Fashion Terms — the Apparel Search fashion terminology directory
Horror punk and deathrock fashions are similar to goth fashion, and black is the predominant shade. Both incorporate items such as fishnet stockings, corsets and elaborate make-up for men and women, and the use of occult and horror imagery is prevalent on T-shirts, buttons, patches and jewellery. Band names are painted on jackets or bleached into clothes, buttons and patches may indicate cities, and the initials D and R — for Death Rock — sometimes appear in a crossbone logo alongside initials such as C and A for California, N and Y for New York or G and R for Germany. Hair may be worn in a deathhawk, an angled bangs style or a devilock.
Horror punk and deathrock fashions are similar to goth fashion. Black is the predominant shade. Deathrock and horror punk incorporate "sexy" items such as fishnet stockings, corsets and elaborate make-up for men and women. The use of occult and horror imagery is prevalent on T-shirts, buttons, patches and jewellery. Other common adornments include band names painted on jackets or bleached into clothes, as well as buttons or patches indicating cities. The initials D and R (for Death Rock) is sometimes part of a crossbone logo, accompanied by other initials, such as C and A for California, N and Y for New York, or G and R for Germany. Hair may be in a deathhawk style (a wider teased-out variant of the mohawk hairstyle), an angled bangs style, or a devilock style.
Horror punk (sometimes called horror rock) is a music genre that mixes Gothic and punk rock sounds with morbid or violent imagery and lyrics, which are often influenced by horror films or science fiction B-movies. The genre is similar to and sometimes overlaps with deathrock, although deathrock leans more towards an atmospheric Gothic rock sound while horror punk leans towards a 1950s-influenced doo-wop and rockabilly sound. Horrorpunk music is typically more aggressive and melodic than deathrock.
The Misfits are recognized as the progenitors of horror punk, releasing a series of singles and EPs beginning in 1977 before releasing their first full-length album Walk Among Us in 1982.
Deathrock is a subgenre of punk rock incorporating horror elements and spooky atmospherics, that emerged on the West Coast of the United States in the early 1980s. Deathrock songs use simple chords, echoing guitars and prominent bass. Drumming emphasizes repetitive, post-punk beats within a 4/4 time signature. To create atmosphere, scratchy guitars are sometimes used. Lyrics can vary, but are typically introspective and surreal, and deal with the dark themes of isolation, gloom, disillusionment, loss, life, death, etc.
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In most punk styles the band shirt carries the imagery. Horror punk and deathrock widen the canvas: occult and horror imagery runs across T-shirts, buttons, patches and jewellery at once, and jackets become hand-worked surfaces with band names painted on or bleached into the cloth. The city initials set into the D.R. crossbone logo work like a scene map — a wearer can announce not just a genre but a hometown chapter of it, in two letters.
Deathrock emerged on the West Coast of the United States in the early 1980s as a subgenre of punk rock incorporating horror elements and spooky atmospherics. Its songs use simple chords, echoing guitars and prominent bass, with drumming that emphasizes repetitive post-punk beats in 4/4 and scratchy guitars used to create atmosphere. Lyrics are typically introspective and surreal, dealing with isolation, gloom, disillusionment, loss, life and death. The fashion matches that register: where horror punk dresses like a B-movie poster, deathrock dresses like the film's mood — black, layered, and theatrical at the edges.
The genres overlap, but deathrock leans toward an atmospheric Gothic rock sound while horror punk leans toward a 1950s-influenced doo-wop and rockabilly sound. Horror punk music is typically more aggressive and melodic than deathrock.
The Misfits, who released a series of singles and EPs beginning in 1977 before their first full-length album, Walk Among Us, in 1982. They are recognized as the progenitors of the genre.
The deathhawk — a wider, teased-out variant of the mohawk — an angled bangs style, and the devilock.