How the West was Weird by Ian Rogers!

The Emporium has a new guest columnist, Ian Rogers! He's the writer of a new Weird Western novella called Deadstock, and he'll be popping in every once in a while to comment on all things Weird Western. Whats his book about? Ill let him explain that himself:

For me, Westerns have always been weird.

As a kid, I never understood why people liked them. I didn't play cowboys and Indians. I never had a cowboy hat or one of those plastic six-shooters that fired caps. I always thought the Lone Ranger was a bit of a wimp, and I figured anyone who couldn't tell who he was behind that dinky little mask must be spending too much time under that hot desert sun. Maybe it's a generational thing. Most of the kids I knew didn't play cowboys and Indians, either. We played Star Wars.

Despite that, there was still a Western influence in my house. There were plenty of Louis L'Amour novels on our bookshelves, and I have memories of my father watching movies on TV starring Clint Eastwood and some guy he called "Duke." I always left the room when they were on.

It wasn't until I was a bit older and I happened to catch High Plains Drifter on late-night TV that I became a fan of Westerns.

In the film, a stranger (played by Clint Eastwood, who also directed the film) is hired by the people of Lago to defend them against a group of outlaws. Typical Western fare, I thought. But as I watched, the film got progressively darker and more unsettling, culminating in the stranger actually painting the town red to convince the outlaws they were riding into hell itself. The finale, with its unexpected touch of the supernatural, won me over completely.

It's no coincidence that it was this film that made me a fan of Westerns at the same time it introduced me to a genre, or sub-genre if you like, that I never even knew existed: the Weird Western.

High Plains Drifter was released in 1973, but it wasn't the first Weird Western. A year earlier, Jonah Hex made his debut in the DC comics series All-Star Western, and back in the 1960s, there was the TV series The Wild Wild West. There was even a spate of cowboys-and-dinosaurs films including The Beast of Hollow Mountain and The Valley of Gwangi. It's clear the Weird Western has been with us for a very long time.

Two of my favourite Weird Western films are Near Dark and From Dusk Till Dawn. These ones in particular proved to me that Weird Westerns can be more than just cowboys & aliens (not to knock that particular film, which looks like it's going to be great), or cowboys & Indian curses, or cowboys & zombies, and so on. Perhaps not coincidentally, Near Dark and From Dusk Till Dawn feature vampires — and not the kind that sparkle — and while both films take place in the present day, they feature bleak, isolated settings that almost make it seem as if they were set in the days of the Wild West.

As for Weird Western books, for my money you can't do any better than Joe R. Lansdale. In addition to writing Jonah Hex comics, Lansdale has written a number of Weird Western tales featuring the monster-hunting Reverend Jebidiah Mercer. All of these stories were recently collected in a must-have book for any Weird Western fan called Deadman's Road. And of course, it goes without saying that if you haven't read Stephen King's seven-volume Dark Tower series, then you're missing out on one the greatest Weird Western epics ever written.

When I first started publishing stories in magazines and anthologies, I thought it might be fun to try my hand at a Western. Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of venues around these days looking for Western fiction. In fact, the one market that ended up buying the one Western I've sold to date (a short story called "Buffalo Money") ended up going out of business before the first issue came out. I ended up selling that story again, to an online magazine, but it became clear to me that if I was going to write any more Westerns in the future, I'd better make them Weird.

It wasn't too hard — at least not for me. Maybe it's because Westerns and horror stories actually have a lot in common. They both deal with the exploration of the unknown — horror by way of humankind's encounters with the supernatural, Westerns through the exploration and settlement of the West. It almost makes sense that these two seemingly disparate genres should come together to create a new type of story.

Stonebunny Press recently published my first foray into the Weird West, a novelette called "Deadstock."

No one knows who or what is killing the cattle at Groom ranch, but Sam Dryden, with his supernatural greenwood gun, and Raisy, with her ‘deck’ of knives, are determined to find out. What they discover is more horrifying than either of them ever dreamed, and the secret may be one that takes them to the grave.

While most writers tend to mix horror with their Westerns, I thought I'd go one step further and throw in some science fiction elements as well. I'm not the first person to do this, but I like to think I added my own special twist to the Weird Western. If readers end up enjoying "Deadstock," I may write some more stories about Dryden and Raisy.

