Women of the Weird West

by K.C. Grifant (Editor), Eugen Bacon (Contributor), Jennifer Brody (Contributor)

Saddle up. The Old West is weirder than you think.

In this bold reimagining of the Old West, dive into haunted canyons, frontier towns hiding cosmic horrors, vast deserts, and far-flung worlds where women take center stage.

Women of the Weird West features 25 original speculative poems and short stories set in landscapes both familiar and strange. Gunslingers, outlaws, dreamers, and survivors face overwhelming forces both human and supernatural.

Subversive and genre-bending, this anthology captures the wonder, violence, and resilience at the heart of the Old West while featuring women who were all too often left off the page.

Edited by KC Grifant and with a foreword by Kasey Lansdale, the book features short stories and poems by: Eugen Bacon, Jennifer Brody, V. Castro, K.M. Chavez, Deborah Daughetee, Sarah Faxon, Jendia Gammon, Anastasia Jill, R.J. Joseph, Nicole Givens Kurtz, Angela Liu, Christine Lucas, Anna Madden, Tiffany Morris, Donna J.W. Munro, SJ Myles, Nico Martinez Nocito, Cynthia Pelayo, Grace Quon, Stephanie Rabig, Rebecca Rowland, Tammy Salyer, Lisa Timpf, Angelica Urquizo and Mathilda Zeller.

Perfect for readers who enjoy supernatural westerns, dark fantasy, cosmic horror, historical reimaginings and speculative fiction.

Genres: Horror, Westerns, Fiction

216 pages, ebook

Published June 16, 2026

About the author

KC Grifant is a Southern Californian author who writes internationally published horror, fantasy, science fiction and weird west stories for podcasts, anthologies and magazines.

Her writings have appeared in magazines and podcasts including: Andromeda Spaceways Magazine (cover story for issue #70), Unnerving Magazine, Aurealis Magazine, Fission Magazine, Cosmic Horror Monthly, Dark Matter Magazine, Tales to Terrify, the Lovecraft eZine, Sley House Podcasts, and many others.

In addition to a Weird West horror novel, MELINDA WEST: MONSTER GUNSLINGER (Feb 2023), she has also written stories for dozens of anthologies, including: Chromophobia; Dancing in the Shadows: A Tribute to Anne Rice; Musings of the Muse; Field Notes from a Nightmare; The One That Got Away; Six Guns Straight From Hell; Trembling with Fear: Year One; Shadowy Natures; Beyond the Infinite: Tales from the Outer Reaches; and the Stoker-nominated Fright Mare: Women Write Horror.

In addition, she is a member of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA), as well as the co-founder of the Horror Writers Association (HWA) San Diego chapter, an organization that helps to connect writers and fans of horror literature.

Reviews

[2raccoonsinacoat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Super imaginative spin on western/frontier storytelling with strong female characters, but ultimately too disturbing and inconsistent for me.

This was my first foray into Weird West stories and it’s a genre I could really get into. I loved the representation—strong female characters, multicultural characters, LGBT; all wonderful and filling a very empty gap in popular western lit. As with many anthologies, this was hit-or-miss. The horror and fairy tales were my favorite, I think “Bountiful Harvest” and “Orphans and Outlaws” were standouts. The writing in some of the short stories was strong and I can tell the editor put a lot of thought into the order. The weak entries, though, were pretty glaring, and I wasn’t drawn into any of the poetry. Unfortunately, also several veered into unnecessarily disturbing territory for me. I’m not squeamish but I’m sensitive to animal cruelty/death and I found it to be pretty overindulgent and without purpose in several of the stories. I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone sensitive to that stuff.

Not bad and I snatched a few authors from this for my TBR, but this left me feeling more disturbed than intrigued.

Thank you to Brigids Gate Press and NetGalley for providing an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Cat Treadwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

One word; remarkable. The sheer depth and emotion held in this anthology struck me with every story, even though they're all very different. Each speaks of a woman's journey, no matter their background, ethnicity, marital status or job. The hardness of life and the joy of finding freedom to be oneself - the point of the Old West, after all.

A great collection of authors - some familiar favourites, some new to me - and one that I'll be looking to buy for my physical bookshelf ready to revisit and enjoy again.

I was kindly sent an early copy of this book by the publisher but the above opinions are entirely my own.

[Ava · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC!

