At core, "Gothic" refers to the style invented by second-generation British Punk bands like Joy Division, The Cure, and Bauhaus, music that embraced darkness of theme and excessively morbid imagery, but the Gothic style is actually quite broad and has serious cultural antecedents in the work of writers like Mary Shelley and Horace Walpole. The pop "Gothic" style has deeply influenced our culture and is today represented in the music of a wide variety of bands, from Dead Can Dance to Marilyn Manson. At its worst, Gothic music is laughably hackneyed: a collection of cliched lines about vampires, blood, and creatures of the night. At its best, Gothic music can be terrifying, swooningly romantic, and exorcisingly powerful all at the same time.