Customer Reviews

Dead in the West

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

From the opening scene in the old stagecoach to the apocalyptic ending in a church, DEAD IN THE WEST delivers more thrills and spills it in its short length than many 300+ tomes. Joe Lansdale, known for his black humor, whips it out in plenty in this tale of a Reverend who wanders into Mud Creek and finds himself involved in the curse of an Indian wrongly accused of killing a young girl, and lynched. His mulatto woman was also brutally raped and murdered. The curse is purely simple: zombies beget more zombies, and Lansdale spares nothing in his brutally graphic and frightening tale. Joining Rev. Jeb in the spotlight is a delightful young boy named David; the bewitching Abby and her rascally doctor father; and of course the many zombies populating the scene.
The book is relentless and no character is guaranteed safety by the time the book ends; it has a rather "twisty" ending as well; did he ever do a sequel? It would be great!!!
A very good horror story.

A gunslinging preacher wanders into an isolated Texas town haunted by a gruesome secret. One that, like its unfortunate victims, refuses to stay buried. Lansdale whips up a truly classic zombie gut muncher here, one loaded with thrills, chills, gore, his trademarked black humor, and, most surprisingly, a potent human sentiment. Required reading for Lansdale addicts and highly recommended to everyone else.

I read World War Z recently and found it to be so enjoyable it put me in the mood for more apocalyptic zombie fiction. I had also recently read Joe Lansdale's "The Bottoms" and found it to be a moving, highly literate coming of age story. So I thought, "why not combine the two experiences and read a Lansdale zombie story?" So I ordered this book from Amazon based upon the other reviews and read it last night.

Hmmmm. This wasn't a literate novel like The Bottoms. In fact, it isn't even a novel. At 147 pages, with sparse text on each page, I am not even sure it stretches to novella. There is also little character development; the figures in the book are just stereotyped character sketches. There's the hard-drinking gun-toting preacher who doubts in God, the redneck town bully, the native indian curse, the elderly, good-willed town doctor, his beautiful daughter, the bullied teenager in need of a father figure, and the sheriff tormented by his failing to uphold justice through a lapse in character. The story is a pulp dime-store book and the cover art depicts it well. Now despite what may seem like a list of shortcomings, as long as you aware of what you are buying, I can see how this would be a pretty enjoyable read especially for the younger set. It has the feel and lfavor of a book directed at pre-teens or teenagers. Yes, the characters and story are simple, but if you are hankering for a fast-paced, quick read about zombies battling it out with dead-eyed gunslingers on a mission from God, then this one will hit the spot. The book doesn't pretend to be anything but what it is, an enjoyable pulp combining the zombie and Western genres for a fun little novella. It's kind of pricy for what you get, but if you can pick it up used and like these genres, you'll enjoy this romp.

I prefer denser stories with more development. If you do as well, then let me heartily recommend World War Z if you want a zombie book, or if you want literature let me recommend The Bottoms, a book hauntingly reminiscent of an updated To Kill a Mockingbird. If you like pulps though, I thought this was a reasonably decent one.

One of the big differences between older Lansdale novels and ones written now is their length. At 119 pages, Dead In The West barely gets out of the short story realm. Regardless of the length the story still packs a hell of a punch. Reverend Jebidiah Mercer is unlike most other preachers during the wild west; he drinks, carries a gun and actively wander the country enforcing God's will. This time he finds himself in the town of Mud Creek and just in time to help face down the living dead thanks to a curse from a local Indian.

While the overall story might lack some of the character depth and introspective social commentaries mixed in with the dialogue that are found in most of Lansdale's later works, the story still puts enough emotion into the events that unfold to make you care about what happens. The caring is more about how everyone gets killed since it is pretty obvious that most of the characters are fodder for the zombies. But then this is acknowledged within the dedication and helps contribute to the charm of the book. If you like movies like "Evil Dead", "A Nightmare on Elm Street" and other Grade B films, then you owe it to yourself to pick this up and read it.

Zombies in the Old West. An Indian curse and a town with a dark secret. A beautiful woman and a stranger with a troubled past, who may be the town's only hope. Plenty of graphic, gross-out horror told with wit and respect for the B-movies and horror comics that are clearly the inspiration for this story. (Think a young Clint Eastwood in the movie version, directed by George Romero.) This is not Lansdale at his absolute best, but he's not striving for great literature here. I bet he had as much fun writing it as I had reading it.

