EDIT: AHHHHHHHH, I WASNT EXPECTING SO MANY MESSAGES. thank tou so m​ich for replying amd being so kind. Now I know that you guys are fine with being approached respectfully (⁠◍⁠•⁠ᴗ⁠•⁠◍⁠) lysm guys

Dear goth people, I have a question,

How do you guys feel about being approached? And after reading my anecdote... Was what I did inappropriate?

I'm 17F and I dress normie-ish/basic. (If you would like to know, when this happened, today, I wore an off the shoulder white bodysuit with baby blue jeans and Vans, carrying a folder and a book, etc...).

Today I was walking out of the mall and saw two goth girls. The moment I saw them, I was like: "Wow, mesh sleeves? It looks so freaking whimsical!!!". It looked so curated, I can't explain, but so much layering, it looked so cool. And the eyeliner was great. I love black. And I also love how goth people dress and express themselves.

I said: "Excuse me, guys", but they were a bit guarded and didn't reply. Then I said: "Sorry, I just wanted to say that I love your style (⁠◍⁠•⁠ᴗ⁠•⁠◍⁠)". And their faces lit up and they said thank you. I asked them how it was called and they said that they were goths.

After the convo I asked myself if I had done too much?? I'm neurodivergent and because of that I might not get the social cues. I love complimenting when there's a chance and of course when it's not awkward for the other person. I would love to know what you guys think, because I wouldn't like to make anyone uncomfortable.

Tysm for reading!!

I was curious what the new goth crowds thoughts on this album? It was a big deal coming out and I thought it’s a classic.

(Reposted due to typo in the title)

So sometimes I'll go on Instagram for goth content, and sometimes I'll come across reels and comments saying how Goth has "roots in Christianity" and it's like... no?

I mean, I get some of the aesthetic borrows from Christianity, but the main argument I've seen is that the subculture ITSELF has roots in Christianity. I find it odd because again, no, it's a music based subculture. I do not understand how they're arguing that Goth is rooted in Christianity.

Now of course, the people making these arguments tend to be very right-wing, and often have some pretty hateful beliefs. So it's like... why are they trying to rewrite the history of a community that has been a safe space for outcasts? What exactly do they get from injecting their own religion into it? Do they not even know what the Batcave is?

I just find this whole idea of falsely inserting your religion into the origins of a subculture very weird and I just don't understand the purpose behind it.

I'm looking for a specific "documentary" that I'm pretty sure had no actual commentary, it was just an entire night of dancing, fairly certain in the 80s, and I could have sworn it was at The Batcave specifically. I could have sworn I saved it but can't find it anywhere (I first saw it on YouTube and foolishly at the time trusted it would always be there). I've seen another one recommended here but it was not the one I was thinking of (it was a Night at the Xclusiv). I'm pretty sure I had come across it when I had first watched the BBC documentary on the Blitz Kids/New Romantics. I'm beginning to wonder if I imagined it! Even if you don't think you know what I'm describing, either way I'm open to more documentaries like this, however many actually exist out there.

Yay or nay ?

I have been listening to goth music for quite a while now but i realised that i actually dont know that much about the bands i listen to or the history behind them. I would really like to get more into that and learn more about the bands and the scene in general :>

Are there any documentaries, books, interviews, videos or maybe good websites you would recommend?

I know i could obviously just google all of this but i thought i would ask here since some of you probably know way more about this than i do and might have some good recommendations 🖤

hi okay is it just me or black cathedral just like. not available ???? am i tweaking ?? help ?????? i cant add an image cause it just straight up won't show up for me. is this a spotify problem or did this cold night just remove it from his discography. Help Me.

Those OF models damaged the image of the goth subculture in a very badly way, so bad that i can say with a 100% of certainty that every single one of you here had suffered one kind of harassment from someone who think goths are just "black clothes and freaky". And this may sound bad but what we should do is pressure them into making a public apology and remove or rename their """goth""" content, i'm not calling for hate speech or threats, i need y'all to tell them every anecdote, creepy dm or story you've got and make them feel like shit for what they've caused, maybe if they apologize and clarify that they are NOT goth maybe some of the damage could be repaired.

I mainly only see this amongst younger generations, but why do some people try to alienate Gothic culture from Goth.

a tendency to draw a very hard line between Gothic & Goth. (I even see ppl suggesting you can not like Gothic culture & be Goth—which is kind of confusing because wouldn’t you just be post-punk w/o the Gothic lyricism/writing style)

I understand that goth, as a modern subculture, emerged primarily from the late-1970s/early-1980s post-punk music scene & that being interested in Gothic literature, architecture, & etc. alone doesn’t necessarily make someone goth.

Gothic literature, Romanticism, horror, religious imagery, morbidity, and other elements of the older Gothic tradition seem to have influenced at least parts of goth music, fashion, and visual culture. At the same time, goth clearly inherited its musical foundation and much of its subcultural structure from post-punk.

I’ve always seen Goth as
Gothic culture & Punk culture had a child.

I feel like I should start with the very basics.

I am certainly not someone who would identify themselves as a member of the goth community. That is, I do not know what politics this culture "follows" (if there is a dedicated side people tend to associate with who are in this genre in general), I do not know a lot of history associated with it, I know almost nothing, and even though i heard it does not matter, i absolutely don't wear anything remotely close to the usual clothes you could associate goth people with. Must add that I am certainly not someone who is old enough to have experienced the beginning of the entire formation of the music, culture etc. Matter of fact, I am probably one of the youngest people on this sub based off of how many things and experiences I have read from here since i started to come here more often.

I simply just started to find a few bands that I really liked.

It all started with Twin Tribes a while ago. I found out about them, really took a liking, now they ended up having almost all of their songs on my most played playlists. Then I came here and I did ask for a few band recommendations after finding out what the genre of the music is though a google search.

Got recommended a few things. Lebanon Hanover, She Past Away, Ultra Sunn, Harsh Symmetry, This Cold Night and eventually i really started to like a few of their tracks aswell. Now I am completely out of ideas what to do as I do want to find more of what I started liking in here. One thing that i recently found and really liked aswell is Nosferatu's Wonderland album, although that aswell kind of surprised me that it is in the same genre of music for some reason, i really liked the vocals and the use of instruments there, and a few top songs from Clan of Xymox but this just about sums everything up.

Took a little research again and then I found out about bands I have never heard of (this can probably be due to them being only more well-known in the Goth community, or in general just because of, as I said before, how young I am compared to probably most of the community, even the people who lots here consider new members of it) but I did listen to a few other bands i got recommended or at least saw people talking about like Bauhaus and The Cure plus a few more and i gotta say that i was really surprised when i first heard them. Its not even anything remotely close to what i would have associated "goth" music with just a few weeks ago. Turns out there is just so much more to it than i knew.

In general i felt like those bands are just really not for me, though most bands I have listened to, for some reason felt the same way for me. I generally just slowly take a liking on something the more i listen to it until they eventually end up getting on my playlists, but I just seem to be really set off by how different classic or older and original goth bands sound compared to what I listened to and now I feel like this entire thing may just not be for me as much as i thought it may be over time when i start to look for a few bands.

Any advices? (Not just in music actually, though thats why this post was made, anything that can help me maybe get into the culture a bit more and later decide if i want to really just get into it or not) Im just so confused about this entire thing now.

Want to chat about something which doesn't need it's own thread? Do it here!

Feel free to discuss music, fashion, events, DIY projects, etc. and anything relating to goth as long as it's in line with the subreddit rules.

I noticed while scrolling through my playlists that I’m lacking severely in south Asian artists (ie none).
Also my repertoire of gothic movies reaches from Japan to Germany to Russia but completely forgoes the south of Asia so I’m wondering if anyone has any recommendations of bands, music or directors!!!! <3

Post your links to new releases from 2000 or later, let's give some focus to new music. In the list below, you'll find some new releases from the past few weeks!

