Is Satan invented?

Likewise, this mother and daughter:

The impressive and impressively ruined Whitby Abbey dominates the town, and it's not hard to see why Bram Stoker used it as a focal point in Dracula:

There are 199 steps up to the Abbey from sea-level. I know because I've counted them:

The Whitby Goth Festival

 
This pretty seaside town on the North Yorkshire coast (NE England) hosts a Goth festival twice a year, in April and October. For those two weekends, Goths of all shapes, sizes, styles and ages descend on the town in their droves and it makes for quite a spectacle:

Me and Mrs Ghosty attended one of these festivals a couple of years ago and it's great fun. Yes, we did "go Goth" but we were both very understated and did just enough so we'd fit in. Some folk can spend well over £1,000 on just one outfit (ahem, we didn't do that...).

We found it a bit posey actually, most of the time people just parade around the town posing for photographers (we didn't do that either). But it's certainly a spectacle, we both ended up with sore necks because of all the rubber-necking.

Goth bands play live gigs each evening in the community hall right on the seafront, where much imbibement and merriment takes place. Sadly, I didn't get any photos of those endeavours because I was too busy getting pissed.

The Abbey always provides a sure-fire backdrop:

Oh dear, new boots madam?

Cape? Check! Cleavage? Check! Hood? Check! Red lipstick? Check! Gravestone? Check! Shutter monkey? Check!

What could possibly go wrong?

The festival incorporates other sub-genres beside gothic.

There's Steampunk:

There's Cyberpunk:

There are various weird hybrids that show up as well:

Then there's your plain, out-and-out weird:

Coffin today?

Nah I'm just a bit hearse, that's all (I just made that joke up):

Your first clause is more or less the consensus view that we arrived at here. I'm afraid I disagree with the second and third ones though.

wanner find out      gitcher shovil out

You're not going to whip a fiddle out are you mate?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDm_ZHyYTrg

hello, monsieur pirate.

enjoyed the pics. fun.  curious about the "Goth" look.  where'd it come from?  as an american, I  MIGHT be tempted to think that it was a Hollywood invention.  but, I think that doesn't sound right and it is the other way around. 

anyways, there Does seem to be some kind of connection to england then?

i love the hearse

Cool ain't it, ridiculously over-the-top much like everything else on display at the Whitby Goth gig, but still quite cool.