It's time to wake the dead. Five, six, grab your crucifix - and Robert Smith, because World Goth Day has arrived. First suggested on a MySpace blog in 2009 by a UK-based Goth DJ known as 'BatBoy Slim', Goth Day has since become a global annual celebration where "the Goth scene gets to celebrate it's own being.
" While most Goths prefer to stay out of the spotlight (unless carrying a black parasol), World Goth Day keeps things lowkey, with some events taking place later on. The 22 May date was originally chosen to highlight a special set of musical subculture-focused shows on BBC Radio 6, then stuck ever since. And why not? From dark wave DJ sets in Bucharest, to a Goth picnic in Stockholm, to a trip back in time to the subculture's 80s, 90s and 00s origins at a club night in Madrid - there are many opportunities knocking at your coffin.
Plus, it's a great way to support local Goth communities. Alternatively, you could just draw the curtains, blare some Bauhaus and be your usual black-hearted self with extra pride. After-all, some Goths have faced genuine persecution and violence just for daring to be different - one devastating example being the 2007 murder of Sophie Lancaster, a 20-year-old Goth from the UK.
"There are quite a few Goths who have fought damn hard to retain their identity despite peer pressure, family pressure and indeed, any pressure to conform," the World Goth Day organisers . "And if you've gone to all that trouble to preserve what you believe is the 'real y.