I don't usually enjoy the Western genre but the addition of supernatural or speculative elements (plus a MUCH more diverse cast than the usual cishet white man bonanza of Westerns) really sold me. I appreciated the many interpretations of "weird". Some standouts:

"How to Kill a Yaoguai" (Angela Lu) - sisters forced to fight supernatural entities by swallowing them whole
"Bountiful Harvest" (Mathilda Zeller) - gold rush plus giant eel monster and monstrous husband
"Twin Pistons" (Tiffany Morris) - steampunk hearts, traveling circuses and queer cults
"The Way All Our Stories End" (Stephanie Rabig) - kelpies, queer first crushes and the meaning of bravery
"Self-Preservation" (R. J. Joseph) - vampiric courtesan encounters werewolf and takes on a ward
"Thirst Trap" (Jennifer Brody) - sci-fi setting in which woman and girlfriend lead caravan to mythic Oasis, find vampiric ghost saloon

[meghin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Brigids Gate Press and NetGalley for the ARC of this anthology!
I love that each little story was accompanied by an author’s note! For some of the stories, I felt like the note was almost necessary for me to understand what the author was portraying exactly but even without the notes, the emotions were there every time! There were visual details that pulled me into the whole western atmosphere. This was one of my favorite anthologies! I loved each of the women’s storytelling abilities. I enjoyed their writing as well as the feeling of being transported into old westerns. There are some stories still lingering/haunting me. I particularly enjoyed one story about monsters/demons and the Chinese culture of burying their loved one’s bones. These are stories and poems I will want to reread in the future. Although some are haunting, as a woman, I finish reading feeling empowered in a way. This anthology is bold and unique. It makes you feel as if women were at the center of old westerns the whole time but in the background hiding yet resilient.. the supernatural aspect of some of the stories made mixing genres of this one fun and unputdownable. I also really like the cover of this one! Thanks again for the reading opportunity!

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a unique and compelling topic for an anthology and I appreciated the variety of topics and historical events shown through the different stories, all focused on the women involved. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC!

My Darling Clementine - 3.75/5, lovely spooky vibes, i didn’t know the version of the song past the fifth verse so it was very interesting to see the end and how much it twined with the story.

How to Kill a Yaogui - 4.5/5, loved the inclusion of the historical accuracy and the lore woven together

Pink Stems, Silver Irises - 3.5/5, very pretty imagery

Turquoise Waters - 3.25/5, interesting concept but it wasn’t paced the best, more there and done than would’ve been expected

Bountiful Harvest - 4.25/5, this is a haunting piece of writing and then the characters to be related to the author

Showdown on Alpha V - 3.25/5, space and westerns go together very well

The Legend of Granny Needlesong - 4.75/5, love it when crafts are joined into horror and this is definitely a character I would want to read more about

Orphan and Outlaws - 2.75/5, would’ve been better suited as an attachment to the actual series as it was a lot of needed background to catch readers up to the state of events

The First Three Deaths - 3.25/5, briefly atmospheric, definitely would’ve liked it to be longer but it’s still punchy

Twin Pistons - 3.5/5, love the vibe of a western steampunk mechanical heart but it almost seemed incidental to the story

A Fox in Sheep’s Clothing - 3.25/5, very brief but shocking

The Divination of Demons - 4.25/5, loved the atmosphere, the ending moved a bit too quickly

Arid Medusa - 3.25/5, the fusion of Greek mythology with the western is very interesting

The Way All Our Stories End - 4.5/5, love a kelpie story

Calico Sue’s Lament - 4.25/5, haunting and spooky, flows very nicely

Soldaderas- 4/5, liked the atmosphere and the fight scenes

Fela’Fela’s War - 2.5/5, the atmosphere and world building was interesting but the action scenes felt muddled and were difficult to place where characters were

The Stinger of Hellbinder Gulch - 2.75/5, the premise was good but the deliberate vagueness hindered rather than helped here

The Time I Never Dreamt - 3.75/5, dreamlike and deliberately muddled, I liked the way the memory slipping away was written

Slender Silver Cylinder - 3.25/5, its short but to the point, almost like a little action snapshot

Self-Preservation - 4.25/5, a western themed vampire is such a fun character choice and Sable is written very well

Cowgirl Like Me - 3.5/5, nice rhythm and I liked the imagery

The Chains That Bind - 3.25/5, I liked the flow of the story though the ending felt rushed

Thirst Trap - 3.75/5, I liked the vague futuristic vibe but it didn’t lean into it as much as I was hoping. I was definitely thinking cannibals at the end 🤣

