Encyclopedia Gothica (3 page)

BABYBAT
A newcomer to the scene exhibiting limited knowledge, particularly one of a young age; sometimes used derogatorily. Alternatively, a term of endearment for underage Goths.
Compare:
Kindergoth

BABY, THE STARS SHINE BRIGHT
Japanese fashion label created by Akinori and Fumiyo Isobe, credited with kickstarting the
GOTHIC LOLITA
style in 1988. Think babydolls and
PARASOL
s, with lots of lace.
TRAD GOTH
s may find it difficult to imagine how a powder blue outfit could appeal to anyone, but for enthusiasts of Loli lifestyle, Baby is the best. Retail outlets in Paris and San Francisco satisfy the foreign fans; the HQ is in Shibuya, Tokyo.

BACKCOMBING
Hairstyling technique also known as teasing where you grab a chunk of hair and aggressively comb backwards until it hurts too much or the hair stands high up on its own, whichever comes first. Add illogical amounts of
AQUA NET
hairspray and — voila! — instant
ROBERT SMITH
or
SIOUXSIE SIOUX
’do.

BADDELEY, GAVIN
British journalist (b. 1966), author of books on Goths, Satanism and Satanic Goths, including
Goth Chic: A Connoisseur’s Guide to Dark Culture
;
Lucifer Rising: A Book of Sin
,
Devil Worship and Rock ’n’ Roll
; and
Goths: Vamps and Dandies
, as well as biographies of
MARILYN MANSON
and
CRADLE OF FILTH
. An ordained minister of the
CHURCH OF SATAN
, he’s the go-to guy whenever U.K. television producers need someone to talk about the dark side who actually has a clue.

BAD SEEDS
See:
Cave, Nick

BAL DES VAMPIRES, LE
Fancy costume ball produced by San Francisco’s Period Events and Entertainments Recreation Society, held annually around
HALLOWEEN
. An elegant affair featuring formal dancing to baroque and waltz music, attracting
ROMANTIGOTH
s,
STEAMPUNKS
and others who like to party like it’s 1899.

BALK, FAIRUZA
American actress (née Fairuza Alejandra Feldthouse, b. May 21, 1974) best known for her starring role in the 1996 film
The Craft
, in which she played a teen witch with rather Goth style. She projected a dark, rock ’n’ roll image in her real life as well — tattoed and pierced with black hair and copious
EYELINER
— and Goths were thrilled to learn she once owned an actual occult shop in Hollywood. In 2010, Balk announced a new music project, Armed Love Militia; first single “Stormwinds” featured guest
DAVID J.

BANSHEES, THE
See:
Siouxsie and the Banshees

BARA, THEDA
American silent film star (née Theodise Burr Goodman, 1885–1955). Nicknamed “The Vamp” for her femme fatale performances, she wore provocative costumes and posed for occult-themed promotional photos with skulls and snakes. If that wasn’t enough to secure her honorary Goth Girl status, her 1917 role as Cleopatra set the template for the Egyptian eye make-up popularized by
SIOUXSIE SIOUX
some sixty years later. Ashes interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park columbarium in Glendale, California.
See also:
Brooks, Louise

BARELY EVIL
Adult website offering porn pictorials of
TATTOOED
Goth Girls — pierced, bound, penetrated by machines.
See also:
Blue Blood
,
Gothic Sluts

BARGELD, BLIXA
German singer and musician (né Hans Christian Emmerich, b. January 12, 1959). Co-founded seminal
INDUSTRIAL
noise group Einstürzende Neubauten in 1980. From 1983 to 2003, member of
NICK CAVE
’s band, The Bad Seeds. Says he’s not Goth, but ample photographic evidence of him in leather pants,
BACKCOMBED
hair or funereal suits crumpled like he just crawled out of a coffin proves otherwise.

BARKER, CLIVE
British author, filmmaker and visual artist (b. October 5, 1952). The leading voice in contemporary horror fiction, revered for his gory and imaginative explorations of sexuality and the supernatural. His debut collection,
The Books of Blood
(1984–1985), so impressed
STEPHEN KING
, he called Barker “the future of horror.” Novella
The Hellbound Heart
(adapted into film as
HELLRAISER
) introduced the
CENOBITES
— a gang of interdimensional sadomasochistic demons with body piercings and mutilations.

BAT
Flying mammal, patron animal of Goths. Maybe it’s because they’re nocturnal and live in caves. Or maybe it’s because some of them drink blood for dinner or, as film legend has it, turn into
VAMPIRES
. But these tiny webbed and wingèd creatures have come to symbolize us, and in turn we’ve adopted them as our fantasy pets, designing purses in their shape,
TATTOOING
their image on our bodies, channelling their spirit while dancing. Guano aside, if we could live in a batcave, we probably would.
See also:
I’m So Goth
,
Vampire bats

BATCAVE
1. Nightclub operating in London,
ENGLAND
, from 1982 to 1986. Famed as the world’s first Goth bar, although originally dedicated to
NEW WAVE
and glam rock and other fashion-conscious offshoots of punk. Before the term “Goth” was used to describe its death-obsessed crowd or their music, regulars were referred to as “Batcavers.” Soon-to-be-Goth luminaries such as
SIOUXSIE SIOUX
,
ROBERT SMITH
and
NICK CAVE
regularly attended for live performances by
SPECIMEN
or
ALIEN SEX FIEND
, or to just watch scary art movies. 2. Contemporary
GOTHIC ROCK
groups that look and sound like Alien Sex Fiend, mostly from Europe. 3. Lair of comic book superhero Batman, coveted by many. 4. An actual cave of
BAT
s; great spot for a first date.

BAT CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL
Charitable organization based in Austin, Texas, that protects
BAT
s and their habitats all around the world and provides tips for attracting bats to your very own bat house! Many individual Goths participate in their adopt-a-bat program, and it’s common for businesses and events to donate funds to the org.

BÁTHORY, ELIZABETH
Hungarian countess (1560–1614) and serial killer also known as the Blood Countess. Accused of torturing and murdering hundreds of young females, she was imprisoned in her own castle until her death. Stories of her bathing in the blood of virgins as a fountain of youth are legendary and have given rise to the myth of Báthory as a
VAMPIRE
, exploited in such horror films as
Countess Dracula
(1971). Despite the gruesomeness of her alleged crimes (or perhaps because of it), her influence on Goth types is unabated: the Báthory name has been used by a Swedish black metal band, a Goth clothing shop in Belgium and as a pseudonym for countless teen girl bloggers worldwide.

BATS DAY
Gathering of gothy types at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, held annually since 1999. Attracts up to 2,000 spookily clad kids of all ages; activities include posing for group photos with Sleeping Beauty’s castle, hogging the
HAUNTED MANSION
ride, stalking the Evil Queen and otherwise painting the Happiest Place on Earth black and red. Needless to say, not an official Disney-sanctioned event.

BATWING
Type of sleeve used in Gothic blouses or dresses in which the arms, when outstretched, look like webbed
BAT
wings. Not to be confused with the traditional batwing sleeve of the disco era, in which a large armhole and tapered wrists provide a handglider look.

BAUDELAIRE, CHARLES
French poet and critic (1821–1867) whose writings were as decadent as his lifestyle. The poetry collection
Les Fleurs du Mal
(
The Flowers of Evil
, 1857) caused a scandal with its blasphemous musings on sex and death, drawn perhaps from his own dalliances with prostitutes, drunks and other scoundrels. A fan of Gothic texts and
EDGAR ALLAN POE
in particular, he is credited for introducing Poe to Europe by way of his French translations, and Baudelaire remains an inspiration to wannabe dark poets and
DANDIES
everywhere. Buried at Montparnasse Cemetery in Paris, which also houses a cenotaph monument to him.

BAUHAUS
British
GOTHIC ROCK
band formed in 1978 by horror and art aficionados
PETER MURPHY
(vocals),
DANIEL ASH
(guitars),
KEVIN HASKINS
(drums) and
DAVID J.
(bass). Considered the first pure Goth band, thanks to its combination of ghastly image, Murphy’s baritone vocals, macabre and dramatic live performances and a debut single about horror icon
BELA LUGOSI
. After three albums that were underappreciated by the press and a Top 20 single in Britain with a cover of
DAVID BOWIE
’s “Ziggy Stardust,” group disbanded in 1983 to pursue solo and side-projects. Reunited in 1998 and again in 2005; released alleged final album in 2008. One of the most influential musical acts to emerge from the
POST-PUNK
era of any genre, Bauhaus is primarily upheld alongside
THE SISTERS OF MERCY
and
THE CURE
as the most revered acts in all of English Gothdom (despite members’ insistence that they are not Goth, which of course is a sure sign that they are).
See also:
Bela Lugosi’s Dead
;
Love and Rockets
;
Tones on Tail

BAUHEARSEMOBILE
Hearse purchased by members of
BAUHAUS
as a touring vehicle from an undertaker during the recording sessions for
The Sky’s Gone Out
in 1981. Despite its obvious visual appeal, couldn’t really handle the job, and after pushing it up a hill one too many times they sold it off.

BDSM
Abbreviation for bondage, domination, sado-masochism, a complex variety of sexual practices and fetishes exploring pleasure and pain, of particular interest to many Goths as lifestyle and/or fashion. Since
VIVIENNE WESTWOOD
designed
BONDAGE PANTS
for punk rockers in 1970s London, typical dungeon equipment such as handcuffs, straps and chains have been incorporated into Goth/Industrial clothing designs. Nightclubs commonly hold special events catering to this scene;
BDSM
may be listed as acceptable apparel in the strict dress code. Not all Goths participate, and even those dressed in whips and chains may have little knowledge of or interest in actual
BDSM
.
See also:
Fetish night

BEGGARS BANQUET
British record label founded by Martin Mills and Nick Austin in 1977, originally to release punk rock vinyl but later home to
THE CULT
, Gary Numan,
BAUHAUS
and many others.

B.E. GOTH
See:
Bleeding edge Goth

BELA LUGOSI’S DEAD
First and most famous
GOTHIC ROCK
song, written and recorded by
BAUHAUS
and released as the band’s debut single as a white vinyl 12” limited to 5,000 copies in August 1979. A nine-minute, experimental, minimalist howl dedicated to the man who played the most famous
DRACULA
in all of cinema, anchored by the chorus “undead, undead, undead.” Used to great effect in Tony Scott’s 1983
VAMPIRE
film
THE HUNGER
(in which the band — well, mostly singer
PETER MURPHY
— appears performing in a cage). It did not hit the charts at the time but has become a club, party and
HALLOWEEN
-wedding standard, the perfect soundtrack for fog-filled dance floors everywhere.

BELLA GOTH
Virtual Goth Girl character in the
SimCity
universe. Not to be confused with Bella Swan of the
TWILIGHT
universe.

BELLA MORTE
American
DARKWAVE
band, formed in 1996 in Charlottesville, Virginia, by singer Andy Deane and bassist Gopal Metro. Originally independent, they signed to
CLEOPATRA RECORDS
and then
METROPOLIS RECORDS
and have enjoyed some underground success alongside the new crop of gothic rockers, with an accessible mix of
DEATH ROCK
guitars and
SYNTHPOP
,
HORROR PUNK
stylings and tortured romantic lyrics that would probably be on alternative radio if they had a bigger production budget. Deane is also a DJ and author who has published several horror novels.