With Halloween just around the corner, it seems all too fitting that the latest decor craze celebrates all things creepy: “goblincore.”
So what is goblincore, exactly? Think flowers in a vase, but the blooms are dried up and dead. Decor motifs hail from nature’s underbelly, such as snails, moss, bones, tarot cards, and mushrooms. (Apparently, goblins and their elf brethren dwell under spongy fungi.)
Goblincore also goes by other unsavory monikers such as “dirtcore,” “crowcore,” “cottagegoth,” and (my personal favorite) “feralcore.” (Honestly, the word “feral” in connection with anything related to home design seems just wrong to me, but to each his own.)
Here’s more about goblincore, why it’s on the rise, and how to cop this look—at least for the Halloween season and maybe beyond if you feel it’s your jam.
Where does ‘goblincore’ come from?
In the early days of the pandemic, there was “cottagecore,” a decor style filled with gingham curtains, floral wallpaper, upcycled milk bottles filled with daisies, and the scent of banana bread baking in the oven.
Then, as the COVID-19 pandemic dragged on and we continued hunkering down at home, packing our spaces with everything from house plants to toilet paper, along came a maximalist-gone-overboard ambiance called “cluttercore.”
Goblincore, you could say, is just the next logical step—if a little off the deep end—where people turn their homes into fantastical escapes from the cold, clinical reality outside their doors.
“These homeowners love nature or fantasy,” says Julie Coraccio, the organizing expert at Reawaken Your Brilliance. “There are even micro-communities” built around this theme.
So if goblincore speaks to you, you’ve got company out there!
However, “if it’s toned down a bit, it could be helpful,” adds Boiko. “Nature lovers and Dungeons & Dragons fans will likely squeal with delight, but a smart real estate agent will need to know how to use the uniqueness in a goblincore house to their advantage.”
How to achieve goblincore decor
Instead of a clean, white cottage interior, a goblincore homeowner favors dark shades of brown, tough tweeds, and a natural exterior that’s often wild, even overgrown and a tad neglected.
If you want to try a little goblincore, lean on nostalgia as your guide.
“The mushrooms remind me of the ’70s trend, and these could be brought in through textiles, accent wallpaper, or accessories,” says Drew Henry of Design Dudes.
Just be warned, it’s all cozy fun until you realize you’ve put your coffee mug down next to a squirrel skeleton. Is it too much to ask that roadkill not be repurposed as a home accent?
And in general, it’s probably best to tone it back down once Halloween is over and done and you’ve moved on to the warmer, cozier vibes of Thanksgiving, the holidays, and beyond.
As Henry says, “The look doesn’t hold universal appeal except around Halloween.”
