Hearing the Darkness Breathe

Goth contains multitudes. It’s a sometimes cartoonish, sometimes disturbing fashion statement — fishnets, black leather, noir-movie makeup, tortured hairstyles — that owes plenty to punk’s defiance and glam’s flamboyance. It’s theater but it’s also a mindset, a philosophy, steeped in 19th century literature and loner introspection. And it’s also a soundtrack, misfit music that ended up creating million-selling songs and arena-filling bands almost in spite of its underground attitude.