The Gunslingers Grave: A Blood Moon Rises! Werewolves in the Old West!

For the past 2 years at Knott's Scary Farm there's been a Western maze called Gunslingers Grave that mildly dabbled in the Weird West. You followed in the footsteps of a Gunslinger as he took revenge against an Outlaw Gang that killed his wife and (I think) burned down his home. Basically, they were bad people and took everything from him so he returned the favor.


As you followed his trail, he left a bloody swath of corpses across the town; encountering body after bloody, tortured body along the way. You came across corpses that had been savagely whipped, or were breathing their last, gasping as they hung from the rafters. There was a bartender with half his head shot off. All of it definitely WEST, but not quite WEIRD. Have a look:

Well this year, all that is about to change!

From the Official synopsis:

"A Blood Moon Rises" continues the story of The Gunslinger. The Red hand gang has disturbed a burial ground that contained a SkinWalker relic, that has transformed them into Werewolves under the Blood Moon Curse. Return to the Old West and walk in the bloody footsteps of a betrayed and left for dead gunslinger on his path to retribution. This journey back in time takes guests on a trail of terror through abandoned gold mines, a treacherous corral, a seedy saloon and a final showdown at town hall.

NEW FOR 2015
Bloodthirsty werewolves have overrun the crime stricken town
Explore the Skinwalkers' Lair"

Sounds fantastic! Here's the trailer they just released:

I'm sure more info will be published as Halloween approaches, so stay tuned!

io9's Rant about why Hollywood sucks at Making Weird Westerns.

Cyriaque Lamar, of io9.com, wrote a rant around the time Jonah Hex came out about why Hollywood sucks at making Weird Westerns. I agree in many ways, although I DO tend to like the spectacle of the Giant walking steam powered Spiders Hollywood seems to fall back on. If the story had been stronger I'm not sure it would have been as much of an issue. I've always felt that the Will Smith Wild Wild West was like a Big Brass Knob, gorgeous and shiny on the outside, but utterly hollow on the inside. That seems to be the only reason Hollywood even makes Weird Westerns, so they can be big tent pole summer movies. No one is interesting in doing a High Plains Drifter anymore.

At one time Werewolves in the Lone Ranger movie would have sounded COOL! However, Ive been burned with cliched writing and lazy filming so often now that I feel like I know how that whole thing would have played out. I just wish, if they were going to spend the time to do it, that Hollywood would make their Weird Westerns have a good story and not rest the whole of the film on the visuals; clearly they don't respect the genre. They are making the Weird Western look really bad.

Lansdale wrote a script for a Dead in the West movie that I wish they'd dig up and make, or hell, have him adapt Two Gun Mojo and make an excellent Jonah Hex movie, the character deserves it!

Anyway, You can read the Article HERE and Id love to hear your thoughts on it. We should get a bit of a dialogue going about this, because I'd love to know where everyone stands on this issue.

Cancelled Deadlands video game!

Here's a tech demo for a cancelled Deadlands game they were going to make for the PS2! It looks cool, except for the overly long, weirdly difficult hoard fight right at the start. Regardless, if they dusted this off and tried a new version, I'd totally play it. I like the design of the main character and, lets face it, there are WAY too few Weird West video games out there right now!

The Weird West Emporium is Now open on Facebook!

Howdy folks, its been a long time i know. Life gets in the way sometimes and that's whats been happening recently. New Job, plus little personal time has caused me to neglect the Emporium, but fear not, the Emporium isn't dead...even when it feels like it sometimes.

in fact, we just opened a new location!

I haven't had the time (or gumption) to sit down and write articles lately, So instead Ive opened up a brand new second location, right on Facebook! Things are just gearing up so there isn't a lot just yet, but rest assured that things will pick up as the days roll by.

There will probably be less articles, and more pictures, Links, and videos for your viewing enjoyment....and the Main Location isn't going anywhere, it's just taking a bit of a hiatus (until i can fix my computer keyboard.....ergh, Long story)

But come on by and stay a spell, maybe there will be something there to keep you interested. Hope to see you guys soon!

http://www.facebook.com/WeirdWestEmporium

First Picture from The Lone Ranger!

