What do you think?
Rate this book
The Hungry Snow
Mercer is back, and this time, faces an evil as old as the hills.
Limited number of stitch sewn bound chapbooks of an unpublished story from legend Joe R. Lansdale featuring the Reverend Jedidiah Mercer.
Limited number of stitch sewn bound chapbooks of an unpublished story from legend Joe R. Lansdale featuring the Reverend Jedidiah Mercer.
61 pages, Chapbook
Published July 1, 2021
49 people want to read
About the author
Joe R. Lansdale
818 books3,893 followersChampion Mojo Storyteller Joe R. Lansdale is the author of over forty novels and numerous short stories. His work has appeared in national anthologies, magazines, and collections, as well as numerous foreign publications. He has written for comics, television, film, newspapers, and Internet sites. His work has been collected in more than two dozen short-story collections, and he has edited or co-edited over a dozen anthologies. He has received the Edgar Award, eight Bram Stoker Awards, the Horror Writers Association Lifetime Achievement Award, the British Fantasy Award, the Grinzani Cavour Prize for Literature, the Herodotus Historical Fiction Award, the Inkpot Award for Contributions to Science Fiction and Fantasy, and many others. His novella Bubba Ho-Tep was adapted to film by Don Coscarelli, starring Bruce Campbell and Ossie Davis. His story "Incident On and Off a Mountain Road" was adapted to film for Showtime's "Masters of Horror," and he adapted his short story "Christmas with the Dead" to film hisownself. The film adaptation of his novel Cold in July was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, and the Sundance Channel has adapted his Hap & Leonard novels for television.
He is currently co-producing several films, among them The Bottoms, based on his Edgar Award-winning novel, with Bill Paxton and Brad Wyman, and The Drive-In, with Greg Nicotero. He is Writer In Residence at Stephen F. Austin State University, and is the founder of the martial arts system Shen Chuan: Martial Science and its affiliate, Shen Chuan Family System. He is a member of both the United States and International Martial Arts Halls of Fame. He lives in Nacogdoches, Texas with his wife, dog, and two cats.
He is currently co-producing several films, among them The Bottoms, based on his Edgar Award-winning novel, with Bill Paxton and Brad Wyman, and The Drive-In, with Greg Nicotero. He is Writer In Residence at Stephen F. Austin State University, and is the founder of the martial arts system Shen Chuan: Martial Science and its affiliate, Shen Chuan Family System. He is a member of both the United States and International Martial Arts Halls of Fame. He lives in Nacogdoches, Texas with his wife, dog, and two cats.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
August 7, 2021
Reverend Jedidiah Mercer is a bad ass. If I were foolish enough to be out in the wilderness during a wicked snowstorm, I’d want someone like Mercer helping me to survive. In this story, he has to keep one eye on a group of weary, starving travelers and one eye on a mysterious, murderous beast. This has Lansdale’s sharp, witty storytelling all over it. I had a good time
July 22, 2021
If the Hateful Eight were trapped in a cave and hungry as all get out, with a monster blocking their path.
I don't know what it is about cannibalism in film and books, but I find it highly entertaining. Toss Lansdale into the mix, and it's the perfect blend.
I don't know what it is about cannibalism in film and books, but I find it highly entertaining. Toss Lansdale into the mix, and it's the perfect blend.
July 17, 2021
The reverend Jedidiah Mercer is one of my favorite characters, and in this novelette he battles with a Wendigo on a frozen mountain pass. It's a quick, fun read in Lansdale's wonderfully pulpy style with lots of action and snappy dialog. The illustrations by Timothy Truman are creepy and delightful. It's a beautiful little chapbook with a sewn binding, each copy numbered and limited to 500. Highly recommended for fans of Joe R. Lansdale's western horror tales.
July 19, 2021
A quick, fun read expanding on Lansdale’s Reverend Mercer. It’s also very palatable for readers unfamiliar with that character. The spin on the wendigo mythos hinges on Lansdale’s vivid and unique descriptions of the monster. Cinematic and unlike any other wendigo imagery I’ve read. This book doesn’t skimp on the gore and Lansdale fans will love every minute.
December 25, 2022
A fantastic, well-written tale about the return of the Reverend Jedediah Mercer. Lansdale's writing shows him to be at the peak of his powers here.
August 14, 2021
Joe R. Lansdale's writing is a drug. Pick a book, collection, short story, or any of his other mile-long list of writing he's done and you'll know why I say that. Let's jump right into this limited (500 copies) chap book, though.
The Hungry Snow introduces a character Lansdale has written about before. I'm sure plenty of other reviewers cover how much they loved The Reverend and how great it was to read this reoccurring character. I certainly heard the excitement from fellow readers within my circle of friends. For me, this was my introduction to The Reverend. Get down to it, through and through, he's a badass. Uses his words in short measure unless needing to unload a bit more to get the job done. Same can be said about his marksmanship.
This is a fantastic woven blanket of horror, western, and mythology. When you figure out what the title stands for, at least for me, it thrilled me to no end. I re-read too many paragraphs to remember how many times in total I did that, for the simple fact of how much I was utterly fixated and awestruck by the words Lansdale strings together. From the way he describes a bad guy getting a third eye from The Reverend's silver-coated bullet, to the way a creature that finally comes into full view for the reader and characters are described, all the way to the climatic battle between good vs. evil is simply a master doing what he does best.
What lives within that evil creature, what happens at the end of the battle... I hope those images never leave my head. I literally re-read those pages due to how incredibly beautiful everything pieced together. I want that experience again. I want to relive a story like that for the first time. Lucky for me I have another Reverend story to dive into, but back to Lansdale's writing being a drug. He gave me a small taste. A sample. He knew what he was doing, as did the publisher (Death's Head Press). I need that high again, and if and when Lansdale releases another title with DHP, I'll fight to be one of the first in line.
The Hungry Snow also did something really cool that most others have yet to achieve. It's pulling me into a need to fill my brain with Westerns: the weird, the gritty, the straight-up wild wild west ones, I want 'em all! Lansdale, along with authors such as Ronald Kelly, are offering me the chance to appreciate a genre my Papa and father loved so much when they were my age. What more can you ask for than that from a book?
The Hungry Snow introduces a character Lansdale has written about before. I'm sure plenty of other reviewers cover how much they loved The Reverend and how great it was to read this reoccurring character. I certainly heard the excitement from fellow readers within my circle of friends. For me, this was my introduction to The Reverend. Get down to it, through and through, he's a badass. Uses his words in short measure unless needing to unload a bit more to get the job done. Same can be said about his marksmanship.
This is a fantastic woven blanket of horror, western, and mythology. When you figure out what the title stands for, at least for me, it thrilled me to no end. I re-read too many paragraphs to remember how many times in total I did that, for the simple fact of how much I was utterly fixated and awestruck by the words Lansdale strings together. From the way he describes a bad guy getting a third eye from The Reverend's silver-coated bullet, to the way a creature that finally comes into full view for the reader and characters are described, all the way to the climatic battle between good vs. evil is simply a master doing what he does best.
What lives within that evil creature, what happens at the end of the battle... I hope those images never leave my head. I literally re-read those pages due to how incredibly beautiful everything pieced together. I want that experience again. I want to relive a story like that for the first time. Lucky for me I have another Reverend story to dive into, but back to Lansdale's writing being a drug. He gave me a small taste. A sample. He knew what he was doing, as did the publisher (Death's Head Press). I need that high again, and if and when Lansdale releases another title with DHP, I'll fight to be one of the first in line.
The Hungry Snow also did something really cool that most others have yet to achieve. It's pulling me into a need to fill my brain with Westerns: the weird, the gritty, the straight-up wild wild west ones, I want 'em all! Lansdale, along with authors such as Ronald Kelly, are offering me the chance to appreciate a genre my Papa and father loved so much when they were my age. What more can you ask for than that from a book?
August 25, 2021
Let's see, what would be on my checklist of literary badassery... Cannibalism. Check. Gunslinging. Check. Ancient Demons. Check. Bad Men Getting Their Just Desserts. Check. Any story with Reverend Mercer. Check.
The Hungry Snow is the sad tale of a group of travelers caught in a cave by a blizzard and ... something else. Luckily for them, monster-slayer Reverend Mercer mistakenly takes the same "shortcut" (when will they learn?) and ends up just as trapped. With revolvers loaded with the wrath of the Lord, Mercer is infinitely more equipped to battle for his life and the lives of his adopted flock.
