Mushrooms, toads and moss might not be the most celebrated of nature’s creations, but thanks to goblincore, an aesthetic that is blossoming online as well as in forests, the danker, gnarlier side of nature is enjoying a moment in the sun.
According to the TikTok user @froggiecrocs, AKA Parker, who has more than 90,000 followers who tune in for his goblincore content, it “romanticizes the ugly, lesser appreciated parts of the natural world”. Its trappings include animal skulls and earthworms and its influences range from David Bowie in Labyrinth to the Twilight Saga. According to the trends expert Sabrina Faramarzi, it is about “chaos, dirt and mud”.
The hashtag has more than 498m views on TikTok and is a rising trend on Pinterest in the UK. On Reddit, the r/goblincore subreddit’s 19,000-strong membership has increased its subscribers by 395% year-on-year, with one recent poster hoping for an exchange of their “tiny mice and vole bones in vials” for other goblincore items.
Goblincore fashion and paraphernalia are selling well. On…
