Weird Western is a subgenre that blends elements of theWestern genre with those offantasy,horror andscience fiction.^[1][2][3] Set in theWeird West, these stories make use of frontier settings, strange encounters, and often incorporate elements ofsteampunk.^[4] The term originated withDC'sWeird Western Tales in 1972, but the idea is older as the genres have been blended since the 1930s, possibly earlier, inB-movie Westerns,comic books,movie serials andpulp magazines.^[2]

Two early examples of Western fantasy are the short story "The Horror from the Mound" byRobert E. Howard, published in the May 1932 issue of thepulp magazineWeird Tales,^[5] and thenovelette "Spud and Cochise" by anthropologist andPulitzer Prize-winning authorOliver La Farge, published in the non-genre magazineThe Forum in January 1936.^[6]

One of the earliest novels to introduce fantasy into a Western setting wasThe Circus of Dr. Lao (1935), byCharles G. Finney, which won aNational Book Award for the Most Original Book of 1935.^[7] The novel concerns the visit to a fictional Arizona town by a magical circus that featureslegendary creatures frommythology. It was later adapted into the film7 Faces of Dr. Lao in 1963.^[8]

Later novels include those byJoe R. Lansdale, many featuring the heroic Reverend Jebediah Mercer. Lansdale has often mixedsplatterpunk withalternate historyWestern.^[9][10] An example isDead in the West (1983), in whichzombies rise after an unjustly lynched Native Americanshaman has cursed the town of Mud Creek, Texas.^[11] The prolific Western authorLouis L'Amour sometimes ventured into science fiction, as withThe Haunted Mesa (1987), which is set amid the ruins of theAnasazi.^[12] Horror authorJack Ketchum's work includesThe Crossings (2004), anoccult novel set in 1848 Arizona.^[13] Author Edward M. Erdelac's 2009 series Merkabah Rider follows a Hasidic gunslinger tracking the renegade teacher who betrayed his mystic Jewish order of astral travelers to theGreat Old Ones ofH.P. Lovecraft.

The Ghost Rider, number 3,Magazine Enterprises, 1951. Cover art byFrank Frazetta.

Space Western number 44,Charlton Comics, June 1952. Artist: Stan Campbell.

From the 1940s, manyWestern comics published stories in which heroes would sometimes encountermonsters,aliens,supervillains, etc.Marvel Comics featuredKid Colt, the longest-running Western character in American comic books, from 1948 to 1979. He became a time traveller, and ultimately, amutant.^[14] TheRawhide Kid, another Marvel time traveller, debuted in a 16-issue series, from March 1955 to September 1957, from Marvel's 1950s predecessor,Atlas Comics.^[15]

DC Comics added a horror element to their Western stories by introducingWeird Western Tales in 1972. The title of this series gave rise to the term "Weird West". It ran for eight years and 59 issues. The main character wasJonah Hex, whose popularity secured his own eponymous series.^[16][17]

In the mid-to-late 1990s,Desperadoes byJeff Mariotte, fromImage Comics/WildStorm Productions, returned weird Western comics to the stands at a time when none of the major publishers had Western comics in their line-ups.^[18]

Preacher Special: Saint of Killers, a 4-issue mini-series, was a spin-off fromPreacher byGarth Ennis. While the origin of theSaint of Killers in the Old West is the only true Western element in the comic bookPreacher, the series has been described as a "Splatterpunk Western" or a mix of the Western with theGothic.^[19]

In film,The Phantom Empire (1935) is sometimes considered the first fantasy Western.Gene Autry, in his first starring role as asinging cowboy, ventures down a mineshaft and discovers a futuristic lost kingdom of the type depicted inFlash Gordon.^[20] Sci-fi and horror Westerns began in the 1950s with the vampire WesternCurse of the Undead, and thescience fiction WesternThe Beast of Hollow Mountain, about a prehistoric dinosaur in a turn-of-the-century Mexican village. This continued in the 1960s with films such asBilly the Kid Versus Dracula (1966), which depicted the real-life outlaw fighting against the fictionalvampire,^[21][2] andThe Valley of Gwangi (1969), in whichRay Harryhausen's special effects were used to pit cowboys againstdinosaurs again.^[20][2] Other Westerns with elements of fantasy, horror, or science fiction are7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964),^[8]Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter (1966),Bang Bang Kid (1967),High Plains Drifter (1973),^[22]Get Mean (1975),The White Buffalo (1977),^[23]Pale Rider (1985),^[22]Ghost Town (1988),^[21]Back to the Future Part III (1990),Wild Wild West (1999),^[24][25]Purgatory (1999),Jonah Hex (2010),^[26] andBone Tomahawk (2015).^[27]

