“These people are sheep. They want to be vampires 'cause they're lonely, or miserable, or bored.”

―William Fordham^[src]

The Sunset Club was a nightclub located in Sunnydale where vampire worshipers such as William "Billy Ford" Fordham, Marvin, and Chantarelle gathered. Most of its members had never actually encountered a real vampire and believed them to be gentle, misunderstood beings burdened with immortality, often referring to them as the "Lonely Ones."^[1]

History

In 1997, Willow Rosenberg, Alexander Harris, and Angel visited Sunset Club to investigate. Willow described the decor and theme as "vampires, yay." The club appeared to be struggling financially, which Marvin mentioned to Ford, saying, "The lease is almost up on this place — who is going to cover that?"^[1]

Ford later used the club to set a trap for Buffy Summers, hoping to trade her life to Spike in exchange for being sired. He took advantage of the club's location in a former bomb shelter, which could only be opened from the outside, trapping everyone inside with Spike, Drusilla, and their minions.^[1]

When Spike and his minions arrived, the "true believers" of the Sunset Club were horrified to discover the real nature of vampires as they were attacked. Buffy managed to free the group by threatening to stake Drusilla, forcing Spike to release them.^[1]

The place was presumably destroyed along with the rest of Sunnydale following the battle at the Hellmouth in 2003.^[2]

Visitors

Examples of visitors at the club:^[1]

• Angel
• Mavin a.k.a. Diego
• Drusilla
• William "Billy Ford" Fordham
• Alexander "Xander" Harris
• Willow Rosenberg
• Spike
• Anne "Chantarelle" Steele
• Buffy Summers

Behind the scenes

• The shooting script for "Lie to Me" described the club: "Over the large metal door is a painted sign: no words, just a picture of a setting sun. [...] The Sunset Club is dark, fairly Goth and very lively. It's like a giant underground bunker done up for permanent Halloween. The door opens onto a balcony that rings the top of the large space. There is a bridge of metal grill work that spans the space up here as well, and steps leading down into the main floor, which divides into various lung spaces, dance areas, and small private rooms. There's maybe thirty people here, all corsets and velvet and black lipstick. The music is loud and pulsing."^[3]

Appearances

Canonical

• "Lie to Me"
• "Anne" (Only mentioned)
• "Blood Money" (Only mentioned)
• Freefall, Part Three (Only mentioned)

Other

• The Angel Chronicles, Vol. 1
• Demons of the Hellmouth (Only mentioned)

References

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4} "Lie to Me"
2. ↑ "Chosen"
3. ↑ Joss Whedon et al., The Script Book: Season Two, Volume 2. Simon & Schuster, November 2001.