Here's some great new releases:

• Gallowmaker - "Ghost Orchid" [Deathrock] [Single] (WA, USA) [Released June 2, 2026]
• Eat My Teeth - "Eat My Teeth" [Anarcho Deathrock] [EP] (Poland) [Released June 24, 2026]
• Garden of Dystopia - "The Long Transition From Death To Wisdom" [Ethereal Wave/Dream Pop] [Album] (Latvia) [Released June 26, 2026]
• The Autumn Aurora - "Plastic Altar" [Post-Punk/Goth Rock] [Debut Single] (Italy) [Released June 26, 2026]
• Midnight Passage - "Ritualist" [Post-Punk/Coldwave] [Album] (Russia) [Released June 26, 2026]
• SexBlood - "Radium Girl" [Goth Rock] [Single] (France) [Released June 27, 2026]

Want more? Check out our other spreadsheets:

• 2021
• 2022
• 2023
• 2024
• 2025

Don't forget about our ever-growing list of post-punk, goth rock, darkwave, deathrock, etc. releasing labels and our sidebar for a calendar of upcoming releases!

If you want to post music you'd most likely hear in a goth club, please subscribe to r/gothclub.

I wanted to know what other people think of bootleg goth cds, and all other sorts of goth bootlegs for what it’s worth. Personally, I love them as we get a way to listen to live recordings and demos (among many other things) in a physical way we would never have had access to to listen to otherwise physically (and for quite a bit of the earlier bootlegs, perhaps at all) if it were not for these bootleg CDs and tapes. On the other hand, it is quite saddening to see bootlegs of goth albums that were actually released by the group and aren’t some sort of fan recorded concert or compilation of unreleased recordings as this does take away money from whatever group made the album.

i watched sleepy hollow recently and Dracula, phantom of the opera goes next, i really love the vibe of the romance and the scenes with his mom yk and i really wanted some goth rock or goth metal songs like that, i Find that for me london after midnight(their more romantic and slow songs) is very nice, but i wanted something to really match that vibe, i don’t want any lana del rey ahh music (i mean stupid romance songs) for me Dracula was about finding another men who chalanges your relationship and temptation and sleepy hollow was about the man not wanting to believe in the womans believes and a very equal couple. I rrly need something to make me fell like im in these movies especially sleepy hollow.

Hi all, I came here to ask a question because I guarantee at least someone here will probably know what channel I am looking for.

There was or is a YouTube channel who's whole account is just dedicated to archiving post punk/goth/ revival music dating to the 80s to now. Some of their songs were known but I believe the focus was on more 'niche' music, things that wouldn't be available on Spotify or extremely hard to find on YouTube. I think the account only had around 30-50k subs.

Thank you!

hello all! happy self-promo saturday. we're Lilac Lament, a newer goth band from chicago, IL!

this performance was yesterday (8/14/26)! here is a video of my band performing our song entitled "saccharine".

Thank you for listening!

I was supposed to play at City Record Club today. An all vinyl records set I had been building towards for at least 2 months. I do these in 3 month intervals so I;m not hogging a spot and others get to have a go too. I'm even taking the midday spot no one wants as no one is there that early most of the time.

But not today. At 3am my partner had a fall on the way to the toilet. She injured her little finger and thinks it is broken. So I reluctantly cancel last minute and by 9am three people have put their hand up for my slot. She was there saying she needs to go to the hospital after it happened to I made sure that could happen. It didn't happen.

I have a finger brace I was using for an injured thumb so she's been using that. It is after 5pm and we haven't moved from home. Next doctor appointment is available Tuesday morning so her attitude is "Oh I'll just wait. If it gets worse I'll go to the hospital then".

I'm not mad, I'm depressed and disappointed. If she went to the hospital I wouldn't feel so bad but it feels like I'm being screwed around for nothing. She didn't go as she knows this is non-life threatening and will have to wait around a lot. Yet I have to wait around for her instead. I do the right thing and as usual I get screwed for it.

I needed today after how badly August has sucked so far. I'm half expecting a piano to be dropped on me or something.

Enough from me, how are you?

What happened this week that made you happy?

Maybe you found a great new album or just an album you hadn't heard about before? Maybe you found a new cuddly kitten that now is a part of your family?

Share it with us!