View source for Gothic rock

{{Short description|Genre of rock music}}
{{Redirect|Gothic music|3 = Gothic (disambiguation)#Music{{!}}Gothic}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox music genre
| name              = Gothic rock
| other_names       = *Goth rock
*goth
*positive punk
| stylistic_origins = {{flatlist|*[[Post-punk]]
*[[glam rock]]}}
| cultural_origins  = Late 1970s, England
| derivatives       = {{flatlist|* [[Ethereal wave]]
* [[Cold wave (music)|cold wave]]}}
| subgenres         = [[Death rock]]
| fusiongenres      = {{Flatlist|
*[[Gothabilly]]
*[[gothic country]]
*[[gothic metal]]}}
| local_scenes      = [[Music in Leeds#Gothic rock|Leeds]], England<ref>{{cite book|last1=Spracklen |first1=Karl |last2=Spracklen |first2=Beverley |title=The Evolution of Goth Culture: The Origins and Deeds of the New Goths |pages=46}}</ref>
| other_topics      = * [[Dark wave]]
* [[Goth subculture]]
* [[Gothic fashion]]
* [[Dark cabaret]]
* [[New Romantics]]
* [[Blitz Kids (New Romantics)|Blitz Kids]]
* [[Industrial music]]
* [[Shock rock]]
* [[Horror punk]]
}}

'''Gothic rock''' (also known as '''goth rock''' or simply '''goth''') is a [[subgenre]] of [[rock music]] which grew out of British [[post-punk]] in the late 1970s. The genre draws from [[gothic literature]], [[nihilism]], [[Dark Romanticism|dark romanticism]], [[poetry]] and [[tragedy]]. The style evolved through early post-punk bands such as [[Siouxsie and the Banshees]], [[Joy Division]], [[Bauhaus (band)|Bauhaus]], and [[the Cure]], who shifted their music toward darker gothic overtones through an emphasis on minor chords, reverb, dark arrangements, and melancholic melodies.

In 1981, ''Sounds'' writer Steve Keaton published an article on "punk gothique", a term coined by [[UK Decay]] frontman [[Steve Abbott (musician)|Steve Abbott]] to describe their music. By 1983, the ''[[NME]]'' briefly used "positive punk" to describe a music scene associated with a London club known as the [[Batcave (club)|Batcave]], which included artists such as [[Alien Sex Fiend]], [[Specimen (band)|Specimen]], UK Decay, [[Sex Gang Children]], [[Rubella Ballet]] and [[Southern Death Cult]]. The British press later opted for the term "goth" to define the [[Goth subculture|subculture]] and style of music, which was further developed by the arrival of [[the Sisters of Mercy]]. Followed by, [[Flesh for Lulu]], [[Play Dead (band)|Play Dead]], [[Rubella Ballet]], [[Gene Loves Jezebel]], Blood and Roses, and [[Ausgang]].

In the United States, [[45 Grave]] and [[Christian Death]] further developed the scene, which led to the emergence of [[deathrock]]. By the late 1980s and 1990s, gothic rock gave rise to several [[fusion genre]]s such as [[gothabilly]], [[gothic country]] and [[gothic metal]].

== Characteristics ==
{{See also|Goth subculture|Gothic fashion}}

According to music journalist [[Simon Reynolds]], standard musical fixtures of gothic rock include "scything guitar patterns, high-pitched basslines that often usurped the melodic role [and] beats that were either hypnotically [[:wiktionary:dirgelike|dirgelike]] or tom-tom heavy and 'tribal'".{{sfn|Reynolds|2005|p=423}} Reynolds described the vocal style as consisting of "deep, droning alloys of [[Jim Morrison]] and [[Leonard Cohen]]".{{sfn|Reynolds|2005|p=423}} Several acts used [[drum machine]]s downplaying the [[backbeat|rhythm's backbeat]].{{sfn|Charlton|2003|p=353}}

Gothic rock typically deals with dark themes addressed through lyrics and the music's atmosphere. The poetic sensibilities of the genre led gothic rock lyrics to exhibit literary [[romanticism]], morbidity, [[existentialism]], religious symbolism, or supernatural mysticism.{{sfn|Reynolds|2005|pp=430–431}} Gothic rock is an offshoot of [[post-punk]]. According to ''[[AllMusic]]'', the genre "took the cold synthesizers and processed guitars of post-punk and used them to construct foreboding, sorrowful, often epic soundscapes."<ref name="gothrockAM">{{cite web |title=Goth Rock |url=https://www.allmusic.com/style/goth-rock-ma0000002623 |accessdate=22 May 2021 |publisher=[[AllMusic]]}}</ref> Early gothic rock had introspective or personal lyrics, but according to AllMusic, "its poetic sensibilities soon led to a taste for literary romanticism, morbidity, religious symbolism, and/or supernatural mysticism."<ref name="gothrockAM" />

Gothic rock creates a dark atmosphere by drawing influence from the [[drone music|drones]] used by [[the Velvet Underground]], and many gothic singers are influenced by the "deep and dramatic" vocal timbre of [[David Bowie]], albeit singing at even lower pitches.{{sfn|Charlton|2003|p=353}}

In terms of fashion, gothic bands incorporated influences from 19th-century Gothic literature along with horror films and, to a lesser extent, the [[BDSM]] culture.<ref name=":1">{{cite web |last=Wilson |first=Cintra |date=17 September 2008 |title=You Just Can't Kill It |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/18/fashion/18GOTH.html?_r=0 |access-date=10 March 2013 |work=[[The New York Times|nytimes.com]]}}</ref> [[Gothic fashion]]s within the subculture range from deathrock, [[punk fashion|punk]], [[androgyny|androgynous]], [[Victorian fashion|Victorian]], to [[Renaissance]] and [[medieval]]-style attire, or combinations of the above, most often with black clothing, makeup and hair.{{sfn|Steele|Park|2008}} [[Backcombing|Backcombed]] hair was popular among gothic fans in the 1980s.<ref>''Some Wear Leather, Some Wear Lace: A Worldwide Compendium of Postpunk and Goth in the 1980s'' by Andi Harriman (page 66)</ref><ref>''Consumer Tribes'' by Bernard Cova, Robert Kozinets, Avi Shankar (page 228)</ref>

== Etymology ==
[[File:The Doors in Copenhagen 1968.jpg|left|thumb|[[The Doors]] inspired the coining of the term "gothic rock" and were also an important influence of the genre ]]The term "gothic rock" was originally coined by critic John Stickney who used the label to describe the music of [[the Doors]] in October 1967, in a review published in ''[[The Williams Record]]''.<ref name="Stickney">{{cite news |last=Stickney |first=John |date=24 October 1967 |title=Four Doors to the Future: Gothic Rock Is Their Thing |url=http://mildequator.com/performancehistory/articlesreviews1967.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130504231130/http://mildequator.com/performancehistory/articlesreviews1967.html |archive-date=4 May 2013 |access-date=11 March 2013 |newspaper=[[The Williams Record]]}}</ref> Stickney wrote that the band met the journalists "in the gloomy vaulted wine cellar of the [[Trump Park Avenue|Delmonico hotel]], the perfect room to honor the gothic rock of the Doors".<ref name="Stickney" /> The author noted that contrary to the "pleasant, amusing [[hippies]]", there was "violence" in their music and a dark atmosphere on stage during their concerts.<ref name="Stickney" /> Stickney ultimately titled his article, "Four Doors to the Future: Gothic Rock Is Their Thing".<ref name="Stickney" />

In April 1977, critic [[Dave Marsh]] of ''[[The Morning Record]]''  described [[Philip Glass]]'s album ''North Star'' as "the best neo-Gothic rock since [[John Cale]] and [[Terry Riley]]'s ''[[Church of Anthrax]]'', or more appropriately, the first couple of Doors albums".<ref>{{cite book |last=Marsh |first=Dave |title=Record Reviews - Philip Glass ''North Star'' |date=April 16, 1977 |work=[[The Morning Record and Journal]] |page=46}}</ref>

On November 4, 1978 ''[[Record Mirror]]'s'' Tim Lott described [[Pere Ubu]]'s 1975 debut single "[[30 Seconds Over Tokyo (song)|30 Seconds Over Tokyo]]" as "discordant gothic rock".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lott |first=Tim |date=November 4, 1978 |title=Pere Ubu - 30 Seconds Over Tokyo [Single reviex] |journal=Record Mirror |page=12}}</ref>  In a review of a Siouxsie and the Banshees' concert in July 1978, critic [[Nick Kent]] stated, "parallels and comparisons can now be drawn with gothic rock architects like the Doors and, certainly, early Velvet Underground".<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Kent |first=Nick |date=29 July 1978 |title=Banshees make the Breakthrough [live review - London the Roundhouse 23 July 1978] |magazine=[[NME]]}}</ref> In 1980, Joy Division's album ''[[Closer (Joy Division album)|Closer]]'' was noted for its "dark strokes of gothic rock" by ''[[Sounds (magazine)|Sounds]].<ref name=":2">{{cite journal |last=McCullough |first=Dave |date=26 July 1980 |title=Closer to the Edge |journal=[[Sounds (magazine)|Sounds]] |quote=Young men in dark silhouettes, some darker than others, looking inwards, looking out, discovering the same horror and describing it with the same dark strokes of gothic rock.}}</ref>''

== History ==

=== 1950s–1970s: Forerunners ===
[[File:David-Bowie Early.jpg|thumb|right|150px|[[David Bowie]] influenced the [[post-punk]] bands that helped spawn the gothic rock genre]]

During the late 1960s and early 1970s, several musicians became influential in shaping the aesthetics and musical conventions of gothic rock such as [[Marc Bolan]],<ref name="A Life Less Lived">{{cite book |last=Reynolds |first=Simon |authorlink=Simon Reynolds |date=26 March 2008 |title=A Life Less Lived: The Gothic Box  |work=Blender}}</ref> [[Lou Reed]] and [[the Velvet Underground]],<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hann |first=Michael |date=2013-10-27 |title=Lou Reed: Five rock themes we owe to his work |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2013/oct/27/lou-reed-five-rock-themes-we-owe |access-date=2025-07-06 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> [[Jim Morrison]] and the Doors, David Bowie, [[Brian Eno]], and [[Iggy Pop and the Stooges]].<ref name="North2">{{cite journal |last=North |first=Richard |date=19 February 1983 |title=Punk Warriors |journal=[[NME]]}}</ref><ref name="story">{{cite web |date=25 October 2017 |title=The Story of Goth in 33 Songs |url=https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/the-story-of-goth-in-33-songs/ |accessdate=22 May 2021 |work=[[Pitchfork.com|Pitchfork]]}}</ref>

