(EVERYDAY IS) HALLOWEEN Song by American industrial band Ministry, originally released in 1984 as a 12” single on emerging Chicago indie label WAX TRAX!, later reissued on the compilation Twelve Inch Singles. With its bouncy SYNTHPOP rhythms and lyrics all about woe-begotten Goth life, it’s up there with “BELA LUGOSI’S DEAD” on the short list of universal Goth anthems, and probably outstrips the former as the single most played song in Goth clubs worldwide, not only at Halloween but, yes, everyday.
EVIL WILLOW Alter-ego of the BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER character Willow Rosenberg, as seen in the season 6 episodes “Villains,” “Two to Go” and “Grave.” Willow turns to the dark side of magic, overwhelmed with vengeful rage over the death of her girlfriend. In contrast to her usual bookish self, Evil Willow (also known as “Dark Willow”) changes appearance — red hair turns black, eyes darken, creepy veins appear on her face — and transforms into a very, very bad witch indeed. The Evil Willow character remains much beloved for its power and its, well, evilness. There’s even a trilogy of “Wicked Willow” tie-in novels. Combined with the “Vamp Willow” doppelgänger seen in season 3, it has made the character, and actress Alyson Hannigan, an object of affection for Goths of all persuasions. (Not to mention an excellent HALLOWEEN costume.)
EXPRESSIONISM Cultural movement from the early 1890s originating in GERMANY that set the angst-filled, melodramatic tone for the kind of poetry, art, philosophy and film Goths love to name-drop, from Nietzsche to NOSFERATU.
EYELINER Essential cosmetic item for both boys and girls — in black of course. From the daintiest cat’s eye to full-blown Cleopatra/SIOUXSIE looks, in KOHL pencil or liquid paint, the cheapest and easiest way to express one’s commitment to Gothness. Despite the plethora of YouTube tutorials encouraging otherwise, you might want to reconsider painting spiders and elaborate swirls on your cheeks with it after the age of twenty. Also, beware CROW MAKE-UP. See also: Guyliner
EYE OF HORUS Ancient Egyptian symbol of protection, as worn by the goddess Wadjet as a personification of the sky god Horus. Essentially a falcon eye crying: how Goth! No wonder it’s a popular EYELINER design, even before THE SISTERS OF MERCY used it at cover art for their Vision Thing album. Note: traditionally the right eye represents the sun, the left eye the moon. So if you’re wearing it for GOTH POINTS, choose wisely.
FACTORY RECORDS British independent record label that gave the world JOY DIVISION. Founded in Manchester in 1978 by infamous TV presenter and impressario Tony Wilson (and someone nobody remembers named Alan Erasmus), and named for a nightclub of the same name, its first full-length record release was Joy Division’s groundbreaking 1979 debut, Unknown Pleasures. Factory’s other high profile artists include New Order, Happy Mondays and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, but apart from Joy Division they are remembered most for their unconventional art direction (album art without band member photos or even artist names, for example) and catalogue numbering system, referred to as the FAC numbers, given not only to recordings but also to everything from posters to the house cat. The final FAC number is FAC 501, on Tony Wilson’s coffin.
FAIRIEGOTH A feminine, flighty, flowing dress and long hair kind of Goth, one who identifies with pixies and other mystical creatures and literally wears the fake wings to prove it. Also fond of glitter and striped tights but distinguished from the similarly dressed ROMANTIGOTHs by their ability to name the four natural elements in record time. Interested in drawing (mostly fairies) as much as listening to music. Unlike fantasy fairies, Fairiegoth girls wear pants. (Not sure I’ve ever met a male Fairiegoth.)
FAIRYGOTHMOTHER 1. British clothing company specializing in custom CORSETs, ballgowns and lingerie, with an increasing bent towards fanciful burlesques and high-end wedding apparel. Launched by the unGothily named Samantha Merry as an online shop in 1999, today also maintains boutiques in London under the name Lulu and Lush. 2. Someone who acts as a style advisor for Goths.
FAITH AND THE MUSE American musical duo, vocalist Monica Richards (she of the fancy headpieces) and vocalist/guitarist William Faith (he of the mohawk), both of notable Goth pedigree — Richards ex–Strange Boutique and Faith formerly performing with CHRISTIAN DEATH, Shadow Project and others. Debut album, 1994’s indie release Elyria, introduced their romantic mix of acoustic GOTHIC ROCK with folk and Celtic music. By 2003, had signed with METROPOLIS RECORDS and updated to a more electronic sound, which has continued to evolve into a signature blend of dark tribal, world, rock, AMBIENT and pop, with positive lyrical themes rooted in mythology and spiritualism. Live performances are ritualistic, mystical events involving a full band, costumes, candles, dancers and other accoutrements befitting what can only be described as the most successful (only?) hippie Goth band going.
