From Joy Division to Nine Inch Nails and from Siouxsie to Marilyn Manson, gothic rock has endured as the cult of choice for alienated youth. But, during its heyday in the mid-eighties, when The Sisters of Mercy, Bauhaus and The Cure dominated the independent music scene, it was the underground alternative to the glossy throwaway pop of the day. Dave Thompson traces the roots of this golden era back to Iggy Pop's 'The Idiot'. Taking in Hammer House of Horror, Dennis Wheatley, and a myriad of other influences, Thompson charts the evolution of a sound through the Doctors of Madness, the despair of Joy Division and the pantomime horror of The Damned and beyond.