Weird Westerns discussion

Was it a book? A comic? A movie?

The answer might depend on how you define weird western. I read The Gunslinger in high school, definitely weird, but long before that I was watching spaghetti westerns. I argue that those movies are treading into weird western territory. Staying with Clint, there's the obvious vengeful spirit of High Plains Drifter, and the implied vengeful spirit of Pale Rider. But even before all of those I remember a great Twilight Zone episode called The Grave with Lee Marvin. It was short and sweet like most Twilight Zones. But it had a great creepy feel and a spooky payoff. I reckon I was eight or nine the first time I saw that one. What about the rest of you lot?

It was probably Jonah Hex: Two-Gun Mojo. Then The Gunslinger. Then the weird western floodgates opened...

Weird West has kinda been floating around my entire life. Grew up with BraveStarr, and Galaxy Rangers, then COWboys of Moo Mesa, move on to Briso County Jr, Jonah Hex (comics LONG before the movie), on to Firefly... but most recently it's been Mike Reznick's Weird West Tales that's really got me ravenous for everything Weird Western.

I'm pretty new to the weird western genre and am loving it :) Read plenty of straight westerns in the past, but technically my first weird western was The Gunslinger. I'm probably alone here in the fact that I, um, didn't like it. The one that really got me hooked was Merkabah Rider: Tales of a High Planes Drifter :)

Liz wrote: "I'm pretty new to the weird western genre and am loving it :) Read plenty of straight westerns in the past, but technically my first weird western was The Gunslinger. I'm probably alone here in the..."

Love the Merkabah Rider!

I've seen Jonah Hex but I haven't really read a weird western yet. Since I wrote one I have been wanting to read one to compare and to really expand my enjoyment because they all sound so interesting.

Loved "Wild Wild West" when I was a kid. Graphic novels like "Jonah Hex" and "A Man Named Hawken" really set their hooks in me. I just bought the BlueRay release of "High Plains Drifter" and can't wait to watch it again.

Loved Wild Wild West! I watched it in the UHF days...channel 43wuab in Cleveland. How's that for dating myself?

It's still on sometimes on MeTv. I've only caught one episode but want to watch more if I can find the time it's on.

When I was a kid, I never really equated WWW as a mashup. It was just a fun Western with a twist, with all this, well, weird stuff going on. As much as I admired James West, I always wanted to be Artemus when I grew up. He was such a cool character.

My first Weird West experience was definitely The Gunslinger (trilogy, at the time). I don't really know how often I re-read them waiting for book four to appear. I dip into mainstream western fiction as well, though, and I'd argue that at least some of Cormac McCarthy's is weird west, even if he is generally viewed as a "literary" author. Blood Meridian is one of my favourite novels.

I've had that discussion about Cormac McCarthy more than once. Most of what he writes are more like dark fairy tales. I've heard people complain that in Blood Meridian, the Judge was just "too unbelievable". Well, yeah...if you assume he's human. I think it's pretty clear he's not.

Grew up watching Spaghetti Western and watching the old TV serials with my dad, Gunsmoke, Have Gun, Will Travel, etc., and reading a HUGE box of Louis L'amore book by grandfather gave me.

Trying to think of my first Weird Western, though, and it was probably the Gunslinger. I don't really consider the others in that series to be weird, except for Wizard and Glass and Wolves of the Callah, and Wizard and Glass just bored me all to hell.

I really dig the Merkabah series, too.

It would have been the Jonah Hex comics. The originals weren't as weird as the later stuff by Lansdale, but even the old series was unusual by western standards.

Back to the Future 3 and The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr got me started. Years later, I remember Wild Wild West hitting theaters but I never actually watched it til it was on cable years later.

But then, in 2007, I read The Gunslinger. That changed everything. I became ravenous. I don't know how but I found out about the Merkabah Rider series and ended up becoming friends with Ed as well.

And now I'm working on putting out my own!

It's a shame for a Bruce Campbell fan to admit, but I didn't see Brisco County until about a year ago. I watched the whole series on DVD and absolutely loved it.

Good luck in the publishing venture!