Journalist [[Kurt Loder]] would write retrospectively that the song "[[All Tomorrow's Parties]]" by [[the Velvet Underground]] and [[Nico]] is a "mesmerizing gothic-rock masterpiece" while [[Rolling Stone]] claimed their song "[[Venus in Furs (song)|Venus in Furs]]" made the band "goth pioneers".<ref>{{cite book |last=Loder |first=Kurt |title=[[VU (album)|V.U.]] |date=December 1984 |publisher=Verve Records |type=album liner notes}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Harriman |first=Andi |date=2022-10-31 |title=The 50 Best Goth Songs of All Time |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/the-50-best-goth-songs-of-all-time-1234614460/ |access-date=2025-07-06 |website=Rolling Stone |language=en-US}}</ref> Nico's 1968 album ''[[The Marble Index]]'' has been described by [[Alternative Press (magazine)|''Alternative Press'']] as "the first truly gothic album".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Thompson |first1=Dave |author-link1=Dave Thompson (author) |last2=Greene |first2=Jo-Ann |date=November 1994 |title=Undead Undead Undead |journal=[[Alternative Press (music magazine)|Alternative Press]] |publisher=Alternative Press Magazine, Inc.}}.</ref> With its stark sound, somber lyrics, and dark visual aesthetic.<ref>{{cite book |last=Unterberger |first=Richie |author-link1=Richie Unterberger |title=White Light/White Heat: The Velvet Underground day-by-day |date=1 June 2009 |publisher=Jawbone Press |isbn=978-1906002220 |page=201}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Unterberger |first=Richie |title=''The Marble Index'' – Nico |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-marble-index-mw0000309995 |access-date=11 March 2013 |publisher=[[AllMusic]]}}</ref>  However, music journalist Simon Reynolds considers [[shock rock]] artist [[Alice Cooper]] as "the true ungodly godfather of goth" due to his "theatrics and [[Black comedy|black humor]]", that was inspired by the sound and visual aesthetic of [[Arthur Brown (musician)|Arthur Brown]].<ref>{{cite news |date=December 29, 2017 |title=Alice Cooper: 'Rock music was looking for a villain' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/jun/12/alice-cooper-i-realised-rock-needed-a-villain-super-duper-alice-cooper-documentary |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171229231941/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/jun/12/alice-cooper-i-realised-rock-needed-a-villain-super-duper-alice-cooper-documentary |archive-date=December 29, 2017 |access-date=December 29, 2017 |agency=The Guardian}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Miles |first1=Barry |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r8xbaIlrUREC&q=arthur+brown+black+and+white+face+paint&pg=PA274 |title=The British Invasion: Arthur Brown |date=2009 |publisher=Sterling Publishing Company, Inc. |isbn=9781402769764 |page=274 |access-date=December 29, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190425053807/https://books.google.com/books?id=r8xbaIlrUREC&pg=PA274&dq=arthur+brown+black+and+white+face+paint&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi52bri66_YAhVsBcAKHTphAwcQ6AEIKTAB |archive-date=April 25, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[https://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/arthur-brown-on-shock-rock-hendrix-close-calls-with-fire-w463039 "Arthur Brown on Shock Rock, Hendrix, Close Calls With Fire"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171229232134/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/arthur-brown-on-shock-rock-hendrix-close-calls-with-fire-w463039|date=December 29, 2017}}. ''Rolling Stone''. Retrieved December 29, 2017</ref><ref name="A Life Less Lived" /> [[Screamin' Jay Hawkins]]' early style of shock rock, which blended occult imagery and theatricality with [[rock and roll]], as exemplified in his 1956 track "[[I Put a Spell on You]]", has also been retroactively recognized as a forerunner to gothic music.<ref name="story" />[[File:Siouxsie sioux.jpg|left|thumb|upright|[[Siouxsie and the Banshees]] were one of the first British bands to play a post-punk music with gothic overtones; [[Siouxsie Sioux]] pictured in November 1980]]
In the late 1970s, the word "gothic" was used to describe the atmosphere of [[post-punk]] bands like [[Siouxsie and the Banshees]], [[Magazine (band)|Magazine]] and [[Joy Division]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Rambali |first=Paul |date=July 1983 |title=A Rare Glimpse into a Private World |journal=The Face |quote=Curtis' death wrapped an already mysterious group in legend. From the press eulogies, you would think Curtis had gone to join Chatterton, Rimbaud and Morrison in the hallowed hall of premature harvests. To a group with several strong gothic characteristics was added a further piece of romance. The rock press had lost its great white hope, but they had lost a friend. It must have made bitter reading.}}</ref>  In March 1979, Kent used the gothic adjective in his review of Magazine's second album, ''[[Secondhand Daylight]]''. Kent noted that there was "a new austere sense of authority" to their music, with a "dank neo-Gothic sound".<ref name=magazine>{{cite magazine |last=Kent |first=Nick |title=Magazine's Mad Minstrels Gains Momentum (Album review) |magazine=[[NME]] |date=31 March 1979 |page=31}}</ref>  The second Siouxsie and the Banshees album, also released in 1979, was a precursor in several aspects. ''[[The Guardian]]'s'' [[Alexis Petridis]] retrospectively stated, "A lot of musical signifiers of classic gothic rock - scything, effects-laden guitar, pounding tribal drums – are audible, on [...] ''[[Join Hands]]''".<ref name="petridis">{{cite news |first=Alexis |last=Petridis|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/apr/26/goth-life-fields-nephilim|title=Goth for life |newspaper=The Guardian|date=26 April 2012 |access-date=2 September 2017}}</ref> In September, Joy Division's manager [[Tony Wilson]] described their music as "gothic" on the television show ''[[Something Else (TV series)|Something Else]]'',<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMRZROGtm1Q  | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/QMRZROGtm1Q| archive-date=11 December 2021 | url-status=live|title=Something Else [featuring Joy Division] |publisher=BBC television [archive added on youtube] |date=15 September 1979 |quote=Because it is unsettling, it is like sinister and gothic, it won't be played. [interview of Joy Division's manager Tony Wilson next to Joy Division's drummer Stephen Morris from 3:31]}}{{cbignore}}</ref> and their producer [[Martin Hannett]] described their style as "dancing music with gothic overtones".{{sfn|Reynolds|2005|p=420}}<ref name="petridis" />

In 1980, ''[[Melody Maker]]'' wrote that "Joy Division are masters of this gothic gloom".<ref>{{cite journal |last=Bohn |first=Chris |date=16 February 1980 |title=Joy Division: University of London Union – Live Review |journal=[[Melody Maker]]}}</ref> In 1983, ''[[The Face (magazine)|The Face]]''{{'s}} [[Paul Rambali]] recalled that there were "several strong Gothic characteristics" in the music of Joy Division.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Rambali, Paul |title=A Rare Glimpse into A Private World |journal=The Face |issue=July 1983 |quote=Curtis' death wrapped an already mysterious group in legend. From the press eulogies, you would think Curtis had gone to join Chatterton, Rimbaud and Morrison in the hallowed hall of premature harvests. To a group with several strong Gothic characteristics was added a further piece of romance.}}</ref> In 1984, Joy Division's bassist [[Peter Hook]] named [[Play Dead (band)|Play Dead]] as one of their heirs: "If you listen to a band like Play Dead, who I really like, Joy Division played the same stuff that Play Dead are playing. They're similar."<ref>{{cite magazine |author=Houghton, Jayne |date=June 1984 |title=Crime Pays! |magazine=[[ZigZag (magazine)|ZigZag]] |page=21}}</ref>

