The Weird West - A Brief History and Explanation of the Weird West Genre & Weird Westerns

[@HowStoriesWork]

What are YOUR favorite weird westerns or stories that take place in the weird west genre? Let me know in the comments!

[@AlasdairColl]

Weird Northerns, from Jack London's eerier Klondike and Northland stories to Algernon Blackwood's Canadian gothic tales...and currently I am working on my own stories in this Weird Western subgenre, even here on KZbin.

[@HowStoriesWork]

That sounds awesome! Congrats! And I haven't revisited Jack London in a while. I'll have to go read those! - Jay

[@thenichollsworth]

Jonah Hex: Riders of the worm and such.

[@MadlandsMedia]

I am working on a weird west myself. Love the genre.

[@jimboa20]

I've long been fascinated with the idea of writing a novel that is essentially a fantasy version of the historical old west, with monsters like thunderbirds and wendigos, spiritual and magical elements like faith healers/preachers, native American shaman, mediums, maybe even Lovecraftian elements like hidden city ruins from long-forgotten native american civilizations teeming with treasures, curses and sleeping terrors. Just never had the time or focus.

[@HowStoriesWork]

Sounds awesome! I say go for it! - Jay

[@johnathanmaygarden6022]

My kind of book

[@TheMadLeprechaun]

Check out Deadlands, both the table top games and the story novels.

[@jeffhayes4314]

Grew upon Jonah Hex. This was a great informative vid. Thx.

[@HowStoriesWork]

Sure thing! Thanks for watching!

[@dazbry7612]

You're book sounds great man

[@HowStoriesWork]

Thanks! If you pick up a copy, let me know how you like it! - Jay

[@HankBukowski]

*your

[@turboturtle7761]

The Deadlands book series and the role playing game as well were one of my first and most loved exposures to the genre but also several of the stories by Joe R Lansdale are just the best.

[@HowStoriesWork]

Excellent! That’s good to know. I’ll check ‘em out! - Jay

[@TheStoryGeeks]

Favorite weird western? Probably The Dark Tower series... but if you consider The Mandalorian a weird west western... maybe that!

[@klesel32]

Oh man what an amazing surprise finding this channel. I’m an aspiring writer and throughout that I’ve started and stopped so many projects but fell in love with this genre. I’m looking for research and inspiration across many platforms and found this gem of content! Thank you and I’ll gladly subscribe and buy Death of a Bounty Hunter. Be safe out there gunslingers!! Question: What’s the best way to write a villain within this genre? A shadow society, a monster, or revenge on an evil powerful oppressive character ? I also want to thank everyone who comes across this post with constructive feedback. I really appreciate the help.

[@HowStoriesWork]

Nice! Thanks for watching and commenting, Leo! There are probably a ton of ways to write a villain in the genre, honestly. In fact, I would recommend coming up with a brand new way of tackling a weird western villain that nobody else has done! What’s another villain you’ve seen that inspires you?

[@klesel32]

@@HowStoriesWork I think fallen heroes inspire me the most. I believe never meet your heroes. It’s fear of mine honestly. It is interesting to see what moments defined them turning them evil. A self-righteous character, a beacon of hope to those swallowed by darkness, is consumed by that darkness due to tragedy or loss of hope. It’s a conflicting emotional ride as a reader seeing this transition. You feel sorry for the villain while rooting for the protagonist that has no choice but to put a stop to his mentor or idol.

[@Chris_M_Romero]

Lol for the self promotion! I don't mean it in a bad way, it legitimately made me giggle. There you go fella, you earned yourself a subscriber because the funny way you promoted your book.

[@HowStoriesWork]

LOL - You have to try all the things! 😁 Thanks for watching and subscribing! - Jay

[@ShinKyuubi]

My mom loved westerns, she grew up with them, so she probably saw a weird western or two but we never really talked about it. She also loved fantasy stuff too so that adds to it. Me? I take back after her in that regard so Weird Westerns are something I like to dip into every now and again, in fact next year there's a new game actually called "Weird West" coming out..I also remember playing Darkwatch back in the day..you played as an outlaw who gets turned into a vampire, it mixes western, horror, and steampunk together..firmly Weird Western territory. Sadly it never got a sequel..it got canceled in 2007 and the movie is still in development hell..not a lot of people even remember it so it'll likely just stay there.

[@mdawni6933]

Well explained, even as i knew the western genre but didn't know what comprises it on a basic level, which needed explanation to begin understanding the "weird" addition. Thank you sir.

[@HowStoriesWork]

Of course! Thanks for watching and commenting! - Jay

[@thomashaggerty9277]

For those of you that like games, or more importantly tabletop stuff- I'd recommend Deadlands. It's a weird west roleplaying game that takes place in an alternate history in north America where through an native American revolt against the US government, lets loose all the monsters of the past as well as the tall tales of the present 1800s. It all leads to a stalemate in the ongoing US Civil War. VERY FUN.

[@HowStoriesWork]

Oh, nice! That sounds super cool. Someone should turn that into a novel! - Jay

[@benjaminmolina3456]

Thank you, I am writing my own weird west story this helps.

[@HowStoriesWork]

Awesome! Good luck!

