A book by Ben Scott · Book 1
GanglandRave Wars
The power struggle between police, gangsters and doormen as 90s acid house exploded on to the Manchester scene
The book
Who held the door held the dancefloor.
When acid house hit Manchester, the club door became the most valuable square yard in the city. Whoever stood on it decided who got in, who got hurt, and who sold the pills inside. The fight for it ran from a pump-action shotgun outside the Thunderdome in 1989 to Mr Big’s last night out.
Gangland Rave Wars follows that fight through the Haçienda, Konspiracy, Parliament and Liberty’s, through the Salford and Cheetham Hill firms, the doormen who stood between them and the police who were always a step behind. It goes back to the pills themselves, from a German chemical works to a cellar under an Amsterdam flower shop, and out to the clubs of Bolton, Wigan, Stockport and Rochdale, where the same war was fought on a smaller stage.
It is a book about the men who ran the doors and the ones who never came home, and about a city that came to be called Gunchester.
This is the true story of Manchester’s club wars, 1988 to 2000.
Questions
Is Gangland Rave Wars a true story?
Yes. Gangland Rave Wars is a true crime history of Manchester’s club wars from 1988 to 2000, built from court reports, newspaper archives, memoirs and the people who were there.
When is Gangland Rave Wars published?
November 2026, on Kindle and in paperback. Leave your email on this page and we will tell you the day it is out.
Who wrote Gangland Rave Wars?
Ben Scott, the author of The Toe Cutters and the narrator of the Enquirer 2.0 true crime channel. It is published by Enquirer Media Publishing.
What does the book cover?
The fight for Manchester’s club doors after acid house: the Thunderdome, the Haçienda, Konspiracy, Parliament and Liberty’s, the Salford and Cheetham Hill gangs, the doormen, the ecstasy supply from Europe, the police response, and the same war in Bolton, Wigan, Stockport and Rochdale.
Is there a film to go with it?
Yes. GRAEME, our documentary on Graeme Boardman, Manchester’s most dangerous doorman, is streaming on Gangland & True Crime Docs.
The author
Ben Scott
Ben Scott is an entrepreneur, researcher, writer, film-maker and publisher from Stoke-on-Trent. He narrates Enquirer 2.0, a true crime channel with more than 150,000 followers across YouTube, Facebook and TikTok, and founded Gangland True Crime Docs, his own streaming platform. His first book, The Toe Cutters, came out in October 2026.
Out in November
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