Gothique [Paperback]

Kyle Marffin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2000

Step into the dark side of the darkwave. Join the children of the night--desperately hoping, dreaming, wishing for it all to be true, to become real: their songs, their books, their films, their role-playing games and all their fashionable flirtations and imagined supernatural power and dark romance. Oh please, be real... A city anxiously embraces the grand opening of Gothique. 'Nightclub Extraordinaire', mecca for the disaffected goth kids and decadent scene-makers. But a dark secret lurks behind Gothique's doors, where the evil is all too real, where a nightmare of bloodshed and something far worse than death is unleashed, where hopeless screams of despair are muffled by the relentless darkwave dance beat. Welcome to Gothique. You'll just die.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Kyle Marffin is a midwestern writer whose 1998 debut novel "Carmilla: The Return" was nominated for the International Horror Guild Award For First Novel.

Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Design Image Group Inc. (February 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1891946064
• ISBN-13: 978-1891946066
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,917,255 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars If Only It Were True..., March 4, 2001

By 

Marc Ruby™ "The Noh Hare™" (Warren, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

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This review is from: Gothique (Paperback)

Gothique, set in Chicago, starts out as what seems to be a tale of an advertising campaign gone mad. First, the managing editor of Charade Magazine is force to undress and jump from the roof of the Hancock Building. Then, the magazine is refocused on the Chicago `goth' scene, in particular on the coming opening of a new entertainment center / nightclub `Gothique.' Employees start to disappear as the campaign intensifies and Gothique nears opening.

Jeff Stancheck, Charade's art director, distracted by the recent arrival of his daughter Jacks, is caught up in the crazy quilt of events. He gradually realizes that something is seriously wrong. But it takes the involvement of a young designer and her vampirized roommate, the menacing of retired war (WW II) veteran and his dog Sox, as well as a threat to his own daughter before Stancheck realizes that Gothique is intended to be the cover and food source for a nest of vampires. What ensues is an epic struggle to end the threat of Gothique and drive the vampires from the city.

Each of the protagonists of the story, Stancheck, his daughter, Frank Hoelevich the veteran, the designer Colleen, and others has a personal stake (pardon me) in the battle with Marek, the master of Gothique's minions. If you enjoy vampire stories, it is almost impossible not to become involved in Gothique, even if you like to root for the vampires.

The vampires of Gothique are the traditional, really evil kind. They don't simply like human blood; they like to cause maximum suffering in the taking. They like to play with their food. Much of their play is sexual. Expect a lot of S/M and bondage overtones, these guys are not nice.

Kyle Marffin spends a great deal of time illuminating the `goth' social subculture. He is often brutally honest, focussed on their fascination with appearances, role playing games and various drugs and escapes from the humdrum daylight world. In it's way, this novel is the answer to the goth's dream `If only it were true..." Marffin depicts them as somewhat self-deluded romantics and sexual rebels. Of course, the nightclub is designed to attract and trap exactly these people. Marffin's depiction is so graphic that he is motivated to put in an apologetic author's note, finally acknowledging that the goth's, despite their flaws are very much the true beatniks of the end of the 20th century.

While the vampire café has been used before (in Laurell Hamilton's "Circus of the Damned"), Marffin does a good job taking the concept to it's logical extreme as a plot device. The author's storytelling and writing skills are often excellent. There is some unevenness in the dialog, but this is made up for by fine atmospheric narrative. Gothique will be a contender in this year's `best vampire story' race.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Creepy Read, March 30, 2000

By 

S. Rodger (Miami, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gothique (Paperback)

As a fan of vampire books, I found this one quite enjoyable. The author knows his vampire legends and uses them to help describe how these vampires live around a nightclub based on the Gothic culture. The author does a good job of showing the Gothic community as just normal kids who enjoy dressing up and are not going around shooting guns in high schools. Some parts get kinda creepy so you might want to keep a light on after you finish. Would reccomend to any vampire fan.

11 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A VAMPYRE NOVEL FOR THE NEW MILLENNIUM!, June 26, 2000

By 

Sebastian Dante Giovanni - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gothique (Paperback)

I couldn't put this book down! I'd like to say it's right up there with King's 'SALEM'S LOT and Skipp & Spector's THE LIGHT AT THE END, but I can't, cause it's 100% BETTER! The characters are believable, the plotlines twist and blend together as if Marffin is writing his 20th novel, not his second! This has definitely inspired me to check out CARMILLA: THE RETURN. Just when you think "vampyre novels" are a dime a dozen, GOTHIQUE comes along and proves itself to be gold!