[@MachoManMaury]

Im actually reading Jonah Hex Weird Western Tales right now. Great read from the 70s. I recommend it to anyone looking for a western. And i might have to check that book.

[@HowStoriesWork]

Awesome! I need to pick up some trades of Jonah Hex and revisit it! - Jay

[@chaoticneutral7573]

Isn't John Hex more like traditional western set in superhero universe ?

[@MachoManMaury]

@@chaoticneutral7573 Yes, but DC has also had Jonah Hex travel into the future and kill zombies.

[@HowStoriesWork]

I think a lot of weird west stories are essentially traditional westerns with a “weird” overlay. Meaning, they feel like a traditional western in terms of their content, but they contain genre elements from a “weird” genre (like the ones I mention in the video).

[@towerjunkie1947]

My favourite Weird Western is Stephen King's The Dark Tower. Loved hearing your spiel on the weird west genre. Death of a Bounty Hunter sounds interesting. I'll check out the book.

[@HowStoriesWork]

Awesome! Thanks for checking it out. If you pick up a copy let me know how you like it. The Dark Tower series is great. I need to revisit that one! Thanks for watching and commenting! - Jay

[@deadlandsdan2339]

A really good weird west table top role playing game is deadlands. It’s in the savage world system. It comes with a bunch of lore, basically it’s an AU United States where the civil war went on for to long due to the discovery of “ghost rock” which burns 100 times longer and hotter than coal. Super cool story, would highly recommend looking up the Deadlands Reloaded PDF just for the lore

[@HowStoriesWork]

That sounds awesome. Thanks for the recommendation! - Jay

[@grogc6942]

If we include space westerns, growing up some of my favorite anime was the three great space westerns. Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, and Outlaw Star. Honestly as good as mixing gothic horror and wild west seems to be I really never came across much and wish there was more. I mean, ninja and samurai have all sorts of genre mixers, why not westerns? Welp, guess that's reason to try this out and maybe try my hand to add to the genre.

[@HowStoriesWork]

YES! Love those examples, and go for it! We need more of them!!! Thanks for watching and leaving the comment! - Jay

[@wimvanderstraeten6521]

@@HowStoriesWork Does High Plains Drifter count as a weird west story?

[@HowStoriesWork]

Excellent question! I haven't seen that movie in a really long time. I need to go watch it! - Jay

[@basementmadetapes]

Got me a weird western manuscript myself, so props to u for getting your work out there. I ain't done mine yet, but getting close. It's modelled into ten shorter stories each being an issue of a fictional magazine that promotes the weird west genre etc. Mine is more of a Lovecraftian western, and takes place in a fictional frontier. Fave WW tho might be The Gunslinger. And while Blood Meridian isn't by genre a Weird Western there are so many metaphysical pieces to that story. Even fantastical. The Judge is like a manifestation of a devil or djinn.

[@HowStoriesWork]

That’s a great concept for your story! Nice work! I liked The Gunslinger, but didn’t enjoy the follow-up books quite as much. I hope the genre gets more attention. It’s fantastic! - Jay

[@basementmadetapes]

@@HowStoriesWork yeah I didn't like the subsequent stories as much either but book one was clutch. But yeah, I'm always looking for top notch content that way.

[@kajetan9906]

There is also Wyrd West by Diane Morrison. I haven't read it yet, but maybe I will have a chance in the future

[@HowStoriesWork]

Oh, nice! I’ll look that one up. Always interested in a good Weird Western. Let me know if you read ours! Thanks for commenting! - Jay

[@MachoManMaury]

There is also Preacher and the Sixth Gun in comics. Very enjoyable weird westerns.

[@HowStoriesWork]

I really need to read Preacher. I’ve been meaning to for a long time! Another one that I haven’t read in a while, but that I really enjoyed, was East of West. That was cool. Thanks for the comment! - Jay

[@thrakerzad5874]

"The left coast" has the manifest destiny vibes to it OwO

[@newdivide9882]

This isn’t a genre I’ve dipped into all that much, but I’m interested in it for sure. I’ve read The Dark Tower up to the fifth book and played a bit of a game called Hard West, which has some supernatural elements to it. I’m looking into reading the Golgotha series and playing Weird West (new game) when it comes out Edit: If we’re counting sci-fi, I’ve been into this genre more than I thought. I love Cowboy Bebop, Outlaw Star, and Trigun

[@HowStoriesWork]

That’s cool! Yeah, I would definitely count sci-fi. The interesting thing about genres these days is that they’re so blended it’s sometimes difficult to figure out which one to apply first vs. what’s second or third. And of course, lots of people have thoughts on how to define genre to begin with, so… 🤣 But, I definitely think sci-fi should be included! Hard West sounds cool. I’ll have to take a look at the Golgotha series. Thanks for watching! - Jay

[@projectcancelled2190]

I enjoy Wild Wild West and Deadlands

[@HowStoriesWork]

Both great examples!

[@GabeOtto]

Firefly and The Mandalorian are space westerns.

[@HowStoriesWork]

Absolutely. And great ones!

[@harrypothead42024]

You forgot Brisco County Jr

[@HowStoriesWork]

I haven’t seen that one! Do you recommend it?