Magazine · English
You Are Gothic, But You don't Know It
_edited_edited.png)
Literature, folklore and symbols in conversations with human experience.
About
Why do some stories stay with us?
Why are we drawn to certain stories, images and characters, and why do they stay with us?
In each issue, I bring literature, folklore, film and symbols into conversation with lived experience and the questions emerging from my research. Identity, belonging, care, loss and transformation are some of the themes we revisit through different readings.
The magazine forms part of The Gothic Descent: an ongoing exploration of how cultural works give shape and language to experiences we may struggle to recognise or express.
Five catacombs and the questions we return to
The magazine follows five recurring lines of enquiry. Each seasonal issue brings some of them into conversation through three connected articles.
Fragmentation & Identity
Motherhood & Horror
Care, Nature & Cultural Disconnection
Monsters, Ghosts & Exclusion
Stories & Symbolic Language
Explore
Explore
Explore
Explore
Explore
Begin with any issue. Follow a question access the seasons.
Xavier Aldana Reyes
Reader in English Literature and Film at Manchester Metropolitan University and founder member of the Manchester Centre for Gothic Studies.
On the magazine's earlier work
"A magazine with so much preparation and hard work as this one deserves to get to its audience."
Alicia’s review of Horror, A Literary History, published by The British Library and edited by me, is a beautiful and detailed tribute that I deeply appreciate. I especially enjoyed her translations of some of the sections, which perfectly get the message across.
The complete archive
Browse editions by publishing season.
Season 3
Season 2
Season 1
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
Season 3 · 2026
Summer 2026
Autumn 2026
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
Season 2
January 2023
February 2023
March 2023
April 2023
May 2023
June 2023
July 2023
August 2023
September 2023
October 2023
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
Season 1
June 2022
July 2022
August 2022
September 2022
October 2022
November 2022
