Cemetery Confessions: A Goth Talk Podcast

Prepare your batholes, the Gothquisition has returned to judge the internet for its sins! Gothic Amino, Tumblr, Goth YouTube, and Killstar all take their turn in our dungeon. The Inquisitors also compete to decide who is the most cliche! Goth Points are earned and lost, pastel goths are tarred and feathered, and gatekeepers are put back on the pedestal. Grab your parasols; the shit is about to hit ye olde fan!

Our Gothquisitioners are as follows: (in order of photo)
Zakkarrii, Master Seamstress
Andi, Royal Scribe
Count, Grand Inquisitioner
Dani, Royal Minstrel
Jez, Supreme Persecutor of Heretics
Mark, Dungeon Master
Joe, Court Jester and Bridge Troll

If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting us on Patreon.
You can subscribe to the show via our podcast app or iTunes.
You can E-mail us at CemeteryConfessions@gmail.com

Introductions

News: 8:40
Real Talk to Elitists

Music Break: 34:17
Goth Kids Song (South Park) Cover

GothQUIZistion 39:30

Ad Break 57:02

News: 1:01:43
Goth is Dead, Long Live Goth

Music Break: 1:22:00
Death in Rome - Barbie Girl

Cemetery Confessions 1:26:00

News: 1:41:45
Those Damn Elitists

Announcements for Next Year

Direct download: Gothquisition_3.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 10:30am CDT

This month we are discussing the good, the bad, and the ugly of aging in goth culture, we are reviewing the new album from Bootblacks, there will be a special guest appearance by Emz from HorrorAddicts.net,,  and we are chatting about goths on YouTube, and the ethics and responsibility that comes along with that.

If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting us on Patreon.
You can subscribe to the show via our podcast app or iTunes.
You can E-mail us at CemeteryConfessions@gmail.com

Our Guests this month are Angela Benedict and Skullgirdle!

Introductions 2:00

News: 9:38
Goth at 30 and beyond: Insight for Baby Bats

Album Review: 58:37
Bootblacks - Fragments

Interview with Emz: 1:07:45
Emz is the head spook at the HorrorAddicts.net website and podcast!
Check out her most recent vampire novel, Dusk's Warriors!

Goth Youtube: 1:40:48
In the age of the world wide web, goths have more opportunities to meet and share their thoughts than ever before. No longer do we have to create and publish our own zines, start a band, or run a goth event to express a sense of cultural identity and community. We are now able to project ourselves, our lives, and our scenes in HD video for the whole world to see and talk about. This has allowed our dark little culture to be opened up to a whole new audience of potential goths who may become seduced by the dark side and help create and participate in the culture, even if they don’t have a local scene. But does this type of access actually encourage goths to stop engaging with their local community? Is the emphasis on visual presentation having an adverse impact on the values and norms of the culture? That and more is what I’d like to explore this month.

Sinister Suggestions: 2:52:17
Necromancy Radio
Necromancy Clothing

Podcasts The Count was interviewed on this month: 2:58:51
We Have a Technical
Sex, Death, and Religion

 

Direct download: Goth_Youtube.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:00am CDT

This month we are doing things a bit differently, and will be reviewing the book Post-Millennial Gothic: Comedy, Romance, and the Rise of Happy Gothic by Catherine Spooner. We will be discussing the impact Tim Burton, sparkly vampires, the creepy cute, Columbine, political discourse, Jillian Venters, and others have had on the cultural milieu of goth and the consumption of the Gothic in mainstream media.

Our guests this month are Natalie and Trae!

More Recommended books from this author:
Contemporary Gothic
Fashioning Gothic Bodies

Chapter 1: 7:00
-Thesis, Introduction, methodology overview
-Goth as a middle class culture of consumption

Chapter 2: 53:15
-Tim Burton and his reshaping of modern Gothic

Chapter3: 57:42
-The increased reliance of the visual in goth
-The politicization of goth through Columbine and Sophie Lancaster

Chapter 4: 1:22:44
Premise 1: In the post millennial era, vampires have sought to become the institution rather than the subversion, to become as human or amiable towards humans as possible rather than be the Other

Premise 2: Goths and vampires have shared a historically propinquitous relationship, often informing or appropriating one another

Conclusion: As vampires have grown more polite and reinforced the “happy gothic” so too have goths sought to remake their image in a similar fashion

Chapter 5: 1:37:37
-The modern goth girl and the "whimsical macabre"

Chapter 6: 1:47:05
-Camp and it's influence on goth and the assimilative monster

Chapter 7: 2:02:06
-Goth/Gothic masculinities and humerus monsters

Chapter 8: 2:19:36
-Whitby Gothic Weekend and the Gothic-carnivalesque

Conclusions 2:30:25

Direct download: Happy_Gothic.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:00am CDT

This month we are discussing what elements create a goth identity and how we define them, we review the new album from A Thousand Hours, and we dive into the world of BDSM and Kink as we explore how those lifestyles and symbols relate to and interact with goth culture.

