Encyclopedia Gothica (20 page)

SALEM
City in Massachusetts, USA, site of the 1692 witch trials where more than twenty people were killed in a wave of superstition and mass hysteria. Today people go there to buy souvenir broomsticks and magic quartz. Goths who fall into the tourist trap are most often disappointed as it’s not really that evil of a place, unless you’ve got a fear of gift shops.

SALEM’S LOT
Novel by
STEPHEN KING
, published in 1975, about a town in Maine infiltrated by
VAMPIRE
s
. With its fog and shadows, foreboding mansion and ghostly child vampire Danny Glick, one of the most traditionally Gothic of modern vampire stories. The 1979 TV miniseries portrays the head vampire as a monstrous,
NOSFERATU
-like creature, the likes of which are tough to find in the post–
ANNE RICE
/
TWILIGHT
era.

SALVATION GROUP
British media company, formed by Nigel Wingrove in 1993, comprising a film distribution company (Redemption), record label (Triple Silence) and magazine (
Nihilista
) specializing in horror and exploitation, especially
VAMPIRES
and naughty nuns. Famous for its Satanic Sluts, a group of devilishly pervy models/actresses/performance artists who make the
SUICIDE GIRLS
seem rather sweet.

SAMHAIN
1. Celtic harvest festival of yore, held on October 31, and source of many of our modern
HALLOWEEN
traditions, such as jack-o-lanterns and costuming. Practiced today by Wiccans and other pagans, and name-dropped by Goths who think it’s more authentic than Halloween. 2. Horror punk band,
GLENN DANZIG
’s short-lived project between
THE MISFITS
and Danzig.

SANCTUARY
1. Online radio station, streaming classic and new Goth/
INDUSTRIAL
24/7 at
sanctuaryradio.com
. 2. Name of the Swiss Gothic Association. 3. Mail-order catalogue created by pop star Cher for a few years in the 1990s, featuring a surprising amount of Gothic home décor — wrought-iron four-poster bed with
GARGOYLE
s anyone? 4. Toronto’s Sanctuary Vampire Sex Bar, an all-Goth nightclub operating from 1992 to 2000, which is now a Starbucks; owner Lance Goth (not his real name!) published the collection of short stories
Tales From Sanctuary: The Vampire Sex Bar
.

SANDMAN, THE
Comic book series by
NEIL GAIMAN
, originally published from 1989 to 1996 by DC’s Vertigo Press, about
MORPHEUS
, the King of Dreams, and his siblings Desire, Despair, Destiny, Delirium, Destruction and, most important of all,
DEATH
. The horror and fantasy worlds created herein were the stuff of real dreams for Goths — villains and heroes in black and
PALE
white dropping references to Shakespeare and Greek mythology to make us feel smart. A critically acclaimed mainstream blockbuster title,
The Sandman
is probably read by more Goth Girls than every other comic ever made combined, making Gaiman into a icon of the grandest stature.

SAVAGE, JON
British music journalist (né Jonathan Sage, b. 1953) who wrote about
POST-PUNK
and
NEW WAVE
for
Sounds
,
NME
and the like, whose 1991 book
England’s Dreaming
is the definitive reference for the U.K. punk explosion, including
THE DAMNED
,
SIOUXSIE SIOUX
and others.

SCARY LADY SARAH
American club DJ and concert promoter from Chicago, now based in Berlin. Resident DJ at Nocturna, Chicago’s longest-running Goth/
INDUSTRIAL
/dark alternative club night, and regular special guest at
CONVERGENCE
,
WAVE-GOTIK-TREFFEN
and other major festivals. Known as much for her gravity-defying teased hair as her continued commitment to scouring the underground for new bands to play.

SCHWARZE SZENE
German term, literally translates to “black scene” and used since the 1990s to describe all the so-called dark alternative music styles swirling around Goth: industrial, darkwave, electro, metal, neofolk and medieval, and for some reason also including bdsm/fetish culture. Kind of like the Goth version of LGBTTIQQ2SA, but “Schwarze” just sounds so much Gothier. Not widely used outside of Germany.

SCREAM
Los Angeles nightclub and live music venue, operated by Bruce Perdew and Michael Stewart at the Embassy Hotel from 1989 to 1999. A massive, multi-level space with a “Stairway to Hell” up to the dark dance floor, where
FREAK
s of all ages and persuasions would gather late into the night/morning, but none so purposefully as the
DEATH ROCKER
s, who made it their after-hours home.
See also:
Helter Skelter

SDAM
Singapore Dark Alternative Movement, organization started in 1998 by Saito Nagasaki to put on Goth events and promote the subculture throughout the country.

SECRET GOTH CABAL
Can’t talk about this. Sorry.

SEX
Clothing boutique located at 430 King’s Road in Chelsea, London, operated by punk impresario Malcolm McLaren and designer
VIVIENNE WESTWOOD
from 1974 to 1976. (Previously known as rock shop Paradise Garage and Teddy Boy outfitters Let It Rock.) Sold
LATEX
/fetish/bondage wear and incorporated that scene’s studs and zippers and such to original Westwood designs, particularly her sometimes pornographic, always provocative T-shirts that helped define the distressed punk rock style. Changed names a few times and closed for good in 1980.

SEXBAT
Pseudonym for one of the co-founders of
ALT.GOTHIC
, who is credited with coining the term
NET.GOTH
.

SEX GANG CHILDREN
British
POST-PUNK
group lead by singer Andi Sex Gang (né Andreas McElligott) formed in 1981, part of the original
BATCAVE
crew. Andi’s upper-range vocals proved you don’t need to be baritone to be Goth. In fact, at least one person (
IAN ASTBURY
) claims the origin of the G-word is his nicknaming the short-statured, hyperactive Andi, who lived in a place called Visigoth Towers, the “Gothic Goblin.” Drama followed the band on stage and off, and they never quite got their due before splitting in 1984; the
DEATH ROCK
revival has put them back in the spotlight and they now headline Goth festivals in Europe. A documentary about Andi,
Bastard Art
, was released in 2009.

