Of World Goth Day~~~~

Hello Dear Darklings,

Well with Coralline able to get around a bit with her walking boot and my brother finally buying a computer for the family to get everyone started, things are starting to begin to move to what passes for normal, but it will take time,  my brother still has to get a few more electronic things.

I was concerned that Coralline was unhappy that a couple of her Monster High Dolls were stolen that day but she is being philosophical about it, saying that they were one's she bought with her allowance and not one's given to her and she can replace them, especially her favorite "Draculaura",   the costume jewellery was another matter because they broke her jewellery box that was given by my mother before she died.   I took the box to a craftsman that I know and he beautifully repaired it so that you couldn't tell it was damaged, so I'm going to surprise her with it this coming weekend.  

Well I want to give all of you a “Heads Up!”   Next Monday is Goth Day aka World Goth Day on May 22, so time to start getting your Goth on.

Oh for some of you who ask what is “World Goth Day” well let me quote from the Days Of The Year website……

“History of Goth Day

(”It was so close to October that Halloween was knocking at his heart.”

~Barry Eysman, Candles for November)

The history of Goth Day stretches back in odd and meandering paths to history. Musically it can be traced back to 1967 when someone referred to the music of the Doors as “Gothic Rock.” This term was soon being bandied about, used to describe music like Velvet Underground’s “All Tomorrow’s Parties”, and Siouxsie and the Banshee’s described as one of “Goth Rocks Architects”.

But why “Gothic”? It’s an odd term considering that it originally referred to the Visigoths whose claim to fame was sacking Rome. So how did Goths become Goths? Well, we can trace the term back a bit further to 1764, where Horace Walpole wrote a story called “The Castle of Otranto”, granted the subtitled “A Gothic Story” during its second printing. So what is Gothic in this context? It describes a “pleasing sort of horror”, and was seen to be a natural extension of Romantic literature. This, of course, implies a sort of romance with the darker side of life, something that can be said to describe the little blossoms of gloom described at the beginning. 

Goth Day celebrates all these souls, and the part of them that celebrates the darkness within us all through music, art, and media.

How To Celebrate Goth Day

Goth Day is a great time to explore the question that plagues those who do not understand the Goth sub-culture. Who are they and what beauty do they find in the dark? Take some time to explore it on your own, research the history of Goth Culture and the songs, music, movies, and literature that are its hallmarks. You won’t be disappointed, and maybe the next time you see these dark souls, you’ll understand just a little of what they see.

We’ve all seen them, those strange characters that wander our city streets dressed as though they’re on their way to a funeral, or a punk rock show… Or quite possibly both. Their very presence exudes a sort of darkness, steeped in the love of all things morbid, and a seeming love affair with death. Their anthems come from the likes of Siouxsie and the Banshees, Type O Negative, and Bauhaus, bands who seem to be able to perfectly encompass all the things strange. Goth Day encourages us to celebrate these fine fellows, and maybe take a dip into their world ourselves, after all, while the light is lovely, can it not also be blinding?”

The whole idea of being an elder Goth such as myself who is up there in years, is to understand and accept the macabre, to know that there is strangeness out there and that death is just a short dance away.

But it does not mean that we condone abuse, bullying, violence and those things that are morally and spiritually degrading or harmful to oneself, but to be able to balance both the light and the dark, to understand why people are the way they are, to look beyond the surface and know that within the depths of life there are things that are vicious in a way that elder goths like myself learned as a child what to watch for and protect ourselves from.

One of the most gothic lines I’ve ever read or heard came from the mouth of a seemly sweet old lady “It’s dangerous to believe what a person says.  I haven’t for years”  I’m quoting Agatha Christie’s Miss Jane Marple, and this character although fiction, is one of the most gothic and yet operates in the light, yet she knows the darkness.  My parents taught that phrase to my brothers, Sis and me years ago.   And over the years it has proven true time and time again.

But World Goth Day also leads into the 3 major Birthdays of 3 of our Titans of Horror Peter Cushing, Vincent Price and Christopher Lee.

Peter Cushing’s Birthday is May 26 and Vincent Price and Christopher Lee’s Birthdays  are May 27, and to honor those stalwarts of Horror and their Older companions Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff and Lon Chaney Jr.  

I talked it over with family and friends and we've decided to celebrate by having a film fest, showing movies and having food and drink for a one week period, then on Saturday evening singing Happy Birthday with a black frosted cake made with chocolate and raspberry filling.

So we'll start the horror  film fest on Monday night Starting with Lugosi’s Dracula and the Cushing and Lee version of Dracula.

 Then on Tuesday night it will be Bela and Boris in The Black Cat and A Comedy of Terror with Boris, Vincent, Peter Lorre and Basil Rathbone.

 Wednesday It will be The Oblong Box with Vincent and Christopher and Scream and Scream again with Vincent, Christopher and Peter. 

Thursday it will be the Mummy with Boris and the Mummy with Christopher.

Friday is going to be an odd mixed bag starting with Mark of the Vampire, and the Return of the Vampire with Bela Lugosi, then to Dracula, Prince of Darkness (love that title) with Christopher Lee, and Frankenstein with Peter and Christopher.

 Saturday is going to be an all-day fest with The Invisible Ray, Frankenstein (Boris) Son of Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, Frankenstein meets the Wolf Man, and House of Frankenstein.

On Sunday to lighten the mood we will start with Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein, The Raven(1963) with Boris and Vincent, The House of Long Shadows and completely out of bounds finishing with Young Frankenstein.

It will be having a sort of open house for my family and friends to bring food and drink and it will start early to accommodate the length of the films and on Saturday and Sunday we’ll start it at 12 noon going well into the evening since it does lead into Memorial Weekend.

The whole idea is to comment on the films, the style, the performances, and also about our own inner darkness, although I know with the children who will come on the weekend it will be to watch movies and have fun.

Other folks might want to do it on the weekend with music by those groups mentioned above or do readings of Poe or other macabre authors.  Or do readings of articles that attempt to analyze the Goth sub-culture. 

In a way it would be a fun kick-off to the summer, a chance to do one last time to explore the darkness, before we plunge ourselves to the light of summer of beach parties and picnics,  of water slides and water balloon fights, of skimpy clothing and sun burn.    But in the night it can be of campfires and ghost stories about the Wendigo or the Ghost with one black eye and other things that go bump in the night.   In a way it’s like celebrating Halloween twice a year, or all year round.

If one looks one can find Gothic elements all around us, such as exploring cemeteries or old Ghost Towns,  photographing abandon buildings in black and white, the possibilities are endless you just have to use your imagination to explore that creative darkness.

So I will leave you dear darklings to your own planning.

Later Darklings