Bogotá, Colombia · Est. 2010
Bogotá, Colombia · Est. 2010
The Independent
Voice for Dark Culture
The Independent
Voice for Dark Culture
Award-winning critical journalism on dark culture — Gothic tradition, horror, esotericism, and the arts that refuse to surface.
Trusted by
Our Manifesto
Where the Shadow Is the Subject
A publication that refuses to look away from the darker architectures of human culture.
The Conviction
Built on a single premise: the darkest expressions of human culture deserve the same rigor and honesty that mainstream media reserves for the respectable. Since October 1, 2010, we have held that position without compromise.
The Scope
Colombia’s leading English-language publication for dark culture — Gothic tradition, horror, esotericism, underground music, subculture, and the arts that refuse to surface.
The Standard
Long-form, exhaustively researched, and written to last. We are not producing content. We are producing a record.
The Position
Based in Bogotá, our Latin American perspective inflects everything we publish. Colombia’s traditions of magical realism, political violence, and Catholic mysticism give our editorial outlook a texture no other dark culture publication can replicate.
Editorial Scope
What We Cover
A map of the territories we have claimed and refuse to abandon — each domain explored with the same depth and without apology.
01.
Gothic Tradition
Architecture, literature, fashion, subculture, and the long philosophical shadow of the Gothic mode from the 18th century to contemporary expression.
02.
Horror Studies
Critical analysis of horror across literature, film, and visual culture — from the canonical to the transgressive, the psychological to the visceral.
03.
Esoteric Philosophy
Serious academic discourse on esoteric philosophy, magical traditions, occult history, and the epistemology of the unseen.
04.
Dark Music
Album reviews, artist interviews, studio features, and genre criticism spanning metal, post-punk, darkwave, industrial, and their tributaries.
05.
Folklore Mythology
The living traditions of myth, legend, and folk horror — with particular attention to Latin American oral culture and its European antecedents.
06.
Visual Arts
The finest work in dark visual expression: illustration, painting, photography, mixed media, and the image that refuses to comfort
07.
Literary Publishing
Reviews, essays, and critical commentary on Gothic fiction, dark poetry, horror literature, comics, and the small press ecosystem.
08.
Live Events
Documentation and critique of festivals, exhibitions, concerts, and conventions that bring dark culture communities into physical space.
09.
Cultural Psychology
The psychology of dark aesthetics, morbid curiosity, deviance, and the clinical borders where culture and diagnosis converge.
Our History
A Record In The Making
Fifteen years of uninterrupted publication, from the Portugal to Colombia. This is where we came from, and what we built.
October 1, 2010
Foundation
Atmostfear Entertainment launches as an independent media in the Azores, Portugal — one of the first of its kind to merge academic rigor with cultural journalism in the coverage of dark culture. From the outset, it positions itself against the superficial register that dominates coverage of Gothic tradition, horror, and the underground arts.
January 28, 2014
Established in Colombia
The world’s oldest hybrid of academic rigor and cultural journalism formally registers as a media company in Bogotá, Colombia, marking its permanent establishment in Latin America. The move transforms Atmostfear Entertainment into a full-fledged publication — rooted in a cultural context that would come to define its editorial outlook, and establishing it as Colombia’s leading English-language voice for dark culture.
2013–2016
Establishing the Archive
Coverage broadens to encompass architecture, fashion, subculture anthropology, and the live events ecosystem. The AExpo International Cultural Festival project begins to take shape as an extension of the publication’s mission into physical programming space.
2017–2020
Expanding Editorial Scope
Coverage broadens to encompass architecture, fashion, subculture anthropology, and the live events ecosystem. The AExpo International Cultural Festival project begins to take shape as an extension of the publication’s mission into physical programming space.
2021–2024
Digital Infrastructure
A sustained period of platform development consolidates the publication’s digital presence. The Aegis WordPress framework — developed in-house — underpins the editorial infrastructure as Atmostfear Entertainment grows into one of the most relevant voices in dark cultural journalism worldwide. With over one million readers across Latin America and beyond, the publication becomes a recognizable and admired reference in the field.
2025–Present
Issue 187 and Beyond
As of early 2026, Atmostfear Entertainment publishes its 187th monthly issue — a record of consistent, award-winning critical output maintained without institutional funding, advertising dependency, or editorial compromise. Recognized repeatedly throughout its history for excellence in dark cultural journalism, the publication now prepares its next chapter: the AExpo Cultural Festival entering its inaugural international phase.
