I ordered a pound of red worms and I just threw them in my already established pallet compost bin.

Was this OK to do this or should I have setup a dedicated worm bin?

I also threw a handfull of worms in my bottomless 55 gallon barrel which contains cardboard some food scraps and leaves. This was a worm barrel I tried before and failed (stuff turned to anerobic sludge) The barrel is bottomless and full of holes, but I think maybe it was kept too wet. The end result was black stuff that looked like and smelled like sewage.

I did clean it out and spread it on a mulched area the smell went away in a few days.

Anyway I hope I didn't waste my worms..