''Disco Bloodbath: A Fabulous but True Tale of Murder in Clubland'' is a 1999 memoir written by James St. James about his life as a

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

celebutante ''Famous for being famous'' is a paradoxical term, often used pejoratively, for someone who attains celebrity status for no clearly identifiable reason—as opposed to fame based on achievement, skill, or talent—and appears to generate their ...

and

Club Kid The Club Kids were a New York City-based artistic and fashion-conscious youth movement composed of nightlife personalities active from the late 1980s to 1996. Coined by a 1988 New York (magazine), ''New York'' cover story, the Club Kids crossed o ...

. The book specifically chronicles his friend

Michael Alig Michael Alig (April 29, 1966 – December 24, 2020) was an American club promoter who was convicted of felony manslaughter. He was one of the ringleaders of the Club Kids, a group of young New York City clubgoers who became a cultural phenomen ...

's rise to fame, and Alig and his roommate's subsequent murder of fellow club kid and drug dealer Andre "Angel" Melendez. St. James was Alig's mentor, rival, and collaborator in the Manhattan party scene and was familiar with many of its key figures. The memoir was later retitled ''Party Monster'' after the 2003 motion picture of that name starring

Macaulay Culkin Macaulay Macaulay Culkin Culkin (born Macaulay Carson Culkin; ) is an American actor and musician. Considered one of the most successful child actors of the 1990s, Culkin has received a Golden Globe Award nomination and other accolades. In 200 ...

Seth Green Seth Benjamin Green ( ''né'' Gesshel-Green; born February 8, 1974) is an American actor. His film debut was '' The Hotel New Hampshire'' (1984), and he went on to have supporting roles in comedy films in the 1980s, including '' Radio Days'' ( ...

Chloë Sevigny Chloë Stevens Sevigny ( ; born November 18, 1974) is an American actress. Known for her work in independent films with controversial or experimental themes, her accolades include a Golden Globe Award, in addition to a nomination for an Acade ...

, and

Marilyn Manson Brian Hugh Warner (born January 5, 1969), known professionally as Marilyn Manson, is an American rock musician. He is the lead singer and the only original member remaining of the Marilyn Manson (band), same-titled band he founded in 1989. Th ...

. ''Disco Bloodbath'' has since gone out of print and often goes for several hundred dollars in auctions. It was only printed three times: in 1999, twice in paperback with different colored jackets, and once in hardcover. It was reprinted in 2003 under the title ''Party Monster - The Fabulous but True Tale of Murder in Clubland'' (); paperbacks are widely available.

Characters

Michael Alig

Michael Alig was a founder of the notorious Club Kids, a group of young clubgoers led by Alig in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In 1996, Alig and his roommate, Robert D. "Freeze" Riggs, were convicted of murdering Andre "Angel" Melendez in a confrontation over a delinquent debt.

DJ Keoki

Superstar

DJ Keoki George Lopez (born October 23, 1966), known by his stage name DJ Keoki or Keoki Franconi, is a Salvadoran-American electronic musician and DJ. Born in El Salvador and raised in Hawaii, Keoki began advertising himself as "superstar" shortly after ...

is an

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

DJ who was born in El Salvador but raised in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

. He had no experience as a DJ when he was branded "Superstar DJ Keoki". It was infamous partykid (later, murderer) Michael Alig who helped in the early promotion of his then boyfriend DJ Keoki.

James St. James

James St. James (born James Clark) was a Club Kid of the Manhattan nightclub scene in the late 1980s/early 1990s, Alig's mentor, and the author of the book. He was notorious for a lifestyle of excess that included heavy drug use, partying, and bizarre costumes. St. James continues to work with World of Wonder, the production company that produced the films '' Party Monster: The Shockumentary'' (1998) and '' Party Monster'' (2003), both based on St. James' memoirs, ''Disco Bloodbath: A Fabulous but True Tale of Murder in Clubland''.

Andre Melendez

Andre Melendez, better known as Angel Melendez, was a Club Kid and purported

drug dealer A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalation, injection, smoking, ingestio ...

who lived and worked in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Melendez and his family arrived in New York from Colombia when Melendez was 8 years old. Melendez became a drug dealer during the early 1990s after meeting

Peter Gatien Peter Gatien (born August 8, 1952) is a Canadian club owner and party promoter. He is best known as the former owner of several prominent New York City nightclubs, including Club USA, The Limelight, Palladium, and Tunnel. Life and career Gatien w ...

, owner of

The Limelight The Limelight was a chain of nightclubs owned and operated by Peter Gatien. It had locations in New York City, Chicago, Atlanta, London and Hallandale, Florida. History Florida and Atlanta locations Peter Gatien opened the first Limelight n ...

and several other prominent nightclubs in New York City, and became a regular dealer in Gatien's clubs. He was frequently seen at Manhattan clubs wearing his trademark feathered wings.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Disco Bloodbath 1999 non-fiction books 1990s LGBTQ literature American autobiographies Autobiographies adapted into films Club Kids LGBTQ autobiographies Simon & Schuster books