The word “Gothic” is open to much misinterpretation these days. Most people associate it with a certain lifestyle that requires black clothing and white make-up. While it certainly means that now, it has had several other meanings previously. In its original context it meant the tribes who invaded the Roman Empire in the Third and Fourth Centuries AD. The Goths were Germanic barbarians who captured Rome and sacked it. The Vandals did this as well but the word “Vandalism” has become associated with wanton destruction and “Gothic” with an uncivilized person. Doesn’t really seem fair, does it?
The second meaning of the word “Gothic” comes into usage much later than Rome. The Goths and the Romans are both gone by the time the word becomes associated with architecture. “Gothic” architecture is the Medieval form from between 1200 and 1500 AD. This form of building is considered less elegant than the Classical styles that replaced it during the Renaissance. In essence, a “big ugly building”.
If you’d like to read the rest, please check out Monster 2: From the Pages of Dark Worlds Quarterly.