Encyclopedia Gothica (15 page)

LACUNA COIL
Italian
GOTHIC METAL
band formed in 1994 in Milan, formerly known as Sleep of Right and Ethereal. Distinguished by its dual male/female vocals (Andrea Ferro/Cristina Scabbia) and notable for inclusion of its biggest single, 2004’s “Swamped,” in the game
VAMPIRE: THE MASQUERADE
—
Bloodlines
, as well as the occasional dark romantic musings. Still, squarely in the metal world.

LANCASTER, SOPHIE
English Goth Girl whose name appears here for the most sorrowful of reasons. On August 11, 2007, Lancaster, then twenty, and her boyfriend Robert Maltby, twenty-one, were brutally attacked by local youth while walking through a park in Lancashire late at night. By all accounts, the couple was targeted because of their Goth appearance; Sophie attempted to protect Robert by shielding him with her body but the attackers continued to kick and stomp until both were so injured they fell into coma. While Robert eventually recovered, Sophie remained unconscious until August 24, when family removed her life support. Public outcry was immediate and judgement was fairly swift: five boys were charged, two ultimately found guilty of murder and three of grievous bodily harm with intent; all have been imprisoned. Not surprisingly, Goths the world over responded in sympathy: benefit concerts were held, tribute videos assembled and a bench has been erected in her honour at the site of the
WHITBY GOTHIC FESTIVAL
. The family has set up the Sophie Lancaster Foundation and the SOPHIE campaign (Stamp Out Prejudice Hatred and Intolerance) with the aims of educating about prejudice towards alternative subcultures and having hate crimes laws extended to include “lifestyle and dress.” From this horrific crime of murder came greater public awareness that it is not Goths who are inherently violent, but more often the victims of public intolerance and hatred towards those who are different, especially in smaller communities. How tragic it ever came to this. Sophie Lancaster, beautiful girl eternal, 1987–2007, R.I.P.

LARP
Short for live action role playing, a kind of game in which participants act out their characters, often with elaborate costumes and immersive environments, while the rest of the world snickers. Goths joined in with gusto in the 1990s with the arrival of
VAMPIRE: THE MASQUERADE
, a role-playing game about
VAMPIRES
in a contemporary Gothic/punk universe. With the variety of LARPs dealing in vamps, horror,
MEDIEVAL
times fantasies,
STEAMPUNK
, sci-fi and beyond, there are plenty of Goths getting their geek on and having a blast with this, even though we’re one of the few communities where you really don’t have to traipse out into the woods with a foam sword for an excuse to wear a
CLOAK
and talk in Olde English.

LATEX
Clothing material popular with fetish fashionistas. It’s near-impossible to get into, it’s sweaty, it smells — and it’s a turn-on for many. Actual rubberists are not necessarily Goth (in fact, most are not) but plenty of girls and boys in the scene have enjoyed sliding into the sexy second skin that latex outfits provide. Especially since specialty designers have created such imaginative latex clothing, from simple
CORSET
s and catsuits to extreme bondage apparatus, often with vampy or militaristic flair. And if that’s too expensive: there are always
GASMASKS
.
See:
Demask
,
Skin Two

LEE, CHRISTOPHER
British actor (b. May 27, 1922), an icon of
HAMMER HORROR
and the world’s second most iconic
DRACULA
, and the first to bear
FANGS
on-screen. Also, since being knighted by the Queen in 2009, it’s
Sir
Christopher Lee. Since he’s had his issues being typecast as a
VAMPIRE
, let us also mention his most excellent work as the Mummy,
FRANKENSTEIN
’s Monster, Fu Manchu and the wizard Saruman in
Lord of the Rings
, amongst his 200-plus roles. He even has a musical career, narrating tracks for Italian symphonic metal band Rhapsody of Fire and releasing his own album,
Charlemagne
. But truly, the tall, dark, handsome Lee will forever be known as the Count.

LEEDS
City in north of
ENGLAND
(pop. 770,800), alleged Cradle of Goth Civilization. While London had its
BATCAVE
and the
POST-PUNK
delights of
BAUHAUS
and the like, it was Leeds that birthed
THE SISTERS OF MERCY
. One unlikely rumour has it the origins of the term “Goth” comes from the fact that the Sisters “invaded” the British music scene from the North, much as the original barbarian Goths did to the Roman Empire in the fourth century. Most think it’s enough just to be their hometown. Today, the Leeds Gothic Society maintains a presence.
See also:
Phono

LENORE
See:
Dirge, Roman

LEPZIG FESTIVAL
See:
Wave-Gotik-Treffen

LESTAT
Fictional character in
ANNE RICE
’s Vampire Chronicles; full name Lestat de Lioncourt. Star of several novels, in particular
Vampire Lestat
, which details his mortal existence as a French nobleman who is turned into a
VAMPIRE
in Paris, then orphaned, precipitating a spiral of sexual misadventures and “fathering” of several fledgling vamps of his own, including series co-star
LOUIS
— standard undead rock star behaviour. Inspiration for a Broadway musical by Elton John and Bernie Taupin. Played by Tom Cruise in the 1994 feature film.
See also:
Interview with the Vampire

LIFTS
Footwear sole, commonly made from foam, which gives boots a platform height without raising the heel. A five-inch lift is
GOTH AS FUCK
.