No shame. It was a Fox show afterall and it was probably practice for firefly.

Another one that borders on the weird frontier, for movies, was Tremors. Least til the 4th one when they went full tilt.

Cowboy Bebop. I loved that show, though it's been a while since I've seen it. In some ways Star Wars, at least Han Solo to me is a cowboy in a spaceship, but it's also fantasy with Jedi and light sabers. I loved the Gunslinger, but need to read the other books in the series.

I think my first weird western was the Deadlands RPG, which came out around the time The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. was on (the copy of the game book I had even had a forward from Bruce Campbell, so for me a cool cross promotion), and aside from The Gunslinger I hadn't seen much of the genre until the somewhat recent explosion of authors writing weird westerns.

I'm glad it's becoming a bigger thing. And much more organically than steampunk's explosion a few years ago.

Hi I'm new names Andy. The gunslinger was the first I can remember and now it's become an obsession! I just finished six-gun tarot it's worth reading. Next I think is Portlandtown what do you guys think of that one?

I haven't read that one. Six-Gun Tarot is on my list though

You know that book drew me in with a coyote deputy and I sheriff with rope marks on his neck. It reminded me of hang'em high

That's a worthwhile comparison.

Ya damn right it is! Clint Eastwood comparison to Rowland is the reason I read the dark tower series. Although six-gun turns out to be more then expected. What's your favorite? I mean hands down can't be disputed best weird west?

Hey Andrew, welcome to the Group! *Tips my hat to Ashe ...I would say The Dark Tower would have to be my favorite as far as novels go, but my all time favorite Weird West material are the Jonah Hex comics. They were really ahead of their time looking back now.

Yeah Jonah hex is pretty much the coolest thing since the iceberg that sank the titanic lol

Hands down favorite is a tie for me. The Dark Tower series set me on the path and holds me tight years later. Then there's the Merkabah Ridr series by Edward M. Erdelac. It doesn't hurt that I became friends with Ed and he's a super cool dude either but his series is ridiculously good. I've joked that I'm his hype man haha.

Iv been considering reading that one! I only just heard about it! Yeah the dark tower series was a defining moment in my life. I was a part time reader maybe a couple of books a year but when I read those I became a full time reader. Still to this day when someone at work does something good I tell them that there a gunslinger! That's the ultimate complement in my eyes lol

Definitely read the Rider series. I can't say enough good things about it.

Done and done thanks man

Andrew! Small world my friend!

And hey, if you wanna go the extra mile, you could check out tthe kickstarter for my book on my profile.

I still got 12 hours!

I'll check it out if I can find it lol help direct me to it idk what it even is

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...

Hello folks! My name is Paul Wargelin and I am new to the Weird Western group, having discovered it when Ed Erdelec was kind enough to mention my work to Ashe Armstrong on Facebook. This discussion looked like a good place to introduce myself.

I think my first Weird Western was the film Timerider: The Adventure of Lyle Swann followed by Clint Eastwood's High Plains Drifter and Pale Rider, and Stephen King's first three Dark Tower novels. But it wasn't until I read Joe Lansdale's and Tim Truman's Jonah Hex: Two-Gun Mojo comic book that I really embraced the genre and tried my hand at writing my own weird western stories.

I look forward to chatting about Weird Westerns, sharing recommendations, and discussing ways we can raise the profile of this fun genre. :-)

Have you written any weird westerns?

I have. Am I allowed to post about it here? I don't want to overstep my bounds while I'm still figuring out the etiquette of the group.

This group seems super laid back although there are some nazi out there

I have a short story collection titled Twisted Tumbleweed Tales, featuring eighteen stories. Here is the Goodreads page: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

Ha it looks awesome! Santa being hunted! Haha

Thanks!

Lol your welcome! I'll probably pick that up once I'm done with your friend eds series (one book left :/ )

Paul your book sounds wonderfully absurd and interesting. I just added it to my to-reads list.

Thank you Andrew and Justin!

Welcome to the group, Paul. Your book sounds wonderfully twisted!

Thank you John!

Oh, hey, welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard Paul!

Thank you Ashe and Quentin!