19 of our Favourite Creators Defining Gothic Style & Culture Right Now
An inside look at the feeds setting the tone across fashion, beauty, home and culture
By: The Lace Ledger Staff
These are the accounts that make you pause mid-scroll because something about it calls to your dark heart.
That’s one of the many compelling things about gothic style. There isn’t only one version to follow. You move toward what holds your attention, whether that’s romantic silhouettes, dark academic interiors, corporate goth polish, pinup precision, southern gothic atmosphere, or something more vampy, spooky, witchy … the list goes on. It shifts, it overlaps, it gets refined over time and there’s room for all of it.
These creators show us the many facets of what that look likes in practice. Different approaches, different instincts, but all grounded in the same language. We come back to them for ideas and for recommendations, often sparking inspiration to be translated on the other side of the screen.
If you’re looking to evolve your style, your space, or just your feed, start here.
On the Road with the Oddities & Curiosities Expo
From a small hall in Tulsa to a multi-country tour, Michelle Cozzaglio takes us inside her traveling artist-led market grounded in community
By: The Lace Ledger Staff
It didn’t start as a multi-country tour. It started in a Legion in Tulsa, with a handful of vendors and a nagging concern, internally wagering whether anyone else would show up for something this specific.
They did. And, they kept coming back.
Since then, the Oddities & Curiosities Expo has grown in size and in reach, expanding across cities, borders and communities that all recognize the same pull. What began as a focused market has evolved into something larger, without losing the distinct feel that made it work in the first place.
At its core, it offers connection for a subculture that seeks the strange. A place to meet the artists, spend time with the work and be surrounded by people who already understand what drew you there.
We sat down with co-founder Michelle Cozzaglio to discuss how it all came together, and what it takes to keep that energy intact as it continues to grow.
Baby Bats: 19 Kid-Friendly Gothic Films and Cartoons
Spooky Saturday morning cartoons, mischievous monsters and friendly ghosts for the next generation of storm clouds
By: The Lace Ledger Staff
Saturday morning has always come with a certain kind of magic.
Cartoons flicker on before the house fully woke up. In some lucky houses, ghosts, witches and strange little families moved across the screen with enchanting whimsy, inviting viewers inside a strange world all their own.
For parents looking to expand children’s programming beyond the usual rotation, this watchlist offers something with slightly more depth. Stories where the unusual is not something to fear, but something to enjoy.
This haunted curation spans generations, including familiar classics alongside newer programming that approaches the strange with the same sense of curiosity.
17 Fierce Mothers of Film & Television
A Mother’s Day watchlist honouring the absolute weapons who protected their children with strategy, violence, wit and conviction
By: The Lace Ledger Staff
A Mother’s Day watchlist honouring the absolute weapons who protected their children with strategy, violence, wit and conviction
By: The Lace Ledger Staff
This Mother’s Day watchlist is built on a special kind of devotion. One forged through sweat, blood, fire and deep inner strength of matriarchs that would do anything … and we mean anything … for the ones they love.
Motherhood is often framed as soft. And, it can be. It can also be something far more strategic. These women raise dragons, run empires, survive the end of the world, or dismantle anyone who mistakes care for weakness.
What they share is precision. Love becomes a decision. Protection becomes a method; nothing is left to chance.
Quieting the Static: Two Months with Moment Mushrooms Psilocybin Microdoses
We tested Neuro and Flow over 60 days to see how microdosing supports focus and mood
By: The Lace Ledger Staff
It starts as a flicker. Then a sharp, crackling wash of sound. The image fractures, light breaking into fragments, dissolving into a restless field of grey. You move closer. Adjust the dial. Pause, holding still as if your body might somehow steady the signal. For a moment, it almost clears. Then it slips again.
TV static is a small disruption, but a jarring, abrasive one. Anxiety carries the same rhythm, persistent, unsettling and not always overwhelming, but constant enough to send you careening off course.
We spent two months with Moment Mushrooms psilocybin microdoses to see what might shift. Here’s what we found.
Feathers, Fringe & Film: 13 Films to Celebrate National Burlesque Day
Sure to make you shiver with antici... pation
By: The Lace Ledger Staff
Somewhere between the first flicker of stage light and the final reveal, burlesque finds its rhythm.
A feather catches the air. A glove slips, slowly. A room full of people leans forward at the the edge of their seat.
This is the art of the tease. Not rushed. Every movement considered.
Film has always been drawn to this world for good reason. The costumes alone deserve their own billing.
This watchlist moves through that spectrum, from classic showgirls to nightclub camp to iconic performances that win the hearts of new generations with every passing year.
Consider this your invitation to sit front row, the show is about to begin.
11 Gothic Honeymoon Destinations for the Dark Romantic
From the lantern-lit streets of Edinburgh to the volcanic shores of Bora Bora, these destinations frame dark romance through architecture and atmosphere
By: The Lace Ledger Staff
Picture this: day one of your honeymoon arrives and you wake aboard a cookie-cutter cruise ship pointed dutifully toward the Caribbean. An bountiful buffet appears each morning while sun-soaked afternoons unfold on a crowded pool deck, interrupted only by hurried excursions through bustling tourist corridors that sell identical souvenirs.