Valley of the Shadow - 3.5/5, spooky and I enjoyed seeing the different cultural tie-ins with the marigolds and the historical events

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is such a fantastic concept!
Drawn to the title initially - because, obviously - I was excited to find that it is a collection of short stories, set in the Wild West, but with a twist. The tropes have changed. The main characters have shifted from being a variety of cowboys to being strong female leads. And the Old West has had a few extra ingredients added: fantasy, fable, dark magic and even futuristic science-fiction themes.
The selection of stories have been carefully crafted to draw the reader into that known world of the frontier, the one horse towns and the prairie, but the way that this is mixed with plots that shift from the normal expectation of a western is so entertaining.
There is an exploration of the ‘‘Darling Clementine’ song, based on the tale of Clementine the miner’s daughter who drowned - but what if she didn’t? What if she lived to be a badass sharp shooter, living a life of stealth and solitude on the prairie and defending what’s hers?
What if cowboys exist in a parallel, futuristic world where the saloon is a smoothie bar? What if the usual, well known and well portrayed bandits, necessary in all good westerns, can be beaten by female fighters and a dose of superstition? Or how about an old lady who has seen it all and isn’t scared of armed bank robbers, because she can weave what happens next from a ball of yarn and her knitting needles?
These are just a few of the brilliant concepts included in this collection of stories from a range of really talented writers. It is so good to dip into and read a quick stand alone yarn, or devour greedily one after another - because each snippet is so good it propels you onto the next adventure.

[★ molly ★]

e-arc received

[Chewable Orb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Women of the Weird West Edited by KC Grifant
4🔮orbs
Est. Pub. Date: June 16, 2026
Brigids Gate Press, LLC



Looks can be deceiving…

💡 Orbs Prologue: I arrive in Mawson’s Creek, a desert community smelling of desert sage and yarrow. Orbina is my name. I hear you snicker, but dear reader, you must understand I am not a person to trifle with. A leather strap attaches menacing spurs made of my victim's teeth, and my boots are embossed with rhinestones that shine like a disco ball. Make no mistake, I am very efficient at my job, and I do it with the utmost flair. I am a bounty hunter of sorts, and my lasso is made of carnivorous vampiric teeth, ready to feed upon my victim’s bodies. No, I fear nothing…

🧐 A small glimpse: A solid collection of wacky western stories where women are the main characters. As if that would be enough to satisfy most readers’ curiosity, KC Grifant has curated an ensemble of stories/poems that stretch the boundaries of multiple genres, taking the classic western tropes to new and exciting heights. Get ready to saddle up! This isn’t your everyday horse ride to Tombstone. Jagged waves of vitriol await, and women’s mistreatment remains inexcusable. The hunted become the hunters, offering a glimpse of payback in numerous horrifying forms. Of note, the following are stuck in my mind:

Slender, Silver Cylinder by Sarah Faxon: Sometimes it pays to cheat. 5/5

How To Kill A Yaoguai by Angela Liu: Women chomp ghouls like Ms. Pac-Man. 4/5

Turquoise Waters by Nicole Givens Kurtz: Two women seeking freedom come across bandits seeking violence. 4.5/5

The Legend of Granny Needlesong by Christine Lucas: Granny takes out her knitting needles, arming herself with colorful tunes with which to engage. 4.25/5

👍 Orbs Pros: An indigenous feel! A tribal flavor permeates throughout. Female empowerment galloped forth from beginning to end, creating an interesting dynamic in harsh environments. Diversity! Poems and short stories with their own creative spins on the Wild, Wild West, with females firmly driving the wagon.

👎 Orbs Cons: As with most collections, there were a few that missed the mark. That is to be expected, but it broke the sense of immersion occasionally. Because of the cross-contamination of genres, a few stories just felt a bit too ambitious, whereas perhaps it might have been better to focus on a more streamlined approach. However, creativity must be applauded, for these storytellers are taking a risk and not playing it safe.

Recommended: I enjoyed this group of stories. Some had me laughing, others had me frightened, and at the end of the day, I remained entertained. I can recommend this to anyone who enjoys reading some of the macabre weirdness that authors can create.