Editorial Standards
The Principles We Publish By
Four commitments that have governed every editorial decision since 2010. They are not guidelines. They are the publication’s spine.
01.
Depth Over Volume
Every feature is written to a minimum standard of 1,200 words of substantive argument. We do not mistake quantity of publication for quality of record. A single essay that advances understanding of its subject is worth more than a dozen reactive dispatches.
02.
No Sensationalism
The subjects we cover carry genuine weight — historical atrocity, psychological extremity, occult practice, mortal horror. We address them with the sobriety they demand. Tabloid framing is not a stylistic preference to avoid; it is an ethical failure.
03.
Academic Rigor
All factual claims are cited. Our house standard is Chicago style. We make no assertions we cannot substantiate, and we distinguish explicitly between argument and documented fact. We operate as though our readers are peers, not an audience to be managed.
04.
Editorial Independence
Atmostfear Entertainment accepts no editorial interference from advertisers, sponsors, or record labels. Our opinions are not for sale. Positive coverage reflects genuine critical assessment; negative coverage will be published regardless of commercial relationship.
Founder & Editor-in-Chief
Alex de Borba
Alex de Borba is the founder, editorial director, and principal writer of Atmostfear Entertainment. Since October 1, 2010, he has shaped the voice, methodology, and cultural positioning of what has become Colombia’s leading English-language publication for dark culture discourse — approaching Gothic tradition, esoteric philosophy, and the dark arts as interrelated strands of a single, uncompromising inquiry.
A book writer, scholar, journalist, musician, and plastic artist, de Borba brings the full range of his creative and academic practice to the publication’s editorial identity. Beyond the written work, he is the technical architect behind the Aegis WordPress framework — to which he is also an active contributor in the broader WordPress community — and the driving force behind the AExpo International Cultural Festival, the publication’s extension into physical programming space, dedicated to the Gothic and the surreal.
Our People
Meet The Team
The editors, writers, and creative minds who have dedicated their work to dark culture — and to the standard this publication refuses to lower.
Leadership
Alex de Borba
Founder & CEO
Lorena Angulo
Chief Operating Officer
Martha Moreno
Chief Financial Officer
Solange Senye
Chief Creative Officer
Contributors
André Monteiro
Contributing Writer
Anya Blackwood
Contributing Writer
Cláudia Carvalho
Contributing Writer
Olesia Kovtun
Contributing Writer
Connie Marchal
Contributing Writer
Veronika Sokolov
Contributing Writer
Silas Weston
Contributing Writer
Beyond the Publication
Our Initiatives
Three extensions of the same editorial mission — each operating in a different space, each held to the same uncompromising standard.
International Festival
AExpo Cultural Festival
A comprehensive festival of art, film, literature, fashion, music, and technology dedicated to the Gothic and the surreal. Exhibitions, conferences, workshops, and performances united under a single curatorial mission.
Annual Recognition
Dark Culture Awards
The Obscaerivm — Atmostfear Entertainment’s annual recognition for outstanding achievement across dark culture. Honoring the artists, musicians, writers, and creators whose work advanced the field with exceptional integrity and vision.
Open-Source Framework
Aegis for WordPress
The proprietary WordPress framework developed in-house to power Atmostfear’s publishing infrastructure. Built on disciplined pragmatism and proven performance — and available as an open-source project.
Colombian Scene
Andean Culture
We are Colombia’s most active platform for dark cultural promotion — covering its artists, events, and traditions with a depth and consistency no other publication matches, and dismantling the myths that have long obscured the country’s cultural richness.
-
Argovia Launches ‘Primal Repetition’ Through Intimacy at Hall 74
The Bogotá progressive quartet presented their second album at Hall 74 the day after its…
-
Enslaved Opens Unholy Halloween at Oslo Spektrum in October
The Haugesund progressive black metal veterans bring their 35-year argument to Oslo Spektrum on October…
-
Arch Enemy’s Answer to Every Rights Challenge Is Escalation
Three documented incidents across seventeen years establish a management philosophy that has governed Arch Enemy’s…
Enter the Archive
Engage With The Discourse
Fifteen years of uncompromising critical writing on dark culture, freely accessible.