Hey, cowpokes! I have returned with another Western post. For this one, I decided to focus on the horror/weird story in Western settings. The combination of the weird tale and the Western has been around for over a hundred years, but it is still the odd one out when it comes to standard Western fiction. All the same, that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have some standout performances. I’ll share some of my favorites with you.
“The Guns of William Longley” by Donald Hamilton. Best known for his Matt Helm spy novels, Donald Hamilton also wrote his share of Western fiction. This story appeared in a Fawcett Gold Medal collection that he edited called Iron Men and Silver Stars. This story is about a young rogue who returns home and is gifted with a pair of guns once owned by an outlaw who was rumored to have been hung twice. The supernatural element is hinted at and gives a sense of unease at the end, but works great for a story of this caliber. It won Hamilton his only Spur award (Spurs are to Western writers what Edgars and Stokers are to mystery and horror writers).
Loren D. Estleman is a writer who I’ve started to explore more extensively and so far, everything I’ve read by him is good. I recently read The Bandit and Other Best Western Stories, which is an update of his best short Western fiction collection published in the late 80s. In it, we have two stories that are really special. “Hell on the Draw” is about a man who had hung up six-gun years before and returns to his hometown only to realize that the Devil in human form has taken control of most of it, and it’s up to the hero to restore order. The story is rife with references to the Devil in classic literature (extra points to whoever understands the mentions of Marlowe, Dante, Milton, and Virgil in this story) and wraps up with an abrupt but satisfying resolution. “The Alchemist” is a polished and wonderful tale about Pat Garrett being haunted by the ghost of Billy the Kid. He seeks out the last person in a line of alchemists to provide him with a cure. This story is brilliantly handled (also the winner of a Spur award). This story was apparently expanded into a novel called Journey of the Dead, which I plan on reading soon.
“Nights of Terror” by Steve Frazee. Frazee made a name for himself for writing numerous Westerns. This one was the title story of one of his short story collections about a rancher who is investigating some rustling on his land and realizes that an enormous creature is killing people. While not supernatural, this one had a good mystery aspect to it and some great atmosphere for psychological terror.
Great Ghost Stories of the Old West edited by Betty Baker was an interesting, if uneven collection. Some of the best stories from this one include “The Ghost Wolf of Thunder Mountain” by Will Henry about a spectral wolf that is the harbinger of death and its presence ruins the life of man who was the pillar of his community. “Johnny Rode the Ghost Train” by Phoebe and Todhunter Ballard is about a young man lost in the desert who miraculously survives and arrives at his destination with baffling timing. “The Hexer” by Thomas Thompson reminds me a few chapters from Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn about a conjuring man who must undo a hex that some boys put on their brother.
Lastly, I’ll mention “All Our Hearts Are Ghosts” by Peter Atkins. He not only wrote screenplays to great movies like Wishmaster and Hellbound: Hellraiser II, but he is also an accomplished short story writer as you can see from this story from his collection All Our Hearts Are Ghosts. This story takes place in 1933 when a production assistant to a film studio befriends a Western villain actor who is seeking revenge on the man who wronged the woman he loved. The duel in the end is slightly on the supernatural side, but ultimately, the story is a tragedy about two lives tainted by an evil man.
I’m still exploring this side of Western short fiction and I’ll be glad to share when I have more to talk about. I still have several stories/books in the pipeline to read, so come back some other time.
Written by Nick Montelongo
“The Guns of William Longley” by Donald Hamilton. Best known for his Matt Helm spy novels, Donald Hamilton also wrote his share of Western fiction. This story appeared in a Fawcett Gold Medal collection that he edited called Iron Men and Silver Stars. This story is about a young rogue who returns home and is gifted with a pair of guns once owned by an outlaw who was rumored to have been hung twice. The supernatural element is hinted at and gives a sense of unease at the end, but works great for a story of this caliber. It won Hamilton his only Spur award (Spurs are to Western writers what Edgars and Stokers are to mystery and horror writers).
Loren D. Estleman is a writer who I’ve started to explore more extensively and so far, everything I’ve read by him is good. I recently read The Bandit and Other Best Western Stories, which is an update of his best short Western fiction collection published in the late 80s. In it, we have two stories that are really special. “Hell on the Draw” is about a man who had hung up six-gun years before and returns to his hometown only to realize that the Devil in human form has taken control of most of it, and it’s up to the hero to restore order. The story is rife with references to the Devil in classic literature (extra points to whoever understands the mentions of Marlowe, Dante, Milton, and Virgil in this story) and wraps up with an abrupt but satisfying resolution. “The Alchemist” is a polished and wonderful tale about Pat Garrett being haunted by the ghost of Billy the Kid. He seeks out the last person in a line of alchemists to provide him with a cure. This story is brilliantly handled (also the winner of a Spur award). This story was apparently expanded into a novel called Journey of the Dead, which I plan on reading soon.
“Nights of Terror” by Steve Frazee. Frazee made a name for himself for writing numerous Westerns. This one was the title story of one of his short story collections about a rancher who is investigating some rustling on his land and realizes that an enormous creature is killing people. While not supernatural, this one had a good mystery aspect to it and some great atmosphere for psychological terror.
Great Ghost Stories of the Old West edited by Betty Baker was an interesting, if uneven collection. Some of the best stories from this one include “The Ghost Wolf of Thunder Mountain” by Will Henry about a spectral wolf that is the harbinger of death and its presence ruins the life of man who was the pillar of his community. “Johnny Rode the Ghost Train” by Phoebe and Todhunter Ballard is about a young man lost in the desert who miraculously survives and arrives at his destination with baffling timing. “The Hexer” by Thomas Thompson reminds me a few chapters from Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn about a conjuring man who must undo a hex that some boys put on their brother.
Lastly, I’ll mention “All Our Hearts Are Ghosts” by Peter Atkins. He not only wrote screenplays to great movies like Wishmaster and Hellbound: Hellraiser II, but he is also an accomplished short story writer as you can see from this story from his collection All Our Hearts Are Ghosts. This story takes place in 1933 when a production assistant to a film studio befriends a Western villain actor who is seeking revenge on the man who wronged the woman he loved. The duel in the end is slightly on the supernatural side, but ultimately, the story is a tragedy about two lives tainted by an evil man.
I’m still exploring this side of Western short fiction and I’ll be glad to share when I have more to talk about. I still have several stories/books in the pipeline to read, so come back some other time.
Written by Nick Montelongo
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