FALLS Hair accessory also known as dread falls or synthetic falls, dramatic, obviously fake extensions attached to a person’s natural hair, usually as ponytails, for added length or effect and so-called for how they “fall” from the head. Can be made from human or synthetic hair or other material of choice, with wool or plastic tubing being popular, and often matted into pseudo-dreadlock style. Appeared on the scene around the emergence of the CYBERGOTH, and became one of the most distinguishing fashion features of that style, especially when made in bright neon or UV-sensitive colours and/or topped with GOGGLES. Pre-made falls are commercially available, mostly through independent craftsfolk who sell on EBAY, ETSY and other websites, though tips for do-it-yourself falls are widely circulated, and many Goths do indeed make their own.
FANGS Long pointed teeth naturally occurring in the animal kingdom on cats and dogs and spiders and viper snakes and some BATs. A prominent feature of the modern day VAMPIRE, although let’s remember BELA LUGOSI never bared any on-screen so you don’t really need them to portray Count DRACULA. Still, a minority of Goths will have their incisors filed down into points or implants affixed for that true bloodsucking look.
FAT BOB 1. Nickname for ROBERT SMITH, singer of THE CURE. Goth mythology says it was first coined by SIOUXSIE SIOUX after Smith plumped up quite a bit in the ’90s; the U.K. press tends to use it when they don’t like the new Cure record. For fans, it’s not used maliciously at all, rather, endearingly. 2. The Robert Smith–style hairdo: an oversized mass of BACKCOMBED blackness.
FETISH NIGHT Club night or social gathering catering to the BDSM crowd, sometimes shortened to Fet Night, where various kinks are indulged in a public setting. A dress code usually restricts entry to those in leather, PVC, cross-dressing or other fetish uniforms; “activities” can include fashion shows, bondage demos, public spankings, etc., plus a lot of that other kind of s/m: standing and modeling. Not to be confused with a sex or swingers’ club, as in general no actual sex takes place. Rather, often held in Goth bars, where Goth attire is usually acceptable for entry, although the clientele is not necessarily Goth at all. One can usually tell the difference using the assless chaps factor.
FEVER RAY Solo project for Swedish singer Karin Elisabeth Dreijer Andersson of electropunks The Knife, who released a self-titled debut in 2009 to rave reviews and much headscratching about what genre to call this music. If you ask me, Fever Ray is classic Goth for the twenty-first century — the eerie, unsettling sonic atmospheres, Karin’s icy vocals, the bizarre lyrical narratives. (Plus her death-themed masks and make-up and gorgeous and strange music videos.) Ten years from now people will still be talking about this one, I’m convinced. A record to take to your grave.
FIALA, VYXSIN American reality TV star (née Jennifer Fiala). Came to fame as a hairstylist and waitress who, with her ANDROGYNOUS boyfriend KYNT COTHRON, participated in the cbs competition show The Amazing Race in 2007, and again in 2011. A PERKY GOTH in hot pink hair and outfits (the team motto was “Pink and black attack!”), she certainly smashed stereotypes of Goths as dour and funereal Trenchcoat mafia–type misanthropes. Sadly, failed to win the race’s big prize but has extended her fifteen minutes of fame as model for Hot Topic, Lip Service and others.
FICTION RECO
RDS British label formed in 1978 by Chris Parry, home to THE CURE until 2003 when they signed with Geffen.
FIELDS OF THE NEPHILIM British psychedelic GOTHIC ROCK band formed in 1984 by vocalist Carl McCoy, continuing in various forms to this day. One of the heaviest of the POST-PUNK lot, like a kind of SISTERS OF MERCY meets Motörhead on acid, and distinguished by a Spaghetti Western–type fashion sense involving dusty trenchcoats and cowboy hats and a Lovecraftian lyrical bent. McCoy left the group in 1991 and named his new project The Nephilim. Assorted releases and live appearances under both names as well as solo projects have left everyone but hardcore fans hard-pressed to keep up; most assume the band is a dead relic but McCoy lurks still, popping up unexpectedly and disappearing just as quickly like a kind of Loch Ness monster. Essential track: 1988’s “Moonchild.”
