What you don't know about goths could fill a book. Literally. I've had this book since High school and it's such a darkly charming read- I love that this book dispels many harmful myths about the subculture. It even discusses the accounts of goth traditions, pop culture icons and media, interests, fashion, music and even the history of the Goth lifestyle! Some people consider this something of a table or coffee table book- but I don't really see it as that. It's heavy handed with opinions, interviews and online resources too. It has sort of a guide book feel to it. This was such an enjoyable read when I found it in High School- now that I'm much older, I still like it- nostalgia and all, but it could definitely use a revised update. I need more books like this. ( )

I enjoyed reading this book. Nancy Kilpatrick wrote an entertaining and informative book about the goth subculture and about interesting, creepy, esoteric, haunting things in general. I learned quite a bit.

To start, I had no idea my husband's new Doc Martins made him so cool!

I learned quite a bit about music - punk, post punk, new wave, old stuff, new stuff. Looked up some of the bands online and listened to some of the music.

I learned about absinthe - history, current usage. The author has a chapter on famous cemeteries around the world. Art and literature were discussed - old authors, new authors. There are some authors in here I'd like to check out.

There's a section about the history of vampires in folklore, literature, and movies. The same with werewolves and other supernatural creatures. Also a section about goths and religion. Quite a few interviews with goths, many of them elder goths.

This book was full of fun and interesting things and was an enjoyable read.

This book is almost 10 years old, though. There are many, many links to websites in here and I haven't looked up too many (yet) but they may be outdated. I am not sure about that. Would be nice to have an updated one from 2015. If there is one, my library didn't have it.

It was definitely a good book to finish up on Valentine's Day.




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I originally bought this book as a sot of text book to use in a high school paper on sub-cultures. Being a self-proclaimed goth (one of maybe 3 in the area at the time) I figured it should be something I should own anyway. After reading the book I learned a lot of the resons behind certain goth cultural activities/dress/view-points. It helped a lot in explaining that goths are not satanists, evil, and not (always) suicidal. I reccomend it for anyone interested in goth culture, who's child/sibling is a goth, or who is a goth themselves. ( )

Very interesting concept of multiple insiders voicing their views. The book allows outsiders or newcomers to the goth movement to understand the importance of individuality in the goth scene by exposing the multiple different points of view. Nancy Kilpatrick keeps her objectivity and does not write in a way that would give priority to her own ideas. ( )