Horror has a much more ancient history relative to goth and has dealt with the themes of necromancy, occultism, and the like. Goths, meanwhile, have perennially been associated with the negative aspirations behind pursuing these practices.

Death is everywhere, There are flies on the windscreen for a start, Reminding us we could be torn apart tonight…” Before catching the new Final Destination, the first verse from Depeche Mode’s song “Fly on the Windscreen” is playing in my head—infecting it with a morsel of an idea, a precursor to the irredeemable things I will watch in the next two hours.

What is “influence”, really? To borrow from a famous quote from Birdman about the relationship between “popularity” and “prestige”... influence is the avoidant first-cousin of popularity.