If that version of escape feels a little light on substance, you’ve arrived in the correct corner of the internet.
The dark romantic prefers cathedral bells to steel drums and cobblestone streets to poolside bingo, which is why the following destinations offer a very different kind of honeymoon.
Here are 11 gothic escapes where architecture and atmosphere transform travel into a trip rich in dark romance.
World Sleep Day With Alice Mushrooms: A Month Inside Nightcap
We tried Alice Mushrooms’ Nightcap for 30 days to see whether functional mushrooms could quiet a racing mind and transform a nightly ritual into something worth looking forward to
By: Amanda Albert
In recent years, the “I’ll sleep when I’m dead” mentality has (thankfully) shifted and sleep has become an essential performance metric. We track it, optimize it, negotiate with it and still sometimes wake feeling as though something unfinished lingers at the edge of the bed. Alice Mushrooms approaches this challenge differently. Founded on the belief that food can function as medicine without forfeiting enjoyment, the brand formulates chocolate bites infused with functional mushrooms, nootropics and botanicals designed to support focus, mood, intimacy and rest. For World Sleep Day, we committed to a one-month trial of Nightcap, their evening formula, created to support relaxation and circadian rhythm through ingredients such as reishi, magnesium, L-theanine, zinc and chamomile — all delivered in a square of dark chocolate that feels more artisanal chocolatier than supplement aisle.
Poise & Provocation: 22 Films That Celebrate Feminine Strength
An alt International Women’s Day watch list honouring heroines who claimed power on their own terms
By: The Lace Ledger Staff
Not every revolution arrives draped in righteousness.
Some arrive lacquered in gloss. Some step forward in armour. Some smile before they strike.
Across fantasy epics, revenge thrillers and period dramas, feminine strength has evolved beyond endurance and into authorship. These women do not wait to be rescued. They negotiate, dismantle, seduce, avenge and ascend, often within systems designed to confine them.
This International Women’s Day, we turn toward heroines who did not simply survive their stories. They altered them.
A Study in Devotion: In the Studio with 5 Female Tattoo Artists Shaping the Future of Wearable Art
A conversation on craft, commitment and creating work meant to be carried for life with Jenna Kerr, Kristine Vodon, Marily Letendre, Miranda Boire and Jasmine Hernandez
By: The Lace Ledger Staff
On March 21, World Tattoo Day invites us to step into the studio and look closely at the discipline behind wearable art. By the artists devoted the craft, tattooing is not treated as trend or aesthetic shorthand; it’s a processed built on laborious preparation, artistic rigour, humble client services, thoughtful storytelling and responsibility.
In speaking with Jenna Kerr, Kristine Vodon, Marily Letendre, Miranda Boire and Jasmine, a shared theme becomes clear: they talk about composition before execution, they discuss anatomy as much as imagery and explain the reverent weight of permanence. Each artist approaches the body as a living canvas that must be considered carefully because what they create will live there forever.
This conversation sheds light on the complex business of tattooing from the creative process to studio management and client collaboration, by women whose careers are built on commitment to the creativity and business savvy in equal measure.
A Conversation with Dr. Jess O’Reilly: Modern Intimacy, Desire & Feminine Power
A deep-dive into emotional literacy, relationship dynamics, confidence and how women can cultivate connection without performance pressure with sex and relationship expert
By: The Lace Ledger Staff
Intimacy has long been dressed in expectation. For generations, women were handed scripts about desire that prized accommodation over appetite and harmony over honesty. What is shifting now is not simply how we speak about sex, but how we inhabit it.
In this conversation, Dr. Jess O’Reilly invites us to look at intimacy as something cultivated, deeply tied to emotional literacy rather than compliance. What emerges is a recalibration—one that reframes feminine power not as perfection, but presence.
Fire Horse, Forward: Lori Dylan on Working With Spring’s Momentum
On accessible tarot, grounded rituals for spring and the heat of Fire Horse energy
By: The Lace Ledger Staff
Spring arrives with forward motion, and Lori Dylan meets it without any theatrics. Her approach to tarot resists over-the-top spectacle and is, instead, grounded in clarity, framing the cards as conversation.
Raised with Indigenous lineage and mentored by a witch, she speaks about ritual the way others speak about productive habits or discipline—something lived, repeated and refined over time.
In our conversation, this Lunar calendar’s Fire Horse energy is framed as a current of momentum that asks for our participation. As the season turns (finally!), she offers grounded ways to work with energy, allowing ritual to exist in ordinary life in an accessible, intentional way.
Don’t Answer the Phone: A Ghostface Date Night Guide
In celebration of Scream 7, a flirtation with fear, Final Girl fashion and a ringing phone you should absolutely ignore
By: The Lace Ledger Staff
With the release of Scream 7, horror’s most self-aware franchise returns to remind us that fear has always been intimate; we’ve curated an evening that will get your heart racing, one way or another.
