| More On Gothic Some of the books I'm aware of covering the field of Goth and Gothic culture. |
Gothic: 400 Years of Excess, Horror, Evil & Ruin, by
Richard Davenport-Hines (4th Estate, 1997)
For my money this is still the best account of what Gothic
is about. Davenport-Hines is a very entertaining writer and I
was astonished at the amount he'd managed to uncover and
describe in such amusing detail. Pretty good in its pictures
and visuals, as well, which helps it score over similar books.
I have some quibbles with D-H's basic argument about the
history of the Gothic sensibility, and I think there could have
been a little less about 18th-century landscape gardening,
but excellent despite that.
Richard Davenport-Hines (4th Estate, 1997)
For my money this is still the best account of what Gothic
is about. Davenport-Hines is a very entertaining writer and I
was astonished at the amount he'd managed to uncover and
describe in such amusing detail. Pretty good in its pictures
and visuals, as well, which helps it score over similar books.
I have some quibbles with D-H's basic argument about the
history of the Gothic sensibility, and I think there could have
been a little less about 18th-century landscape gardening,
but excellent despite that.
A Companion to the Gothic, edited by David Punter
(Blackwell, 2001)
Fairly weighty and academic, this - a collection of essays by
experts in the 'Gothic Studies' field covering not just
literature, thankfully, but para-narrative genres such as film.
It's a good introduction, if you can plough through it, to the
academic study of Gothic and all it entails, but it's still fairly
closely tied down to literature, really. No pictures!
(Blackwell, 2001)
Fairly weighty and academic, this - a collection of essays by
experts in the 'Gothic Studies' field covering not just
literature, thankfully, but para-narrative genres such as film.
It's a good introduction, if you can plough through it, to the
academic study of Gothic and all it entails, but it's still fairly
closely tied down to literature, really. No pictures!
Goth Chic, by Gavin Baddeley (Plexus, 2002)
This is very deliberately intended to fill in the gaps in
Davenport-Hines's book, which are largely the popular
culture side of Gothic, so here you get more pulp comics,
modern fiction, and deathrock bands than 18th-century
heroines in dark castles: a catalogue of the sensational and
sometimes extreme (but then, wasn't The Monk both?).
Intelligently written, as Mr Baddeley is a bright cove, but I
think it skates rather across the surface of the Gothic
phenomenon, albeit making impressive patterns in the ice.
This is very deliberately intended to fill in the gaps in
Davenport-Hines's book, which are largely the popular
culture side of Gothic, so here you get more pulp comics,
modern fiction, and deathrock bands than 18th-century
heroines in dark castles: a catalogue of the sensational and
sometimes extreme (but then, wasn't The Monk both?).
Intelligently written, as Mr Baddeley is a bright cove, but I
think it skates rather across the surface of the Gothic
phenomenon, albeit making impressive patterns in the ice.
Goth - Identity, Style & Subculture, by Paul Hodkinson
(Berg, 2002)
This is Paul Hodkinson's sociology doctoral thesis, and full
points to Berg for publishing it. Looks very nice indeed. Of
course it suffers for being precisely a sociology doctoral
thesis - that is, it spends a long time telling you what you may
already know. But good for recording the ins and outs of
Goth culture in a way the chaps of the International Gothic
Association might actually find intellectually respectable.
(Berg, 2002)
This is Paul Hodkinson's sociology doctoral thesis, and full
points to Berg for publishing it. Looks very nice indeed. Of
course it suffers for being precisely a sociology doctoral
thesis - that is, it spends a long time telling you what you may
already know. But good for recording the ins and outs of
Goth culture in a way the chaps of the International Gothic
Association might actually find intellectually respectable.
Fashioning Gothic Bodies, by Catherine Spooner
(Manchester University Press, 2004)
Another doctoral thesis, but we applaud Catherine even
more for managing to produce something which synthesises
literary and visual influences on the Gothic - rather like the
quite groundbreaking interdisciplinary work she did at Luton
and Goldsmiths College. The big drawback of this account
of deathliness in dress is that for a fashion history there
AREN'T ENOUGH PICTURES! But that's a cost
consideration, I imagine.
(Manchester University Press, 2004)
Another doctoral thesis, but we applaud Catherine even
more for managing to produce something which synthesises
literary and visual influences on the Gothic - rather like the
quite groundbreaking interdisciplinary work she did at Luton
and Goldsmiths College. The big drawback of this account
of deathliness in dress is that for a fashion history there
AREN'T ENOUGH PICTURES! But that's a cost
consideration, I imagine.
The Gothic, by David Punter & Glennis Byron (Blackwell,
2004)
More academic Gothic Studies, but I think intended more
for the Eng. Lit. undergraduate who's about to do a term's
worth of Gothic as their special subject, so not as heavy as
A Companion to the Gothic ...A short encyclopedia of
Gothic writers, and very useful from that point of view.
2004)
More academic Gothic Studies, but I think intended more
for the Eng. Lit. undergraduate who's about to do a term's
worth of Gothic as their special subject, so not as heavy as
A Companion to the Gothic ...A short encyclopedia of
Gothic writers, and very useful from that point of view.
What Is Goth?, by Voltaire (Weiser, 2004)
A very funny sketch of Goth culture from someone
involved in it, this time replete with pictures and a gently
scathing commentary on Goths and all their subcategories
and little quirks. Good-looking, but short, and you won't
find a new copy for much less than twelve quid. Voltaire's
also written Paint It Black, an equally amusing guide to
Gothic living.
A very funny sketch of Goth culture from someone
involved in it, this time replete with pictures and a gently
scathing commentary on Goths and all their subcategories
and little quirks. Good-looking, but short, and you won't
find a new copy for much less than twelve quid. Voltaire's
also written Paint It Black, an equally amusing guide to
Gothic living.
The Goth Bible, by Nancy Kilpatrick (Plexus, 2005)
A guide to the whole of Gothicness including gardening,
drink and visiting cemeteries as well as art and books. I
really applaud this book, although there are a few little errors
here and there. Nancy's taken the time actually to speak to
about a hundred participants in Goth culture (including the
superannuated) and include their views and ideas. She has a
wonderfully broad and compassionate approach to the
whole thing. Very well done indeed, we think!
A guide to the whole of Gothicness including gardening,
drink and visiting cemeteries as well as art and books. I
really applaud this book, although there are a few little errors
here and there. Nancy's taken the time actually to speak to
about a hundred participants in Goth culture (including the
superannuated) and include their views and ideas. She has a
wonderfully broad and compassionate approach to the
whole thing. Very well done indeed, we think!
Exuviae: A Fragmentary Grammar of Gothic, by me
(Umbra Press, 2004)
And then there's this, which comes with the highest
possible recommendation. Find out more on the Sales page.
(Umbra Press, 2004)
And then there's this, which comes with the highest
possible recommendation. Find out more on the Sales page.
Goth's Dark Empire, by Carol Siegel (Indiana University
Press, 2005)
Carol Siegel has made a great and commendable effort to
bring together comment about film, literature, and modern
society with the Goth boys and girls she obviously feels a
great affinity for, and the book is nowhere near as grimly
incomprehensible as I feared - but it does bear the heavy
marks of its Stateside context, in that for Siegel Goths are
first and foremost sexual radicals challenging conservative
morals. Not what I find at all.
Press, 2005)
Carol Siegel has made a great and commendable effort to
bring together comment about film, literature, and modern
society with the Goth boys and girls she obviously feels a
great affinity for, and the book is nowhere near as grimly
incomprehensible as I feared - but it does bear the heavy
marks of its Stateside context, in that for Siegel Goths are
first and foremost sexual radicals challenging conservative
morals. Not what I find at all.
Contemporary Gothic, by Catherine Spooner (Reaktion,
2006)
At last! A book on Gothic, by an academic, which doesn't
try to claim that it's 'about' any one thing in particular, and
acknowledges its multifarious and contradictory aspects;
which isn't disfigured by acco-speak; and which is
excitingly transdisciplinary. Just what we expected from
Catherine. Of course it can't cover everything, but what a
delightful set of insights into the performativity and
presentations of Goths and modern Gothic. See my longer
review on Amazon for more effusive praise.
2006)
At last! A book on Gothic, by an academic, which doesn't
try to claim that it's 'about' any one thing in particular, and
acknowledges its multifarious and contradictory aspects;
which isn't disfigured by acco-speak; and which is
excitingly transdisciplinary. Just what we expected from
Catherine. Of course it can't cover everything, but what a
delightful set of insights into the performativity and
presentations of Goths and modern Gothic. See my longer
review on Amazon for more effusive praise.
Goth: Undead Subculture, edited by Lauren Goodlad &
Michael Bibby (Duke U.P., 2007)
More in the same vein as Catherine's books, and if anything
even more exciting because drawing on the expertise of a
range of contributors it casts its net more widely (actually
Catherine, Carol Siegel & Paul Hodkinson all have essays in
this book). This approaches the Goth phenomenon
sensitively and with insight, as one might hope when
several of the contributors are Goths or former Goths. The
essay by the gentleman who spent a while as a
Gothically-glossed exotic dancer in an LA gay club has to
be read to be believed. A provocative collision of the
personal and the analytic. I've got a longer review on
Amazon: click here.
Michael Bibby (Duke U.P., 2007)
More in the same vein as Catherine's books, and if anything
even more exciting because drawing on the expertise of a
range of contributors it casts its net more widely (actually
Catherine, Carol Siegel & Paul Hodkinson all have essays in
this book). This approaches the Goth phenomenon
sensitively and with insight, as one might hope when
several of the contributors are Goths or former Goths. The
essay by the gentleman who spent a while as a
Gothically-glossed exotic dancer in an LA gay club has to
be read to be believed. A provocative collision of the
personal and the analytic. I've got a longer review on
Amazon: click here.
The Gothic Reader: A Critical Anthology, compiled by
Martin Myrone (Tate Gallery, 2006)
This book hung around on my shelves for well over a year
after I bought it at the Tate's Gothic Nightmares exhibition -
dutifully, really, because I wasn't looking forward to a
collection of dry or barely-readable 18th-century texts. In
fact, it's great fun, and traces the development of the
Georgian Gothic sensibility from pre-existing materials to its
full expression in literature and art. There's a longer review
on Amazon.
Martin Myrone (Tate Gallery, 2006)
This book hung around on my shelves for well over a year
after I bought it at the Tate's Gothic Nightmares exhibition -
dutifully, really, because I wasn't looking forward to a
collection of dry or barely-readable 18th-century texts. In
fact, it's great fun, and traces the development of the
Georgian Gothic sensibility from pre-existing materials to its
full expression in literature and art. There's a longer review
on Amazon.
Goth Culture: Gender, Sexuality & Style, by Dunja Brill
(Berg, 2008)
Goths are a humourless, self-involved lot, aren't they?
Well, we know this isn't the case, but they do sometimes
like to think of themselves as ultra-tolerant, self-expressive,
genderless social subversives. Dunja Brill's book, written
from the inside, suggests this may not be quite as true as
first appears, and instead marshals an impressive case that
Goth culture is subtly (and in some cases not so subtly)
gendered, and is more a way of negotiating with
mainstream values rather than subverting them entirely. .
Engaging, humane stuff.
(Berg, 2008)
Goths are a humourless, self-involved lot, aren't they?
Well, we know this isn't the case, but they do sometimes
like to think of themselves as ultra-tolerant, self-expressive,
genderless social subversives. Dunja Brill's book, written
from the inside, suggests this may not be quite as true as
first appears, and instead marshals an impressive case that
Goth culture is subtly (and in some cases not so subtly)
gendered, and is more a way of negotiating with
mainstream values rather than subverting them entirely. .
Engaging, humane stuff.
Goth: Vamps and Dandies, by Gavin Baddeley (Plexus,
2009)
Mr Baddeley's second venture into Goth culture and a far
superior one to 2002's Goth Chic. With an abundance of
visual illustration this tome traces Goth's 'DNA' down
from the literary, artistic, musical and televisual influences
which converged in modern Goth about 1979-81, and then
the people, bands, books and movies which have skewed
its development since. It's a near-impossible task - yet
Gavin Baddeley pulls it off. There's a longer review on
Amazon.
2009)
Mr Baddeley's second venture into Goth culture and a far
superior one to 2002's Goth Chic. With an abundance of
visual illustration this tome traces Goth's 'DNA' down
from the literary, artistic, musical and televisual influences
which converged in modern Goth about 1979-81, and then
the people, bands, books and movies which have skewed
its development since. It's a near-impossible task - yet
Gavin Baddeley pulls it off. There's a longer review on
Amazon.
Worldwide Gothic, by Natasha Scharf (IMP, 2011)
About time we had a new book, and this tackles a slightly
new subject as well, looking at the global spread and
generic sprawl of Goth from its UK origins, and how it
came to penetrate all corners of the globe (and quite right
too). It's a real achievement to gather together all this
abstruse material into one place for the first time. As usual,
I have a longer review on Amazon.
About time we had a new book, and this tackles a slightly
new subject as well, looking at the global spread and
generic sprawl of Goth from its UK origins, and how it
came to penetrate all corners of the globe (and quite right
too). It's a real achievement to gather together all this
abstruse material into one place for the first time. As usual,
I have a longer review on Amazon.
