In his Introduction to Deadman’s Road, Joe R. Lansdale lays out the genesis of his violent Reverend and his crusade against the undead and other deadly supernatural entities. If you set The Walking Dead about 150 years ago, you’d be in the same world as Deadman’s Road.
Lansdale cites Jonah Hex as a prime inspiration for his own Reverend. But, wait, there’s more: Jesse James Meets Frankenstein’s Daughter and Billy the Kid Meets Dracula. Clearly, Lansdale loves weird Westerns!
Deadman’s Road certainly qualifies as a weird Western. In “Dead in the West” the doctor in the small town the Reverend visits just happens to have a copy of The Necronomicon on his bookshelf. And, an ancient curse animates the corpses of the unlucky and sends them to inflect carnage on the guilty.
If you’re looking for action, gruesome fights, and supernatural horror in Western settings, Deadman’s Road is the book for you! GRADE: B
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
INTRODUCTION: THE REVEREND RIDES AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN By Joe R. Lansdale — 3
Dead in the West — 9
Deadman’s Road — 143
The Gentleman’s Hotel — 145
The Crawling Sky — 215
The Dark Down There — 245
Read this several years ago. A lot of fun. I love Joe Lansdale.
Steve, I’m a big Joe R. Lansdale fan, too. I’ve had DEADMAN’S ROAD on my shelves for years and finally got around to reading it. I may read some of the other Lansdale books I’ve accumulated over the years soon.
As far as I’m concerned, you can’t go far wrong with Joe Lansdale. Somehow I missed this one but just reserved a copy at the library.
Horror is not my thing so I will pass. Unless I find a inexpensive copy at the book sale someday and then I will give it a try.
Well, if you like clever horror, or horror with humor to it…however, Lansdale is a bit more explicit than some (say, Shirley Jackson or John Collier).
Todd, Lansdale’s work usually includes some blatant violence. DEADMAN’S ROAD is no exception.
I’ve had DEAD IN THE WEST for at leas thirty years, now, if I’m counting right, and liked it a whole lot…let this collection get by me (Lansdale has had quite a flurry in the last decade)…should rectify.
Todd, Lansdale’s prolific output in the last decade supplied a lot of books on my shelves.
It does sound interesting, but horror isn’t my preferred reading, although Supernatural stories have an interest, mostly Carrie Vaughn, Patricia Briggs.
Thom, you’ll be seeing the review of DEADMAN’S ROAD in QUICK DRAW when OWLHOOT arrives. It was great seeing you at BOUCHERCON!