They've released the first image from Gore Verbinski's take on the Lone Ranger! At first I was a little disappointed by how normal the Ranger looked, but they are clearly trying to ground the character by not putting him into a "Costume". I can live with that, as the Pulps have shown us, you don't need to dress up in a fancy costume to make an impression, plenty can be done with a suit, a tie, and a mask. However in this case I almost feel like the Ranger should be a LITTLE more dressed down, not so formal. If he lost the coat and had gloves he'd look a LOT better. Like Robert Vaughn in The Magnificent Seven or Johnny Depp as the Blind Gunman in Once Upon a Time in Mexico....except with a Mask. Ill wait to make a judgement call however, there are some visually cool stuff that can be done with a coat.

Depp looks great as Tonto, except for the bird, a lot of people have been critical of the bird. To me, by putting the bird on top of his head it feels like they went one step too far. He looked great and then they said what ELSE can we do with him. Right now he looks like an over-stuffed version of Captain Jack that doesn't completely work. He looks too formal now, like he's going off to do a rain dance or a War dance, or maybe that's war paint...but both him and the Ranger look a little too formal to be riding across the desert righting wrongs.

This is just one picture however, Ive been wrong before. How they look, and how their look is used in the film can be two very different things, so reserving judgement is probably good thing for now.

This is picture is actually about a week old, but Ive been having 'puter problems and can't log onto Blogger. Its giving me trouble with anything related to Google....Hmm, very strange....but I'm reformatting this week so I should be right as rain soon.

Anyway, As more Lone Ranger pics and info start popping up I'll post them here. There really hasn't been enough to judge how the film will be yet, so as new stuff is released it should be very telling.

New Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter Trailer!

Wonder Con was this week and at the Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter panel they showed a clip and the new Trailer for the film! Unfortunately, the clip hasn't made its way online, but the trailer HAS, and its even better than the Teaser that was released last month.

I have to say, for a film to make a simple axe as interesting as this one has is quite a feat. Not only does Lincoln wield it in a completely organic way (Like he's a super hero or something) but the axe itself has more to it than is evident at first. I won't spoil anything, you'll have to watch the trailer, but its very cool. I REALLY hope this film is good.

Also, if you are interested, a short synopsis of the Wonder Con panel can be found HERE.

Ill post more Abe Lincoln stuff as its released!

The Long and Sordid Tale of the Lone Ranger Film.

As many of you know, there has been a Lone Ranger film in the works starring Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer as John Reid (aka The Lone Ranger). After Cowboys and Aliens didn't do as well as hoped at the box office, They cut back the budget significantly. There was actually a point when it wasn't even assured the film would be made but its back! Originally there was going to be Werewolves and supernatural elements that the Lone Ranger and Tonto would go up against.

The budget was supposed to be around 260 Million and they cut back the CGI which may mean that they cut out the supernatural elements. I hope this isn't true, with Bruckheimer, Gore Verbinski, and Johnny Depp involved this could be next years new Pirates of the Caribbean in the West and an interesting take on the Lone Ranger.

This episode of Beyond the Trailer can tell you, better than I can, about the current development of the Lone Ranger movie and what we can expect from it:



The Lone Ranger is no Stranger to the Weird West, his forays into it, however, have usually been in comics and animated TV Shows. Joe Lansdale and Tim Truman did a Lone Ranger for TOPPS Comics that was FULL of Weird West goodness and then, of course, there was THIS which populated the Steampunk region of the Weird West. I love the old Filmation cartoons, although they weren't the best that animation had to offer.

Ill keep you informed on any new developments!

Also, I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful 2012. I'm sorry the Emporium has been so quiet lately. I'll admit, Ive been getting a little burned out and needed to recharge my battery. I might still need too, but the Emporium isn't going anywhere. I might not be ready for weekly updates just yet, but I'm not going anywhere.

See you soon!