In a Gothic Mood

Gothic: Of or relating to a style of fiction that emphasizes the grotesque, gloomy, mysterious, and desolate.

For many, the word Gothic conjures up cadaverous beauties with ebony fingernails and an affinity towards the ghoulish music tinged in melancholy but that is one element. The Gothic is everywhere and part of us. Birth, death and funerals are Gothic as well as old ladies whispering behind fans. Mansions with gables, cupulas, abandoned swimming pools, a crucifix with the bloody image of Christ and scented candles illuminating a darkened room. Gothic cities dot the earth, Ho Chi Minh City, Paris, New Orleans, London, Old Boston, Savannah and Budapest. Some places like the Bayou, the Pere Lachaise Cemetery, the Everglades, Natchez, Mississippi and anywhere Spanish moss drapes over dying trees and night blooming jasmine perfumes the evening air are quintessential Gothic. Rosaries, painted dolls, lace fans, wrought iron candelabras and Victorian jewelry woven from the hair of the dearly departed are ingredients of the Gothic as is absinthe, elderberry wine, rosehips and tea laced with arsenic. Crepe when used in mourning is touchable Gothic as is a family Bible. Bandeleon music accompanying a couple tangoing Argentine style in a Buenos Aires dance hall is Gothic.

We invite you to join us, gentle reader, as we examine the Gothic in all its glory.