Crime novelist Cathi Unsworth turned Goth in her teens in rural Norfolk fired by a cocktail of Dennis Wheatley, the Damned on the Peel show and the dark arts of the York Festival “Gothtopia” bill in 1984. She devoted long hours to trying to construct Robert Smith’s “tarantula hair” and acquiring black lace garmentry. Something about its music and folklore chimed with a life marooned in the middle of an East Anglian beanfield pondering tales of Shuck, the fabled fire-eyed ghostly hound alleged to roam the neighbourhood at night. We talked to her about her marvellous ‘Season of the Witch: the Book of Goth’ for a live podcast recorded at London’s 21Soho on 25 September, a very funny and wide-ranging exchange that included …

… why Goth is like no other tribe: you never make a full recovery – or ever want to.

… the part played in its family tree by Aleister Crowley, Aubrey Beardsley, the Brontes, Joy Division, Magazine, the Cramps, Jim Morrison and Bobby Gentry.

… why Leeds became one of Goth’s key spiritual centres.

… the shocking spectacle of Dave Vanian in full Stygian rig in broad daylight.  

… “the three Goth Ians” - Astbury, Curtis, McCulloch.

… the significance of Cabaret and A Clockwork Orange.

... why Goths feel obliged to dress the part.

… the romantic allure of Robert Smith against that of Nick Cave.

 … the curious link between Siouxsie and Margaret Thatcher.

… and how Goth keeps finding new recruits.  

Order ‘Season of the Witch: the Book of Goth’ here …

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Season-Witch-Book-Cathi-Unsworth/dp/1788706242

Tickets for Word In Your Ear live at 21 Soho on October 30th here: https://www.tickettext.co.uk/ysY3FvyFae

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