I have searched and could not find this topic, but it seems like something that could have been asked before, so excuse me if it has...
At what age did you become Goth and/or begin to notice your Gothic tendencies?
It may seem a little older than some other Goths, but I was 11 when it first began to show...

I was 23(I think?) before going to the local Goth club for the first time. I started exploring the music and the subculture and decided that I felt at home here.

I first discovered "dark" styles when I was around 14 or so. I was a mallgoth for years until about the 2nd last year of university. Then, I simply found myself growing out of KoRn and metal in general and plunging into some Siouxsie and the Banshees and Sisters of Mercy.

-- Sat Nov 26, 2011 9:44 pm --

I 'm 23 now.

Hey Wolfie, we were both around the same age when we discovered what real "goth" music was!

Yep! I hope you are still loving it when you are 32, like me.

I was about thirteen when my brother-in-law started getting me into the music, and not long afterward, he started taking me to clubs when I lived with him and my sister in London (yes, that's "underage" for the UK, and yes we knew this and the people running the clubs and nights seldom did -- long story short, he and I mentally reasoned away any emotional guilt by the fact that I was his designated driver and had a UK driver's lisence under some special conditions because of the fact that my sister was away on business most of the summer, due to her job, and my bother-in-law was legally found to be untrustworthy behind the wheel of an automobile -- and anybody who's driven in London probably has an idea how bad a driven that must make him).

I had a major drama crash-and-burn when I was about 24, mostly from one person, too (or at least they were the final catalyst) which drove me away from the Goth scene for a few years and into Mod revival -- I've always loved the old girl groups, ska, power pop (like The Jam and Secret Affair) and my tastes in aesthetics have always been very Art Deco (including the 1960s revival, Googie architecture, atompunk) and Pop Art, so it's fitting. Still only really "fit in" with that scene on the periphery and my penchant for black hair with emerald and plum highlights and/or chunks, and darker colours, make-up, I always stood out and some people at the Mod night I used to DJ commented on my look being "Mod Mock Goth" or once I heard "Goth-Deco Modernist". I just kinda gave up on not being goth a few weeks ago, since it's not like I ever stopped listening to "goth" music.

Odds are, I probably will. It's kinda comforting to know that I'll be probably still be into this then.

I just think that.... this is going to be a life-long thing.

In my own experiences, people's tastes may evolve and fluctuate with age, but rarely change in a profoundly meaningful way, and by the age or twenty or so, most people are set. Granted, some people are into things that are "trendy" simply because it's the latest fad, and those people will gravitate toward the next fads that come along; and for others, priorities may change with age, but tastes will often remain the same.

I found out about the existence of goth when I was in high school, and I was pretty adamant about not being called goth (or emo for that matter...) back then.

... But then that all changed when I hit 18 and was out of horrible high school forever and I needed a fresh start (actually, it was the summer of my first year in college that I became goth).

I think I'm twenty-two now?...

I've always been a late bloomer. I've known who I was and what I liked since I was very young, maybe 11 or 12, but never explored these things about myself for fear of family disapproval and simply the way I was raised which was very closeted and very conservative. It was only after I moved out of living with my grandparents that I found the courage to rediscover who I was but had always been too afraid to explore.

So I guess I truly became Goth around the age of 20 or 21, though I discovered it while in high school, around the age 14 or 15, though everything I heard about it was false at the time…I had always liked the darker side, but just never explored it out of respect for my grandparents.

It is that same reason that I pretended for the longest time that I wasn’t bisexual. Though I have known since I was about 11 that I was Bisexual, I didn't even come out of that closet until a few weeks ago, despite my grandmother’s acceptance of LGBT. No one in my family knows that I’m aware of. And believe it or not, the few friends I’ve told were surprised. One whom I’ve known for years told me “Yeah, I already knew that.” (Oddly enough, I believe her…)

I also didn't find my spirituality until about 22. I was a very conservative Christian (I was everything fundamental and bad about Christians) until I was about 15 and started to question it. When I was 17 I truly started doubting. At about 20, I knew Christianity wasn’t for me. And at 22, I found my path. Hell, I’m still finding it.

And I’ll be 25 in a month. Better late than never. And I can finally look in the mirror these days and be happy with who I am.

Bit of a late bloomer myself here- only discovered the gothic subculture when I was about 14. I then discovered that I'd had a few gothic tendencies for a while and decided to explore more. I'm still exploring now tbh, and liking what I'm finding. Siouxsie and the Banshees was the first band that I managed to discover, along with the Sisters of Mercy, Inkubus Sukkubus and Bauhaus.

Very early. Around four or five? I fell in love with Morticia and Elvira and wanted to be just like them... It's been about 20 years now and I love every moment.

I'm not sure, actually.

As a kid, I always liked the bad guys in movies. The Addams Family was one of my favorite movies. I always though how cool it'd be to live in a house like that and such. I owned the Nightmare Before Christmas on VHS (yes, VHS!!!) almost since it first came out...and according to my mom, I grabbed it and asked to get it. I dug up some old poetry of mine from like 4th grade. I seemed to have an odd obsession with blood and death when I was young. So, in those instances, it seems I've always been goth, just didn't know the music component, the clothing style that I'd prefer, etc. I didn't start dressing in all black until a freshman in high school and didn't get into the right music (i.e. Bauhaus, The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees etc. as opposed to Evanescence, Korn, Marilyn Manson, Dimmu Borgir, etc.) until late sophomore year in high school.

And while I don't always dress in black (haven't worn much the last few years while in college, but between losing my great-aunt, having that feeling of about to move on, wanting to feel like myself, etc. I've been getting back into it), the music has remained a very constant part of me. I still much prefer anything from Bauhaus, even the meh and bleh Go Away White, to anything coming out today.

Talk about dancing around the question, huh? haha

I know that feeling. They're just dressed so much cooler, aren't they?

I was dressing in black and writing bad poetry in junior high. I just don't consider myself back then as a Goth. I didn't discover the subculture until much later.

EXACTLY!!!! And often times, they had the better voice actors, too.