety of grizzly works. Nearly every book he’s written has gone on to become a certain masterpiece in the field of horror and his career has given nightmares to generations since his first published work.

Dedicating time to discuss each of his books would be a miniseries of reviews in of itself, and, admittedly, almost all of his books in their own way can be enjoyed for Halloween, I’ve selected those paranormal powerhouses that I tend to re-read this time of year.

‘Salem’s Lot


This was the book that introduced me to King’s work and I’ve been hooked ever since. Upon a first read – back in my teens – I would have told you the book is primarily about vampires, and, to be fair, it is teeming with legions of undead fiends of the night. The vampires here are ruthless, uncaring, and bestial with blood-lust. King envelops the reader with a phantasmagorical atmosphere much like how the quiet town of ‘Salem’s Lot is slowly engulfed by creeping vampires. It sets a malignant mood for eerie spooks and chills that’s required for Halloween.

Upon re-reading the book last year though I was struck by a new revelation. Something I somehow missed in my youth. This is an exceptional haunted house story. It all has to do with that old corpse of a house looming gravely atop the hill.

Yes, there are the vampires, but the center of the story, the rotted and tacky black core all has to do with that old accursed house where bad things happen and worse things are drawn towards. It’s the demonic heart of the story. In one book King does something very difficult and he does it very, very well. He reinvents gothic horror by utilizing universally established vampire lore set within the shadows of the old haunted (dark) house legend. Bravo, sir. This is a must-read for horror fans.

IT


The book opens upon a dark and rainy day when innocents is taken by the reawakening of an eldritch evil lingering deep in the roots of Derry, Maine. Given the movie’s (both of them now) global success everyone knows who Pennywise the Dancing Clown is. IT’s become a household name now. I picked this one not just because it’s my favorite Stephen King book but because if you like monsters for your Halloween – especially the classic ones – you’ll not want to miss out on reading this book!

Stephen King wrote IT because he wanted a book where he could include all those wonderful Universal guys like Mummy, Wolfman, and Frankenstein’s monster. Plus Rodan just for the Hell of it. Pennywise was his chance to use these monsters he grew up loving. Pennywise takes on the face and image of what people fear, and if children fear monsters they’ve seen in movies that’s precisely what he, IT, will become. This is a macabre terror train monster extravaganza and boasts some truly chilling moments.

You grow to love the main cast of characters and come to fear for their safety. Something that marks the work of a great writer. And King was in his element with this book. The story also allows us to step back in time for a glimpse back to the happier days of childhood. Along the way are monsters, Lovecraftian sized terror, and a Killer Clown. No wonder this is my favorite one!

Needful Things


Often overlooked by its big brothers, this book is an underrated horror gem for fans! For one thing it just screams Autumn to me. Fallen leaves, crisp air, long nights and a haunting presence lurking in unnatural shadows.

As is his favored way of approaching stories, a sleepy little town in Maine finds itself in the center of a hellacious onslaught once a humble emporium opens up. Needful Things, it reads in the window and inside the kindly Mr. Gaunt awaits you with a warm smile and cheerful eyes.

His shop also just happens to have exactly what you’ve wanted your whole life. Can you believe your luck? Your holy grail here in your hometown! The coveted treasure of your heart’s desire. And Gaunt offers you one Hell of a deal. You just have to do him a little favor and it’s all yours. You just have to pull a little prank for him. A trick for your treat.

What starts out as seemingly innocent pranks pulled on local neighbors quickly escalate to harsh offenses. Those deeply buried little irritations that have piled up over the years are like dried corn husks in the mind. Gaunt simply hands every customer a match. He doesn’t make them set the flame. But he does encourage it.

Once again proving how dangerous everyday people are Needful Things establishes the worst kind of monsters are those who wear human faces. And if you want a bit of Devil for Halloween you won’t want to miss out on this one.

Night Shift

Sometimes devoting so much time to a larger book like IT can feel a bit overwhelming. So there’s Night Shift for those of us who want to read a microwave version of King’s horrific imagination. Night Shift is a collection of King’s earlier short stories and includes classics like Children of the Corn, Sometimes They Come Back, and Graveyard Shift among the gruesome tales.

Pet Sematary

Another of his books that just screams Halloween to me. What’s considered to be his very best work by many fans, Pet Sematary is a ghoulish tale of loss, of the sanctity of the grave, and those who would defy the natural course of life. At least on the surface, and that already is a great stuff! But Stephen King always has something wicked underneath it all. And in this case it’s the Wendigo.

Rising out of the dark of night is the demon of starvation, of famine, and of unrelenting desire. The Natives of the land knew of it, became wise to its evil presence once it settled down in those parts, and wisely feared the thing of evil. The ground – the one far beyond the solemn little child-built cemetery – went sour ages ago by the substance of that thing’s evil and the very woods themselves try to keep curious men from ever discovering the accursed grounds dedicated to the Wendigo. It’s a place where things refuse to stay buried.

Who doesn’t love seeing the dead rising from their restless graves? It fits in with Halloween tradition! And this book has plenty of it, but, the book’s primary concern is the evil spirit, Wendigo, who has soured the land and – much like how Pennywise works Derry – pulls the strings to feed its vile needs.

