Teenagers are hard enough to buy for in
the first place (the last thing you want on Christmas morning is that
all-too-familiar heavy sigh / eye roll combination), but if your kid
has specialized into being a goth, what’s a mainstream parent or
grandparent to do? Fear not; goth has been around long enough now
that there are actually stores that cater specifically to the style.
Also, there are plenty of ‘regular’ stores you may not have
thought of that stock useful components of the goth style. Your
black-clad existentialist will surely appreciate cards from any of
these stores. Who knows, he or she might even smile!
1. Hot Topic. You might not know
about this store, but your goth kid surely does. This is the vaguely
scary-looking place in the mall that always plays the ‘creative’
music and appears to be some sort of neon-adorned cave. Hot Topic is
the goth mecca, at least if you live in the suburbs. Your goth kid
can satisfy his or her t-shirt needs, whether it be bands you’ve
never heard of, twisted cartoon characters like Happy Bunny, or even
superheroes. Hot Topic also carries spike-laden jewelry and
accessories, temporary tattoos, stickers, cards, and some pretty cool
goth clothes, including vampire chic (yes, there is such a thing). If
you were trying to figure out where your son got those floppy black
pants with all the straps and buckles, not to mention the fishnet
shirt, now you know!
2. Spencer’s Gifts. Your mall
might not have a Hot Topic, but I can’t remember ever seeing a mall
with no Spencer’s, so worry not—Spencer’s will step into the
goth breach with its selection of black tee shirts, creepy posters
and assorted to-die-for goth bedroom accessories like black lights,
“static balls” (those clear spheres with the purple lightning
inside), and lava lamps. Spencer has a lot of adult-themed products,
however, so this might not be appropriate for younger Goths. On the
other hand, if they’ve run free at the mall at any time in the
past, it’s pretty much guaranteed they’ve already seen the fuzzy
handcuffs and whatnot.
3. Barnes and Noble, Books-a-Million
or other book store. Believe or not, your goth kid is probably
very much into the reading. Goth girls will go crazy for vampire romance (yep, also a thing). There
also plenty of other books that might interest a goth, from other
vampire or magic lore to Marilyn Manson’s autobiography, The Long Hard Road out of Hell. Bookstores also
carry plenty of fan magazines any goth would love, as well as some
fairly avant garde literary and art magazines, like Juxtapoz.
4. FYE or other music store.
Book stores, above, usually have a music section, but to add variety
(or if your kid can’t stand the ever-present waft of mocha lattes
coming from the coffee bar), give a gift card from an actual music
store. There isn’t a teenager alive, goth or not, who will not find
something they can’t live without in a music store. That gift card
will most likely be incinerated in one visit, and frankly, how much
better can you do?
5. Lowe’s or Home Depot. This
may seem counterintuitive—how is your teen, who can barely drag
himself out of bed, going to be interested in home improvement?
Frankly, you will be amazed at the industriousness on display once
you have given the okay for Little Dead Boy or Vampirella to decorate
his or her own room. He or she can get jet black or hellfire red
paint, dropcloths, brushes or rollers, and masking tape here, not to
mention lots of chrome hardware and a rather impressive selection of
chain, some of which may end up on your delighted goth kid.
So you see, it isn’t all that hard to
shop for your goth teens. The secret is to let them shop for
themselves, making it truly a Merry Christmas, indeed (or at
least as merry as Little Dead Boy gets).
Image from Pixabay https://pixabay.com/en/boy-man-punk-emo-goth-grunge-414533/
