By: Vittoria Minyaliel Berger- Hoff

Misty rivers,
Floating by, never ending,
Never beginning.

Fleeting dreams -
A memory
Of days and beauty
Never to end. Full Story »

By: Chris Stead

It was so strange to see and hear the debate about Marilyn Manson for so many years. Is he goth? Is he not? Is he a poseur? There were the Mansonites of the 90’s and that fad faded with time. You hardly hear the term any more. More often than not Marilyn Manson has gotten too outlandish in his makeup to mimic. Not so easy as a couple of lines to recreate the Brandon Lee “Crow.” All of that aside, if there was a debate before, the new Manson album might have been just the thing to settle the debate. Full Story »

By: Asherra

There is no question that there is something within the gothic heart that is drawn to the morbid, the dark, and the profane. Red upon black, heavily contrasted images composed of black ink and grotesquely twisted figures. Scenes illustrating the mysteries of the night and drawing the viewer into a world of lonesome graveyards, back alleyways wet with a fresh coat of rain, or any other horrific setting the gothic mind can come up with. It’s not only with pictures however that goth’s choose to draw the minds eye in. The roots of the gothic movement can trace their lineage back to the early gothic literature movements of the eighteenth century. It was with these ‘graveyard poets” like Horace Walpole and his tale of the tragic and supernatural events at The Castle of Otranto that gothic literature took root. With the emergence of the graphic novel (other wise known as the comic) around the turn of the 20th century, it seemed natural that ever popular horror and supernatural stories would now come to life in this new style of media. From this point, the comic book became the staple of American popular media. Full Story »

By: Chris Stead

Goth Help Us is a humanity based group focused on what the Goth culture can do for humanity, as the motto says, “Serving humanity from the underground up.” Started by Rebecca Hohm in mid-July of 2006, this organization that has been around for a mere 1 year has been growing by leaps an bounds. It is understandable with the fact that Goths are generally emotionally driven people, and helping humanity is something that gives an emotional being an outlet. Aside from the overall goodwill that is felt by people that are helped by this organization, Goth Help Us is also empowering Goths to redefine how the mainstream views our subculture. This has been demonstrated quite well by the San Diego chapter which we talked about in the May issue. Rebecca was good enough to give us some of her time amidst her increasingly busy schedule of good works. Full Story »

By: Chris Stead

Ex-Voto is a group that is legendary with the Goth and Deathrock crowd. Their legacy reaches back to the late eighties and into the current year. Their career has spanned decades where they have made memorable and lasting songs, considered classics in the Goth culture. Their latest album, released in 2006, Doloroso, with songs like Seven Sisters, it is doubtful that they will be forgotten any time soon. Through moves, the pain of change followed by rediscovery and even a hurricane, this band consistently pours their hearts into the music they make. Influenced by the world around them, their emotions as well as the people they encounter every day, Ex-Voto makes music for the soul. Melissa shares a little insight into the band and their world, and the tapestry of their music. Full Story »

By: Tanya Vasquez

During the fall, Aesma Daeva will be on tour as one of the opening acts for Therion and their latest CD Dawn of the New Athens. With a mixture of symphonic and metal sounds, Aesma Daeva is crafting a sound that is shared by few. Aesma Daeva has a similar sound to the band that they are opening for. Clearly, Therion chose this band with care as the sound is an appropriate match. Full Story »

By: Chris Stead

There is a new sound emerging in the music world and it sounds like a little piece of vintage goth/punk heaven. This sound is being produced by a group called The Horrors. A little bit punk, a little bit electro, dressed in black and made up to look like the children of the 60’s british invasion and the 80’s new wave, The Horrors are making noise like something that hasn’t passed through the scene since the early eighties. Full Story »

By: Tanya Vasquez

Epica
Consign To Oblivion

If you’re a fan of Tarja Turunen and Sharon Den Adel of Within Temptation, and are looking for something in the middle, Epica’s Consign to Oblivion is something worth checking out. Simone Simons sounds something like Francine Boucher of Echoes of Eternity with Tarja’s vocal control and a mezzo-soprano/soprano vocal range. Together this combination makes Simone the melodic siren she is. The background keyboard work sounds as if you were gently touching a pond making ripples in the water. Full Story »

By: H.M. Garber

The yellowed walls, peeling paint and cracked molding appeared sinister. Brent felt his body decaying like the old mansion. He existed here with only Aunt Agnes and his private nurse, Robyn. Abandoned by the rest of his family, Brent wondered how his parents or even his sister justified leaving him at eleven years of age. Yes they supported him financially but never visited, called or even sent flowers. He didn’t know if they were alive or dead, and sometimes wondered why he still cared. Full Story »

By: Chris Stead

There is a new sound emerging in the music world and it sounds like a little piece of vintage goth/punk heaven. This sound is being produced by a group called The Horrors. A little bit punk, a little bit electro, dressed in black and made up to look like the children of the 60’s british invasion and the 80’s new wave, The Horrors are making noise like something that hasn’t passed through the scene since the early eighties.

Full Story »

By: Chris Stead

Jessika is a model out of North Carolina. This set of photos represents a body of work that she did for a group called Madams. She is currently looking for work as a model with great people to further her career. She got started with modeling while taking courses on communications in college. She says she loves being in front of the camera.

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By: Chris Stead and Rebecca Davis

Okey dokey folks, Rebecca come up with yet another fun and fairly easy project this go-round. If you have a bunch of stuff laying around that you would really like to have framed and hanging on your wall, then this is the project for you. Being that I spent several years working as a professional framer, hopefully I will be able to shed a little light on how to best accomplish some of the trickier parts of construction. No, we are not going to tell you how to frame anything and everything. There isn’t enough space in this single article for that. This one is specifically for producing a shadowbox, or a deep-framed piece to display 3-D objects. Let us know if you want to know more, though, let us know in the comments section and we will come up with a new, spiffy framing project to do.

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By: Chris Stead

Synchonicity is the best way to describe the chain of events that occurred to make Goth Help Us San Diego happen as it did. A negative act with positive repercussions. Goth Help Us as a whole is still a new organization and at the precise time that was necessary to get everything moving in the right direction, a wrong was done. Jim Howard, the current president of Goth Help Us San Diego, and a small group of friends and family were accosted on the street by a number of drunk, belligerent people. As Jim was assaulted it was made clear that he and his group was chosen due to their subculture affiliation. This can be otherwise known as a “hate crime.” The courts will not recognize this attack as a hate crime at this time.

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By: Auntie Pan Pan

Greetings fans and freaks! Auntie Pan Pan here! I have arrived to bring some shiny darkness in your bleak little paths to foretell and see the future…or at least try…you Scorpios always amaze me…especially what you can do with whipped cream and a chainsaw…BUT I DIGRESS! Behold your astrological forecast for the next few weeks! Enjoy and run amok in the night!!!

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By: The Gothling

So it’s happened. You finally landed that job that will pay for everything you need, and most of what you want. The only problem is, it’s a corporate job, complete with corporate dress code. What’s a Goth girl (or guy) to do?

Luckily, most corporate clothing is already black, which makes searching for clothes in your closet easier. The problem is, most of the skirts we like to wear are too short or have too many details, like D-rings, corseting, and patterning (think plaid schoolgirl skirts). If you have any pencil skirts with smaller, less noticeable corseting, you could probably get away with them at the office. Full Story »