The gothic aesthetic is one that is has been present in popular culture for many years, specifically in the form of 'counterculture'. I'm sure it has been viewed as weird and scary even back when it first came to be as much as it is now.
A specific example that I can think of is how prominent the idea of 'gothic' is in recent fashion throughout the last 15 years or so. There's the obvious idea of the gothic fashion style that one thinks of when they think back to the 2000's. Lots of black hair dye, lipstick, and nail polish, tripp pants, band shirts, Hot Topic... not such a great way to look. People who considered themselves as 'gothic' seemed to be really into the culture of horror movies, classic monsters like vampires, werewolves, bats and spiders, acting or looking 'creepy' or mysterious, many of the traits that we decided were earmarks of the gothic genre in class. In any case it was a super popular way to dress and I can't think of a single person I know who wouldn't know what gothic fashion is on some level.
Today gothic fashion has taken some new turns. There's still the classic 2000's gothic look (we call it 'mall goth' now) but there's definitely a surge of trendy looks one can label themselves as that are a direct descendant of the mall goth look. Personally, I think this came from the fact that those who considered themselves a mall goth in 2005 are a bit older now and a bit more conscious of how they look. It's easy to think you look great in middle school but we become a bit more self-aware as we grow older.
I can think of some popular trends that a lot of people in their 20-something's like to identify as, fashion wise-- 'pastel goth' is a big one, and I think a lot of people who are into this look definitely think of themselves as being part of some counterculture movement (though I will say that it's a bit wildly popular for that idea, but that's another discussion). Pastel goths still enjoy dark makeup and nail polish but might swap out all the black for more pastel colors, dying their hair pink, blue, or lavender, wearing lots of sheer blouses and inverted-cross patterns, and wearing some more antique-inspired necklaces and earrings. There's a bit less of a connection to the gothic genre in terms of spider webs, spooky castles, and general halloween aesthetic, though the term is known as pastel goth and this is why I'm sure it comes directly from many people who identified as mall goths in their teen years. Not necessarily a bad thing, just an observation.
There are some other great looks that have come out of gothic fasion, though. My favorite right now is surf goth, seen below--
You can definitely draw some similarities to early gothic fashion, and even though it may not be apparent at first you can do this with almost any fashion trend with 'goth' in the name. It's pretty interesting!
It's interesting how subcultures can mutate. It's even more incredibly interesting how so many versions of that subculture can subscribe to the same tribe. You mentioned that pastel goths branched away from the mall goth aesthetic and how there are a multitude of new goth fashion trends that still promote goth images in their new fashion choices. I had never heard of surf goth before and would love to research that more. It's amazing how all of these people can adhere to one urban tribe, while having such different, yet inherently similar, dress styles. You've opened my eyes to what a versatile fashion aesthetic goth is.
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