English [[punk rock]] band [[The Damned (band)|the Damned]] have been cited as an influence on and forerunner to gothic rock, in both music and aesthetics;<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-03-07 |title=Brian James, founding guitarist of punk's The Damned, dead at 70 |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2025-03-07/brian-james-founding-guitarist-of-punks-the-damned-dead-at-70 |access-date=2025-10-19 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Koithan |first=Stephanie |date=2025-05-22 |title=Pioneering goth-punk band the Damned haunted San Antonio's Paper Tiger Wednesday night |url=https://www.sacurrent.com/music/pioneering-goth-punk-band-the-damned-haunted-san-antonios-paper-tiger-wednesday-night-37552466/ |access-date=2025-10-19 |website=San Antonio Current |language=en-US}}</ref> their later musical style began shifting to goth, particularly on their 1985 album [[Phantasmagoria (The Damned album)|''Phantasmagoria'']].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rowleypublished |first=Scott |date=2025-03-07 |title="He built a campfire in the middle of his hotel room. It was kinda cute…" The mad, bad and dangerously daft story of The Damned |url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/the-dangerously-daft-story-of-the-damned |access-date=2025-10-19 |website=Louder |language=en}}</ref>

Retrospectively, ''[[Pitchfork.com|Pitchfork]]'' described [[glam rock]] as having a pivotal influence of the development of the gothic rock genre, stating, "Although it abandoned the psychedelic color palette and exchanged alien worship for a vampire cult, goth kept glam's theatricality intact, as well as its openness to experimentation", adding that early glam and [[art rock]] musician [[Brian Eno]] "may have contributed more to goth’s sonic DNA" than David Bowie, regarding the 1974 track "[[Third Uncle]]" as a "proto-goth" song.<ref name="story" />

=== 1980s: Origins ===

==== United Kingdom ====
{{See also|Post-punk}}[[File:Bauhaus August 2006 UK.jpg|thumb|right|Gothic rock band [[Bauhaus (band)|Bauhaus]] performing live in August 2006]]

Not long after, the "gothic" label "became a critical term of abuse" for a band like [[Bauhaus (band)|Bauhaus]], who had arrived on the music scene in 1979.{{sfn|Reynolds|2005|p=420}} At the time, ''[[NME]]'' considered that "Siouxsie and the Banshees, [[Adam and the Ants]] and even... Joy Division" had opened up "a potentially massive market" for newcomers like Bauhaus and [[Killing Joke]]: journalist Andy Gill then separated these two groups of bands, pointing out that there was a difference "between art and artifice".<ref name="Gill">{{cite journal |last=Gill |first=Andy |date=8 November 1980 |title=Gothic As a Brick |journal=[[NME]]|page=32}}</ref>

However, Bauhaus's debut single, "[[Bela Lugosi's Dead]]", released in late 1979, was retrospectively considered to be the beginning of the gothic rock genre.{{sfn|Reynolds|2005|p=432}} According to [[Peter Murphy (musician)|Peter Murphy]], the song was written to be tongue-in-cheek, but since the group performed it with "naive seriousness", that is how the audience understood it.<ref name=Thompson>{{cite book |last=Thompson |first=Dave |date=1 November 2000 |title=Alternative Rock |publisher=Miller Freeman Books |isbn=0-87930-607-6}}</ref> Bauhaus released their debut album ''[[In the Flat Field]]'' in 1980, and the album is often considered the first gothic rock album.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/in-the-flat-field-mw0000193854 |title=''In the Flat Field'' – Bauhaus |publisher=[[AllMusic]] |accessdate=20 May 2021 |last=Raggett |first=Ned}}</ref><ref name="Pitchfork">{{cite news |last=Abebe |first=Nitsuh |date=24 January 2007 |title=Various Artists: ''A Life Less Lived: The Gothic Box'' |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/9814-a-life-less-lived-the-gothic-box/ |access-date=10 March 2013 |work=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]}}</ref>

[[File:PrayerTour89.jpg|left|thumb|145px|[[Robert Smith (musician)|Robert Smith]] of the Cure in 1989, who was on the front cover of ''NME Originals: Goth'' in 2004.<ref name="NME">{{cite news |year=2004 |title=NME Originals: Goth |url=https://www.nme.com/originals/4 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080126150121/http://www.nme.com/originals/4 |archive-date=26 January 2008 |access-date=30 September 2013 |work=[[NME]]}}</ref>]]

In the early 1980s, post-punk bands such as Siouxsie and the Banshees and the Cure included more gothic characteristics in their music.{{sfn|Reynolds|2005|pp=428–429}} According to Reynolds, with their fourth album, 1981's ''[[Juju (Siouxsie and the Banshees album)|Juju]]'', the Banshees included several gothic qualities, lyrically and sonically,{{sfn|Reynolds|2005|p=428}} whereas according to ''The Guardian'', ''Juju'' was [[art rock]] on certain album tracks and [[pop music|pop]] on the singles.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2007/nov/21/1000tohearbeforeyoudie5 |title=Artists Beginning with S |date=21 November 2007 |work=[[The Guardian|guardian.co.uk]]}}</ref> Their bassist, [[Steven Severin]], attributed the aesthetic used by the Banshees around that time to the influence of [[the Cramps]].{{sfn|Reynolds|2005|pp=428–429}} [[The Cure]]'s "oppressively dispirited" trio of albums, ''[[Seventeen Seconds]]'' (1980), ''[[Faith (The Cure album)|Faith]]'' (1981) and ''[[Pornography (album)|Pornography]]'' (1982), cemented that group's stature in the genre.{{sfn|Reynolds|2005|p=429}} The line "It doesn't matter if we all die" began the ''Pornography'' album, which is considered as "the Cure's gothic piece de resistance".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://thequietus.com/articles/00620-the-cure-selecting-the-best-for-one-side-of-a-c90 |title=The Quietus &#124; Features &#124; It Started with a Mix &#124; The Cure: Selecting the Best for One Side of a C90 |last=Doran |first=John |date=27 October 2008 |work=[[The Quietus]] |access-date=11 March 2013}}</ref> They would later become the most commercially successful of these groups.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH |title=RIAA – Gold & Platinum Searchable Database – March 10, 2013 |work=riaa.com |access-date=10 March 2013}}</ref> The Cure's style was "withdrawn",{{sfn|Reynolds|2005|p=429}} contrasting with their contemporaries like [[Nick Cave]]'s the Birthday Party, who drew on [[blues]] and violent turmoil.{{sfn|Reynolds|2005|pp=429–431}} With the Birthday Party's ''[[Junkyard (album)|Junkyard]]'' album, Nick Cave combined "sacred and profane" things, using [[Old Testament]] imagery with stories about sin, curses and damnation.{{sfn|Reynolds|2005|p=431}} Their 1981 single "[[Release the Bats]]" was particularly influential in the scene.{{sfn|Reynolds|2005|p=431}}

Killing Joke were originally inspired by [[Public Image Ltd.]], borrowing from funk, [[disco]], [[dub (music)|dub]] and, later, [[Heavy metal music|heavy metal]].{{sfn|Reynolds|2005|pp=433–435}} Calling their style "tension music", Killing Joke distorted these elements to provocative effect, as well as producing a morbid, politically charged visual style.{{sfn|Reynolds|2005|pp=433–435}} Reynolds identified the Birthday Party and Killing Joke as essential proto-goth groups.{{sfn|Reynolds|2005|p=433}} Despite their legacy as progenitors of gothic rock, those groups disliked the label.{{sfn|Hannaham|1999|p=114}} [[Adam Ant]]'s early work was also a major impetus for the gothic rock scene, and much of the fanbase came from his milieu.{{sfn|Reynolds|2005|p=421}} Other early contributors to the scene included UK Decay and Ireland's [[Virgin Prunes]].