It's a short, entertaining tale that furthers the legend of Reverend Mercer and Lansdale's ability to drop us into a story, mules flying and guns blazing. Yeah, the mules fly. Sort of. I love the characters, setting, lore and the story. Recommended reading.
The Hungry Snow is the sad tale of a group of travelers caught in a cave by a blizzard and ... something else. Luckily for them, monster-slayer Reverend Mercer mistakenly takes the same "shortcut" (when will they learn?) and ends up just as trapped. With revolvers loaded with the wrath of the Lord, Mercer is infinitely more equipped to battle for his life and the lives of his adopted flock.
It's a short, entertaining tale that furthers the legend of Reverend Mercer and Lansdale's ability to drop us into a story, mules flying and guns blazing. Yeah, the mules fly. Sort of. I love the characters, setting, lore and the story. Recommended reading.
August 1, 2021
My favorite Lansdale character is Reverend Mercer. For the longest time my favorite book in the world was Dead in the West, which introduced the Reverend to the world. I rejoice every time I read another story about him, and this is one of the best. The Reverend versus a Wendigo? Very nice. Throw in a bunch of cannibalism with the usual Lansdale voice, and it's pure gold. This is a lot of fun. Read it now!
August 23, 2021
I've read a lot of Lansdale's comic work, but I think this may be my first of his prose (shocking considering how prolific he is.) Overall, I dug it. Pretty cool treatment of the Wendigo and I love this "Reverend" character who travels in the same lane as Solomon Kane. And not to mention the excellent design and production by Tim Truman and Death's Head Press. I'll be looking for more of Lansdale's work in this vein.
July 20, 2023
Pure, frosty pulp served with a side of shiny, wet gristle.
A master of genre just throwing off an exclusive chapbook because he can.
Unbelievably readable and evocative. Just the right amounts of sudden violence and urgent scares.
Like THE HATEFUL EIGHT meets The Donner Party with a heaping helping of Fessenden.
You'll fly through the pages like someone had lit a match under you. To stave off the cold, of course.
Not because of a Wendigo or anything.
Not at all.
A master of genre just throwing off an exclusive chapbook because he can.
Unbelievably readable and evocative. Just the right amounts of sudden violence and urgent scares.
Like THE HATEFUL EIGHT meets The Donner Party with a heaping helping of Fessenden.
You'll fly through the pages like someone had lit a match under you. To stave off the cold, of course.
Not because of a Wendigo or anything.
Not at all.
March 20, 2023
A short but gripping adventure in the vein of Robert E. Howard’s Solomon Kane, with the added grim humor of Joe R. Lansdale. A sublime blend of Lansdale’s western and pulp sensibilities. Whether you’ve been reading the adventures of The Reverend since Dead in the West or are brand new to the character, this story is sure to delight.
July 17, 2021
An excellent short story of Reverend Mercer. I love Lansdale's take on the Wendigo and his writing is superb as always.
This Death's Head Press edition is very cool with the hand stitching.
This Death's Head Press edition is very cool with the hand stitching.
August 6, 2021
Fun l, fast pace ride through a winter storms and a wendigo. Always a fun story with the Reverend
October 13, 2021
Entertaining short story where the reverand meets a trapped party on a snowy mountain and has a wendigo to contend with. A fun read!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 1, 2022
An excellent quick read for a Winter’s night. Classic Lansdale writing as usual for the Reverend. Loved the big bad in this little story.
July 6, 2022
A really short, enjoyable western horror story starring a character that I gather Lansdale has written before. I'm going to have to hunt down the others.
August 13, 2021
Joe Lansdale is a certified master of the Weird West. This story is very tense and you can really feel the chill of the snowy mountains seep into your bones. The dwindling fire is some comfort, but not much. The ever present hunger is as much a character as the people trapped in the mountains. This is a delightfully twisted tale presented in a perfectly styled chapbook with exposed stitching and art by the incomparable Timothy Truman.
November 6, 2021
Joe Lansdale has become a comfort read for me. His writing is so prolific and varied that you can always find something to fit your current mood and never be disappointed. Bring on more Lansdale!
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews