Cold Slither: and other horrors of the weird west

Dark Trails Saga

by David J. West

PORTER ROCKWELL - DEVIL OF A SAINT Blessed by a holy man, Porter Rockwell was promised that if he never cut his hair-no bullet nor blade could harm him-but nobody mentioned all of the supernatural dangers he would run across. Ride along with Porter and the brilliant damsels not-so-in-distress that lend a helping hand as he faces off against sorcery and desperadoes, myth and legend, demons and dark gods. COLD SLITHER is the ultimate collection of weird western tales featuring Porter Rockwell, as only the master of literary pulp, David J. West, can write him. Spine-tingling horror and grim-dark humor go hand in hand with six-shooters in these adventures thru the old west. Praise for David J. West: "David J. West has created a fascinating and fun amalgam of fact and fiction," -. Dr. Michael R. Collings "combines an excellent prose style with a brilliant imagination to give us a solid collection of wonderful stories," - W. H. Pugmire "a strong voice in the field of Sword & Sorcery. His work is evocative, featuring deftly drawn characters, exotic locales and energetic tale spinning." - Bruce Durham "and he just keeps getting better," - Amazing Stories

Genres: Weird West, Anthologies, Westerns, Fiction, Horror

252 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 20, 2016

Reviews

[Sean Cameron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cold Slither is a collection of supernatural western stories starring Porter Rockwell, a real life cowboy who's myth-like story - blessed by a religious leader that he can't be hurt by bullet or blade - is used by the author to create a comic book like anti-hero. A man with special powers, his only weakness? A haircut... as long as his hair isn't cut he's safe. A sort of 19th century Samson... with guns... and monsters!

Throughout the book Porter takes on Werewolves, flying monsters, and other beasts. Author David J West makes these old monsters fresh with a western setting and engrossing flights. You'll get so into the nitty gritty of Rockwell's battles with monsters you'll completely buy the concept.

Having learnt a bit more about the real Rockwell it's fun to spot little easter eggs or see the nugget of truth that West used for his stories but the series works without needing to know anything about the man.

I chose to read each short story between serious non-fiction books so it was always a nice palette cleanser. In that amount of time I see West has written several more books about Rockwell so its great for people that like to binge read a series.

[C.T. Phipps · Rating 4 out of 5]

Travel back in time to the 19th century and discover a weird west world full of more cultists, zombies, and blood-drinking Aztec gods than Deadlands and Jonah Hex's bastard brothers. Mormon Danite and Orrin Porter Rockwell are the two unlucky souls who are constantly on the run from horrors beyond imagination. Despite this, the book is mostly pure fun with everything from T-Rexes to Jackalopes. You won't be disappointed with this work.

One thing I respect in this book is that it has a strong sense of humor without ever really diluting the drama. The characters find themselves in ridiculous situations but this doesn't mean the situation is treated as ridiculous. Instead, it's all played horrifyingly straight and that adds a lot of flavor. It's a bit like The Evil Dead or Return of the Living Dead movies in that respect--only with Kurt Russell-esque characters.

[Paul McNamee · Rating 5 out of 5]

David J. West has created his own Weird Western niche by crafting tales of the historic figure, Porter Rockwell. West weaves Native American myths, monsters, legends, tall tales, and touches of cryptozoology and lost civilizations into a fun and original tapestry. Rockwell strides through this collection of stories. Not to be missed if you're a fan of Weird West tales, action, wry humor, and monsters.

[Brian Skinner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cold slither is an appropriate name for this collection of Mormon old west supernatural pulp fiction. I gave it 4 stars because this genre isn't supposed to be rated high. It isn't high art but it provided plenty of entertainment and laughs. I think I did actually give "King Solomon's mines" 5 stars but that was because of the added entertainment from the racism, sexism and a complete lack of morality when it came to shooting big game animals. No modern author will be able to get away with such a feat so David J West did the next best thing. This is a fine collection of stories. I did have an issue with the grammar in the second to last story though. The idiosyncratic nature made it hard for me to follow. Most of that was just me though since I do not focus well while reading fiction. I think my favorite of the stories was the first one followed by the one about the Bear Lake monster.

[David Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two of my favorite reads western and horror combined! I really like the stories, I know some of the folklore David Writes about and it was fun to read about them in this book. I'll be reading more of David J. West's books.

[Nathan Shumate · Rating 4 out of 5]

If Robert E. Howard had been born Mormon, these are the stories he would have written.