====Expansion of the scene====
In February 1981, ''Sounds'' writer Steve Keaton published an article on "punk gothique", entitled "The Face of Punk Gothique",<ref name="keat">{{cite journal |last=Keaton |first=Steve |date=21 February 1981 |title=The Face of Punk Gothique |journal=Sounds}}</ref> a term coined by [[UK Decay]] frontman [[Steve Abbott (musician)|Steve Abbott]] to describe their music.<ref name="keat" /> In the article, Keaton stated, "Could this be the coming of Punk Gothique? With [[Bauhaus (band)|Bauhaus]] flying in on similar wings could it be the next big thing?"<ref name="keat" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Silhouettes And Statues – A Gothic Revolution 1978-1986 - Record Collector Magazine |url=https://recordcollectormag.com/reviews/album/silhouettes-statues-gothic-revolution-1978-1986 |access-date=2025-10-18 |language=en}}</ref> Writer [[Cathi Unsworth]] believes that Abbott was the first to ascribe the term "goth" to the music and subculture with which it would come to be associated, citing an interview in May 1981 where he once again used the term "punk gothique".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Unsworth |first=Cathi |date=October 29, 2015 |title=Music of the macabre: revisiting goth's evolution – from the vaults [initially published in 1989 in ''Sounds'' magazine] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/oct/29/music-of-the-macabre-goth-music |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241218111718/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/oct/29/music-of-the-macabre-goth-music |archive-date=December 18, 2024 |access-date=October 14, 2025 |website=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=New hope for the undead - Record Collector Magazine |url=https://recordcollectormag.com/articles/new-hope-for-the-undead |access-date=2025-10-18 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Rioupublished |first=Christian |date=2017-03-22 |title=A Secret History Of Goth by the Claytown Troupe |url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/a-secret-history-of-goth-by-the-claytown-troupe |access-date=2025-10-19 |website=Louder |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Jennings |first=Dave |date=2025-06-03 |title=UK Decay: The Black Prince, Northampton - Live Review |url=https://louderthanwar.com/uk-decay-the-black-prince-northampton-live-review/ |access-date=2025-10-19 |website=Louder Than War |language=en-GB}}</ref>[[File:Alien Sex Fiend Castle Party 2012 0 62.jpg|right|thumb|Alien Sex Fiend were originally described as "positive punk" and associated with the Batcave club<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=ALIEN SEX FIEND - interview by Peek-A-Boo magazine |url=http://www.peek-a-boo-magazine.be/en/interviews/alien-sex-fiend-2018/ |access-date=2025-09-26 |website=www.peek-a-boo-magazine.be |language=en}}</ref>]]
Gothic rock would not be adopted as "positive identity, a tribal rallying cry" until a shift in the scene in winter 1982-83.{{sfn|Reynolds|2005|p=420}} In London, the [[Batcave (club)|Batcave]] club had opened on 21 July 1982:{{sfn|Reynolds|2005|p=552}}<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dazed |date=2015-05-27 |title=Siouxsie, the Batcave and the legacy of 80s goth |url=https://www.dazeddigital.com/fashion/article/24865/1/siouxsie-sioux-the-batcave-and-the-legacy-of-80s-goth |access-date=2025-09-26 |website=Dazed |language=en}}</ref> it became a venue for the emerging scene and subculture. Bands like [[Specimen (band)|Specimen]] performed many concerts there.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://shapersofthe80s.com/clubbing/69-dean-street-and-the-making-of-uk-club-culture/ |work=The Face |date=February 1983 |issue=34 |page=26 |via=Shapersofthe80s |first=David |last=Johnson |title=69 Dean Street: The Making of Club Culture |access-date=7 April 2018}}</ref>{{sfn|Steele|Park|2008|p=151}}<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hall |first=Oliver |date=2017-05-04 |title=Inside the Batcave: A 1983 news report on the legendary London goth club |url=https://dangerousminds.net/comments/inside_the_batcave_a_1983_news_report_on_the_legendary_london_goth_club/ |access-date=2025-09-26 |website=dangerousminds.net |language=en-US}}</ref> That same year, [[Ian Astbury]] of the band [[Southern Death Cult]] used the term "gothic goblins" to describe [[Sex Gang Children]]'s fans.{{sfn|Steele|Park|2008|p=150}} Southern Death Cult became icons of the scene, drawing aesthetic inspiration from [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American]] culture and appearing on the cover of ''NME'' in October.{{sfn|Reynolds|2005|p=422}}

