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West of Innsmouth: A Cthulhu Western
Bounty hunter Shooter searches the badlands of 1880s Kansas for four outlaws—the “Dreams Made Flesh” minions born of the fleeting thoughts of Cthulhu—and manages to shoot one, but the outlaw’s corpse vanishes to leave only he shot bullet after bullet, but never reloaded, and his gun was icy cold.
In Dodge City he meets up with Bat Masterson, Doc Holiday, and Wyatt Earp, employing the powers of the Esoteric Order of Dagon to kill the four Dreams before they attract undue attention to the Church’s own attempts to awaken the Master. The shootout at the OK Corral will decide the victor—and possibly the fate of humanity.
A unique mash-up blending two of America’s favorite literary genres—the western and the Cthulhu Mythos—with a dash of Japanese ninja for added zest, brought to life with the humor and bold imagination that made his Vampire Hunter D series such a success in English translation.
In Dodge City he meets up with Bat Masterson, Doc Holiday, and Wyatt Earp, employing the powers of the Esoteric Order of Dagon to kill the four Dreams before they attract undue attention to the Church’s own attempts to awaken the Master. The shootout at the OK Corral will decide the victor—and possibly the fate of humanity.
A unique mash-up blending two of America’s favorite literary genres—the western and the Cthulhu Mythos—with a dash of Japanese ninja for added zest, brought to life with the humor and bold imagination that made his Vampire Hunter D series such a success in English translation.
- GenresHorror
253 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 22, 2021
The Cthulhu Mythos as seen by Eastern eyes, specifically the same mind that gave us the very fun Vampire Hunter D. Gunslingers and ninjas, real-world cowboys and the Esoteric Order of Dagon. This is a collection of short stories and I liked all of them and really loved most of them. This was a fun read.
August 22, 2022
I absolutely love the idea of a Lovecraftian western. Too bad this wasn't one. Now, this is only my second translated to English novel, so I don't have much experience with different culture's writing styles, not in novel form anyway. However, I can't say this novel was very well written.
West of Innsmouth is about a Gunslinger named Shooter who meets a ninja named Shinobi (yeah their names are literally their jobs). Who set off on a journey to find and kill 4 men who are "Dreams?" of Cthulhu . . . despite Shooter being a member of the Esoteric Order of Dagon . . . which apparently serves Cthulhu, and you know, not Dagon . . . but are trying to kill Cthulhu's dreams . . . on his order . . . but it's established later that they're trying to resurrect Cthuhlu and that one of the four men is necessary to do that . . . which they don't find out until towards the end of the book . . . despite the four men being Cthuhlu's dreams . . .
Yeah, the book didn't established it's borrowed lore very well, and where I appreciate all the old gunslinger cameo's they felt more tacked on to the story than actual representations of them.
Paula's character was horribly inconsistent, going from a weepy frightened woman one second to snapping at Shooter the next, and her addition to the story felt more like a forced excuse for the men to drag a female character along. There was also this poorly integrated scene about halfway through the book where they take shelter in an abandoned town with some soldiers, and she saves the life of a dying man who she confesses to Shooter looks like her long lost brother. But there was absolutely nothing mentioned about him before, and their reunion is over with before they even make this revelation that is then quickly forgotten about.
Shinobi could have been a decent character if he had more of a presence then Ninja-who-does-ninja-things-just-to-confuse-the-main-protagonist. And Shooter was just awful.
The author clearly loved western cowboy movies and I suspect he wanted Shooter to be one of those gruff lawless men who still had a heart under all that cool exterior, but just like Paula, his character was written inconsistently, and toward the end when he starts to question his loyalty to the Order, it comes out of nowhere and it makes him out to be stupid. I quote.
Like, what were you expecting Shooter? I know people sometimes get into things that don't turn out how they expected or they change their minds after certain experiences, but this makes it seem like some bro asked Shooter to come kill a guy with him, Shooter went, and then as his bros about to kill the guy Shooter suddenly exclaims "Oh my gosh, this guys about to kill somebody." Like no shit sherlock. You bowed down to a dangerous elder being who kills people. What kind of world did you think you were going to get?
