Review for Goth: Vamps & Dandies

Goths? They dress in black and are a bit depressive, aren't they? Er, no actually. The Gothic subculture is incredibly diverse with a myriad of off-shoots that are as loved within the subculture as they are despised, and we won't even mention those looking in from the outside.

Author Gavin Baddeley is a journalist from York who was invited into the official Church of Satan by Anton LeVey and is currently considered one of the world's leading experts on Satanism, appearing on Sky News and Channel 4 to comment on Satanic issues. Of course, this isn't to draw parallels between Satanism and Goths as the two don't necessarily intersect, and Satanism does not feature within this book at all.

Anyway, Baddeley attempts to draw together the various strands of the Gothic subculture as it stands today and trace its roots. This book attempts to set the roots of the Goth subculture in the early 20th Century, with the fascination in Egyptology from the discoveries of Howard Carter in the Valley of the Kings and silent cinema. Both may be a little surprising but ancient Egyptian symbols pop up on a regular basis within the Goth subculture and some of the stars of the silent screen have provided inspiration to the likes of Siouxie Sioux with an emphasis on heavy makeup and brooding presence.

Each decade is covered in terms of popular culture and the influence it had both at the time and in fusing some of these elements together when the Goths really came into being as a coherent subculture in the late 70's, although the exact time and place is a little vague as you might expect. So we move effortlessly through Theda Bara, Gloria Swanson, Lon Chaney and Bela Lugosi through the decades until we reach the likes of Siouxie Sioux and her Banshees along with The Cure and Bauhaus before incorporating Andrew Eldritch and his Sister of Mercy. We take a brief sideways glance at Marilyn Manson before refocusing on Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails and more electronic counterparts such as VNV Nation.

As someone whose musical tastes border on Goth, mainly the electronic/synth offshoot that is but also including Sisters of Mercy post-Wayne Hussey, I found this a rather fascinating book and pleased to see the inclusion of both VNV Nation and the Wave-Treffen-Gothik festival. I also learnt that Whitby has a rather vibrant Goth scene, playing host to a festival each year.

As you would expect the book also draws in contemporary celluloid influences on the Goth scene with Ridley Scott's Blade Runner and The Matrix amongst those mentioned. Horror and vampirism also play a big part with films such as The Lost Boys, The Hunger, The Crow and Interview With The Vampire name checked.

What surprised me was just how many offshoots of the Goth subculture there were (some embracing brighter colours rather than the traditional black), although it didn't surprise me so much that some elements of the subculture despise others. This is a little sad really when you consider the reputation and treatment that Goths in particular have received over the last few years. The book ends with a rather well written analysis of the brutal murder of Sophie Lancaster. This young Goth girl was brutally assaulted and killed just because she and her boyfriend looked different. Baddeley muses that this murder may well have been a turning point in the acceptance of Goths within mainstream culture and I for one hope he's right. People will always search for an identity and will be drawn to various subcultures in order to find their answers, Goth is just one of those subcultures.

The text within this book is fairly fluid and easy going, pulling in references from across the decades to link various influences together and illustrated with an abundance of lavish photographs that are a mix of contemporary pop culture and portfolio shots from Goth fashion house Drac-in-a-Box. There were a couple of times when I spotted a picture completely out of context with the text but that doesn't spoil the enjoyment of the book.

Well researched and whilst not a bible for Goths, it is a good little reference book - particularly for those either drawn to the subculture or those who just want to know a little more.