Shadows from Boot Hill

by L. Ron Hubbard

Every man walks with a shadow . . . but what happens when he acquires a second one? Just ask Brazos—a dead ringer for Jack Palance who’s a cold-blooded killer for hire with blood on his hands and a posse on his tail. Desperate for cash, Brazos accepts $200 to gun down a local man named Brant. He’ll earn every penny . . . but in the end there’ll be the devil to pay. Because to put a bullet in Brant means putting one in his partner as well—an eerie stranger schooled in the black art of witchcraft. This is one killing that brings with it a deadly curse—and a second shadow. As Brazos is about to discover, the Wild West doesn’t get any wilder than when a man is damned to live—and die—in the Shadows from Boot Hill. A note from L. Ron Hubbard, written many years ago, that could as well be addressed to you, today’s “Dear Range Four million of my words have been published in fifty different magazines. . . . Just now I’m larruping fantasy fiction more than anything else, though I’ve been writing Westerns for some time, too. Hope your readers like Shadows from Boot Hill. The Old West was superstitious in the extreme and . . . reeks with more fantasy than The Arabian Nights.” Also includes the Western adventures The Gunner from GehennaGunman! , the story of an aging gunfighter turned lawman who shows his town what a real man is made of. “A minor masterpiece.” —author Will Murray

144 pages, Paperback

First published September 30, 2011

About the author

L. Ron Hubbard is universally acclaimed as the single most influential author and humanitarian of this modern age. His definitive works on the mind and spirit—comprising over 350 million copies in circulation and more than 40 international bestsellers—have resulted in a legacy benefiting millions and a movement spanning all cultures.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not a big fan of Westerns, but this one was fun. It contains three stories; Gunman! from Famous Western Magazine's February, 1949, issue; The Gunner From Gehenna, which originally appeared in the April, 1949, issue of Giant Western; and the title story from the June, 1940, edition of Wild West Weekly. They sure did used to publish a lot of Western story magazines! Shadows from Boot Hill (which is a great Western title!) combines the Western genre with a refreshing dash of fantasy and is the best of the three, though I found all of them enjoyable. The Galaxy editions are all uniformly formatted with nice end-papers, glossaries, and the original pulp illustrations.

[Paul Black · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is three stories in one book: "Shadows from Boot Hill", "The Gunner from Gehenna", and "Gunman!" The first one is a novella with a twist of supernatural. The second is a short story how a good man can outwit a robber who holds all the aces. The third story is the longest and most satisfying one of when a aging sheriff shows what a real man with courage can achieve against a crooked banker, hired bullies, and bank robbers.

[Jeff J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pulp western by the prolific L. Ron Hubbard. Odd story about outlaws encountering a witch doctor.

[Steven Brandt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve been listening to these L Ron Hubbard stories from Galaxy Audio for a while now, but this is my first experience with any of Hubbard’s western tales. Westerns are not my favorite, although I do occasionally enjoy reading from the likes of Louis L’Amour or Zane Grey. If you too have never read any of Hubbard’s westerns, then this is the perfect place for you to start. Shadows From Boot Hill is a collection of three of Hubbard’s tales of the old west. A nice little sampler you might say.

In my own opinion, the gem of the collection, and the longest entry, is Gunman, which is the third and final story on the 2-disk set. In Gunman, Brazos Kincaid is an aging gun fighter turned lawman. Brazos remembers a time when it was real men who kept the peace in the old west, not bankers or railroad executives, and he laments about the changing times. But when a blustering public figure tries to run Brazos out of his Marshal’s job, all the while covering up for a bank robbery he is planning, the town will learn that it still takes a real man to do the job, and Brazos himself will learn that maybe there is still a place in the world for old gun fighters after all.

The other two stories in this collection are Shadows From Boot Hill and The Gunner From Gehenna. These two both have kind of a twist ending, something Hubbard does in a lot of his stories, and all three of these stories display Hubbard’s unique way with words.

Shadows From Boot Hill is part of Galaxy Audio’s project to publish 200 of Hubbard’s golden age stories in an audio format. These are multi-cast productions complete with music and sound enhancements, and the audio quality is absolutely stunning. The stereo effects put you right in the middle of the story. Voice talents for this collection include Phil Proctor, Corey Burton, R F Daley, John Mariano, Jim Meskimen, Tait Ruppert, Fred Tatasciore, and Josh R Thompson.

Steven Brandt @ Audiobook-Heaven

[Shandi Dews · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is my favorite, of all the stories I have read in this series. The author was able to blend a story of outlaws and murder, with a story of black magic and witch doctors, perfectly. A great read, I recommend it!

[Bertina · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read

[Dawn Pisturino · Rating 3 out of 5]

Light reading.