Free Gothic Charm School by Jillian Venters

Scary Godmother story-books by Jill Thompson
  Coraline by Neil Gaiman
  The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken
  The Spiderwick Chronicles by Holly Black
  The Witches by Roald Dahl
  The Dark Is Rising series (The Dark Is Rising, Greenwitch, The Grey King, and Silver on the Tree) by Susan
  Cooper Bizenghast by M. Alice
  LeGrow (manga) The Wee Free Men, A Hat Full of Sky, and Wintersmith
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    What else can you do?
    Use participation in the Goth subculture as a reward for good grades or behavior you’d like to see more of: your child can do “x” thing if he meets a certain goal. For example, you might allow your son to color his hair an unnatural shade as a reward for good grades or buy your daughter a coveted item of clothing for helping out around the house. The Lady of the Manners’s very own parents used these tactics when she was a moody black-clad teen. And they worked very well.
    Encourage your child to explore the literary and artistic roots of the Gothic movement. Don’t assume those explorations should stop at the roots of the Gothic movement either. Help your babybat seek out the modern flourishes of Gothic literature and art. While many parents (and other adults) narrow their eyes suspiciously at comics and manga, there are many gothy and kid-friendly titles to be found on those shelves.
    Encourage your child in any creative projects she may start. Many an introspective babybat ’s dabbling in writing, photography, or illustration has helped her decide what she wants to do when she grows up. Hours spent on the computer creating desktop backgrounds, user icons, and websites teach useful skills kids can someday use to find themselves a “real job,” even if all of their effort and tech skills seem to be focused on creating fan sites for whatever band or book has captured their hearts. Even seemingly eccentric creative pursuits such as making etchings of gravestones or making toy monsters can turn into more than “just” hobbies.
    Talk to your kid and find out what has drawn her to the Goth subculture in the first place, and you might just discover what she is passionate about. But above all, remember that having a child who is a Goth isn’t a bad thing. After all, the Lady of the Manners’s parents think she turned out just fine.
    What if my children hide behind me wide-eyed?
    What if you aren’t raising a fledgling Goth but keep seeing gothy types while you’re out and about with your family? Before you start worrying that a black-clad person is deliberately trying to scare your children, keep in mind that many children are shy or nervous about anyone they don’t know, no matter what the stranger looks like. Just because your child is hiding behind you with wide eyes doesn’t mean that the person he’s hiding from is scary or bad. On the other hand, should you coax your child into talking to this person? No, not necessarily. In the Lady of the Manners’s mind, trying to coax small children out of their shells to interact with strangers they’ve randomly met doesn’t seem terribly productive or useful.
    But! Don’t add to your child’s nervousness. Don’t act like Goths are a terrible danger to be avoided, and especially don’t point or make rude comments. Children imitate the people closest to them, even when they perhaps shouldn’t. Once, while on a very full flight home from a trip, the Lady of the Manners was seated next to a young girl. The girl, fascinated by the Lady of the Manners’s frilly skirts, striped tights, and velvet jacket, spent the flight cheerfully chattering away at the Lady of the Manners about her older sister, what books she liked, her opinions of the in-flight movies, and anything else that crossed her mind. When the girl asked the Lady of the Manners about her outfit, the Lady of the Manners explained that she was a Goth. At which point the girl’s eyes