In the 1960s, the television seriesThe Wild Wild West brought elements of pulp espionage and science fiction to its Old West setting.^[28][29] The animated adventures ofThe Lone Ranger followed suit, with the famous Western hero encountering mad scientists and other villains not often found in the Western genre.^[30] Additionally,Rod Serling's supernatural anthology seriesThe Twilight Zone featured a handful of Western episodes, such as "Showdown with Rance McGrew".^[31] Later series includeThe Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. (1993–1994), which featuredsteampunk elements;^[32]Wynonna Earp (2016), a horror Western about a present-day woman with a magicColt Buntline revolver who fights reincarnations of outlaws killed by her ancestor,Wyatt Earp;^[33] andPreacher (2016), based on thecomic book series of the same name.

Deadlands, first published byPinnacle Entertainment Group in 1996, originated as arole-playing game which combines the Western and horror genres withsteampunk elements. It is set in an alternate 1870s America and draws heavily ongothic horror conventions and oldNative American lore to derive its sense of the supernatural. Characters can get involved in situations ranging from bank heists to shoot-outs involvingvampires andzombies over the course of their adventures.^[34]

The Japanese RPG seriesWild Arms, although set in a world of its own, distinctively draws notable inspiration from the Wild West imagery and combines it with magical and fantasy elements which are typical to the genre.

Damnation (2009) is set in alternate universe where theAmerican Civil War was prolonged indefinitely due to advanced steam technology, with the player being tasked with stopping the army of a mad inventor bent on taking over the country.

Undead Nightmare (2010), an expansion toRed Dead Redemption (2010), is a horror Westernvideo game. It tells the tale of an undead outbreak that has spread across the frontier. Other fantasy elements are new weapons such as holy water, and new mythical mounts, which include aunicorn and theFour Horses of the Apocalypse. Its sequel,Red Dead Redemption 2, features a number of minor Easter eggs for the player to discover, such asUFOs and the remains of a giant hominid.^[35]

Weird West (2022) is a top-downaction role-playing game with elements of theimmersive sim genre, with randomized elements through each playthrough.

Hard West (2015) is a turn-based tactical and strategic video game, as well as its sequel,Hard West 2 (2022).

Hunt: Showdown is a multiplayer PvPvE FPS video game.

Evil West (2022) is a third-person shooter withhack and slash androle-playing game elements.

Blood West (2023) and additional story expansion packBlood West: Dead Man's Promise, a first-person shooter, similarly focuses on an immortal gunslinger and Voodoo priest clashing with cursed monsters.

Less-common hybrid genres may include theacid Western –The Shooting (1966) has been cited as the first film of this kind.^[36] The horror Western essentially depicts the supernatural in an Old West setting.Kim Newman proposes the two main types are the "Indian Curse cycle" and thegothic Western – featuringvampires,zombies, and the like.^[21] An example of the Indian Curse movie isThe Ghost Dance (1982), in which a Native Americanshaman is possessed by an evil spirit.^[37][21] A gothic Western example isGhost Town (1988), about the quest of a sheriff to defeat a zombie gunfighter by using his star-shaped badge as ashuriken.^[21]

The steampunk Western, a variant of thescience fiction Western using theretrofuturistic technology andaesthetic of thesteampunk subgenre, typically depicts an alternative history of the Old West but emphasizes society's reliance on steam power, as in the 1960s TV seriesThe Wild Wild West.^[24][25] Another variant of the science-fiction Western is thespace Western, which applies Western themes to a science-fiction frontier setting. As such, these works are usually set on other worlds, such as in the seriesFirefly, but the action sometimes takes place in the Old West, as inCowboys & Aliens (2011), in which an alien spacecraft lands in 1870s New Mexico Territory.^[38]

• Newman, Kim (1990).Wild West Movies. London: Bloomsbury Publishing Ltd.ISBN 978-07-47507-47-5.

• Green, Paul (October 2009).Encyclopedia of Weird Westerns: Supernatural and Science Fiction Elements in Novels, Pulps, Comics, Films, Television and Games.McFarland.ISBN 978-0-7864-4390-1.

• Weird Westerns
• 1972 neologisms
• Western (genre) subgenres

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