Our guest is Victor Moregore!

News: 10:32
-Anyone Can be Goth
         -Homology Hypothesis
         -Goth Points

Album Review: 1:01:54
-A Thousand Hours

Philosophy Corner: 1:17:33

Goth has an older history with the S&M community than one might think. In the 80’s these sex shops were a refuge for goths, punks, and alternatives alike, both as a safe space for expression and one of the few options to buy and modify alternative clothing. S&M was also seen in several deathrock and goth micromedia outlets, from music videos by bands like Nervous Gender, to transgressive publications like Propoganda Magazine, to full blown communities like the one centered around psychic TV. Even today, clubs that cater to BDSM clientele often host goth nights, blurring the lines between where goth and explicitly sexually deviant lifestyles start and end. Both BDSM and goth share lifestyle components, and both have seen their sartorial style, mined by pop artists and fashion lines, in an attempt add a darker edge to the mundanity of mainstream aesthetic, as if goth and BDSM were simply spectacular styles to be appropriated for similarly vacuous purposes. So on today’s episode, I’d like to explore those boundaries of style, community, and lifestyle, to see where these two cultures crossover and where they diverge.

Sinister Suggestion:

Vampire Journals

References:
-Aesthetic Sexuality: A Literary History of Sadomasichism
-Goth Culture: Gender, Sexuality, and Style
-Playing it Queer: Popular Music, Identity and Queer-World Making

Outtakes

Direct download: Episode_44.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 1:28pm CDT

Welcome back to Cemetery Confessions! On this month's podcast we are talking about death, cemetery tourism and romanticized morbidity, we are reviewing the new album from Die Selektion, and we are going to cover a gambit of topics relating to identity, club culture, goth youtube, fashion, and music from the perspective of those who came to goth culture in the modern age.

Our guests this month are Lennox, Shelby, and Lilith!

News: 6:39
-Cemetery Tourism isn't Just for "Fat Goths"

Album Review: 33:33
-Deine Stimme Ist Der Ursprung Jeglicher Gewalt - Die Selektion

Philosophy Corner: 56:03

Baby bats are often seen as the lifeblood of the club scene, and are often the metric by which the health of goth culture is measured, and when they aren’t showing up to events the “goth is dead” crowd make their concerns known. As goth ages 40 years on, concern over the livelihood and influx of new members has been a consistent topic of discussion. Elder goths, millennials, the music industry, the internet, club owners, the economy, postmodern youth culture, all have been pointed to as culpable in what some perceive to be the death knell of goth. Are these claims valid, or just extremist and myopic assertions? This month I intend to explore each of these avenues both from the perspective of someone who has been goth for well over a decade, and from the fresh perspective of our guests.

Sinister Suggestions: 2:16:08
-Castlevania

Further Reading:
-Lennox provided some written responses to the questions
-Juvenoia
Statistics on Nightlife Revenue:
-ANA
-Statista
-IBISWorld
-Anything Research

Direct download: Baby_Bats_Reaper.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 7:35pm CDT

Welcome to episode 43 of Cemetery Confessions! This month we are talking about subverting gender norms and the role performative aesthetic plays in goth identity, we are reviewing the new album from Selofan, and we are talking about the trans experience within the context of goth culture.

Our guests this month are patreon member Abigail and Aurora, who is an author and musician.

News: 16:24

Flamboyant Darkness: Female Fronted Goth Bands Subvert Gender Norms

Album Review: 1:13:18

Selofan - Cine Romance

Philosophy Corner: 1:34:14

While the existence of trans people has only recently come into mainstream consciousness in the form of a fight for equal rights, biologists have known for a long time that gender, sexuality, anatomy, and identity are a spectrum both in nature and in homosapiens. Goths too, have a history of subverting heteronormative patriarchal gender norms and expectations, and providing a safe space for those who don’t conform to an essentialist dichotomy. However the debate about whether or not goth culture is, in its current state, truly accepting and progressive, cis-centric and discriminatory,  or whether it even has any power at all to reshape culture into an egalitarian community apart from mainstream patriarchy, still rages today.

Sinister Suggestions: 2:34:05

Goth Discord Channel

Further Reading:
It’s Time for Goth Culture to Embrace the Gender Identities of All Its Members
Caitlyn Jenner and Our Cognitive Dissonance
Transgender Prejudice And The Belief In A Biological Basis For Gender
Science Understands Transgenderism in a Way Religion Fails to

Direct download: Episode_43.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 11:56pm CDT

Welcome to episode 42 of Cemetery Confessions! This month we are going to be chatting about whether or not the so called “subcategories” of goth are valid or useful, we are also talking about the future of horror as part of our crossover with the horroraddicts.net podcast, and finally we will be discussing the future of goth and what xenogoth has to offer.

