Teen Gothic

This might be a weird post but I just want to get people's insight on this and to get their opinions of American and Southern Gothic.

I live in Southeast Ohio, which is sadly mostly a place full of radically conservative assholes, but the town I go to college in (Athens) is very different and a great beautiful place. I know when people think of Ohio they think of cornfields, but in the Southeast, you are in the foothills of Appalachia. This was a big coal mining area back in the day and there are remnants of these times everywhere. We even have a huge abandoned gothic-style asylum right next to town. This is also a place where ghosts and legends like that are very prominent. There seems to be about at least one story associated with every old mine, farmhouse, train tunnel, cemetery…

I don't know but the area just feels like it was ripped out of a piece of American Gothic literature. There's this strange sort of creepy romanticism that comes with all the decaying buildings and stories of ghosts. However, this is about as far as the gothic themes go. There is a pretty good music scene in town (albeit not a very big one), but there certainly aren't any goth bands around here. There aren't many people in town who dress goth either. Although if I'm being honest, I don't really associate a lot of contemporary gothic music or dress styles with the feeling that Southeast Ohio evokes. Southern Gothic vibes feel more at home here (which makes sense I guess). I know that Southern Gothic typically is used to describe dark country music or murder folk. Those genres are great but also don't appeal to my post-punk attitude as much.

However, there is one other place I have heard Southern Gothic used occasionally and it is to describe post-punk and college rock bands that came out of Athens, GA (not to be confused with the Athens in Ohio where I go to school). Bands like REM, Pylon, The Connells… they have some interesting dark qualities in their earlier music that, while it is a far cry from gothic rock, still scratches that itch for me and I think fits nicely within the idea of American Gothic on a broader sense.

All of what I am laying out here kind of culminated in my own band when we recorded one of our recent singles. I took a lot of inspiration from the area I live in and from those Athens GA bands as well as some Bauhaus and Cure. And we did end up having some people dub it Southern Gothic. If anyone is interested in hearing it so they can see what I mean then just lmk.

I'm trying to compose a little zine that goes more into depth on Southeast Ohio and how I see it tied into American Gothic. I'd love to get all of your thoughts on this, does it make sense, or am I grasping at straws here?

Spiked necklace I painted silver and put the rivets + applied the chain and this pretty rose embroidery sewn into this jacket (still wondering if I add one band backpatch or leave it like that)

I recently stumbled upon the cure disintegration and I am wondering if there are bands or songs similar sounding.

Question is in the title. Synthpop and other adjacent genres are fine with me 🙂

I'm looking for goth songs or band that have/use brass instruments. I just know "The Passenger" by Siouxsie and the Banshees and "A Night Like This" by The Cure.

I'm just wondering because I'm constantly told that I'm a closet goth, but I don't see it. Did I geek out on seeing Vandal Moon and Twin Tribes live? Yeah, but that doesn't make me goth. Right?

Is anyone else consistently shocked this band doesn't get more credit or mentions? Unrivaled old-school original Goth. Absolutely in a league of their own.

https://youtu.be/vgTok6fP9Sw?si=OyFhIHJ0QAyQO2Iz

https://youtu.be/1lPNn2MMclo?si=y7L2S_UDWTJZPKrM

Okay so… I’ve been into alternative music for about 6 years (emo, metal, screamo), and always was interested in alternative fashion but shied away from it because of my parents/fear of not fitting in. Well I’m now moved out and beginning to develop my own style and have been trying to build up a more goth wardrobe as I love the style, music, and literature, and have fell in love with all those things in the last few months. Well, my boyfriend was super supportive and encouraged me to experiment with makeup, but now that I’ve began shopping for more gothic clothes, I can tell he doesn’t love it. He’s never liked trad goth makeup (I do). Today he kind of revealed that he’s not sure how much he actually likes goth style. I think he just thought I was going to be like a stereotype of a goth girl, like overly sexual and more of an E-girl type style (not that anything is wrong with that but it’s not my style). I don’t know how to feel. On one hand, I want him to find me attractive but at the same time, this style makes me feel confident and sexy and like I’m actually expressing myself. I really love him and he’s super supportive so I know he wouldn’t try to control how I dress but I really don’t want him to be less attracted to me now. Does anyone have any advice?

Is the owner of The Castle aware that his staff is banning guest that report their drinks being spiked? Or that members of his staff have been gaslighting victims and those defending victims?

I wasn’t at the castle last weekend when those people got banned after they filed a police report, I also do not know those people, but I’m aware of several victims getting their drinks spiked and several staff gaslighting.

I do not believe the owner is aware of what is going on, but something needs to be done before this ruins the local community.

there has been reports of someone hanging around the patio that had dropped something into drink

I suspect that a bar tender is involved, possibly other staff due to their past support of predators, and gaslighting.

I would like to see the security footage from that night, but I doubt we’ll get to see, it’s probably already been deleted.