It’s all in ghoulish fun

Los ANGELES has always had an appetite for destruction, manifested in recent years in a thriving underground of gothic and darkwave dance club subcultures. In Ghoul Skool, death rock’s found a permanent crypt at a somewhat unlikely location: the Spike on Santa Monica Boulevard. Each Wednesday, the music’s hard-core devotees turn out to dance to the tunes that inspired them to shave their heads and pierce their souls in the first place.

It took a guy from Jersey to find potential in Spike, and it didn’t hurt that he also had a wicked imagination. With a little change of dress code, promoter Mark Splatter transforms the old bar into a haunting dance club where death becomes you.

The low-key bar, a stinky nightspot with few redeeming qualities, is just the right hellhole for Splatter to create his scene. At Ghoul Skool, pumpkins flicker year-round and cobwebs swing from disco balls. Everyone comes dressed in ghoulish costumes, which, for some, is their everyday streetwear: bondage pants, combat boots and skull tees.

You’re greeted at the door by a postmodern primitive girl with more piercings than the moon has rocks. The cross-dressing bartender’s brewing up Virgin Prunes (Jagermeister and Dr. Pepper), Strawberry Switchblades (strawberry vodka) and Black Plagues (Kamakazis made with black vodka).

Although it all may sound spooky, Ghoul Skool’s done in the spirit of fun. Like the music, which demystifies, celebrates and pokes fun at the taboo subject of death, the fans play out Halloween fantasies.

“I grew up watching horror movies and writing scary stories, and when I found out there was music out there that mirrored the horror movies, I was hooked,” says Splatter, a graphic artist and Web master. “It doesn’t necessarily need to be depressing. It’s more about having fun. It’s all done tongue-in-cheek.”

With Splatter and guests DJing, Ghoul Skool is really a place to let loose on the dance floor. As white-faced skeletons shadow-dance beside you, you get schooled in classic death-rock music. Among the artists spun each week are Christian Death, 45 Grave, the Cure, the Cramps, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and Bauhaus. Not content to be predictable, Ghoul Skool mixes things up with fast and furious rock and punk by the Buzzcocks, the Dead Boys, the Damned, T.S.O.L., Devo and the Ramones. Even if you’re only out to observe, it’s pretty darn cool to watch the dancers get into it.

For some, death rock is a way of life, a permanent rebellion often brought on by religious upbringings. To really understand death rock, take a glimpse at Marilyn Manson’s book “The Long Hard Road Out of Hell.” His intense allergic reaction to his Christian upbringing results in his reincarnation as Lord Manson. The book reads like a sort of how-to guide for creating a death rocker.

At Ghoul Skool, you’ll find death rockers from all walks of life -- from those who revel in rebellion to those who just wanna play dress-up and let out a howl or two. Just say, “Boo.”

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Ghoul Skool

Where: Spike, 7746 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood. 21 and older.

When: Wednesdays

Cost: $5 cover. Free before 10:30 p.m.

Contact: (323) 656-9343