These goths hark back to the youth subculture that branched out of early 1980s punk music, particularly two bands: The Cure and Bauhaus.

This year’s festival has more than 200 artists performing over four days, in addition to Renaissance fairs, Viking shops, film premieres and literary readings.

Goth is as much a fashion aesthetic as a musical one, and Leipzig will be awash in heavily made-up vampires, pagans, Victorians and pretty much anything to do with horror, decadence and the dark side.

Germany is “almost single-handedly keeping goth alive,” Alice Pattillo wrote last month in “20 Reasons Why Goth Will Never Die.”

Yesterday, our “What we’re reading” incorrectly identified David Young as a talent agency head. He is the head of the union representing Hollywood writers. That’s it for this briefing. See you next time. — Melina

Thank you

To Mark Josephson, Eleanor Stanford and Kenneth R. Rosen for the break from the news. Victoria Shannon, on the briefings team, wrote today’s Back Story. You can reach the team at briefing@nytimes.com.

P.S.

• We’re listening to “The Daily.” Our latest episode is Part 1 of a two-part series about a genetic database that is transforming law enforcement and testing the limits of privacy.

• Here’s today’s Mini Crossword puzzle, and a clue: What the Spanish “me gusta” means (5 letters) . You can find all our puzzles here.

• The New York Times pop music critic Jon Caramanica hosts a weekly podcast, “Popcast,” which discusses the latest in music, from conversations about the biggest albums and songs to breaking news analysis.