Remember my lovely friend Zoe from the Mad Hatter Tea Party and Wizard of the Opera outing? When I saw her photos from October’s Whitby Gothic Weekend, I had to ask her for a report — you can tell she had the time of her life! Better late than never, right? So here we go.

Whitby Gothic Weekend is a twice-a-year Goth extravaganza in Whitby, North Yorkshire. The cobbled streets turn into a gridlock of black clothing — it’s like travelling back in time to sooty England!

The Abbey’s ruins are a favorite spot for phototaking. Whitby’s ocean and mountain views are breathtaking.

Zoe says: “The best car in the world (that I’m naming the ‘Sir William Welles Mobile’) was parked outside our hotel- awesome! I wish it was my car SO badly!” She also visited a cool custom car show; love the Wallace and Gromit (top left) and the Pink Panther (bottom right).

Zoe has been to Whitby numerous times. Did anything surprise her? “I discovered that the house Lewis Caroll stayed at is now a tea shop — how appropriate! Also, the Japanese band Psydoll were playing at one of the fringe events. It was a huge surprise to bump into Nekoi-san in a small Yorkshire fishing village!”

Left: glorious La Vey corsets and Cruella de Ville hair. Right: Watchmen fetish cosplayers!

What did Zoe think of the fashion? “Fantastic as always! Steampunk seems to be the big thing in UK Goth fashion right now, and it’s currently my favourite trend. At Whitby there were so many creative outfits with handmade accessories and it was nice to see some colour variation too. Thomas of Brute Force Leather and Amanda AKA Professor Maelstromme were my absolute favourite couple: Amanda wore a fantastic custom-made dress uniform jacket and corset with a pith helmet — fantastic!”

Any tips for travellers? “I would advise potential festival-goers to book their accommodation early. I book around March for the October event so that I get my usual room at my favourite guest house overlooking the sea. It is a brilliant weekend even if you don’t fancy the bands that play at the main festival event. There is always great shopping and the atmospheric Abbey and town to look around.”

Have you been to Whitby Gothic Weekend? What do you think of the event? I’ve never been… augh, one day!