FISHNETS Tights or stockings made from a textile with an open, diamond-shaped knit that shows a lot of leg. When they first came to North America from France in the early 1900s, they were the mark of a floozy. In the 1970s, punks and then Goths appropriated the sexy legwear as their own — after they ripped them up, pierced them back together with safety pins and turned them into shirts too. Now every girl can wear them out respectably, but only in the Goth scene will you see as many boys doing it. Available in neon colours for the CYBERGOTHs, and as arm bands for the EMO kids.
FLANGE Guitarists, if you want to make your stuff sound like “She Sells Sanctuary” or “The Forest,” look into this.
FLESH FOR LULU British band formed 1982 by vocalist/guitarist Nick Marsh and drummer James Mitchell. North Americans mostly know them for the 1987 pop hit “I Go Crazy” from the soundtrack to Some Kind of Wonderful, but they were on the BATCAVE club scene early on and released some ghoulishly fun stuff like “Subterraneans” before going for the mainstream sound with gusto. (Despite looking smashing in leather, they never were very heavy.) In 2005, Marsh told Guitar magazine he once hated being called Goth. “But now I actually look for myself in all the books about Goth and think, ‘How come we’re not in it?’” Well, Nick, now you are.
FLESH TUNNEL A type of body piercing jewelry, hollowed-out rings generally used to show off the wearers’ stretched piercings, most commonly earlobes. Generally made of stainless steel but can also be of bone, wood or other materials. Lighter weight than a solid flesh plug, making it handy for more extreme stretching and also allowing for additional hoops or other ornaments to be hung for fashion. Of the variety of piercings popularized amongst Goth and punk urban primitives of the 1990s, they’re still fashionable, especially with girls. Surprising since unlike say, that nipple ring, it’s not something you can easily reverse.
FLINDERS ST. GOTH Snarky term used in Australia for a young Goth person prone to loitering around the steps outside the Flinders Street train station in Melbourne. Recently, more of an EMO or scene pastime, meaning not very Goth at all.
FLOOD British music producer (né Mark Ellis, b. August 16, 1960). The George Martin of the POST-PUNK and SYNTHPOP set. If a ten-year-old Goth/INDUSTRIAL record still sounds good on the dance floor, Flood was probably at the controls: Depeche Mode’s Violator and Songs of Faith and Devotion, NINE INCH NAILS’ Pretty Hate Machine and The Downward Spiral, Curve’s Doppelgänger, Nitzer Ebb’s Showtime, not to mention the best of NICK CAVE and the Bad Seeds and vital new work from PJ Harvey, Sigur Ros, Goldfrapp, etc. etc. Yes, he also engineered U2’s masterpiece The Joshua Tree. But never mind that … he did Violator and Downward Spiral!
FLOODLAND Second full-length album by THE SISTERS OF MERCY, released 1987. The band’s most commercially successful work, breaking the Top 10 in the U.K. and spawning the hit singles “This Corrosion,” “Dominion” and “Lucretia My Reflection,” although the industry numbers belie its true impact: according to Alternative Press magazine, one of the top 10 essential Goth albums. According to me, it’s #1.
FLUEVOG, JOHN Canadian footwear designer who has been crafting outrageous shoes and boots since 1985. Extreme pointy toes. Impossibly high heels. CORSET lacing or shiny metallic. A honking platform shoe called the Munster. And always secretly comfortable, even the famed, much-coveted Grand National — a boot with a cloven hoof-shaped heel. And don’t forget even the inconspicuous MARY JANES have soles that resist “alkali, water, acid, fatigue … and Satan.” A mainstream, hippie company, sure, but still to die for.
FOG MACHINE Device for the emission of fake smoke/fog, typically used on film sets, in haunted houses or at nightclubs, but if you really want to Gothify your life, buy one for home use.
45 GRAVE American HORROR PUNK band formed in Los Angeles in 1979 by singer Dinah Cancer. One of the first to combine punk, surf and a love for monster movie shock, the in-your-face band paved the way for the L.A. DEATH ROCK scene. Gained some notoriety in 1984 when the song “Party Time” was used in the soundtrack to Return of the Living Dead.
4AD British record label founded by Ivo Watts-Russell in 1979 as a subsidiary of BEGGARS BANQUET. Released the seminal debut records from BAUHAUS, COCTEAU TWINS, DEAD CAN DANCE, CLAN OF XYMOX and many other essential POST-PUNK, DREAMPOP and ETHEREAL acts. Art director Vaughan Oliver gave the label its distinct look (under the name Envelope 23, he designed seductive covers that did not feature the artists’ faces). For many years one could pick up a 4AD release by an unknown band and be sure of its awesomeness. Switched focus in the 1990s to more American rock, and Watts-Russell has since sold it, but current roster still includes several acts fans of dark and poetic romance would be wise to check out, including The National, Blonde Redhead and St. Vincent.
