We’ve all been in this situation: buying a gift for a friend with very specific tastes. It might seem like a layup of a gift, but actually it’s fraught with peril. Let’s say your friend is a goth. (Because that’s what this article is about.) Sure, you could play it safe and get a generic gift, like a Starbucks gift card, but then you’ll risk underwhelming them. On the other hand, you could try to get them something you think they would want, like a 5 gallon drum of black nail polish, only to find out they don’t use nail polish, but rather the dried blood from road kill.
So, what’s a friend of a goth to do? Check out this list of gifts for the morbid at heart, of course! Maybe these are perfect for that one friend who fills composition notebooks with poetry about storm clouds and sad vampires. Or maybe they’re perfect for you!
1. A PyroPet Candle
Photo Credit: Buzzfeed
This polygonal cat candle starts off cute. Then you light it, and it transforms into a demon skeleton. Perfect for cat lovers AND cat haters alike!
2. A seance wallet
Photo Credit: Amazon
Nothing is more awkward than conducting a seance only to summon the wrong ghost. If your friend conducts so many seances she can’t keep ’em straight, she needs a seance wallet.
3. A water bottle…with a healing crystal.
Photo Credit: Free People
Per the item’s product description, these crystal water bottles promote “positivity and purification” in your daily routine. As we all know, raw crystals are blessed with “energizing, all natural effects” that “support revitalization and clarification of the mind and body.” So you know it’s scientific.
A crystal water bottle is a gift both for your friend and the general public. Having this bottle is another way of saying, “I am easily parted from my money.”
4. This delightful bird
Photo Credit: Tamara Morgendorff
What if storks stole babies instead of delivering them? I think we have our answer!
5. A coffin cell phone case
Photo Credit: Buzzfeed
The only appropriate way to commemorate that time you tried to order a pizza with only 1% battery remaining.
6. An adult coloring book about serial killers
Photo Credit: Amazon
Also includes a fun Zodiac Killer word scramble that cannot be solved.
7. A box of animal skulls from Skulls Unlimited
Photo Credit: Crate Joy
Say you’ve got a goth friend who felt left of the Beanie Baby craze. Well here’s the next best thing: collectible animal skulls. If you sigh up for a subscription with Skulls Unlimited, you’ll get a new skull from a surprise animal each and every month. What did you get this month? A turkey skull? Maybe an elusive chinchilla? You won’t rest until your collection is complete.
And just like Beanie Babies, these aren’t worth anything either.
8. Eyeball orbs, set of eight
Photo Credit: Grandin Road
This one is also a great gift for everyone, not just your goth friend. A set of eyeball orbs will help your death-obsessed friend to spruce up their apartment, and a great way for visitors to instantly know exactly who they’re dealing with.
9. Rainy day sunglasses
Photo Credit: Unique Vintage
Look, sometimes everyone at your grandparents’ 50th wedding anniversary needs to be reminded of the pointlessness of human existence. You’re just unafraid to speak the truth.
10. Box set of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
Photo Credit: Amazon
Ah, these books are a classic of the genre I call “Children’s literature that should never be given to children.” I still have nightmares about the girl with the green ribbon.
11. This picturesque photo
Photo Credit: Antique Photo Archive
The seller guarantees that the people in this picture will come to life and murder you in your sleep, or your money back.
12. A “Let’s Summon Demons” shirt
Photo Credit: Amazon
And who says kids today can only be entertained with a smartphone?
13. Black Magic coffee mug
Photo Credit: Look Human
Necromancers need caffeine, too.
14. A “Hidden Mother” necklace
Photo Credit: Etsy
“Hidden mother” photography refers to a Victorian photo style where mothers would hide somewhere in a photo of their baby so they could keep the child still enough for the photo to be taken. It definitely makes for a creepy image, so your goth will love it. Even better, the photo is so old that everyone involved is long dead. Goth bonus points!
15. An all-black color wheel
Photo Credit: HGTV
This one doesn’t exist yet, so you’ll have to make it yourself. But the hardest part about being a goth is definitely putting together an outfit using the many vibrant shades of black in the color spectrum. Does this ebony shirt go with these ink jeans? What about my obsidian purse? No longer a problem thanks to the all-black color wheel.
h/t: Buzzfeed