Mall goths (also known as spooky kids) are a subculture that began in the late-1990s in the United States. Originating as a pejorative to describe people who dressed goth for the fashion rather than culture, it eventually developed its own culture centred around nu metal, industrial metal, emo and the Hot Topic store chain. It has variously been described as a part of the goth subculture or as a separate subculture simply influenced by goth.
Marilyn Manson and Amy Lee (co-founder of the rock band Evanescence) were influential upon the culture’s development. According to writer Angelina Zaphyria on the website Adolescent, it began as a fusion of the cultures of the existing goth, third wave emo and nu metal movements, however according to Fashion writer Isabel Slone, it ‘combined the hallmarks of punk, goth and metal subcultures.’
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