Pale and pouty party animals are putting the Goth back in Gotham at bars and clubs where the required uniform can be summed up in one word: black.

The origins of the Gothic scene are steeped in dark '80s brooding rock and electronic music.

Nowadays, it's more vaguely defined; a witch's brew of vampire and fetish styles.

Think long black hair, velvet, Victorian-style corsets, leather, latex, and, of course, bondage gear.

But for hard-core Goths, it's much more than playing dress-up.

"It's replaced religion," says Xtine, born Christine Ianuzzi, 32, singer for the band Chroma.

"People participate in the scene as a religious happening. It's an outlet for us to be extraordinary and supernatural."

Which is exactly what the bewitching beauty becomes when she haunts the wickedly popular MI7 party at the East Village's Pyramid Club.

Every Saturday, deejays Isadora, Daskreestof and Sick Robot spin Goth, industrial and darkwave downstairs, while Kreig and Alex Malfunction spin '80s, synth, and new wave above.

Whether you find yourself in "Heaven" (upstairs) or "Hell" (downstairs), the drink prices - $3 for beer, $4 for well drinks - are a godsend.

On Fridays, the place to be for the crimped hair and corset crowd is Master Steelow's Fun House, at Flamingo - an 8-year-old bi-level club. "It's very fashionable, very fantasy, very mixed. Young, old, every race and background. One of my regulars is a 65-year-old man who turns up in a thong every week." (Is this a good thing?)

At DJ Jason's monthly party Absolution, also at Flamingo, there's a strict dress code: Goth gear only or just "head-to-toe black if you're clueless."

That means blue jeans and sneakers garner you a dismissive wave of a velvet-gloved hand.

But ladies up to fashion par get in free before 11 p.m.

"We embody these characters - it's a way of life," explains Goth scene regular Father Vincent, who hawks fangs and colored contacts from his Transformatorium booth at the downtown store Halloween Central.

On Wednesday nights, the ubiquitous Steelow and some friends host a fetish/Goth party called Gomorrah, where DJ Lestat takes over the turntables at Opaline, a large, subterranean lounge and restaurant on Avenue A.

While most events are held in clubs, the Raven - a small bar with a local vibe - is owned by two anonymous Goth-lovers, for a more intimate vampiric venue any night of the week.

Maybe the G in CBGB's Gallery should stand for Goth as the offspring of the famously seedy club hosts Manhattan's longest-running party, Alchemy, on Mondays.

Local Bauhaus-loving Bettie Page-types and their ghoulish guys are anxiously awaiting Halloween for a highly anticipated evening with Chi-Chi Valenti when she emcees Jackie 60, Further and Click + Drag's The Witching Hour, which is being described as a "a spectacular, pansexual tribute to the literature of Anne Rice," complete with a costume contest.

This is the first time Jackie and C+D have gotten together for Halloween since their collaboration at Chi Chi's legendary - and now defunct - Club Mother, which essentially gave birth to today's teeming scene.

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