FRANKENSTEIN Novel by Mary SHELLEY, fully titled Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus, published in 1818. A classic of Gothic literature of great influence on horror and science fiction writing that has been re-interpreted for film, TV, comics, games, cereal … well, just about everything in popular culture. More even than the 1931 Universal Pictures classic film adaptation, the 1935 sequel The Bride of Frankenstein is responsible for the greatest impact on modern day Gothdom: star Elsa Lanchester’s iconic black hair, streaked white and standing on its end, an amazing HALLOWEEN costume.
FRASER, ELIZABETH Enigmatic Scottish singer (b. August 29, 1963), voice of COCTEAU TWINS and, alongside SIOUXSIE SIOUX and LISA GERRARD, one of the most treasured songstresses in all of Gothdom. “Discovered” by guitarist ROBIN GUTHRIE dancing in a club at the age of seventeen, she never considered herself a singer, but her unique, otherworldly style — vocalizing emotions without using identifiable language — and soprano skills have made her one of the most influential voices in alternative music in general. Her haunting cover of Tim Buckley’s “Song to the Siren” as part of 4AD supergroup This Mortal Coil set the bar for ethereal emoting to die for. Since the split of the Cocteaus in 1997, her musical contributions have been selective (to put it mildly) but there’s that heart-stopping performance on Massive Attack’s ballad “Teardrop,” which, if it were the only thing she’d ever done, would still earn her icon status. A solo album is long rumoured/overdue; one track, the carnivalesque trip-hop number “Moses,” appeared in 2009.
FREAK A not very nice word for someone who looks different from you, or has physical defects. Probably why people yell it out of passing cars at Goths. But we’re not insulted. We are freaks. So there.
FRENCH QUARTER That beautiful, historic part of New Orleans that Goths everywhere dream about visiting, to drink ABSINTHE and chartreuse on Bourbon Street, score a tarot reading, wander in one’s finery into a seedy alley in search of “real” VAMPIRES or voodoo gris but probably ending up at the Voodoo Museum … all of this stoked by reading ANNE RICE and POPPY Z. BRITE, who both injected about a million GOTH POINTS into what was already a mecca.
FUCK THE MAINSTREAM Online retailer run by the folks behind Vampirefreaks.com, specializing in clothing and accessories for teenagers — as if the name wasn’t a hint. In 2006, released a four-disc box set compilation of Goth/INDUSTRIAL bands.
FUNERAL Gothic and DEATH ROCK DJ parties for all
ages held in and around Los Angeles from 2002 to 2008, produced by Veronika Sorrow. A sanctuary for the BABYBATs who were encouraged to “dress to depress,” especially on Goth Prom Night.
FUTUREPOP Another term for EBM music, coined by Ronan Harris of VNV NATION to describe his band’s more updated (read: trancey) form of ’80s SYNTHPOP and applied to the newer bands.
GAF See: Goth as Fuck
GAIMAN, NEIL British author (b. November 10, 1960) working in fantasy, horror, fairytales and science fiction. Best known as creator of the long-running, award-winning comic series THE SANDMAN (1989–1996) featuring a brooding King of Dreams and his sister, DEATH. His novels include American Gods and the young adult story Coraline. His short story “Snow, Glass, Apples” re-imagined “Snow White” as a VAMPIRE tale from the point of view of the wicked witch. Both a father figure and dream date to bookish Goths everywhere, although recently married to AMANDA PALMER.
GALÁS, DIAMANDA American singer, pianist and performance artist (b. August 29, 1955) working in improv, jazz, blues, rock and more. The personification of a primal scream wrapped in dominatrix attire, known for using her multi-octave voice to demonic effect. Her debut album, The Litanies of Satan (1982), was based on the poem by CHARLES BAUDELAIRE and introduced her by way of shrieking, shocking experiments in vocals and electronics. Plague Mass (1991), a requiem for those dying of AIDS recorded live in a NYC cathedral, was a blasphemous, chilling call to activism. Most of her music scares the shit out of most people. She has provided more palatable yet still intense vocals for Francis Ford Coppola’s film DRACULA (1992) and a reading of “The Black Cat” to Closed on Account of Rabies, the EDGAR ALLAN POE tribute CD (1997). Influenced legions of witchy vocalists but she remains inimitable, extraordinary.
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