One of the things that made Lovecraft's stories so enticing was the mystery of it all. I've read a number of his short stories and they're kind of hit or miss for me, but I get how that wonderful aura of mystery can pull you in.
Making Shooter into a worshiper of Cthulhu kind of ruined everything Lovecraftian about the story. Some people's insides are sucked out of their bodies, a giant octopus head can be seen on the horizon, blah, blah. But Shooter's a worshiper. He knows things. We don't stumble into the horrible events with a naïve protagonist and share his fear. It's just a gunslinger on a bounty hunt who has confusing conversations with random people and drops vague hints throughout to book as to his business.
I was really looking forward to this one, but I guess it just didn't have the depth or mystery that I wanted.
West of Innsmouth is about a Gunslinger named Shooter who meets a ninja named Shinobi (yeah their names are literally their jobs). Who set off on a journey to find and kill 4 men who are "Dreams?" of Cthulhu . . . despite Shooter being a member of the Esoteric Order of Dagon . . . which apparently serves Cthulhu, and you know, not Dagon . . . but are trying to kill Cthulhu's dreams . . . on his order . . . but it's established later that they're trying to resurrect Cthuhlu and that one of the four men is necessary to do that . . . which they don't find out until towards the end of the book . . . despite the four men being Cthuhlu's dreams . . .
Yeah, the book didn't established it's borrowed lore very well, and where I appreciate all the old gunslinger cameo's they felt more tacked on to the story than actual representations of them.
Paula's character was horribly inconsistent, going from a weepy frightened woman one second to snapping at Shooter the next, and her addition to the story felt more like a forced excuse for the men to drag a female character along. There was also this poorly integrated scene about halfway through the book where they take shelter in an abandoned town with some soldiers, and she saves the life of a dying man who she confesses to Shooter looks like her long lost brother. But there was absolutely nothing mentioned about him before, and their reunion is over with before they even make this revelation that is then quickly forgotten about.
Shinobi could have been a decent character if he had more of a presence then Ninja-who-does-ninja-things-just-to-confuse-the-main-protagonist. And Shooter was just awful.
The author clearly loved western cowboy movies and I suspect he wanted Shooter to be one of those gruff lawless men who still had a heart under all that cool exterior, but just like Paula, his character was written inconsistently, and toward the end when he starts to question his loyalty to the Order, it comes out of nowhere and it makes him out to be stupid. I quote.
"I believed in the future you would bring. I denied civilization, denied life itself, to help build a new way- a way of death. We carried out our rituals with joy. But, I have seen the death you bring. The death of men, women, children. Only their empty skins remaining. Is this the world I have been seeking? The end I have worked to bring? The sky burning red, and screaming masses of humanity pulled beyond the horizon to the foot of a mad god?"
Like, what were you expecting Shooter? I know people sometimes get into things that don't turn out how they expected or they change their minds after certain experiences, but this makes it seem like some bro asked Shooter to come kill a guy with him, Shooter went, and then as his bros about to kill the guy Shooter suddenly exclaims "Oh my gosh, this guys about to kill somebody." Like no shit sherlock. You bowed down to a dangerous elder being who kills people. What kind of world did you think you were going to get?
One of the things that made Lovecraft's stories so enticing was the mystery of it all. I've read a number of his short stories and they're kind of hit or miss for me, but I get how that wonderful aura of mystery can pull you in.
Making Shooter into a worshiper of Cthulhu kind of ruined everything Lovecraftian about the story. Some people's insides are sucked out of their bodies, a giant octopus head can be seen on the horizon, blah, blah. But Shooter's a worshiper. He knows things. We don't stumble into the horrible events with a naïve protagonist and share his fear. It's just a gunslinger on a bounty hunt who has confusing conversations with random people and drops vague hints throughout to book as to his business.
I was really looking forward to this one, but I guess it just didn't have the depth or mystery that I wanted.
April 1, 2024
pretty Good Fun
This is a bit of fun, and although the storyline sags here and there-I enjoyed it. This novel is a translation, and I think that’s why it doesn’t always flow as well as it could. Still, it was a fun read.
This is a bit of fun, and although the storyline sags here and there-I enjoyed it. This novel is a translation, and I think that’s why it doesn’t always flow as well as it could. Still, it was a fun read.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews