An authoritative history of gothic rock–told record by record

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A Gothic Rock Compendium

The essential archive of goth music for fans, collectors, and historians

Hardcover

+Limited Slipcased Special-Edition

  Author: Wesley Doyle

Foreword by Wayne Hussey

(The Mission & Sisters of Mercy)

Designed by Chris Bigg

(4AD Records/Beggars Banquet)

• ISBN: 9798991281331
• Dimensions: 9x 1.29x 9 inches
• 460 Pages
• Formats:
• Hardcover
• Limited Special Slipcase Edition

Release Date: 17 March 2026

Book Description

Forget what you think you know about goth. Rather than a movement to mope to, goth’s aesthetics are ever evolving, encompassing fashion, architecture, literature, cinema, and art. But it’s music that is the beating heart of this unearthly subculture. 

In the UK, ‘80s post-punk slithered inexorably towards darker modes of expression. Out of the darkness of industrial West Yorkshire came The Sisters Of Mercy and The March Violets, the flatfields of the East Midlands gave us Bauhaus and UK Decay, while the scene coalesced in London’s Square Mile of Sin at Soho’s Batcave with Specimen and Alien Sex Fiend. At the same time, artists in places as far-flung as LA, Tokyo, and Madrid were creating tenebrous evocations to express their politics, both personal and otherwise.

Received wisdom states this peaked in the mid ‘80s, and that goth was then brushed aside by grunge and dance culture. The dark truth is that it scuttled back to the shadows to reconfigure into a bewildering number of sub-genres. In the ‘90s, goth operated in the margins, creating a support network of fanzines and safe spaces that grew stronger with the advent of the Internet.

Now, goth is truly global. OGs (original goths) The Cure, Nick Cave, and Siouxsie Sioux are bigger than ever, while their influence is writ large across a new generation of artists. Goth has yet again risen from the dead.

From the end of the ‘60s counterculture dream, through ‘70s glam rock and post-punk, ‘80s mainstream domination, ‘90s alternative underground, and ‘00s Mitteleuropean rebirth, goth’s tendrils have crawled their way into post-rock, doom-folk, pop-punk, trip-hop, shoegaze, etherpop, and cold wave, to become an essential mode of expression for a fractured 21st century. 

Told via over 500 essential records – and with contributions from those who were there – Spellbound tells the complete story of the genre that refuses to die. These are the artists who continue to find light in the darkness, and in doing so have created one of the most enduring—and misunderstood—subcultures of our times.

About The Author

For nearly three decades, Wesley Doyle has chronicled the intersection of music, art, and subculture with insight and passion. His writing has appeared in Classic Pop, Louder Than War, Record Collector, The Quietus, and Vive Le Rock, where his work celebrates the visionaries, outsiders, and sonic experimenters who’ve shaped alternative music. His acclaimed book Conform to Deform: The Weird and Wonderful World of Some Bizzare (Jawbone Press) explores the story of the groundbreaking independent label that helped define the sound and look of early-1980s avant-pop. Praised for its depth of research and affection for its subject, the book was named one of Rough Trade’s Books of the Year for 2023. Doyle’s lifelong love affair with the darker corners of culture began in 1983, when—at age fourteen—he saw the legendary Batcave Tour at St Albans City Hall. The experience ignited a passion for music that has guided his career ever since. He remains a proud goth at heart, still curating the same record collection that started it all—though, as he’s fond of saying, “sadly, not the hair.” Wesley lives in the UK and continues to write about the people and movements that challenge, inspire, and redefine modern culture.

About The Designer

Chris Bigg is an acclaimed art director and designer whose work spans music, publishing, and visual culture. Known for his striking use of typography, photography, mark-making, and calligraphy, he has created distinctive identities for some of the most influential artists and labels of the past four decades.

A longtime collaborator with the legendary British record label 4AD, Bigg worked closely with Vaughan Oliver, helping shape the visual legacy of acts such as Pixies, The Breeders, Dead Can Dance, The Wolfgang Press, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Lush, Belly, Piroshki, and MB3. Since founding his own studio in 2004, he has continued to merge sound and image across projects for David Sylvian’s Samadhisound, David Lynch, Scott Walker, Sinéad O’Connor, Stefano Guzzetti, Nico Muhly, Aldous Harding, and Adrian Sherwood, among many others. His recent work includes the 600-page publication Hypergraphia: Writings of David Sylvian 1980–2014 (2015) and exhibition design for Doctors, Dissection and Resurrection Men (Museum of London, 2013) and Diaghilev and the Golden Age of the Ballets Russes (V&A, 2011). Bigg’s designs have been featured in 100 Best Album Covers, Letterwork: Creative Letterforms in Graphic Design, A Century of Graphic Design, Sketchbook: Conceptual Drawings from the World’s Most Influential Designers, Design Genius: Ways and Workings of Creative Thinkers, and Vaughan Oliver: Archives. A former Senior Lecturer in Graphic Design at the University of Brighton, Bigg continues to explore the relationship between sound and image, viewing experimentation and collaboration as the heart of his creative process.