💡 Orbs Epilogue: "Are you Spades?" My intuition tells me by the look of a white Stetson hat with a hand-stitched spade symbol resting upon the grizzled head of a man seated at the bar that, indeed, this is Spades. “Why, what can I do ya for, Miss?” as some chaw sneaks out of his lip in reply. “Name is Orbina. I hear you been creating a ruckus. You can come quietly, or I can put you down. Makes no difference to me!” “Is that so?” His pretentious nature has gotten the best of him. Hurriedly reaching for his Colt 45, he remains off guard. The sun rays shimmer off my jeweled boots, and a well-directed shine has rendered him temporarily blind. Before he can fire his weapon, my lasso of flesh-thirsty maws has engulfed his entire frame, rather like a bunch of angry piranhas ravaging a victim in shallow, blood-soaked water. One thought crossed my mind. “Why do men always have to be so difficult?”

Many thanks to Brigids Gate Press, LLC, for the ARC through NetGalley. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[A Reader's Plight · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review of the Women of the Weird West anthology edited by K.C. Grifant

Thank you very, very much to NetGalley and Brigids Gate Press for this eARC! I had a wonderful time reading it.

This review is a little different in formatting from my normal reviews because this is the first time I'm reviewing an anthology (also the first time I've ever finished an anthology). It's hard for me to do my usual ratings of things like scare factor, writing style, interest, etc. because of the fact that there are so many different authors and so many different writing styles, so I'll just give a basic overview of my thoughts on this anthology!

Overall Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Top Three Stories?
This is really tough because there were honestly a lot of stories that I really thoroughly enjoyed. In no particular order, the three stories I enjoyed the most were Twin Pistons by Tiffany Morris, The Divination of Demons by Rebecca Rowland, and The Stinger of Hellbinder Gulch by Jendia Gammon.

Would you read this book again?
I would definitely re-read this! In fact, I already have re-read some of the stories because I liked them so much.

Additional notes:
- I really, really enjoyed this series of stories and I knew I would when I got two pages into the editor's note. The majority of the stories were easy to follow and I really loved the premise for all of them. The feminism and sapphic romance portrayed in these stories was absolutely perfect! The time periods and settings were wonderful. I felt that many of the characters were loveable and all of the stories had perfect twists or elements that worked perfect for horror/sci-fi/fantasy (including some shock value moments).
- I absolutely loved how most of the stories had author's notes with the inspirations for the stories. That was a really lovely touch and made things so much more real and fascinating.
- This is the first time I ever read a weird western (actually any western for that matter) and I am absolutely thrilled with it as a genre and will be looking for more.
- There are authors in here that I actually checked out their other works because I was so into their stories in this book.
- I found many of these stories leaving me feeling all sorts of emotions. There wasn't many stories that I didn't feel strong connections with in this story.
- Also, really loved the additional story added by the publishers, though I think I would have liked to see a non-fiction story in there at then end about the inspirations.
- Overall, I think that this anthology is quite wonderful and well-done. I'm so happy I decided to pick this up and I do recommend giving it a read. It promotes diversity and the learning of western history and is well worth the time.

[Candi Norwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley, KC Grifant, and Brigid’s Gate Press for this advance copy for my unbiased review.
I appreciate that editor KC Grifant admitted she was not a fan of westerns growing up because same, and for the same reason; all I saw onscreen were men having adventures, and I wanted to see women doing something other than tending the home or warming a bed. I also had a similar introduction to the weird west which was my gateway to seeing women with the same autonomy; for me, it was through the Deadlands Reloaded TTRPG.
I hope others who don’t think they like westerns for this reason will pick up this anthology. Just look at this lineup of authors, like Cynthia Pelayo, Rebecca Rowland, R.J. Joseph, V. Castro, Eugen Bacon, Nicole Givens Kurtz, the list goes on and on, from a glorious mix of backgrounds and life experiences bringing their weird west tales to life.
And these stories! The pages are filled with strong women surviving the Weird West and all its dangers - natural and supernatural, and it’s not just short stories; mixed in is some poetry and a few drabbles (micro-fiction with 100 words) so format in addition to the variety of styles and content keeps it interesting.
This anthology starts strong with Cynthia Pelayo’s “My Darling Clementine”, an interpretation of the folk song and filled with evocative language like, “Red splattered sunflower heads search for the golden orb in the sky” flowing right into possibly my favorite story of the bunch, “How to Kill a Yaoguai” from Angela Liu and the literal chills I got from the equally evocative but like night to Pelayo’s day: ““I’m so hungry and cold,” the woman said, except the voice sounded like a summer swamp, all insect buzzing and froggish croaking.”
There are vampires and fae and demons - and that’s not even counting the “bad guys”. Hope is a common theme, magic comes from the mundane like in another favorite story, “The Legend of Granny Needlesong” by Christine Lucas where a knitting granny corrects some would-be bank robbers, and women show up as the great protectors in stories like V. Castro’s Soldaderos where they protect the town from vampires or “Bountiful Harvest” by Mathilda Zeller where a mother’s love leads to a dark deal to save her children.
These stories are filled with humor and heart; some nod to real-life events, others take us to dreamworlds, and even for those who don’t think they are fans of westerns, the human condition is at the core of them, and we can all relate to that.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is difficult to put into words my thought on this collection, because it should be said from the outset that I don't think this was a bad collection at all. On the contrary really, it was often quite strong. I found many of the stories compelling and I really found the poetry to be stand-out. My issue with it is more the.. ceaseless of it. It started to become so repetitive that I found myself really having to push myself to pick it back up and force myself through the stories. I was hoping that this would be a diverse collection of vignettes that made me think in new and creative ways about different untold stories from the perspective of women and possibly the supernatural. But given that it is, frankly, a fairly narrow prompt and there are SO many stories in this anthology, all of them began to blend together. The stories as the start were quite strong, but story after story, it felt that they were all largely the same. Instead of vampires, let it be demons. Or old gods. Or ghosts. Instead of a woman running from her family, she's running from her husband, or a group of men, or society as a whole. She finds power within herself, or another woman, or a community of women.