The Weird Western fan base may not be as huge as some of the others out there, but they're strong and loyal and they've been around a long time. Weird Westerns have made it onto best-sellers lists, they've broken box-office records, and with the upcoming release of films like Cowboys & Aliens and the reboot of the TV series The Wild Wild West, it's clear that the Weird Western will always be around.

You can find Deadstock HERE and they have a Facebook page HERE. For more Ian Rogers himself, his Personal Site has everything you need to know!

Merkabah Rider: Tales of a High Planes Drifter Review!

Ashe Armstrong returns with a review of Merkabah Rider: Tales of a High Planes Drifter!

Greetings once again, Emporium readers. It's Ashe and I'm back with another review. A solo read this time around. I bought and promptly devoured Edward Erdelac's Merkabah Rider: Tales of a High Planes Drifter. And since Mark's a busy guy, I offered to once again lend a hand with a review. That being said, shall we?

If you're not already familiar with the book, well, you could scroll down to Mark's Christmas post but I'll save you the trouble. Merkabah Rider is about a Jewish man from a mystic order who can travel the planes of existence. That's all I'll say as far as details of the story goes because, quite honestly, finding out the details of the order and the things that take place as you read them is just plain fun. The book is made up of four stories which each take place in a different locale as our protagonist, The Rider, travels the southwestern portion of the US.

The first story is a right proper hook, believe me (they all are, really though). The Rider wanders into a dirty little town that's showing some rather angry teeth towards anyone of the Jewish persuasion. We find out why. In the adjacent area is a place called “Little Jerusalem.” In this place, children have started to go missing. The Rider aims to find out why.

Now, as I said, this first one is a good hook because it gives you a taste of everything these stories are about. The Rider is established as a driven man with a steel core but very unusual. And without giving too much away, we're very quickly shown just how unusual he really is. I really don't want to show much more because I enjoyed myself so much seeing what was happening in this fantastic setting.

The second story is set in Mexico in a sleepy desert town. As if that weren't western enough, here comes the weird: a voodoo man and a strange sandstorm. The third story of the Rider's travels involves an unstoppable gunman, a Christian preacher and a mountain town. And rounding things out is a fantastic end cap that shows just how human the Rider really is, even in his dealings with demons and greedy bandits. It also sets up perfectly for the sequel, The Mensch With No Name.

Erdelac's writing reminds me of Robert E. Howard's. Quite a compliment, by my standards. It's fluid, it gives good description and the pace when the action picks up keeps you reading. His phrasings are a bit more modern than Howard's, not that that's a bad thing. There's a smattering of Lovecraft in there and in fact, if you're like me and love Howard's and Lovecraft's stories, you will utterly adore this book. Fans of Lovecraft will get as excited as I did, I think. Erdelac's knowledge of Jewish mysticism and mythology is utterly fantastic as well and he weaves in Jewish words wonderfully. They are a bit jarring at first if you're unfamiliar with their pronunciations or meanings but the latter part is remedied with an included glossary in the back.

Mr. Erdelac has done a phenomenal job here and give us all not just a genuinely amazing weird west story, but a great story period. He makes beautiful use of the religious aspects used. The use of mythology and religion reminded me a bit of Mike Mignola's writing for Hellboy too. And I know I've left some of the story details pretty bare here (and I'm aware that you can find a bit more details around the Emporium of the Amazon page) but I wanted to make it clear how fun these stories are. I don't want to ruin any details ahead of time. The surprises are fantastic and you will absolutely be hooked.

My only real complaint about the book is the actual physical book itself. It's a little small in the width so you have to pull it open a little wider sometimes to read the words that are near the spine. It's minor but another six of an inch would've helped this problem. Still, it's an independent company so it's totally understandable. I'm sure that Mr. Erdelac, like I would no doubt feel, was thrilled to get the book published.

So, to sum up, it's weird, it's western, it's fun, it's exciting, it's dark, it's amazing. Buy it, devour it, enjoy it, thank me later. And do Mr. Erdelac a favor and just buy both books because trust me when I say, you're going to want them both.

Happy Holidays from the Weird West Emporium!

The Holiday times are here and New Years is right around the corner! There are no more shopping days left until Christmas, but that doesn't mean its too late to find some great books to cozy up to during these long cold winter nights! Here are a few last minute items I wanted to mention that will take you through the holiday season and into the New Year!




