"Everybody is Their Enemy": Goths, Spooky Kids, and the American School Shooting Panic
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Abstract
One of the earliest details to leak out about Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold following their horrifying shooting spree at Columbine High School was that they were supposedly members of a clique that called itself "The Trench Coat Mafia." This name was readily snapped up by the journalists covering the story, and by the evening following the shootings, numerous news organizations were running pieces about this group in an attempt to shed greater light on the reasons why Harris and Klebold killed thirteen people and themselves. Although the Trench Coat Mafia clique was confined to Columbine High School, journalists quickly pointed out many supposed links between this clique and two larger music fan cultures whose members occasionally wear black trench coats that are found in almost every American high school: goths and Marilyn Manson fans. A wave of anti-goth, anti-Marilyn Manson sentiment immediately followed this over-hasty association, motivated by the overwhelming fear that any member of these black-clad legions could turn out to be the next school shooter.
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