All of these are fascinating in isolation, and taken in isolation, I enjoyed the majority of these stories. But back to back to back, it became an exhausting reading experience, and I felt myself more harshly judging later entries into the anthology simply because their later placement leads me to unfairly compare them to similar stories earlier in the book.

In my opinion, this could have benefited from some editing down. While I enjoyed many of the stories that I got to, the weak ones were quite weak. Removing about a third of the short stories and more evenly redistributing the poems to break up the prose would have gone a long way to make this feel like less of an effort to get through.

[Caitlin Teaches · Rating 4 out of 5]

Westerns have always been part of a genre I know matters deeply to other people but have always been a struggle for me. It's difficult to root for settlers over indigenous people, and the representation of who's stories are valuable is significantly skewed to stoic white men. Women of the Weird West offers a delightful reprieve from those problems and an invitation to explore different worlds within the Weird West genre. It serves as a solid introduction to the genre or a tasting menu if you're already a fan.

The overall quality of the stories are good and fairly consitent, and nothing stands out as a rough read. The addition of poetry in between the prose is a classic choice in a genre anthology that I do always enjoy. There are, perhaps, a surprisingly large number of stories that focus around fae or Celtic mythologies in general, and you are plopped in the middle of some universes with a limited introduction. Both of those are a matter of taste over quality, which was pretty consistently good.

A few highlights:

"My Darling Clementine" is an excellent haunting start, and is followed by a great monster story with "How to Kill A Yaoguai." "The Legend of Granny Needlesong" feels like a western fairy tale and highlights an elderly female protagonist. "Fela'Fela's War" stretches the genre in some of the most interesting ways and won me over the second I knew there was a ride-able ostrich that was an absolute terror. "Self-Preservation" is a excellent little vampire story. "Valley of the Shadow" is the last story in the collection, and is a subtle unfurling story of details inspired by a real life history. It offers a very necessary perspective to the collection.

Thanks to Netgalley and Brigids Gate Press for the ARC of this book.

[Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always find it exceedingly difficult to rate an anthology – how am I supposed to judge it? By which story I enjoyed the most? By average enjoyment? By adherence to the theme? Unfortunately, this usually means I give the collection a 3 as the average score, even if certain stories would rate more if they were standing alone. So, let that be some context for my rating.