For pure Weird Western awesomeness and a stellar reference guide to the genre, pick up Paul Green's Encyclopedia of Weird Westerns: Supernatural and Science Fiction Elements in Novels, Pulps, Comics, Films, Television and Games which you can pick up HERE. Its a way more comprehensive read than the Weird West Emporium and has things Ill probably never get too. Also Paul has a great companion WEBSITE that picks up where the book leaves off.



Next up is Ed Erdelac's Merkabah Rider books, which can be gotten HERE and HERE in hard copy and eBook.

The story is:
The last of an ancient order of Jewish mystics capable of extraplanar travel, The Merkabah Rider roams the demon haunted American West of 1879 in search of the renegade teacher who betrayed his enclave. But as the trail grows fresher, shadows gather, and The Hour Of The Incursion draws near... Four novella episodes in one book.

A friend of mine has devoured both books and says they are spectacular; a definite must read!

Also, Ed has a great Website called Delirium Tremens where he explains the inspirations to his stories, a great trip report for the 2010 Steamcon convention (Which I failed to do a report on, oops), and many other things. You can read it HERE.

Also, check out this cool trailer that was made for the Merkabah Rider series!




The final book is the Buntline Special: A Weird West Tale by Mike Resnick. Its a different take on Wyatt Earp, Tombstone, and the gunfight at the OK Corral. I haven't had a chance to pick it up yet, but its getting a good reviews and could be just the thing to heat up those cold winter nights! You can get THIS at Amazon too!





And that about does it for me. As The Weird West Emporium moves into its second year I wanted thank everyone for their support and readship! Ive never actually taken on anything as large as this before and its really inspiring to know that people are not only liking my site but loving the Weird West in general. I love that there is an audience for it! Hopefully next year will get even bigger with the release of Cowboys and Aliens, (and maybe other stuff that hasn't been announced yet? The Lone Ranger perhaps?) Plus there will be a ton more stuff to talk about here at the Emporium. These past two years have barely scratched the surface of whats out there. (Actually it will be two years in April, so I shouldn't celebrate just yet!)

Also, I'm considering a (sort of) secret project that everyone will be able to participate on when its up and running, but more on that later.

I'm going to take a couple weeks off and the Emporium will be closed until January 10th, so until then I hope you guys have a safe and fun Holiday season! I hope you have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Tom Hardy to hunt Vampires in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter?

For one reason or another I haven't reported on the book and impending film version of Seth Grahame-Smith's Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter yet. I guess I was thinking it isn't really a "Western" so it doesnt really fit in here at the Emporium. Its pretty East coast (About as East Coast as it gets with it being Washington DC and all) and even with Lincoln growing up in Kentucky and Illinois it doesn't get much further then the Mid-West.....but it's a Civil War-era Vampire Hunting movie and, when put that way, I had to say something about it.

The book was written by Seth Grahame-Smith, who also wrote Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and takes a look at the Lincoln no one knew about, the Lincoln that was a highly accomplished Vampire hunter. As I looked through it at the book store I expected a fictional narrative of Lincoln's life except with the added addition of him being a Vampire Hunter.....but the book is structured more like a true life account, using doctored photographs, journal entries, and written accounts to paint a "true" portrait of Lincoln's secret life.

Before I knew about the book, however, I'd heard about the movie, which is being produced by Tim Burton and directed by Timur Bekmambetov (who directed Night Watch, Day Watch, and Wanted) and last week they reported the first bit of casting. Tom Hardy is being pursued for the role of Henry Sturgess, a vampire who rescues sixteen year-old Abraham Lincoln from a vampire attack and trains him in the ways of vampirism to help him become a more effective hunter. Sounds VERY interesting!

I'll report more on this as I hear it but until then have a look at the trailer they did for the book back in February, hopefully the movie will be this good!

Merkabah Rider 2 and The Blood Bay!

For fans of Edward M. Erdelac's work, he's back with two more tales from the Weird West!

I hate to admit it, but I have yet to read Ed's first book in the Merkabah Rider series, Merkabah Rider: Tales Of A High Planes Drifter.....but in my defense, I'm a terrible book reader. My mind is always running around, and I'm always doing something. So sitting down to read a book takes a bit of a commitment.....I think I have a bit of ADD (or maybe I just drink too much caffeine).....but regardless, a good friend of mine DID read Merkabah Rider 1, and he said it was GREAT.

Well fans of the series have something to be happy about as the adventures of The Rider continue in Merkabah Rider: The Mensch With No Name

Damnation books describes it like this:

The Merkabah Rider continues his journey across the American Southwest of 1880 in search of the renegade teacher who destroyed his mystic Jewish order in the 2nd volume of this acclaimed weird western series. As the Rider unravels more of the mystery of the Hour of the Incursion, demons are the least of his troubles.