This isn’t a date night about surviving the movie, it’s about leaning into the electricity that follows. From pre-theatre cocktails to a Final Girl style guide, this is an intimate evening that plays by the rules—just not all of them ;).
The Ache of Unrequited Love: A Study in Limerence Through Film
Stories that unravel the torment of longing
By: The Lace Ledger Staff
Limerence often begins with attention before it becomes attachment as the body learns the rhythm of anticipation long before it knows whether desire will be returned.
Ordinary moments start to feel charged once the imagination takes over the work of intimacy.
Fantasy grows persuasive because it cannot correct itself.
Film understands this progression instinctively, lingering on glances, pauses and missed timing rather than neat resolution.
This watchlist traces those moments where longing sharpens the gaze and teaches us how desire learns to look.
Morning After Dread: Understanding Hanxiety and What Helps
A clear guide to navigating post-drinking anxiety, body signals, science-backed coping tools and the products that can help
By: The Lace Ledger Staff
Your pounding headache and rising nausea jolt you awake long before your alarm.
Your chest feels tight, a knot of dread coils in your gut and a single thought crawls in: did I say or do something embarrassing last night? Is it as bad as I think?
This experience — a signature blend of hangover and anxiety, now lovingly referred to as hanxiety — is familiar to many, especially after nights of heavy drinking, when physical and psychological distress overlap.
Hangxiety symptoms can include the obligatory nausea, shakiness, headaches, etc. paired with racing thoughts, shame, regret and fixation on what could have gone wrong the night before, often worsening as blood alcohol drops and brain chemistry rebalance begins.
It doesn’t help that, even on a good day, anxiety disorders are common with over 359M people worldwide affected and counting according to the World Health Organization. Adding stressors such as sleep loss and dehydration to a possibly already-anxious foundation can be challenging.
If you find the morning after harder than the night before, you are far from alone — here is what to do next.
Heretics and Headliners: The Women Who Rewired Rock
From the architects to the agitators shaping the genre now
By: The Lace Ledger Staff
Right now feels different.
Not quieter, not softer, not diluted; but, volcanic and disruptive.
Women are not entering rock again. They are reclaiming it, backed by decades of women who screamed into rooms that were never built to hold them.
Women have been consistently ranked among the most influential rock musicians of all time, with Janis Joplin, Tina Turner, Stevie Nicks, Patti Smith and Joan Jett shaping entire movements rather than moments.
Today, that lineage is no longer symbolic. It is audible in festival lineups, metal charts, touring rosters and a new generation of artists whose rage is articulate, intentional and unapologetically feminine.
This is not a revival. It is an expansion.
The Year the Noise Comes Home: Must-See Rock, Metal & Alt Tours of 2026
A field guide to the tours and festivals defining the year ahead
By: The Lace Ledger Staff
There is a difference between hearing a song and feeling it pulse in your chest.
Live music collapses the distance between sound and self, turning memory into muscle and strangers into co-conspirators.
This year’s calendar is stacked with festivals that feel mythic, tours that read like cultural milestones and one-off shows that you’ve got to see.
We’ve curated a list of confirmed festivals, announced tours and verified 2026 performances, alongside anticipated moments already lighting up ticket platforms.
See you there.
House of Steam: Inside Canada’s Most Haunting Winter Hydro Spas
The Canadian winter is a creature of contrast: frozen air that bites, trees stripped to bone, stillness that feels older than snow.
Step into steam rising against that cold, and the world realigns — warmth unfurls muscle tension and settles thought like a cathedral organ.
Outdoor hydrotherapy in the depth of winter feels mythical. Water that heats the skin becomes a balm, cold plunges elicit a sharp intake of breath and the virgin white surroundings focus every sensory moment.
This is not mere relaxation; it is a pilgrimage into sensation, a communion with heat and ice that feels sacred.
Hide Under the Covers: A Goth-Coded Psychological Thriller Watchlist
Fourteen films designed to unsettle the mind
By: The Lace Ledger Staff
National Cuddle Up Day (January 6) does not necessarily require sweetness. It asks for closeness, lowered lights and something unsettling enough to make you pull the blankets higher.
Psychological thrillers thrive in this space.
They trade jump scares for tension, spectacle for intimacy, comfort for proximity; these are films that crawl under the skin slowly.
The Mind, Reframed: A Watchlist Inside the Psyche on Screen
How 26 films portray mental health, harm and healing
By: The Lace Ledger Staff
Film has long been fascinated with the complicated workings of our inner selves. The portrayal of mental health on screen ranges from being cast as mirror for our deepest fears to empathetically-driven epilogs or funhouse distortions, depending on who is telling the story.
Some narratives offer care and complexity, while others lean into spectacle at the expense of truth.
This watchlist examines how mental health is framed across genres, decades and tones, from compassion to controversy.