STORIES OF PARTICULAR NOTE:
+How to Kill a Yaoguai by Angela Liu | very cool concept that was executed well, a good “mic drop” ending line. IMO, a good short story has an ending line or paragraph that really resonates and sticks with you, and this one is a great example of that.
+Bountiful Harvest by Mathilda Zeller | again, a very cool concept that was executed well
+Twin Pistons by Tiffany Morris | got me in my heartstrings with this one
+Fela’fela’s War by Eugen Bacon | somehow the exact opposite experience of Orphans & Outlaws, this actually made me want to go and read the larger works connected to this universe

STORIES THAT MISSED THE MARK:
-The Legend of Granny Needlesong by Christine Lucas | just fell flat for me
-Orphans and Outlaws by Tammy Salyer | This is part of a larger body of work and I really struggled to get past the required exposition shoved in to bring the reader up to speed if they’d never read this series before.
- The Divination of Demons by Rebecca Rowland | very cool concept but a mellow end
-Soldaderas by V Castro | very cramped, would be much better served as a novella or full-length novel

If not listed above, I was largely indifferent. This includes most, if not all, of the included poetry. The rare times I read poetry, I want it to really strike me, and none of the included poems did.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection blends together the rich imagery of the Wild West with the weird and the supernatural. It has a mix of short stories, drabbles and poems. I enjoyed the weaving together of different genres for the most part, although in some cases I don’t think it quite worked. Maybe this was a limitation of the length of some of these entries, but some felt like the western element was disconnected from the other elements the author was trying to introduce e.g., Celtic mythology, the fae realm etc. In some of these cases and in a couple of the poems, I didn’t get much, if any Wild West feeling from the narrative. It was only due to their presence in this collection and the clarification sometimes provided with the authors notes that I became aware they had a ‘western’ slant.

I particularly enjoyed ‘How to Kill a Yaoguai’ which utilised Chinese folk beliefs. I appreciated this and similar entries as they highlight the presence of often forgotten about groups of people that were present in the West during the 1800s. I also liked entries that explored spiritualism and other religious movements from the period. My favourite entry however was ‘Calico Sue’s Lament’ which depicted the loneliness of the prairie for women in this period, and how isolating and constricting it must have felt at times.

Overall I enjoyed this collection, some entries I preferred over others, but that’s always the case with anthologies. I enjoyed the different styles e.g., the drabbles and how experimental some of the entries felt, blurring the boundaries between previously separate genres.

I received an eARC from NetGalley and I am voluntarily leaving this review.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an anthology of speculative fiction centering on women and marginalized genders, of diverse backgrounds, in stories set in or inspired by the Old West. Some are set in another universe, on different worlds, some are inspired by Indigenous stories or Mexican history, some from old songs and folk tales. I loved the variety of stories and how so many diverse voices were represented. I was really excited about the concept behind this, as someone who grew up around "Wild West" movies and books, but never connected to it because the lack of stories told from the perspectives of the women and marginalized individuals who were involved.

I do feel that many of these stories needed a bit more work before they were ready to be published. Some felt rushed, some felt that they needed more editing, as word choices or structure or plot felt lacking and took me out of the stories. There were times I would have liked to have skipped a story all together.

There were quite a few selections that really did stand out to me, however. My favorite was "Bountiful Harvest" by Mathilda Zeller.

I recommend this for those who enjoy short stories, "Wild West" vibes, women reclaiming the narrative, and those who are ok with a range of quality in product in an anthology.

Overall I enjoyed many of the stories, and do not regret reading. I'd give it a 3.25, as some of the stories felt like a slog and brought down my enjoyment, but some of the stories were so good I am looking to read more from those authors.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actual rating 3.5

Women of the Weird West is a short story and poetry collection put together by KC Grifant. The collection features women and people from many different cultures. I really appreciate the diversity in the stories. Mythology from Native American, Chinese, Irish, and many more cultures make an appearance.

Women of the Weird West does an excellent job at painting an eerie western landscape. Many of the stories have some sort of supernatural element to them. It's a very atmospheric collection.

With all short story collections some stories are much better than others. I'd say about 40% of the stories were solid well developed works. But, I do think this collection could have used a bit of a trim; probably about 20% of the stories were poor quality, which ultimately effected my overall rating. I do think that the good stories make up for some of the less interesting ones.

My favorite stories in the collection were: How To Kill a Yaoguai by Angela Liu, Bountiful Harvest by Mathilda Zeller, and Twin Pistons by Tiffany Morris.

Thank you to Netgalley and Brigids Gate Press for the eARC of Women of the Weird West!

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25/5 ⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley, KC Grifant, and Brigid’s Gate Press For an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I’m not usually a reader of anthologies however the description of this really intrigued me. The book is a collection of poems and short stories from various authors, the Weird West is shown from the female angle and different cultures and myths are included instead of the typical white male representation.

I especially enjoyed the stories on Two Pistons and the one about two sisters, I also think the last story was apt for the end of the book. I really liked how the stories highlighted different cultures that featured in the West and I was able to learn more about these. The author notes when included also gave additional context which was appreciated.

