Horace Walpole first applied the word ‘Gothic’ to a novel in the subtitle – ‘A Gothic Story’ – of The Castle of Otranto, published in 1764. When he used the word it meant something like ‘barbarous’, as well as ‘deriving from the Middle Ages’.

Flamboyant style, phase of late Gothic architecture in 15th-century France and Spain. It evolved out of the Rayonnant style’s increasing emphasis on decoration. Its most conspicuous feature is the dominance in stone window tracery of a flamelike S-shaped curve.

The term Gothic was coined by classicizing Italian writers of the Renaissance, who attributed the invention (and what to them was the nonclassical ugliness) of medieval architecture to the barbarian Gothic tribes that had destroyed the Roman Empire and its classical culture in the 5th century ce.

abbey of Saint-Denis

Gothic architecture, architectural style in Europe that lasted from the mid-12th century to the 16th century, particularly a style of masonry building characterized by cavernous spaces with the expanse of walls broken up by overlaid tracery. …

: of or relating to a style of writing that describes strange or frightening events that take place in mysterious places. : of or relating to a style of architecture that was popular in Europe between the 12th and 16th centuries and that uses pointed arches, thin and tall walls, and large windows.

Gothic rock is a dark music style, focusing on introspective and romantic lyrics. Reflective of the goths’ personalities, goth music focuses more on lasting romances than one-night stands. Goth music is characterised by pounding drums, hard guitar, instrumentals, and an ominous, spooky, or theatrical sound.

When KISS formed in 1973 as a bigger-than-life, comic book-costumed gothic hard rock band, co-lead vocalist and guitarist Paul Stanley knew they were onto something “massive from the start.”

Gothic rock (alternately called goth-rock or goth) is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted towards dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie and the Banshees, Joy Division, Bauhaus, and the Cure.

The Cure are often identified with the gothic rock genre, and are viewed as one of the form’s definitive bands. However, the band has routinely rejected classification, particularly as a gothic rock band.

The cure, does perform goth rock, post-punk , which are both genres of goth music. They have also performed alternative rock.