Our friend Tom Lynch of Miskatonic River Press penned a fun short story for the Lovecraft eZine, and it got me thinking – what was your first experience with the Weird West?
Weird West is a literary sub-genre mashup of classic Western themes and Horror (or even Scifi) motifs. It’s Supernatural Cowboys and Indians.
One of my most memorable (and the first that comes to mind) encounters with the genre is, perhaps, an unusual one. As I recall, FOX premiered two shows back-to-back on a Friday night in 1993 – The X-Files and The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.
The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. was a (sadly) short-lived live action TV series staring B-movie titan Bruce Campbell in the title roll of a US Marshal out to re-capture the gang of thugs that killed his Pa in order to retrieve a mystical Orb he was tasked to protect. It’s set in the Old West and has numerous elements of the steampunk and scifi genres – with the sensibilities of old-time movie serials. Brisco was always questing for the next big thing. It was an amazing show.
But even mentioning Brisco County reminds me of seminal Weird West television like 1965’s The Wild Wild West – and of course the genre got its start in comics – like anything else worth mentioning.
So, tell us: What was your first experience with the The Weird West?
comment below, cover image from Weird West Emporium.