The book is once again an anthology, made up of 4 Short stories, The Infernal Napolean, The Damned Dingus, The Outlaw Gods, and The Pandaemonium Ride. These make up episodes 5 though 8 and tell the ongoing adventures of Erdelac's hero.

The book has been released as an ebook through the publisher's website and should be released in hard copy form within the next few weeks.

Also, for a comprehensive review of Mensch With No Name, head on over to Paul Green's Encyclopedia of Weird Westerns site where he actually reads books and doesn't drink too much caffeine!


And speaking of websites, if fans of Ed Erdelac's work haven't been going over to his blog, Delirium Tremens you are missing out. He writes up some fascinating explanations about his work and the inspirations behind his stories. There is a write up about Mensch With No Name, but what I'm specifically thinking of is the second story he released recently, The Blood Bay.

The Blood Bay is one of the short stories in the new Midnight Diner collection. Erdelac describes the story like this:

My own story is about a boy (Jonas) who comes to live on his father’s ranch following the violent death of his estranged mother in a freak accident. His father has remarried, and although Jonas takes to life on a horse ranch, he cannot bring himself to accept his father and stepmother. Then, in an attempt to win his son’s love, Jonas’ father brings him a skittish, wall-eyed blood colored mare and tells the boy he can keep it so long as he can get it to eat...

He also explains that his influences were John Steinbeck's The Red Pony (the bane of many a High School English students) and the Greek Myths of Diomedes and his Man-eating Mares. Particularly "Xanthos (or Xanthus, meaning ‘blonde’ or sometimes ‘bay’).....whom Hercules captured as his eighth labor."

I don't know about you but I think this sounds like a fantastic idea for a short story.....sort of The Red Pony in Hell! Edward talks about his inspirations at length in his article HERE, or if you want to be surprised the Midnight Diner collection can be found HERE, although I haven't been able to find a release date, but they are taking pre-orders.

UPDATE: Merkabah Rider: The Mensch With No Name is available now in both ebook and hard copy formats. They can be bought HERE

The Encyclopedia of Weird Westerns has a second printing!

If you didn't already know, Paul Green's The Encyclopedia of Weird Westerns is THE reference of all things Weird in the Western genre. This is a fantastic book that came out last year, and has now moved into its second printing! If you haven't had a chance to pick it up, you should, its an essential part of any Weird Western fans night table reading.

From automatons to zombies, many fantastic elements have been cross-pollinated with the western genre. This A-to-Z encyclopedia of the Weird Western covers film, television, animation, dime novels, pulp fiction, comic books, novels, short stories and video and role-playing games.

I blogged about it when it first came out last October, and I still love it. Its a great reference for when I'm doing research for The Emporium, or just feel like getting lost some Weird Western minutia for a while.

You can also order the book from its publisher, McFarland and Co. Inc.....and you can visit Paul at his website, The Encyclopedia of Weird Westerns which, like The Emporium, is one of the few sites dedicated to Weird West goodness online; and acts as sort of an addendum to the book.

If you haven't pick this up yet, you should do it today! And Congratulations Paul, you've written a durn fine book there, pard!

Guest Reviews: The Wicked West Vol. 1 & Dead Man's Hand

Guest columnist and frequent Emporium reader Ashe Armstrong reviews a couple of pistol packin' Weird Westerns (That Ive been too lazy to get to myself) so listen up ya' all!

Long days and pleasant nights. The infernal Mr. Adams has been kind enough to allow me to bring to you some weird west reviews. Specifically, The Wicked West vol.1 by Todd Livingston and Robert Tinnell and Dead Man's Hand: Five Tales of the Weird West by Nancy A. Collins. The former is a collection of pretty pages narrating a tale, and the latter, if you couldn't figure it out, is an anthology of five stories. I'll try to leave out spoilers as best I can, so no worries there, folks. Now, without further ado, let's get this shindig started.

