Skull Full of Spurs

by Richard Laymon, Brian Hodge, Jason Bovberg

Skull Full of Spurs: A Roundup of Weird Westerns is a gorgeously produced limited numbered edition (1000 copies), with cover art by Allen G. Douglas and an introduction by Norman Partridge. Following each story is a complete bibliography of the author, including books and short stories -- an indispensable reference for the genre collector.

Genres: Horror, Westerns, Short Stories

245 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2000

About the author

Richard Laymon was born in Chicago and grew up in California. He earned a BA in English Literature from Willamette University, Oregon and an MA from Loyola University, Los Angeles. He worked as a schoolteacher, a librarian, and a report writer for a law firm, and was the author of more than thirty acclaimed novels.

He also published more than sixty short stories in magazines such as Ellery Queen, Alfred Hitchcock, and Cavalier, and in anthologies including Modern Masters of Horror.

He died from a massive heart attack on February 14, 2001 (Valentine's Day).

Also published under the name Richard Kelly

Reviews

[Himmel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! Just wow! A wonderful gathering of short stories of the weird west. Every story is worth the read. I'm sad its over and would love to have another volume by these authors. This book defines was it a "good read."

[Sean Carlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable anthology of campfire tales from the crypt. Standout stories (for me) included Adam-Troy Castro's "The Magic Bullet Theory," Lawrence Walsh's "The Devil's Crapper," and Richard Laymon's "The Hangman."

The Weird Western is such a fertile genre, Skull Full of Spurs makes me wonder why there aren't more collections like this (out-of-print) book. (I am looking forward to reading Alex Grecian's recently released Red Rabbit.) My copy of this limited-edition release is numbered 193 of 1,000.

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you can pick a copy up, get it. Incredible anthology containing many stories from 'underground' authors such as Ed Lee.

[Trevor Oakley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this one primarily for the Laymon and Ketchum stories, but enjoyed most of the other tales!

[Gregor]

Great Book

[Eric Peacock · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like any anthology this one had some stories that were better than others, but it ends on such a truly terrible story that I had to dock it a star