It’s World Goth Day again and I didn’t even wear makeup. My son’s class was doing a “living wax museum” project and I had to rush off and listen to 25 kids talk about famous inventors. Then I rushed off to my local theater to see Deadpool 2. It was great, and I loved Domino. It wasn’t as tight as the first movie but it was a lot of fun.

You may notice my hair is no longer fire engine red. It’s too hard to keep up over the summer, with sun and swimming pools and kids home all the time. It’s easier to just throw on some permanent black dye and let the roots grow for a few months. This time I used Feria “violet soft black,” which pretty much looks black on camera but in real life has a nice violet tint to it.

I noticed Septicemia made a list of goth cliches she embraces. That seems like a good way to celebrate World Goth Day so here are a few of my own cliches:

The Nightmare Before Christmas: I’m not much of a cutesy goth but I love this movie. It’s adorable and easy to share with my kids.

My style icons were (and sort of still are) Fairuza Balk (Nancy from The Craft) and Winona Ryder (from pretty much everything in the ’80s and ’90s, but Heathers was actually my favorite).

Death: yes, I read a lot about death and have fairly fleshed out plans for my own funeral. I find cemeteries peaceful and interesting.

The occult: I’ve read quite extensively about Satanism, paganism, and other occult ideas like chaos magic and demon summoning. I don’t exactly believe in hexes and curses, but I’m fascinated by all of it. I have also considered becoming an official Satanist for political reasons but decided against it, opting for a sort of minimalist paganism instead.

Halloween: it’s my favorite holiday. I love the costumes, the decorations, dressing like a witch and handing out candy, watching Halloween movies. Last year I showed my kids Hocus Pocus for the first time and they loved it.

I wouldn’t mind being a vampire. Though I’d prefer to be the kind that can eat food even though they aren’t nourished by it. Food is delicious.

I watch and read a ton of horror and supernatural stuff. Buffy, Supernatural, Edgar Allan Poe, the Interview with a Vampire series, Frankenstein, Being Human (UK version–loved every second), Reaper, Dracula, anything with John Constantine or Lucifer in it . . . I could go on forever, but I probably shouldn’t.

I love the nighttime. I force myself to act like a morning person for practical reasons (kids), but I much prefer the night. My favorite thing about winter is the longer nights.

And here are a few goth stereotypes I don’t fit at all:

I don’t wear all black. I also wear red, purple, and gray. And every once in a while I wear dark green.

I don’t wear a lot of makeup. I really admire other people’s makeup and always make plans to do my own more, and then I get lazy.

I don’t mind summer. I usually wear sunscreen and sunglasses and I certainly don’t lay around baking in the sun like a pancake, but I like doing summery things like swimming and hiking and grilling dinner in the backyard.

I rarely argue about what’s goth or not, or who’s goth enough. I suppose I have some limits–if you hate horror and can’t stand goth music and don’t like black clothing and are scared by my interest in death and the occult then you’re probably not goth enough for me–but I’m all for being relaxed and inclusive.

What about you? What cliches do you love to live? Which ones aren’t you at all? I’d love to hear about them.