LIMELIGHT
New York City nightclub and concert venue operating from 1983 to 2007, part of a chain run by club kingpin Peter Gatien. For once, Goths got to play in a big budget building: a renovated Gothic church boasting spiral stairs, dark and secret passageways, a dungeon crypt, a
H.R. GIGER
–designed room, balconies for the voyeurs and a Goth-friendly booking policy that brought live performances by the likes of
MARILYN MANSON
, KMFDM and
LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT
and the longstanding weekly DJ party Communion. In North America’s Goth heyday of the 1990s, a mecca of sorts for those looking to see and be seen. Today, houses a boutique shopping mall.
See also:
Slimelight

LIP SERVICE
American clothing company founded in Los Angeles by Drew Bernstein in 1984, now the world’s most successful brand devoted to Goth/
INDUSTRIAL
fashion, and certainly the most rock ’n’ roll. From out of the Sunset Strip punk and glam scene, Bernstein created streetwear before it was ever a term, starting with black tights silk-screened with a skull and dagger print, now a Lip Service signature. Vinyl motorcycle jackets and skin tight “Stretch F***ing Jeans” followed, as did boutiques in Hollywood. Today, thrives as a wholesaler and web retailer of limited-edition mass-produced designs catering to all
FREAK
s from Fetish to Cyber with a line called Black List that is
GOTHER THAN THOU
. Long live Lippy!

LIVING DEAD DOLLS
Collectible horror-themed dolls created by Ed Long and Damien Glonek in 1998 and sold in limited-edition series by Mezco Toyz. Merchandised in
COFFIN
-shaped boxes and accompanied by a death certificate, they’ve become the most popular of all spooky toys for Goth grown-ups, who are drawn to the dolls based on untraditional themes like the Seven Deadly Sins, classic
HALLOWEEN
costumes or slasher movie stars.

LOLITA
See:
Gothic Lolita

LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT
American
GOTHIC ROCK
band formed in Los Angeles in 1990 by vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Sean Brennan. A leader in the underground West Coast Goth revival of the early 1990s, never quite broke into mainstream but remains popular in Europe. Brennan is an opinionated rabble-rouser type, not shy to reject the G-word and fight the misconception that LAM is a “
VAMPIRE
” band, despite being named for a classic vampire film and once appearing on
The Montel Williams Show
about Gothic rock. Still, for legions of second generation Goths, Brendan is their
ANDREW ELDRICH
— for better and worse. Latest release is 2007’s
Violent Acts of Beauty
.

LORD, STÉPHANE
Canadian photographer specializing in portraits of Goth Girls staring off wistfully, with a particular penchant for the
FAIRIEGOTHS
. His work appears on the cover of
MICK MERCER
’s book
21st Century Goth
.

LOST BOYS, THE
VAMPIRE
comedy-horror film, directed by Joel Schumacher and released in 1987, in which two brothers move to Santa Clara, California, and are confronted with a local gang of teenage vamps. The film’s tag line was “Sleep all Day. Party all night. Never grow old. Never die. It’s fun to be a vampire.” It had motorcycles, taxidermy, comic book geeks and a rockin’ soundtrack (theme song “Cry Little Sister” remains Goth club staple). And it made vampires cool in a way that precipitated an entire generation of stylish, bad-ass
NOSFERATU
young audiences could sympathize with, fantasize about. Dubious ’80s fashion styling aside, icons of Goth cinema.

LOUIS
Fictional character in
ANNE RICE
’s Vampire Chronicles; full name Louis de Pointe du Lac. The titular protagonist of
INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE
, which describes his life as a French plantation farmer in New Orleans until he’s turned into a
VAMPIRE
by
LESTAT
during a bout of suicidal despair. Louis, the sensitive one, the tortured one, the original
ROMANTIGOTH
, appears in several other Rice novels including
THE QUEEN OF THE DAMNED
and
The Tale of the Body Thief
. Played by Brad Pitt in the 1994 film.

LOVE AND ROCKETS
British post-
POST-PUNK
group formed by ex-
BAUHAUS
members
DANIEL ASH
(vocals, guitar),
DAVID J.
(bass, vocals) and
KEVIN HASKINS
(drums) in 1985. Debut album
Seventh Dream of Teenage Heaven
featured the glorious break-up ballad of doom “Haunted When the Minutes Drag,” but L&R are the least Goth and most musical inventive — and subsequently most commercially successful — of all the Bauhaus-related projects. What with their introductory hit single being a Motown cover (“Ball of Confusion”), and their biggest hit single being a glamtastic T. Rex–style number (“So Alive”), not to mention their humourous alter egos, The Bubblemen, and their evolution into a trippy electronic act in the mid 1990s. Still, very much adored, because Goths need to smile and rock out too. Sadly, despite some one-off reunion shows, seems to be defunct.

LOVECRAFT, H.P.
American writer of supernatural horror, sci-fi and fantasy fiction (1890–1937) revered as a spiritual godfather of modern horror for weird tales that redrew the cosmos as one full of nightmares. Inspired by
POE
yet wholly original, Lovecraft created the terrifying Cthulhu Mythos and the
Necronomicon
GRIMOIRE
, which continue to influence to this day. Gothic literature, to be sure, but also in his embrace of the esoteric, the archaic, the dark side, a proto-Goth. He even died before he got famous. Tragic. Buried in Swan Point Cemetery, Providence, Rhode Island.

LUGOSI, BELA
Hungarian actor (né Béla Ferenc Dezso Blaskó, 1882–1956), synonymous with fictional Count
DRACULA
. After playing
BRAM STOKER
’s infamous
VAMPIRE
on Broadway, was cast as titular villain in Universal’s classic 1931 horror picture, directed by Tod Browning. Lugosi’s performance — the satin-lined
CLOAK
, the aristocratic accent — established a new iconography for Dracula: monstrous
NOSFERATU
turned seductive nobleman. He did plenty more between then and his death of a heart attack at age seventy-three, but he will forever be known as the leading man vamp, as immortalized decades later in
BAUHAUS
’s masterpiece of
GOTHIC ROCK
, “
BELA LUGOSI’S DEAD
.” He was buried, wearing one of his Dracula cloaks, at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.