Goth, Anyone?

I'm no good at research. Well, it's not that I'm not good at it, it's that I loathe it with every fiber of my being. I actually start to shake if I think the word "research." *shudders* I've typed it twice now, and I'm starting to break out in hives.

I'll do the r-word if I have to, don't get me wrong. I mean, what kind of writer would I be if I didn't verify my facts? I can nary write about NYC if I've never been there (which I haven't) and don't know a single thing about it.

So sometimes research is a necessary evil. But I've come to something that I've actually enjoyed learning about. Are you ready for this?

The Goth subculture. Those are Wikipedia's words.

See, I'm sort of fascinated by the whole Goth scene. Not really the white-painted faces and weird piercings (although the piercings are kinda cool, just not for me. I have a little, okay huge, phobia of needles and all things pain-related). But the wicked spiked hair, the dark black dyed look, that kind of thing.

My DH says it's because I'm obsessed with vampires. Like all vampires are Goths or something. Which, by the way, I'm obsessed with neither. I just find other people fascinating. I like to sit back and watch what they do and say and more importantly, why they do and say what they do. It makes for interesting character-building inside my own head.

Sadly, I am not well-acquainted with any people who are involved in the Goth subculture. In fact, I don't know a single person who is. Thus, my reliance on the interwebs. And believe me, you can find a lot on there.

So I found out that Gothism (my word) emerged as a sort of "post-punk" era in the United Kingdom. I like punks, too. Anyway, I discovered that not all research is bad. I actually liked learning more about the whole Goth culture.

And it was important research, because I'm going to attempt to write a glam-Goth paranormal/ghost story. It's something I've been stewing over since last summer. And Adam Lambert's glam-Goth look on American Idol has only been fanning the flames of my inner gotta-write-Goth desire.

Anyway, this post has been sort of rambling. But I guess I was wondering how you all research. Do you stick to what you know? Or are you like me, and have to do a little bit of searching to find out more in order to make your novels authentic? Do you like the research aspect of writing? Or do your cells quiver at the thought? What are you researching right now?