#queer goth

Happy late World Goth Day 🖤👹🥀

Goth G'Wednesday!

I lucked out last week and found both this cute (though under-sized) cut-off sleeve western shirt and this pair of high-waisted black denim JMS jeans!

The gender vibes these give me when paired with the rest of my accessories had me really feeling myself (more than most of last year), so I took a bunch of selfies.

(Halfway through taking pictures I decided the look needed a bandana)

Debuted the 'fit at the goth nite featuring a local dj and a couple great indie goth rock bands (Post Crucifixion & Corbeau Hangs) who came down from Phoenix.

Still don't have a full length mirror so some dirty bathroom mirror selfies will have do for now. Photo dump after the cut if you want to see more of my face.

I periodically wonder whether these books are still known and read by young goths and horror fans as they were all extremely important to me in my teenage years, so I thought I'd share them.

Though I'm cishet, during the mid 90s two of my favourite authors wrote primarily queer fiction: they were Anne Rice and another author from New Orleans who is now known as Billy Martin.

He came out as a trans man in 2011, however these books were published prior to that so unfortunately you have to search for them under his deadname. This is why I've used that name in the tags on this post. I don't believe the books were ever reprinted with his current name.

Though I loved Rice, I always felt a more immediate connection with Martin due to his vivid portrayal of subcultures like goth and punk, and how it felt to be a teenager who was part of them. I could see myself in many of his characters as I had the same interests, listened to the same music, and shared the same sense of social alienation. Remember in the 90s the Internet was still a reasonably new thing, and many of us didn't have a home Internet connection at all. There was certainly no social media, no YouTube, and no real way to meet and interact with like-minded teens unless you were lucky enough to have another "weird kid" at your school. If you were a weird kid, you likely had very few friends and were bullied.

That as much as anything else led me to seek solace in books written by an author who I felt understood me, and characters who became my friends.

Lost Souls is about vampires in a kind of Lost Boys/Near Dark way. Fans of the YouTuber OfHerbsAndAltars might be interested to know that this book is where the name of his channel comes from - it's a description of the taste of Chartreuse liqueur.

Drawing Blood is about ghosts, a "murder house", computer hacking, comic art and a very beautiful (if rather messed up) romance. This one is probably my favourite of the three.

Exquisite Corpse is about serial killers, set against the AIDS crisis of the 90s. If you like the Hannibal TV series you'll probably enjoy this one - imagine if Dennis Nilsen and Jeffrey Dahmer had somehow met.

Martin doesn't pull any punches when it comes to descriptions of blood and gore, violence, abusive parents or his portrayal of toxic romantic relationships (of which there are many in his books), but if you can deal with those things there is also a great deal of beauty, phenomenally good writing, and a somewhat unique perspective on the supernatural.

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It values the creation of art without societal constraints and bigoted ideals that restrict true creation. Exploring and learning to love what is considered macabre or morbid. As an offshoot of punk it is about escaping the restraint of filtering the aspects of oneself in order to not be disturbing to our society. It’s about throwing everything out to the world whether that be alternative music, poetry or prominent eyeliner.

Goth music and literature explores deep emotional expression through guttural and gory imageries, dark sound and human fear, its about acknowledging what frightens us in order to create and be in full trueness.

Bigotry is against the nature of goth as true art is created when all people can be a part of it as who they truly are. That is why I think a person cannot be racist, homophobic, transphobic, sexiest or any other kind of discriminatory and also be goth. It goes against what goth is built off and what it represents

Goth holds many of the same political views as punk, however I find by seeing the recurring themes and messages in goth media, literature and music it centres around identity and therefore art in all trueness, regardless of how society reacts or whether it is frightening. That and copious amounts of melodrama.

Claire.

Lounging and reading.