It’s that time of the year when you’re getting ready to drop serious money on inkvent calendars, but then there’s Fountain Pen Day and you drop serious money on pens and inks and all things stationery.
And, of course, if there is one thing you can say about me and my pen consumption, it’s that themes work so well on me, and with holidays lining up… I had to pull the trigger. Point in question: I got two pens in two days because they’re either orange or somehow evil looking. I’ll let you decide which is which. My thinking was, hey, it’s Halloween, carved pumpkins are everywhere, and I need to show my future American spirit by joining in on festivities.
Spoiler: I’m about to show you all of them together before I go into details.
The Addams family of pens.
Karas Pen Co (formerly known as Karas Kustoms) are bringing back the Ink (V2) with a bang, and the pens are now fully anodized in one color from top to bottom, clip included, and the uniform look is, I dare say, polarizing. It didn’t stop me from buying one, of course. I kinda wish I could’ve picked a different color clip (black), which I then realized was a LE for them and they’re running a giveaway for that pen. Oh well. The new Ink has a cool grippy textured grip and I couldn’t resist.
The BB nib is to die for.
As with most Karas pens, you can run this one over with a car too, not that I don’t think you should and if you do, that’s on you. The industrial look pairs well with a bright orange finish. You cannot carve this pen, though. I’ve tried to mess it up and it’s extremely difficult to get rid of any portion of the anodization. I would assume putting a cat sticker on it would make it look a bit more festive. Maybe a ghost sticker? What I wish I could do is to swap the clip on this pen with a clip from another Ink I have, but the tolerances are too good for me to be able to unscrew the little screws.
Also, don’t the screws make this pen look like a screaming pumpkin?
The double broad writes a bit stubby, which I like. And, to stay in Halloween spirit, I inked it with a… blue ink.
Okay, maybe not fully Halloween.
The next pen made me squeal. I mean, really. Wasn’t planning on really getting another Opus 88 mini as I have four or five at this point (all cats except the baby Beluga) and I really do not need one more.
Enter: Broom Cat.
Inked with a very Halloween-y ink: Lamy Mango.
I think it’s obvious why I couldn’t resist. The two smaller cats just make everything look even more adorable. Now, I wish the cap was orange or anything but white, but I’ll survive with this combo. The paws tie the pen together.
Honestly, it took more time picking the nib size than actually saying yes to this pen. As with any other Opus 88 mini, it writes well and it’s the perfect grip width to size ratio. Again, if you don’t have one of these, you should get it. It will write forever. Maybe not forever if you pick a 1.4 nib like I did, but if you go with the EF, you could probably write a novel with one fill.
Lookit dem cats.
Side note: I have never written a novel in long hand and your mileage may vary. I know you won’t use up the full fill if you type on your computer of course.
Another spooky pen, albeit not one I bought recently (but once upon a midnight dreary), would be the Esterbrook Raven. The pump filler there works pretty well, the pen is fun and good looking, and stealth, and it doesn’t really remind me too much of ravens due to the matte finish, but I would also recommend it for your next Halloween party when you want to look posh.
This is also a pen that gave me issues but I blame the black coating on the nib and also the fact I have used the driest ink known to man.
Which I still use.
So, these are my top picks for spooky pens from my collection; I think they look pretty nice together, but honestly, you don’t need more than one pen for Halloween. Especially if Fountain Pen Day is literally the day after that. However, now you see you have the three different filling mechanisms, nib sizes, finishes, and even materials to choose from. And I would say all of them should still be available, if you just so desire to celebrate Halloween a bit longer than that one day of the year.
What’s your favorite spooky pen?
Mine is the Nahvalur Schuylkill 365 Obsidian Pumpkin, the LE from last year's Halloween release. Managed to pick one up earlier this year & I love it to death.
Pineider Metropolis in Halloween orange. Horrific writing experience (comes with a black clip though).