On 19 February 1983, the emerging scene was described as "positive punk" on the front cover of ''NME'', in an article titled "Punk Warriors" by music journalist [[Richard Cabut|Richard North]].<ref name="North2" /> The article described groups such as Bauhaus, [[Theatre of Hate]] and UK Decay as part of the movement''.''<ref name="North2"/> Other associated acts were [[Alien Sex Fiend]],<ref name=":0" /> the Mob,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Babey |first=Ged |date=2012-11-19 |title=The Mob and the return of All The Madmen as a Co-operative Label |url=https://louderthanwar.com/the-mob-and-the-return-of-all-the-madmen-as-a-co-operative-label/ |access-date=2025-09-27 |website=Louder Than War |language=en-GB}}</ref> [[Rubella Ballet]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Babey |first=Ged |date=2017-07-09 |title=Top Ten ‘Positive’ Punk songs: London 1983 (the birth of Goth?) - chosen by 'Soap the Stamps, Jump the Tube' author Gail Thibert |url=https://louderthanwar.com/top-ten-positive-punk-songs-london-1983-chosen-soap-stamps-jump-tube-author/ |access-date=2025-09-26 |website=Louder Than War |language=en-GB}}</ref> Sex Gang Children and [[Southern Death Cult]]. On June 14, 1983, BBC radio DJ [[John Peel]] noted that the ''NME'' had dropped the term "positive punk" and had now opted for "''goth''" to describe the emerging subculture.<ref name="david">{{cite book |last=Cavanagh |first=David |title=Good Night and Good Riddance: How Thirty-Five Years of John Peel Helped to ... |publisher=Faber & Faber |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-571-32789-8 |page=699}}</ref> That year, myriad goth groups emerged, including [[Flesh for Lulu]], [[Play Dead (band)|Play Dead]], [[Rubella Ballet]], [[Gene Loves Jezebel]], Blood and Roses, and [[Ausgang]].{{sfn|Reynolds|2005|pp=423, 431 and 436}}[[File:The-sisters-of-mercy-mera-luna-2005.jpg|left|thumb|The Sisters of Mercy performing at the [[M'era Luna Festival]] in 2005.]]
Reynolds cited the shift between gothic music to traditional gothic rock or goth rock being primarily influenced by the [[Leeds]] band, [[the Sisters of Mercy]].{{sfn|Reynolds|2005|p=437}} As journalist Jennifer Park put it, "The original blueprint for gothic rock had mutated significantly. Doom and gloom was no longer confined to its characteristic atmospherics, but as the Sisters demonstrated, it could really rock".{{sfn|Steele|Park|2008|p=144}} The Sisters of Mercy, who cited influences such as Leonard Cohen, [[Gary Glitter]], [[Motörhead]], [[the Stooges]], the Velvet Underground, the Birthday Party, [[Suicide (band)|Suicide]], and [[The Fall (band)|the Fall]], created a new, harder form of gothic rock.{{sfn|Steele|Park|2008|p=145}} In addition, they incorporated a [[drum machine]].{{sfn|Steele|Park|2008|p=145}} Reynolds identified their 1983 single "[[Some Girls Wander by Mistake|Temple of Love]]" as the quintessential goth anthem of the year, along with Southern Death Cult's "Fatman".{{sfn|Reynolds|2005|p=438}} The group created their own record label, [[Merciful Release]], which also signed [[the March Violets]], who performed in a similar style.{{sfn|Steele|Park|2008|p=147}} According to Reynolds, the March Violets "imitated Joy Division sonically".{{sfn|Reynolds|2005|p=435}} Another band, [[the Danse Society]] was particularly inspired by the Cure's ''Pornography'' period.{{sfn|Steele|Park|2008|p=147}} The 4AD label released music in a more [[ethereal wave|ethereal]] style,<ref>Mercer, Mick. ''Music to die for''. London: Cherry Red Books, 2009, {{ISBN|190144726X}}, p. 5</ref> by groups such as [[Cocteau Twins]],<ref>Mercer, Mick. ''Music to die for''. London: Cherry Red Books, 2009, {{ISBN|190144726X}}, p. 105</ref> [[Dead Can Dance]], and [[Xmal Deutschland]].{{sfn|Reynolds|2005|pp=423, 431 and 436}}[[File:Fields of the Nephilim - Moonchild.ogg|thumb|"Moonchild", a late 1980s gothic song by Fields of the Nephilim with a more guttural [[baritone]] vocal style|left]]

Later stages of Gothic Rock in the UK came with a shift in sound and commercial success. Southern Death Cult reformed as [[the Cult]], a more conventional [[hard rock]] group.{{sfn|Reynolds|2005|p=438}} Bauhaus members reformed as the psychedelia-influenced [[Love and Rockets (band)|Love and Rockets]] achieving both critical and commercial success during the late 1980s and '90s.<ref>{{cite web |date=12 April 2018 |title=Love and Rockets: How three British goths broke America |url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/love-and-rockets-how-three-british-goths-broke-america}}</ref> In their wake, [[The Mission (band)|the Mission]], which included two former members of the Sisters of Mercy (Wayne Hussey and Craig Adams), achieved commercial success in the mid-1980s to early 1990s,<ref>{{cite web |last=True |first=Chris |title=''God's Own Medicine'' – The Mission UK |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/gods-own-medicine-mw0000650504 |access-date=11 March 2013 |publisher=[[AllMusic]]}}</ref> as did [[Fields of the Nephilim]] and [[All About Eve (band)|All About Eve]].<ref>{{cite book |title=The encyclopedia of popular music |date=1998 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=033374134X |editor1-last=Larkin |editor1-first=Colin |edition=3 |location=London |page=123}}</ref> European groups inspired by gothic rock also proliferated, including [[Clan of Xymox]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Sutton |first=Michael |title=Clan of Xymox – Music Biography |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/clan-of-xymox-mn0000784766 |access-date=11 March 2013 |publisher=[[AllMusic]]}}</ref> Other bands associated with the genre included [[All Living Fear]], [[And Also the Trees]], [[Balaam and the Angel]], [[Claytown Troupe]], [[Dream Disciples]], Feeding Fingers, [[Inkubus Sukkubus]], Libitina, [[Miranda Sex Garden]], [[Nosferatu (band)|Nosferatu]], [[Rosetta Stone (band)|Rosetta Stone]], and [[Suspiria (band)|Suspiria]].{{sfn|Mercer|1996|pages=78–95}}

Record labels like [[Factory Records|Factory]], [[4AD]] and [[Beggars Banquet Records|Beggars Banquet]] released much of this music in Europe, and through a vibrant import music market in the US, the subculture grew, especially in [[New York City|New York]] and [[Los Angeles, California]], where many nightclubs featured "gothic/industrial" nights and bands like [[Black Tape for a Blue Girl]], [[Theatre of Ice]], [[Human Drama]] and [[The Wake (American band)|The Wake]] became key figures for the genre to expand on a nationwide level.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1 November 2019 |title=Dark Nights: Goth Didn't Die in the '80s — It's Multiplied |url=https://losangeleno.com/strange-days/goth-nights-los-angeles/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230121203733/https://losangeleno.com/strange-days/goth-nights-los-angeles/ |archive-date=21 January 2023 |access-date=21 January 2023 |website=Los Angeleno}}</ref>

===== United States =====
{{See also|Deathrock}}[[File:Daucus_Karota_-_Rozz_Williams.jpg|right|thumb|140px|Rozz Williams of Christian Death]]
American gothic rock began with Californian bands such as [[45 Grave]] and [[Christian Death]], whose harder, more [[punk rock]]-influenced style of gothic rock became known as [[deathrock]].{{sfn|Kilpatrick|2004|p=89}} Christian Death combined "self-consciously controversial tactics" with [[Punk rock in California|Los Angeles punk]] and [[heavy metal music|heavy metal]] influences. Their singer [[Rozz Williams]] committed [[suicide by hanging]] in 1998 at age 34.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/christian-death-mn0000120060/biography |title=Christian Death {{!}} Biography & History |publisher=[[AllMusic]] |last=Huey |first=Steve |accessdate=20 May 2021}}</ref> 45 Grave was more inspired by heavy metal than Christian Death and featured female singer [[Dinah Cancer]]. Some punk acts like [[the Cramps]], [[the Gun Club]], [[Lydia Lunch]], [[the Nuns]], [[Misfits (band)|the Misfits]] and [[T.S.O.L.]] have been credited to be influential on both the sound and the aesthetics of the [[Goth subculture]] in America, being subsequently credited to be pioneers in contemporaneous goth-related styles  such as "deathrock", "[[horror punk]]", "[[gothabilly]]" and "goth punk".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Stegall |first=Tim|title=10 bands who led the very grisly idea of goth-punk across history |url=https://www.altpress.com/best-goth-punk-bands/ |access-date=2023-01-25 |website=Alternative Press Magazine |date=17 March 2021 |language=en}}</ref> Notable 1980s American goth bands include [[Super Heroines]], [[Human Drama]], [[The Wake (American band)|the Wake]] and [[Kommunity FK]].{{sfn|Greene|2013|p=32}}

=== 1990s–2000s ===
The 1990s saw a resurgence of the goth subculture, fueled largely by crossover from the [[industrial music]], electronic and metal scenes; and goth culture and aesthetic again worked itself into the mainstream consciousness, inspiring thriving goth music scenes in most cities and notoriety throughout popular culture as well as new goth-centric U.S. record labels such as [[Cleopatra Records]], among others. ''[[The Guardian]]'s'' Dave Simpson stated, "[I]n the 90s, goths all but disappeared as [[dance music]] became the dominant youth cult".<ref name="theguardian.com">{{cite news |last=Simpson |first=Dave |date=29 September 2006 |title=Back in black: Goth has risen from the dead - and the 1980s pioneers are (naturally) not happy about it |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2006/sep/29/popandrock |access-date=26 October 2022 |work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> As a result, the goth movement went underground and fractured into [[Cybergoth|cyber goth]], [[shock rock]], [[industrial metal]], [[gothic metal]], and Medieval folk metal.<ref name="theguardian.com" />

At the time, gothic metal fused "the bleak, icy atmospherics of goth rock with the loud guitars and aggression of heavy metal."<ref name="AMG Goth">{{cite web |title=Goth metal |url=https://www.allmusic.com/style/goth-metal-ma0000011855 |publisher=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=30 April 2016}}</ref> [[Marilyn Manson]] was seen as a "goth-shock icon" by ''[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]'',<ref>{{citation |last=Klosterman |first=Chuck |title=Who: Marilyn Manson |date=June 2003 |work=[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]}}</ref> and combined "atmosphere from goth and disco"<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-best-albums-of-the-nineties-20110427/marilyn-manson-antichrist-superstar-20110516 |title=100 Best Albums of the Nineties: Marilyn Manson, ''Antichrist Superstar'' |magazine=[[Rolling Stone|rollingstone.com]] |access-date=11 March 2013}}</ref> with "industrial sound".<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/marilyn-manson/biography |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120123041131/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/marilyn-manson/biography |url-status=dead |archive-date=23 January 2012 |title=Marilyn Manson Bio|magazine=[[Rolling Stone|rollingstone.com]] |access-date=11 March 2013}}</ref> In the 2000s, critics regularly noticed the influence of goth on bands of that time period.<ref name="Hodgkinson">{{cite news |title=The Horrors: ''Skying'' |first=Will |last=Hodgkinson |date=8 July 2011 |work=thetimes.co.uk |quote=sixties garage meets eighties goth}}.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nme.com/reviews/zola-jesus/11522 |title=''NME'' Album Reviews – Album Review: Zola Jesus ''Stridulum II'' |date=23 August 2010 |work=[[NME|nme.com]] |access-date=11 March 2013}}</ref> English band [[The Horrors]] mixed 1960s [[garage rock]] with 1980s goth.<ref name="Hodgkinson" /> When referencing female singer [[Zola Jesus]], writers questioned if she announced the second coming of the genre<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/aug/21/zola-jesus-stridulum-goth |title=Will Zola Jesus Herald the Second Coming of Goth? |last=Richards |first=Sam |date=21 August 2010 |work=[[The Guardian|guardian.co.uk]] |access-date=11 March 2013}}</ref> as her music was described with this term.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/11560/1/20-qas-zola-jesus |title=20 Q&As: Zola Jesus |last=Orton |first=Karen |work=dazeddigital.com |date=3 October 2011 |access-date=11 March 2013}}</ref>