When I first saw the cover to this book, I knew I would love this book. It's terrible to admit, but true. The pulp-styled artwork gave me the early impression that 'Dead in the West' would take a prominant place on my bookshelf... and whaddya know, it has.

'Dead in the West' is a fun horror western written by Joe Lansdale. A gunslingin' preacher rolls into the backwater town of Mud Creek, questioning his beliefs and indulging his desires. His personal problems take a backseat soon enough when the dead start waling the streets...and their darn hungry!

The book is one of those delightful pleasures I love to indulge - survival horror. I just love tales of hard-bitten heroes finding sanctuary and trying to stay alive as masses of evil try to take 'em down. 'Night of the Living Dead', 'Resident Evil' and 'From Dusk Till Dawn' (which I swear drew more than just a passing resemblance to this book) were all enjoyable exercises into that genre, and 'Dead in the West' joins their ranks.

Like the intro itself states, don't expect this to be Shakespeare. It's action through and through. I was a little disappointed in the size (about 100 pages, very small) but was glad by the end. Perfect size for a perfectly fun story.

For some strange reason Joe Lansdale often carried the tag of horror writer for many years which is peculiar since out of the 20 or so books of his, only "The Drive-In" and "Dead in the West" are horror novels. Many of his novels are either westerns, hard-boiled mysteries or strange combinations of both. Dead in the West is another unique crossover as only Lansdale can do, a short novel that seamlessly combines the western and horror genres to mold a "zombie western". Let it be said that Dead in the West is one of the best and most unique contributions ever to the horror genre.

Reverend Jeb Mercer is a man of god who has lost much of his faith due to the many unfortunate circumstances that have shaped his life. Every once in a while Jeb still communicates with the lord and this time He has sent Jeb to the East Texas town of Mud Creek on a mission, a mission about what Jeb is uncertain but he boards his mule, packs his guns and heads over to the sleepy desert town. Jeb will soon find out that the town has been cursed by an Indian shaman and that is why everyone in Mud Creek is turning into slow shuffling zombies. Can the Reverend, a man of god who has lost his faith, save the town from the dark pits of hell that await?

The ideas are great and truly original but it is Lansdale's writing that make this novel so exceptional. He has a way with words and with humour that just jump at you and make you stare at the page in disbelief. The dialogue is some of the funniest ever and all the words seem to flow seamlessly on the pages. This is one of those novels that is very hard to put down unfinished. On the surface, the plot seems like one of a pulpy dime novel but it has such a tight structure and sense of atmosphere that it becomes so much more. This book has more treasures in 120 pages than most books of 400 pages could ever think of having.

Most of the novel would be classified as a western until that is the invasion of zombies in the last 30 pages or so that turn it into a bloody, gory and extremely graphic zombie gut-muncher. This is one of those gems that should never go out of print and should obtain classic status but because of how unconventional it is will forever remain an obscure cult anomaly. If you are a fan of Joe or horror in general what are you waiting for? Hunt this book down, then settle into your favourite chair with a bowl of chili on the side and let Joe take you on for the ride of your life.

Lansdale seemlessly blends motifs of the horror and western genre in this very short, fast-paced book.

However, I felt that Lansdale is trying to shock a little too hard in some of his passages (wait till you find out what kind of emotional baggage the preacher is carrying around), but also makes it seem a rather casual aspect of the plot.

The "zombies" have an interesting fusion of mythology attached to them and certain parts of the story seem to prefigure "From Dusk Till Dawn".

A great book and an excellent example of how the horror western can succeed when written like this.

Joe Lansdale is a terrific writer. This book is one of his early efforts. While it's not as good as MUCHO MOJO or COLD IN JULY, it's still a lot of fun to read. I figure we all read for entertainment first and foremost and on that level, DEAD IN THE WEST delivers. It's sick and twisted and funny and it's all Lansdale!

This is an excellent early novel by a cult favorite author of the South. It combines, Lovecraftian supernatural terror with "Night of the Living Dead" motifs in a hard-edged Western setting that reminds one of the Sergio Leone "Spaghetti" Westerns of the late 1960s. There is an excellent two issue comic adaptation that was published by Dark Horse Comics in 1991 that is also worth a hunt through back issue bins in a good comics store. Lansdale currently writes Southern flavored mysteries, and "Dead in the West" is a great sample of his early period. It's a book that will keep one awake at night terrorized that an unknown, undead gunslinger may be knocking at your door.