If you’ve only watched the movies you’ve missed half the story. I was hoping with the remake they might feature the Wendigo in a more prominent role but the filmmakers wussed out and left the monster out of the movie. That’s real smart ain’t it? Make a monster movie without the monster. Yes, those buried in the old forsaken Micmac Burial Ground are cursed with unwholesome existence and rise with the stink of the unholy earth on them. But what both films missed is what the power behind the Micmac Burial Ground is.

In the remake we see those creepy kids acting out the ritual to bury their dead pets while they play drums and wear creepy masks. Like some pagan tradition. A tradition revolving around some ancient spirit…like, oh fuck I don’t know, the Wendigo? The movie teased at the presence of the Wendigo and mention it but that’s where it stopped. The evil spirit is active in the book and gives the story a more sinister vibe. Like you know the poor Creed family was doomed the moment they moved into that new house. The Wendigo already stretched out its hand to claim them.

Knowing that the reader can only sit back and read about the doom that befell them.

Editorials, Horror Nostalgia

KENT BROADHURST ELEVATED ‘SILVER BULLET’ FROM CAMP TO CLASSIC

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It’s a phenomenon that has existed since the advent of cinema. A day player walks onto a set and so dominates a scene that it comes to define the picture.

Thirty-six years ago–October 11, 1985–with Corey Haim on the cusp of becoming a household name and Gary Busey at the height of his stardom (just six years removed from a Best Actor nomination), it was a character actor from St. Louis, Missouri who held audiences rapt for 103 beautifully agonized seconds.

SILVER BULLET was an adaptation of Stephen King’s Cycle of the Werewolf novella that told the tale of a lycanthrope terrorizing the town of Tarker’s Mills, and the young, wheelchair-bound boy (Haim) trying to stop him.

Too often, werewolf movies focus on carnage and transformation scenes, and as a result fail to connect with viewers on a personal level, but SILVER BULLET was not most werewolf movies.

When Marty’s best friend was torn apart by the beast, King (who also penned the screenplay) and first-time director Daniel Attias elected to make said murder more than a blip on the body county radar and instead used it as the vehicle that would propel the rest of the film.

Angry townsfolk, at that point convinced that the culprit in the untimely and brutal deaths of their neighbors and friends was a psycho wandering the woods, assembled at the local watering hole to devise a plan to put a stop to the unseen monster terrorizing their home. They were planning private justice.

The appetizer to Kent Broadhurst’s game-changing main course.

When Sheriff Haller (Terry O’Quinn) stormed into Owen’s Bar to order the throng back to their homes, local loudmouth Andy Fairton (the ever reliable Bill Smitrovich), upset that he’d been defeated by Haller in a recent election for the constable position, attempted to discredit the lead lawman with the proclamation that Haller “couldn’t catch a cold.”

Pub owner Owen Knopfler (Lawrence Tierney) immediately sniped “shut up, Andy” but Fairton’s “don’t tell me to shut up” was interrupted by an off-camera, almost whispered, “Yes. Shut up.” Everything came to a screeching halt as that camera panned, and Broadhurst assumed center stage.

Portraying Herb Kincaid, the father of Marty’s slain friend Brady (Joe Wright), Broadhurst stepped to the fore and shared that he’d just come from his son’s funeral. Haller quickly moved toward Kincaid in an ill-conceived attempt to comfort him with “I know how upset, how grief-stricken you must be.”

Orbs reddened from mourning, Kincaid responded “upset? Grief-stricken? You don’t know what those words mean.”

When Haller acknowledges that he knew that Kincaid’s son had been torn to pieces, Broadhurst pulled a crime scene photo from within his jacket and offered a glimpse to the would-be militia, roaring “my son was torn to pieces!” A cut to the armed and bundled inhabitants of Owen’s Bar was all of us: heartbroken and incapable of response, because what do you say–what can you say–to a parent who so gruesomely lost a child?

Broadhurst refocused his simmering sorrow upon Haller, and with exhausted eyes wondered aloud “and you come in here and talk to these men about private justice?” before sneering “you dare to do that?”

At that point, it was Quint waxing Indianapolis a decade later: every screening room in the country where SILVER BULLET was playing sat tomb silent.

“Why don’t you go out to Harmony Hill,” a brief pause allowed a disgusted snarl to form on Kincaid’s face at the officer’s ineffective investigation before he forced himself to say his name, “Sheriff Haller, and dig up what’s left of my boy Brady, and explain to him about private justice.

Would you wanna do that?!”

Though the interval between that query and “as for me, I’m gonna go out and hunt up a little private justice” was but mere seconds, it hung in the air for what felt an hour, because Broadhurst’s somber-turned-seething speech made us believe that the anguish behind it was authentic.

In that moment, SILVER BULLET was no longer a goofy werewolf movie where gore and mind-boggling practical effects were the highlights, but a story about loss and fear and pain, because Broadhurst communicated quite clearly that deaths in this film were not entertaining, they were excruciating.

It was an execution that any actor would be proud to call their own. An entire career of stage and screen work culminated in less than two minutes that opened the door for the very human performances to come from Busey and Robin Groves and Megan Follows.

You can have the transformation from AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF (1981), I’ll take a minute and forty-three seconds of Kent Broadhurst every time out of the gate and regret nothing.

(Broadhurst begins at 1:17)