Once upon a time, twisted black-clad deviants existed in relative isolation, without support or even contact with kindred spirits. Even the relative protection of rare smoke-choked nightspots where scattered cliques could meet, hardly provided any opportunity for any meeting of minds or the development of unique subcultures— and New York City was no exception. The rise of the Internet changed everything.

The arrival of the NYCgoth-L email forum in June 1995 was originally just a way for people to continue their nocturnal banter throughout the workweek. The dedication, wit, and energy of the gothlist community brought forth picnics, field trips, bands, club nights run by listfolk— and most importantly, countless friendships. Today the interchange about the scene and everything related to it goes on twenty-four hours a day, on the NYC gothlist.

The invasion of Gothic and Industrial People into the online world has been quite revolutionary. New elements to these subcultures have originated online and have since spilled over to the offline world. "Net.goths" are largely responsible for the immense growth of the scene over the last few years. For untold numbers of people, their earliest exposures to these subcultures were in Internet forums, of which the NYC gothlist is one of most notable.

NYCgoth-L today covers the Gothic, Industrial and Vampyre scenes equally despite its abbreviated name. It serves both as a place where nightlife happenings are announced, as well as a place where the aesthetic and society of NYC can be discussed and developed. And most importantly, it is a place to meet people, discover, and evolve.