Abstract

This chapter addresses the Gothic as a haunting, disruptive force in contemporary culture. Focusing on post-punk music, I discuss crises related to urban decay in the Britain - particularly the North - of the seventies. With reference to the work of bands such as Joy Division and Throbbing Gristle, I posit a Deleuzian Gothic which, in contrast to the more melancholic evocations of Derridean hauntology, practically enlivens the imagination through the fertilizing power of the virtual.