However, I would say that I didn’t ‘get’ some of the poems and there was one story that felt really unsuited for the book as the mix of genre with the Weird West didn’t really fit. It was also hard to pace myself through this book as you’re changing stories/poems often due to it being an anthology, one minute you’re reading a lengthy story and the next it’s a short poem, it’s more of a pick up and put down book rather than a long continuous read.

Overall I would recommend this if you want to see a female perspective of the Weird West and to learn more about the people around in the actual time period, especially if you’re someone who likes poetry.

[Josefine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Women of the Weird West is an anthology about Weird West stories, which, as the name says, are Western but with a weird angle to it (diverse, fantasy, horror, etc.). Edited by KC Grifant and written by a large cast of diverse authors.

While this anthology falls more into the horror genre, there are a lot of fantastical elements in those stories. This was my first real Weird West book that I've read and I was really impressed. I thought, we’d get mostly those typical “cowboy stories” but instead, there were a lot of stories about Chinese immigrants or stories where Aztec culture comes into play or there are kelpies all of the sudden. There are so many different stories from so many different authors and the breadth and depth of this anthology is simply fantastic.

The one problem with anthologies like that is due to the variety of authors, you get stories or poems you don’t vibe with. I definitely had some I didn’t care for, but as a balance, those I enjoyed, I enjoyed a lot.

Anyway to sum it all up it was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed my time in the Weird West. It was also a quick read because most of the stories are relatively short.

Just disclaimer, I received an arc from the author with no expectation for a review. But once the book is out, I’ll get myself a paperback copy for my shelves ;)

[Stephanie Mikkelsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Brigids Gate Press for an advanced reader copy of this wonderfully weird and thought-provoking anthology.

Women of the Weird West is a reimagining of Western tales, where women and underrepresented populations are at the forefront, while the traditional cowboy takes a backseat or is left out altogether. Some works included elements of folktales from China, Ireland, and Mexico, while historical events inspired others. Many of the stories are truly creepy and disturbing, but they all give a sense of women’s empowerment and were very well written.

I loved that the setting was the thread that wove through each story or poem. Though the backdrop may have been the West, each work was uniquely different in tone, legend, and genre. The editor did a wonderful job of varying the type of writing (poem, short story, and drabble–100-word micro fiction), which propelled the anthology along. I also enjoyed the author’s notes at the end of most of the works, which gave each story a deeper meaning and explained some of the inspiration behind the creations.

Now that I have read them all, I will go back and reread many of them with the author’s notes in mind. I definitely have new authors to put on my TBR list!

[N.S. Ford · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review first appeared on my blog - https://nsfordwriter.com - on 3rd June 2026.

This collection of short stories and poetry is such a great idea. It brings new perspectives to the western genre, with a central focus on women, particularly women of colour, indigenous, queer, or from marginalised communities. The genre is horror and the supernatural, fused with the themes and styles traditionally found in westerns. The stories I particularly liked were 'My Darling, Clementine' by Cynthia Pelayo, 'The Divination of Demons' by Rebecca Rowland, 'The Stinger of Hellbinder Gulch' by Jendia Gammon, and 'Thirst Trap' by Jennifer Brody. Some were too violent or gruesome for me, but I think for readers who love both horror and westerns, it will be an ideal read. Although I'm more interested in weird fiction than westerns, I thought the collection as a whole was well-balanced, imaginative and inspiring. Every piece had a paragraph by the author which gave some perspective on their ideas. The introduction was very good, too. In summary, an enjoyable collection which I'd recommend if you want to read something different and unique.

[julia ⋆｡°✩ · Rating 4 out of 5]

The land will blind you if you’re ungrateful for your breaths.

That’s a hell of an opening for this niche little collection of poems and stories. Exploring women and gender-non conforming written westerns is something I’ve wanted to do for a while now and this was an excellent starter.

As a reader, I appreciate the care that was taken to allow each different culture and aspect their time to shine. The author’s notes also give some necessary background information which is helpful. I do wish there were more supernatural elements in each story, but I do enjoy the variety.

For me, the highlights were the first poem, Clementine, How to Kill a Yoaguai and Calico Sue. I adored these. I could read a whole novel about Calico Sue and her descent into madness in the plains.

Thank you to Brigids Gate Press and NetGalley for access to this e-arc. All opinions are my own and voluntarily given.