==Legacy==
In the 1990s, several acts such as [[PJ Harvey]],<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-20120531/pj-harvey-rid-of-me-20120525 |title=500 Greatest Albums of All Time: PJ Harvey, ''Rid of Me''|magazine=[[Rolling Stone|rollingstone.com]] |date=31 May 2009|access-date=11 March 2013}}</ref> [[Manic Street Preachers]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Price |first=Simon |year=1999 |title=Everything (A Book About Manic Street Preachers) |publisher=Virgin Books |chapter=7. ''The Holy Bible'' |page=143 |quote=In mood as much as message, ''[[The Holy Bible (album)|The Holy Bible]]'' was an intensely sombre record, overcast by the same stormy skies which darkened Van Gogh's last works. It was gothic and, quite often, literally ''goth'': more than one song could easily have been early Cure, Sisters of Mercy or Bauhaus.}}</ref> [[Nine Inch Nails]]<ref>{{cite magazine |author= Sheffield, Rob |title=Nine Inch Nails The Fragile |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/the-fragile-19991014
|date= 14 October 1999 |access-date=18 February 2014 |quote=Nine Inch Nails auteur dropped the Downward Spiral, crunching punk and goth and Depeche Mode}}</ref> and [[the Smashing Pumpkins]]<ref>{{cite web|first=Sal|last=Cinquemani|url=http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/review/smashing-pumpkins-machina-the-machines-of-god|title=Smashing Pumpkins – Machina: The Machines of God|work=[[Slant Magazine]]|date=April 7, 2001|access-date=November 23, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210103211428/https://www.slantmagazine.com/music/smashing-pumpkins-machina-the-machines-of-god/|archive-date=January 3, 2021|url-status=live |quote=“The Crying Tree of Mercury” continues the industrial Goth-rock of Adore}}</ref> included gothic characteristics in their music. According to ''[[Rolling Stone]]'', PJ Harvey's music in 1993 "careens from [[blues]] to goth to [[grunge]], often in the space of a single song". In 1997, ''[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]'' qualified [[Portishead (band)|Portishead]]'s [[Portishead (album)|second album]] as "gothic", "deadly" and "trippy". Critic Barry Walters observed that the group got "darker, deeper and more disturbing" in comparison to their debut album ''[[Dummy (album)|Dummy]]''.<ref>{{citation |last=Walters |first=Barry |title=Portishead [album review] |work=Spin|issue=November 1997 |page=142}}</ref> In the late 2010s, [[the Twilight Sad]] included gothic elements in their music.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Music review: The Twilight Sad, Usher Hall, Edinburgh|url=https://www.scotsman.com/whats-on/arts-and-entertainment/music-review-twilight-sad-usher-hall-edinburgh-1400933|access-date=13 September 2020|website=scotsman.com|date=2 December 2019 |language=en}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[List of gothic rock bands]]
* [[List of gothic festivals]]
* [[Goth subculture]]
* [[Gothic fashion]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
=== Books ===
* {{cite book |last=Charlton |first=Katherine |year=2003 |title=Rock Music Styles |publisher=[[McGraw-Hill]] |edition=Fourth |isbn=0-07-249555-3}}
* {{cite book |last1=Goodlad |first1=L. M. E. |last2=Bibby |first2=M. |year=2007 |title=Goth: Undead Subculture |publisher=Duke University Press |isbn=978-0-8223-3921-2}}
* {{cite book |first=Isabella |last=van Elferen |year=2009 |title=Nostalgia Or Perversion? Gothic Rewriting from the Eighteenth Century Until the Present Day  |publisher=Ebook |isbn=978-1282191198}}
* {{cite book |last=van Elferen |first=Isabella |year=2012 |isbn=9780708325186 |publisher=University of Wales Press |title=Gothic Music: The Sounds of the Uncanny}}
* {{cite book |last=Greene |first=James Jr. |title= This Music Leaves Stains: The Complete Story of the Misfits |year=2013 |isbn=9780810884380 |publisher=Scarecrow Press}}
* {{cite book |last=Hannaham |first=James |year=1999 |title=Stars Don't Stand Still in the Sky: Music and Myth |chapter=Bela Lugosi's Dead and I Don't Feel So Good Either |pages=[https://archive.org/details/starsdontstandst00mcdo/page/78 78–87] |publisher=[[NYU Press]] |isbn=0-8147-4727-2 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/starsdontstandst00mcdo/page/78}}
* {{cite book |last=Kilpatrick |first=Nancy |year=2004 |title=The Goth Bible: A Compendium for the Darkly Inclined |location=New York |publisher=[[St. Martin's Griffin]] |isbn=0-312-30696-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780312306960}}
* {{cite book |last=Melton |first=J. G. |year=1994 |title=The Vampire Book: The Encyclopedia of the Undead |publisher=[[Visible Ink Press]] |isbn=0-8223-3921-8}}
* {{cite book |last=Mercer |first=Mick |year=1993 |title=Gothic Rock |location=Los Angeles |publisher=Cleopatra Records |isbn=0-9636193-1-4}}
* {{cite book |last=Mercer |first=Mick |year=1988 |title=Gothic Rock Black Book |location=London |publisher=[[Omnibus Press]] |isbn=0-7119-1546-6}}
* {{cite book |last=Mercer |first=Mick |year=1996 |title=The Hex Files: The Goth Bible |location=Woodstock |publisher=[[Overlook Press]] |isbn=0-87951-783-2}}
* {{cite book |last=Partridge |first=Christopher |isbn=9781472526809 |year=2015 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |title=Mortality and Music: Popular Music and Awareness of Death}}
* {{cite book |last=Reynolds |first=Simon |author-link=Simon Reynolds |year=2005 |title=[[Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978–1984]] |chapter=Chapter 22: 'Dark Things: Goth and the Return of Rock' |location=London |publisher=[[Faber and Faber]] |isbn=0-571-21569-6}}
* [[John Robb (musician)|Robb, John]] (2023). ''The Art of Darkness : The History Of Goth''. Louder Than War Books. {{ISBN|978-1-914424-86-1}}
* {{cite book |last=Sinclair |first=Mick |year=2013 |title=Adjusting The Stars: Music journalism from post-punk London |publisher=Kindle edition, B00FG9JGVE}}
* {{cite book |last1=Steele |first1=Valerie |author-link1=Valerie Steele |last2=Park |first2=Jennifer |date=21 October 2008 |title=Gothic: Dark Glamour |publisher=Yale University Press |language=en |isbn=978-0300136944}}
* {{cite book |last=Thompson |first=Dave |author-link=Dave Thompson (author) |year=2002 |title=The Dark Reign of Gothic Rock |publisher=Helter Skelter |isbn=9781900924481}}
* [[Cathi Unsworth|Unsworth, Cathi]] (2023). ''Season of the Witch: The Book of Goth''. Nine Eight Books. {{ISBN|978-1788706247}}

=== Journals ===

* {{cite journal |last=Collins |first=Andrew |author-link=Andrew Collins (broadcaster) |date=30 November 1991 |title=Bluffer's Guide to Goth |journal=[[NME]]}}

== External links ==
* {{Commons category-inline}}

{{Rock music}}
{{Alternative rock}} {{New Wave music}}
{{Punk}}{{Gothic}}{{Goth subculture}}
{{Authority control}}

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