SHELLEY
1. Mary Shelley (née Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, 1797–1851), British writer, author of
FRANKENSTEIN
. Writing the world’s great monster story earned her a place in literary history, but the fact that she kept the actual heart of her late-husband Percy (rescued from the funeral pyre by a friend), wrapped in the pages of his elegiac poem
Adonaïs
also makes her the godmother of
ROMANTIGOTH
s everywhere. Buried at St. Peter’s Church in Dorset,
ENGLAND
. 2. Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822), Mary’s husband, one of the great Romantic poets. Chastised in his time by those who knew him for being a political reformer and atheist, remembered now for his Gothic novels, lovely lyrical verse and the essay
A Defense of Poetry
(which, to Goths, needs no defense at all). Bonus points for being able to correctly spell his middle name. Drowned at sea, his cremated remains (sans heart) are in a cemetery in Rome.

SHOEGAZER
Musical subgenre practiced by some U.K. rock groups in the mid to late 1980s, so called for a tendency for the musicians to spend the entire show gazing at their shoes. They were more likely looking down at their pedals — the genre is defined by a wash of guitar effects and other droning, psychedelic noises coupled with processed, melodic vocals. Although most shoegazers were not Goth (those were sneakers they were staring at, after all), it did start with the
COCTEAU TWINS
and we probably wouldn’t have
ETHEREAL
without it.

SIDE-LINE
Webzine dedicated to the darkest side of independent electronic music (i.e.,
INDUSTRIAL
and its various descendents), started as a French-language print magazine in 1989 by David Noiret and Seba Dolimont now operating as an excellent source of music news online, with an active forum where
RIVETHEAD
s can get their old school
NET.GOTH
geek on.

SIGUE SIGUE SPUTNIK
British glam punk outfit formed in 1982 by bassist Tony James (ex–Generation X, future
SISTERS OF MERCY
) best remembered for the club single “Love Missile F1-11” and selling adverts between the tracks of their debut album,
Flaunt It
. Jones has described SSS as “hi-tech sex, designer violence and the fifth generation of rock ’n’ roll,” but with their massive neon hairdos and a heavy metal meets sci-fi fashion sense that back then was outrageous even by Japanese standards, they may very well have been the world’s first
CYBERGOTH
s.

SIGUSMONDI, FLORIA
Canadian photographer and filmmaker (b. 1965), whose freakish, hyper-kinetic, gorgeously grotesque style established in “The Beautiful People” music video for
MARILYN MANSON
has been ripped off by thousands of people who want to look dark and “edgy.”

SIOUXSIE AND THE BANSHEES
British
POST-PUNK
group formed 1976 by vocalist
SIOUXSIE SIOUX
and bassist Steven Severin. From their very first gig (featuring the future Sid Vicious on drums) improvising noise over the Lord’s Prayer, they carved a new path out of punk, incorporating both pop and the avant garde. Eschewing the straight-up B-movie macabre of their contemporaries, they created instead psychedelic dreamworlds of magic and sensuality, with horror coming in unexpected places — like 1984’s “Cities in Dust,” an ode to the destroyed city of Pompeii with lyrics about hot lava pouring into gaping mouths. They split in 1996; a 2004 box set,
Downside Up
, collects their best work.

SIOUX, SIOUXSIE
British singer (née Susan Janet Ballion, b. May 27, 1957), leader of the Banshees and
THE CREATURES
and a style icon who gave Goth Girls the idea for their
BACKCOMBED
black hair and Cleopatra eye make-up look. But we should not reduce all of her efforts down to that one iconic image: as a fiercely assertive artist who pushed boundaries even within the punk scene (wearing a swastika, for one), and writer of some of the great pop hits of the 1980s, she has inspired in many ways. And her vocal style is beyond compare. A 2007 solo album,
Mantaray
, full of electro-pop-rock glamour, proved she’s still vital, ageless.

SISTERHOOD, THE
A legal pissing contest disguised as band. This short-lived project for
THE SISTERS OF MERCY
singer
ANDREW ELDRITCH
released only one single (“Giving Ground”) and one album (
Gift
) in 1985–1986 as a way to stop his ex-bandmates
WAYNE HUSSEY
and Craig Adams from using the name themselves or collecting publishing money due to the group. Stripped of guitars, the songs were constructed with unsophisticated drum machine rhythms and guest vocalists doing their faux Eldritch best — not particularly well received by the press but they are gloriously gloomy, brazenly unconventional for the time and can still pack a dance floor today. They did not, as Eldritch has implied, inspire the techno movement.

SISTERS OF MERCY, THE
British rock band, formed 1980 by singer
ANDREW ELDRITCH
and guitarist Gary Marx and featuring various members including
WAYNE HUSSEY
and Craig Adams, later of
THE MISSION
. Note that I didn’t use “
GOTHIC ROCK
” band. Because ever since the Sisters invented Gothic rock, Eldritch has been denying it. One can’t blame the man for disassociating himself from a style that also was used to describe The Mission and hundreds of uninspired copycats thereof, and it’s true that they stretched beyond the style over the years, from ambient to full-on metal, but the hard truth is that there is none more Goth than the Sisters. Their three early singles and three studio albums are gospel, even their current live incarnation (Eldritch + some unknown musicians nobody cares about + tons and tons of fog) fly the tattered flag of doom-obsessed dirges that sing this corrosion and dance the ghost all over the black planet, black world of Gothdom.