Dead Threads: Sartorial Semiotics, Decay, and Identity in Gothic Horror

The semiotic, ideological, and discursive roles played by costuming in Gothic and horror narratives across transmedia platforms are examined in this study. Drawing upon critical frameworks including theories of monstrosity, abjection, and cultural semiotics, it examines how costume operates not just as a visual signifier but as an ideological tool for constructing and problematising notions of identity, otherness, and cultural anxiety. The analysis is structured around four thematic discussions: the aesthetics and semiotics of Gothic and horror costuming, which outlines how costumes encode and externalise psychological and societal fears through visual symbolism; monstrosity and gender, analysing the ideological implications of costuming as a means of demarcating deviance, gender fluidity, and the instability of cultural norms; the undead and aesthetics of decay, exploring how costuming represents social critique through depictions of decay, disruption, and everyday horror; and finally, the transmedia circulation of monstrous costuming, investigating how costumes function beyond narrative contexts as dynamic, evolving cultural artefacts through practices such as cosplay, fan appropriations, ‘monstrous’ dolls including Barbie, and high-fashion reinterpretations. The study positions Gothic and horror costuming as fluid signifiers that continually adapt to shifting socio-cultural discourses, reflecting broader processes of identity formation and collective anxieties within popular and media culture.