If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting us on Patreon.
You can subscribe to the show via our podcast app or iTunes.
You can E-mail us at CemeteryConfessions@gmail.com

This month's guest is Sir William Welles of New Goth City, and now xenogoth!

 

 

New Goth City 2:00
We learn a bit about our guest, and his project New Goth City which aims to be a travel guide for goths in or coming to the US.

News: 12:50
Where do we draw the line when trying to label, taxonimize, and identify parts of the culture? Are trad goth or romantigoth simply a fashion choice, or could there be enough substance for those labels to warrant full blown subculture/identity status? How far is too far?
Subcategories of goth: Are They Useful?

Due to time restrictions our discussion focused on the first half of the article, to hear our thoughts on the remaining portion of article, sign up at our patreon page!

Horror Addicts Crossover: 1:11:15
We read and discuss an article about VR, in conjunction with the Next Great Horror Writer Contest over at HorrorAddicts.net

The Future of Goth: 1:31:27
This month it's all about Goth: The Final Frontier. Where have we been and where are we going? We're going to evaluate the dialectical relationship goth has with history, the state of the scene and barriers to entry, generational divides, stagnation, and most saliently, XENOGOTH and what the hell that even is.

Sinister Suggestion: 2:16:35
Gothic: Dark Galmour

Direct download: Episode_42.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 11:43pm CDT

Welcome to episode 41 of Cemetery Confessions! This month we are chatting about growing up goth, the state of the scene, reviewing the new album from new today, we’ve got an interview with the guys from the We Have a Technical Podcast and we are hanging out with Angel from the Band Gild the Mourn. We also have the goth word of the month, sinister suggestions, and more!

If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting us on Patreon.
You can subscribe to the show via our podcast app or iTunes.
You can E-mail us at CemeteryConfessions@gmail.com

This months guest is Angel of Gild the Mourn and Goth Night!

State of the Club Scene 9:45

Goth Word of the Month 21:44

News: 26:10
-Elder Goths: When Growing up Doesn't Mean Abandoning your Youth Culture

Album Review: 1:29:10
Better Than Death - New Today

Interview: 1:51:13
Bruce and Alex from We Have a Technical and I Die You Die stop by to chat about the state of goth and industrial music. cultural evolution, identity construction, podcasting, wrestling, Blutengel, and more!

~Bonus Content~

Direct download: 41_We_Had_a_Technical.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 12:00am CDT

Welcome to episode 40 of Cemetery Confessions! This month we are chatting about the philosophy of goth, reviewing an album from Sixth June, and sitting down for a discussion about the state of the goth scene with William Faith and Scary Lady Sarah.

If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting us on Patreon.
You can subscribe to the show via our podcast app or iTunes.
You can E-mail us at CemeteryConfessions@gmail.com

This month's guest is Dani of the band Chasing Alice!

Goth Word of the Month 6:17

News: 8:15
-Emerald City Gothic Weekend
-Soviet Soviet Deported
-Goths are Drug Addicts

Album Review: 56:43
Virgo Rising - Sixth June

Philosophy Corner: 1:16:53

This month we have a chat with William Faith and Scary Lady Sarah. We talk about their experiences in the 80's, the divide into the 90's, whether the deathrock revival was helpful or harmful, their views on activism and a lot more.

Direct download: Episode_40_Final.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 3:33pm CDT

Welcome to episode 39 of Cemetery Confessions! This month we are discussing the history of Gothic Literature, its connection to goth, and how goth culture has been shaped by The Gothic. We also discuss the history of goth fashion, and the influence mainstream fashion trends have had on goth.  Finally we are reviewing the newest album from Drab Majesty.

If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting us on Patreon.
You can subscribe to the show via our podcast app or iTunes.
You can E-mail us at CemeteryConfessions@gmail.com

Our guests this month are Adrienne and Michelle!

News: 4:25
40 years of goth fashion
    -My 40 years of men's goth style review

Album Review: 46:00
Drab Majesty - The Demonstration

Philosophy Corner: 1:05:54

Much like the characters in Gothic fiction who are oft prone to sticking around or coming back after death, so too Gothic Literature refuses to remain buried and forgotten. Generally agreed to have been conceptualized with The Castle of Otranto, the first wave of Gothic fiction, as it were, was from 1760-1780, and the better known second wave at the end of the 19th century, produced many works with which we remain familiar, including Dracula, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and The Picture of Dorian Grey. Today The Gothic continues to cycle through culture with new twists and new existential terrors with films such as Crimson Peak, books such as Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis, as well as pop culture, music, art, clothing, and of course, the goth subculture.

References:
British Library Collection of Articles
Video on the History of The Gothic
Contemporary Gothic by Catherine Spooner
Gothic to Goth by Lynne Bassett

~Bloopers~

Direct download: Episode_39_1.mp3
Category:Podcast -- posted at: 12:02am CDT