The Wicked West vol 1. is an interesting take on vampires in the west. The story is told in a sort of dual narrative, flashback/flashforward setup. The main character's exploits are remembered by a child that witnessed them, while watching a movie in a theater with his grandson that reminds him of the events. These parts serve two purposes well. The first is to give a comparison of how bad the events actually were. The movie they watch is a typical, good guys in white, bad guys in black fair that ends happily ever after. The truth is horrible and unpleasant. The second is to contrast the vampires. In the film, the vampire is Lugosi-esque. In the story, well...teeth, teeth and teeth. The story is a solid one. Mysterious stranger, small town, big trouble. Tried and true. Outside of the delivery and the main character knowing how to handle things, there's not much here that hasn't been seen before. You can definitely see the influence of Robert E. Howard's short, “The Horror from the Mound”. And that is a good thing.

Now for the art. It's good. The lines are excellent, great detail, realistic but with that nice hint of cartoon/comicness. The colors though...well, sometimes they're a bit heavy. Like maybe Neil Vokes , the artist for the book, had to color in photoshop and still wasn't use to doing so. That's not to say it looks amateurish, just heavy. It works though and I admit that I'm probably being a little harder on it than I should but I'm kind of a picky bastard, so you'll have to forgive me.

And added bonus to the book is the short story in the back. Along with some sketches, there's a short story about a different character in a similar situation that was actually pretty damn good. And clever to boot. It involves the character and a young boy hunting a pack of vamps, with an interesting little twist. I don't want to spoil it too much but it was a lovely little pulp story and if you only like the comic, this story caps things off and makes the price of the book worth it. I'd give the whole thing a 7 out of 10.



And now we get to the big dog, Dead Man's Hand. The first thing you folks, my fellow lovers of the weird west, will notice is the forward. It's by the man himself, Mr. Joe Lansdale. He essentially tells us to have the utmost faith in Nancy A. Collins and he ain't wrong. He actually says at one point that it's like all the positive traits of pulp stories got taken and blended together. After finishing all five stories, I'd say that's pretty damn accurate. I'll give a quick run through of each story, three of which are actually novellas.

The first story is a fun, pulpy tale of vampires and the Texas Ranger chasing them. “Hell Come Sundown” has some very interesting things going for it, including one area that I sincerely wish had been brought out more but admittedly, wouldn't have fit for the narrative at large. The story starts off one way, telling the tale of a young boy whose bedroom is haunted by something, and then swerves into the real story, the Ranger and the vamps. And it's quite the fun ride.

The second tale in this hand is “Lynch”. The best way to describe “Lynch” is that's a Frankenstein-revenge story set in the west. It speaks on the afterlife, revenge, racism, dying, loss, all the things good out in the weird frontier. I sorely loved this story. Especially the horse. I think you'll love the horse too.

The biggest offering in the hand is “Walking Wolf”. And it's a doozy. It's the story of a skinwalker. A werewolf, but not at all in the mainstream sense. Walking Wolf (the character) recounts his life for us, the reader. He was found by Comanches and raised as one. Being a skinwalker made things both easier and more difficult for him. His Comanche brethren (and the other tribes), viewed him as a good luck sign, or good medicine but he was not met without some fear at his “true face”. He makes some serious mistakes and exiles himself to learn more about what a skinwalker is and what he should do with his life. Along the way, he meets a crazy preacher that adopts him, snake oil salesman that takes him under his wing, a vampire gunslinger from Russia calling himself The Sundown Kid, and others. The story makes excellent use of history. Featured prominently is Sitting Bull and the forcing of the tribes into reservations. The plight is spoken of in an interesting way and doesn't get preachy. At least, I didn't feel it to get preachy. It's pulp and it's history and it's a lot of fun.

Now we get to the short stories. Second to last is "The Tortuga Hill Gang's Last Ride," which if you pay attention, is hinted at in the first story of the book. This story, well this one's an interesting little spin as it's based around the sidhe. The sidhe are Celtic creatures, for those who don't know. Nancy gives them a little spin as well. Center stage is greed and punishment, tied together with reputation. The Tortuga Hill gang has an unexpected visitor one day who proves himself extremely capable. But as is often the case in the weird west, his presence brings a less than favorable outcome.

The last story, “Calaverada,” is...well, it's the weak link here. It's an interesting story, no doubt but for what it tells, it's too short and too quick. It deals with the Mexican Day of the Dead. I honestly think that with more work, this story could've hit a Lovecraftian level (only without the inherent racism and occasional dryness). The ending is pretty Lovecraftian but alas, it falls short. I think this story should've opened or went second. It's a bad endcap.

Now, overall, I adore this collection and it gets a 10 from me. That last story should've gone in a different spot though. Ah well, I'm not the publisher. I highly recommend checking out both books, especially Dead Man's Hand. I had been craving weird westerns so badly and these two just filled me up right. I devoured Dead Man's Hand over the course of several days and probably would've done so quicker had I not been in the middle of moving. Check 'em out and keep 'em close.

The Buntline Special: A Weird West Tale

So, I was perusing the Aethernet today, looking for this or that, when I came across a very interesting book that's going to be published at the end of the year. Its called The Buntline Special: A Weird West Tale, and its being written by Mike Resnick. I didn't know who Mike Resnick was but he has a long and very impressive resume. He's won 5 Hugo awards and has been nominated for 28 more, sheesh! So its safe to say that Im not too worried that his new book will be awesome (or at least it should be awesome and theres no excuse for it not to be!)

The official press release for the title is this:

The year is 1881. The United States of America ends at the Mississippi River. Beyond lies the Indian nations, where the magic of powerful Medicine Men have halted the advance of the Americans east of the river.

An American government desperate to expand its territory sends Thomas Alva Edison out West to the town of Tombstone, Arizona on a mission to discover a scientific means of counteracting magic. Hired to protect this great genius, Wyatt Earp and his brothers.

But there are plenty who would like to see the Earps and Edison dead. Riding to their aid--old friends Doc Holliday and Bat Masterson. Against them stand the Apache wizard Geronimo and the Clanton gang. Battle lines are drawn, and the Clanton gang, which has their own reasons for wanting Edison dead, sends for Johnny Ringo, the one man who might be Doc Holliday's equal in a gunfight. But what shows up instead is The Thing That Was Once Johnny Ringo, returned from the dead and come to Tombstone looking for a fight.

Welcome to a West like you’ve never seen before, where “Bat Masterson” hails from the ranks of the undead, where electric lights shine down on the streets of Tombstone, while horseless stagecoaches carry passengers to and fro, and where death is no obstacle to The Thing That Was Once Johnny Ringo. Think you know the story of the O.K. Corral? Think again, as five time Hugo winner Mike Resnick takes on his first steampunk western tale, and the West will never be the same.

I think I'm on board, that sounds really cool! Plus with the very Dr. Grordbort-esque ray gun on the cover, how can you go wrong? Or could that be one of those cases of judging a book by it's cover?...hmmmm. Regardless, I love the cover art, and the Synopsis, and I am definitely going to check this out.

The Buntline Special: A Weird West Tale will be released this December from Pyr

Details on Lansdales Dead Man's Road Anthology!

A few weeks ago I reported that Joe R Lansdale's Reverend Mercer stories were going to be collected into a single book called Dead Man's Road, well Subterranean Press has provided details about the release, AND a look at the rough artwork for the cover by the great Timothy Truman:

The Reverend Jedidiah Mercer returns with the re-release of the highly influential pulp novel, Dead in the West, and four stories, one never before collected, one brand new. Contained herein are the Reverend's adventures with zombies, ghouls, werewolves, Lovecraftian monsters and kobolds. Western action blends with grisly horror and ribald humor for a super collection of shoot-outs and fang-outs, claws and crawling horrors, and lessons about an angry, unforgiving god and methods for killing nasties of all kinds.

You can read the rest HERE. The article also gets into content specifics (including storylines) and ordering prices.

Dead Man's Road will be released in October, and I for one am very excited!

I'll keep you updated as I hear stuff...

The Reverend Returns....Dead Man's Road!

For your weekend reading pleasure I present a short story by Joe R Lansdale, arguably one of the masters of the Weird Western. Sort of picking up where the his novel Dead in the West left off, Dead Man's Road follows the adventures of Reverend Jebediah Mercer (Or Raines, depending on the story you are reading) as he fights a nightmarish walking corpse animated by a live hornet's nest in its chest.

Also, Subterranean Press just announced that Dead in the West, Dead Man's Road, and 3 other of the Reverends adventures (included a never before published "novelette") are going to be collected later this year into a book called Deadman’s Road

As I hear more about that I'll keep you informed, but until then, the next adventure of Reverend Mercer (Raines) begins HERE

Enjoy!

Merkabah Rider: Tales of a High Planes Drifter‏!

For your weekend reading pleasure, a new Weird Western book as been brought to my attention. Its called Merkabah Rider: Tales of a High Planes Drifter, from Damnation Books, written by Ed Erdelac, with some pretty sweet cover art by Cinsearae Santiago. Here is a description of the story, in the writers own words:

Set in 1879, it follows the adventures of The Rider, a Hasidic gunslinger, the last of an order of ancient Jewish mystics capable of extra-planar travel, as he tracks down the renegade teacher who betrayed and murdered his enclave. Along the way he encounters a cult of Molech worshipers bent on human sacrifice, a murderous possessed gunman, a powerful ju ju man holding a boom town in his sway, and a bordello full of antediluvian succubi.

I called it a "book" instead of a "novel" because in truth its an anthology of 4 different novellas, each telling a different adventure featuring "The Rider":

Blood Libel: In 1879, the children of the Arizona mining town of Delirium Tremens have begun disappearing. The law has tracked the missing daughter of a local reverend to the neighboring Jewish settlement of Little Jerusalem. Old hatreds are fit to boil over when a mysterious Hasidic gunslinger known as the Rider checks into the local hotel. He soon discovers a rogue element of the population has taken over the settlement and instituted a cult dedicated to the profane worship of the demon king Molech. The Rider sets out to bring it down, with the lives of the innocent Jews and the kidnapped preacher’s daughter in the balance. But as he sheds his physical form to do battle in the spirit world, an irate mob breaks into his hotel room and drags his unconscious body away. The Rider must smash the cult and return to his body in time to avert his own lynching…

The Dust Devils: An impenetrable dust storm blows the Rider into the border town of Polvo Arrido. Its affluence points to a town in the midst of a boom, but where have all the people gone? A ruthless bandit chief and his gang may hold the answer, or else a strange eyed ju ju man whose powers rival the Rider’s own. Then there’s the fact that the storm surrounding the town doesn’t seem to dissipate….

Hell's Hired Gun: When the Rider discovers a massacred Franciscan mission, he turns aside from the trail of his master to track down the perpetrator. He is rescued from a snowstorm outside the remote town of Gadara by an odd old preacher, who spins him a yarn about Medgar Tooms, a cursed gunman who walks the West at the head of a herd of voracious pigs, dragging the broken chains of all those who have tried to bind him. But this is no fantasy. Tooms is coming to Gadara, and only the Rider and the preacher stand in his way…

The Nightjar Women: The Rider comes to a town without children where nightly, evil is born again and again. In the coils of his most secret dreams, an antediluvian menace calls him...by his true name.

I love anthologies, and this looks like a lot of fun! I actually have a copy....but being the terrible reader that I am, I haven't had a chance to sit down with it just yet; but don't you make the same mistake! Merkabah Rider: Tales of a High Planes Drifter‏ is available in both print form and as a digital download for your Kindle HERE

You should definitely pick this up! We need to support more quality independent Weird West content! A review will be forthcoming.

Wizards and Cowboys!

In a Weird West where Zombies and Ghosts and Steam Powered Machines can exist either together or in separate realities, one concept I can truly say never really thought of before now was Cowboys and Wizards. Well, fortunately someone else thought of it for me....Gemma Files has written a book called A Book of Tongues and it can be pre-ordered at the Horror Mall here

Two years after the Civil War, Pinkerton agent Ed Morrow has gone undercover with one of the weird West's most dangerous outlaw gangs—the troop led by "Reverend" Asher Rook, ex-Confederate chaplain turned "hexslinger," and his notorious lieutenant (and lover) Chess Pargeter. Morrow's task: get close enough to map the extent of Rook's power, then bring that knowledge back to help Professor Joachim Asbury unlock the secrets of magic itself.

Caught between a passle of dead gods and monsters, hexes galore, Rook's witchery, and the ruthless calculations of his own masters, Morrow's only real hope of survival lies with the man without whom Rook cannot succeed: Chess Pargeter himself. But Morrow and Chess will have to literally ride through Hell before the truth of Chess's fate comes clear—the doom written for him, and the entire world, in A Book of Tongues.

Sounds like it could be interesting! Pre-Orders must be placed by JANUARY 31st, 2010

Dead or Alive in the Undead West...

While browsing the internet for upcoming articles, I came across this fantastic Illustration by Ray Lederer. Its a bunch of Zombies attacking a Stage Coach! Cool! (You can click on the picture and see it in all of its magnificent detail) But there is so much more to it than that.

It turns out this is the cover of a Zombie Western novella called Dead or Alive by William Harms. Searching it out, I quite unexpectedly found it in PDF Format at the Midnight Mortuary site. Midnight Mortuary is a pretty great site all by itself, seemly "dead"icated to Horror Pinup art, but in the "Cemetery" section you can actually download a PDF copy of Dead or Alive totally free for your weekend reading pleasure and you can keep it forever!

Zombie Westerns seems to be pretty popular now days, a couple of my personal favorites being Dead in the West and Jonah Hex: Two Gun Mojo both written by superstar Weird West author Joe R. Lansdale (who I still haven't gotten around to writing about).

Also, for those who are interested, Ray Lederer posted a time lapsed video of his work on the cover art. Its pretty amazing what it takes to put it all together...working and reworking the drawing to get it just right. Enjoy!

The Weird West FINALLY Comes Into Its Own!

Weird West has always been the rough and tumble cousin to Steampunk, or maybe its Steampunk's distinctly American brother. The two have been around for roughly the same amount of time, if you consider the Frank Reade Dime Novels as one of the earliest examples of American Steampunk....but Steampunk today tends to favor a more European aesthetic with the Pith Helmets and British officers uniforms, the Frankenstein-esque contraptions, leather Military goods; and Tea, lots and lots of Tea......because Coffee just doesn't cut it! The Victorian Age, as we think of it, was really a European and American East Coast convention....although Victorian Aesthetic did, quite successfully, find its way into the dress and designs of the Western United States...as some Westerns tried their best to live within the splendor and elegance of the age among the dust and the heat and the rattlesnakes.

As an extreme fan of all things Steamy I will say that there have been MASTERFUL works of art created by Steampunks on BOTH sides of the "Pond", but the bottom line is, aesthetically, European Steampunk currently rules and the Weird West has partially been left in the dust, as it were...but no longer with the recent publication of Paul Green's Encyclopedia of Weird Westerns.

The product description on Amazon says this: From automatons to zombies, many fantastic elements have been cross-pollinated with the western genre. This A-to-Z encyclopedia of the Weird Western covers film, television, animation, dime novels, pulp fiction, comic books, novels, short stories and video and role-playing games.

Wow! This is number one on my Christmas list this year, What a resource! Of course Im always looking for new Weird West stuff, so this is a very exciting book.

Now I will say this, I did read a product review and I don't agree 100% with some of the things listed in the book. I don't consider Blood Meridian a Weird Western simply because its super duper violent....there are plenty of straight Westerns that have extreme violence. Usually, to me at least, a Weird Western has an element of the fantastic or the supernatural....which I don't believe Blood Meridian has. I also don't agree with the inclusion of the old David Carradine series Kung Fu. The idea of a Shaolin Monks traveling through the American Old West isn't all that strange, especially if he is a Shaolin Monk of the time.....now if he was from the future....But don't let this fool you, Mr. Green knows exactly what he is talking about in terms of Weird West, these disagreements might simply be a case of, what my friend Steve calls, opening the Umbrella too wide.

With that said, this book is a resource that any Weird Westerner, or fan of the Genre can not live without!

One more thing, while searching for reviews about this book, I came across Mr Green's Weird West blog site, which is very much in the vein of this one. Like his book, its called the Encyclopedia of Weird Westerns, and is something of a companion/addendum; you should check it out!

Its good too see interest in this Weird West stuff growing!

Along the Weird Trails!!

Weird Trails, What a great title....if I had thought of it, I would have named this blog Weird Trails.....although the title is a bit ambiguous for a blog. Regardless, I came across this book about a year ago and it looks like a real treasure. The concept is simple, its a "facsimile" of a supposed pulp magazine from the 1930's...a less successful fiction magazine in the style of the similarly named (and very real) Weird Tales, a fiction pulp magazine that's still around. It might also be a "Mocumentary" about how the book finally went out of business....the more I read about this the more it appears to be deeper than it seems.

I haven't read this yet, but its my next purchase. Just looking at Amazon's sample pages, this looks to be a really fun unique publication (and I love the cover). With two column stories, vintage ads, some great pulp era artwork (Actually the artwork reminded me of Tex Arcana a little bit, but that's not a bad thing), and stories with names like Riders of the Purple Ooze and Trouble in Cthulhu Canyon this sounds like the demon hybrid of H.P. Lovecraft, 1930's Pulps, Dime Novels, and the Old West (which I'm very sure it is!)

Why I haven't purchased this yet is beyond me!

Just go to the Amazon.com page and click on the cover art, you can see what I'm talking about.

I just hope the stories are good.