I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
West of Hell by James A. Moore, R.B. Wood, Michael Burke Series: Dark Tide #2
Published by Crystal Lake Publishing on September 16 2022
Genres: Adult, Horror, Weird western
Pages: 96
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: Monsters, magic and murder take center stage in this trio of wild, weird and bloody stories.
I love a good weird western, and I have to say these stories scratched that itch for me. West of Hell contains three short novellas written by three different authors, and while I didn’t enjoy all of them equally, I did find elements I liked in all three. Here’s a breakdown of the stories:
DEAD MEN by James A. Moore
Lucas Slate and Jonathan Crowley are traveling companions and monster hunters. Crowley leads them to a desert town where the residents are complaining about “dancing ghosts,” Native American apparitions who appear at night in a certain spot and dance through the air. Meanwhile, the dead seem to be rising up and walking around, suggesting that someone or something might be using sorcery, and it’s up to Slate and Crowley to figure out who’s responsible.
This was a fairly light hearted tale with some violence and gore thrown in for good measure. I loved that Slate’s true identity isn’t what you think, and there’s a nice mystery surrounding Slate and Crowley. The story has some wry humor to it as well. There are several different people making deals and putting hits out on their enemies, and I thought it was a lot of fun.
THE TRICKSTER OF PARADISE by R.B. Wood
This was probably my least favorite of the three, but I still enjoyed it. The residents of Paradise are friends with the local Native Americans. Thaddeus’ best friend White Feather introduces him to the legend of the White Bison, a cave spirit who protects and grants wishes. When the town of Paradise is attacked and all the Natives are slaughtered, Thad seeks refuge in the caves and gets some unexpected help.
Most of the characters in this story are fairly unpleasant and extremely racist, although I suppose those elements aren’t surprising for the time period and setting. I loved the fun twist at the end, although I did struggle with the author’s writing style, which needed some editing, in my opinion. I can’t tell you how many times he used the phrase “young man” but it was a LOT. Other than that, this was a good example of the weird western with some great supernatural elements.
LAST SUNSET OF A DYING AGE by Michael Burke
This is the longest story of the bunch and it was also my favorite. The story takes place in an Arizona desert town called Copper City. Leland Meade is hoping he’s struck a new vein of copper in the local mine, which could entice the railroad to build a new line through town. But something is killing residents and livestock, something big and not quite of this world. When Ibuki Shibuya and Fronnie Camus team up to fight the monster and kill it, they realize it’s not going to be easy.
This story had a large cast of colorful characters that fit the mold of the “wild west” perfectly. I liked the way Burke incorporated the struggles of different ethnic groups during the late 1800s, including a Chinese and Japanese character who have trouble fitting into the mostly white town. There were a couple of fantastically drawn female characters who added a lot to the story as well. Plenty of gore, a lively monster attack and a nice twist at the end made this a very strong entry in the collection.
All in all, I had a bunch of fun with West of Hell, and I look forward to reading more in this series.
Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.
Great review, Tammy! I don’t think I’ve ever read a Western type of book (I could be wrong since I’ve read so many books in my life haha). I love short stories and I used to read a lot of anthologies so I’m definitely liking the sound of these stories, especially the one with the dancing ghosts!
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I don’t read a lot of anthologies but I usually have fun with them when I do:-)
Oooh, I wanted this to be better – that second story sounds, you know……… now I’m kinda on the fence about getting it. Thanks for sharing your thoughts; collections/anthologies are always hit or miss.
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If you do read it, I’d love to compare notes!
This sounds like an interesting mix! I’d probably skip the 2nd story, based on your comments, but #1 & #3 sound good!
It was a good mix of stories, each a little different but all had some similar elements.
Western horror is different and interesting. I want to try some Splatter Westerns as they call it, I actually have one I just need to try it…lol. 🙂
I’ve read a few and they are fun:-)
Western horror/splatter seems to be a hot thing right now but I see it and I think “nope, not for me” but two of these do sound pretty good!
I’ve had fun with most of the western horror stories I’ve read:-)
I loved Dark Tide Book 1, and I can’t wait to finish reading Book 2, though it sounds like it’s not quite as good as the first anthology. Cool idea, though, a series of three novellas for each book.
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I haven’t read the first one, maybe I’ll circle back one of these days.
That second story is a little off-putting but the first and third ones sound pretty great.
Anthologies are usually mixed bags, but it’s pretty solid:-)
I love a good weird western (I think that’s the coolest subgenre name- and frankly subgenre- too!) so I need to take a look at this.
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It’s a great name, lol.
Not crazy about anthologies, but I do love weird western and horror! Couple of these sound interesting!
It can be a great combo!
Weird western is still one of those genres I really want to read more of, so glad I’ve seen your post as I’d not heard of this before. That last story sounds really good 😀 I don’t tend to read many short stories but this does sound like a collection that may be worth checking out.
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It’s pretty short and I had a lot of fun:-)
I’ve probably mentioned before that I’ve avoided weird western fearing I wouldn’t enjoy it as I’ve not been that drawn to westerns. But more and more I’m becoming curious to try some of these. The last story’s mention of copper mining in Arizona reminded me of when we took a tour through one of the old copper mines in Bisbee. I really enjoyed that.
I don’t read a lot of western-centric stories, but I usually enjoy them when I do.
Probably not for me as shorter stories don’t usually work their magic on me but that cover is great and definitely draws the eye and, of course, some of these sound so good. Happy to see you enjoyed this and I am, at the moment, totoally on board with anything ‘western’ style too.
I think I’ve read James Moore before and liked his books. This sounds like a fun read, thanks for sharing it with us, great review!
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