[Emily Casilli · Rating 3 out of 5]

These are a collection of very brief short stories. The editor left a note about how westerns lack organic female characters that aren’t the homestead wife or saloon girl. I very much agree with that and western stories need more of that, but regardless of the many authors intentions, these woman in the west stories still read as flat and that may have been because the stories are so brief. All the stories are a collection of weird little folk tales, but read very much as a genre standard to horror without having life. My rating of Women Of The Weird West isn’t based on it being bad, but more that wasn’t remarkable. The monotone of the stories also came off as many horrors written by men that lack character, stuck to 2 dimensional faces. I understand it is hard to pull that in off in a few pages story each, but it made this collect very dull aside from the creature feature aspect of the stories.

[Dustin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short story anthologies are usually a bit of a mixed bag by virtue of them having such a wide breadth of authors and styles. Women of the Weird West is no exception to this, and honestly, I'd say it's even more of a mixed bag than I'm used to.

There's some good stuff in here, for sure. However, the stories are very bog standard overall and didn't dive into the weirdness of the Weird West genre nearly as much as I would have liked. There are also quite a few poems interspersed between the short stories, and I unfortunately tend to have trouble really clicking with poetry.

"How to Kill A Yaoguai", "Bountiful Harvest", "The First Three Deaths of Briar Thrush", and "The Divination of Demons" are the standouts for me here, and I'd recommend giving those a read at least.

Thank you to NetGalley and Brigids Gate Press, LLC for the ARC!

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC of this book!*

What a fun collection of women centered western stories and poems with weird, supernatural or folkloric components. There are standard western stories and then others that stretch what western can mean (and these ended up being some of my favorites). I loved that most of the stories included an author's note about what inspired them to write it. Here are a few of my favorite selections from this book:

Showdown on Alpha V by Lisa Timpf
The Legend of Granny Needlesong by Christine Lucas
Twin Pistons by Tiffany Morris
A Fox in Sheep's Clothing by Grace Quon
The Divination of Demons by Rebecca Rowland
Fela'fela's War by Eugen Bacon
Valley of the Shadow by K. M. Chavez

[90'S Mukussi · Rating 4 out of 5]

What captivated me most about reading this book was its premise: Wild West, but make it Femme. And that's exactly what I got, with quite interesting perspectives despite the themes being rather uniform throughout the reading. And that says a lot. Especially when we see that the perspectives of different stories boil down to the same thing. It makes you think about how the Wild West is predominantly dominated by men, and how they themselves constitute the problem. Ironic. Nevertheless, I loved the perspectives of each woman represented in these short stories. But I have to say that Yelena, the grandmother, easily captured my heart with her balls of yarn.

[Brennan LaFaro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Women of the Weird West merges a variety of stories, both in length and setting, that delve into the horror of the old west. The table of contents brings together authors from diverse backgrounds, making for a fascinating mixture of experience and mythology that thread through each story.

Like many anthologies with such a tight theme, the book is best imbibed a story at a time and spread out for maximum enjoyment. Some stories are set in preexisting fictional worlds, and though they stand one their own, I couldn't help feeling as though I were missing out on certain elements.

Some standout stories include those by Angela Liu, Rebecca Rowland, RJ Joseph, and Steph Rabig.

[Holly Woosey · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I enjoyed the book well enough, it had some great stories in it and some really great premises that I would definitely like to explore more but I got a bit lost in the middle. Not sure if I was just running out of steam or the amount of stories was a bit overwhelming. Overall though I really enjoyed it and I always love reading about women focused stories, especially in such a male dominated genre (that doesn't include romance)

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some great, weird stories in here that evoke the west even if you've never been there. The writing was good, even if some of the stories didn't really come together for me in the end. I also appreciate that this collection focuses on women writers and women's stories.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher, for the ARC.

[ghoulhotline · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a huge fan of the westerns AND someone who is tired of how male-centered they are, this book hit the spot! There is a wonderful blend of writing styles, personal voices and cultural stories here. My stand-out favorite was How to Kill a Yoaguai (I could read a whole book about these sisters), but there are so many wonderful poems and stories in this collection!

[Caitlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, I think this collection is diverse and pretty inspired. Some stories stuck with me more than other but most were impactful. It's wonderful to think of westerns/gunslinging through a female dominated lens. I also enjoyed the variety of longer form stories to short poems.
3/5.
Thank you to NetGalley & Brigids Gate Press, LLC for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.