Weird West

I picked up a copy, but have not had a chance to start reading it yet.

This game might actually take place on the East coast of America and not the Wild West, I can't really tell. It's close though.

Developer Ice Code Games (Hard West II, Rogue Waters) have announced Nightmare Frontier, a tactical turn-based strategy game that's also an extraction looter. Think "XCOM meets Hunt: Showdown with a dash of Cthulhu thrown in."

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3310950/Nightmare_Frontier/

As I said before, this game looks like a Weird West version of Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past to me, but the developer calls it a souls-like. I plan on giving the demo a try to see how souls-like it really is.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3308200/Tombwater/

This trailer doesn't show anything about the gameplay but the setting seems to be Weird West. Personally, I'm not too sure about the animation style here. It looks a little too cartoony for a horror-based game. But who knows, maybe it'll work. The description says:

Solve puzzles, fight monsters, and introduce yourself to the inhabitants of the manor in this third-person survival horror game.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3410390/Hear_Tell_of_Hauntings/

I'm not sure how many people here would've noticed, but I recently created a community at !vampires@lemmy.zip for whatever random vampire content you want to discuss. I realized my favorite aspect of Weird West were the Weird West stories involving vampires and I wanted a place to talk about vampires in general. So I made another community.

To kick off this new community I'm doing something similar to what I did here, just posting random movies and games in an attempt to start discussions. I'm not sure how many people branch outside of their subscriptions so I wanted to make a post here in case you're interested. Come join!

I Travel By Night and its sequel, Last Train From Perdition, is everything I want from a Weird West story. It has a vampire gunslinger protagonist hunting down even worse creatures of the night. A vampire gunslinger villain can be fun too but I prefer when it's the protagonist. As I mentioned in my first post to this community, the game Darkwatch is my favorite Weird West property and I'm always on the lookout for something similar.

My only complaint about this series is it's only two novellas and they're both pretty short. Both books combined into one novel is only 237 pages. And if you prefer audiobooks, both books combined is only 6 hours. Also, if you have a US library card, I'd recommend listening to the audiobooks on Hoopla. There's no reason to spend your Audible credits on something so short.

Since these novellas are so short, the premise is pretty simple. The main character is essentially a private investigator and his business card shows his one rule: I Travel By Night. So he gets hired to investigate/hunt various creatures that are causing trouble.

If anyone knows of other stories with a vampire gunslinger protagonist, definitely let me know. I can never get enough.

Typically, I define the Weird West genre to be movies that take place in the Wild West and include some supernatural element. This usually means some sort of horror element like vampires or zombies, but that isn't really a requirement. So a movie with cowboys and dinosaurs fits my definition, even though it isn't really what I picture when I think of Weird West.

Yes, it has legendary Ray Harryhausen's stop-motion action, but the whole movie just seems silly to me. I don't know, I guess I'd call this one "Weird West, but I don't care to watch it".

Here's a trailer. I don't think it's streaming anywhere right now though.

According to IMDb, Curse of the Undead (1959) is the first vampire western movie. Depending on your definition, that might also make it the first Weird West movie. (If you can find an example of an even older Weird West movie, let me know!)

Now, personally, I'm not a fan of this era of Westerns. I find the John Ford/John Wayne movies boring. There's just something about 1950s Westerns that pull me out of the movie. For example, I don't like how all the costumes are perfectly clean and look brand new. It never feels like the West to me; it all just feels like a stage play. And yet 1940s film noirs don't feel like that at all in my opinion. My point is that I have no nostalgia for these Westerns and my opinion on them is entirely ignorant and most likely wrong. So this isn't exactly a recommendation; it's more of a rant.

The main plot of this movie is about a greedy land-owner trying to take over a neighboring ranch. There's a minor sub-plot about a couple people dying with bite marks on their neck, but that's never really investigated or even discussed. Anyway, while this small-time ranch is trying to hold out from being bullied into selling their land, a mysterious gunslinger shows up to help. As backstory, he happens to be a vampire. But he isn't exactly the villain of this movie and he isn't exactly terrorizing anyone. He literally spends all his time trying to help the small ranch fight back against the greedy land-owner. But the local preacher (who's in love with the ranch owner's daughter) doesn't like the gunslinger and wants him gone. Honestly, you could cut out all the parts about the gunslinger being a vampire and very little of this movie would change. The gunslinger could've just been a "sinner" and 90% of this movie would still be the same.

Anyway, if you're curious at all about watching the very first vampire western, here's a trailer. You can watch the movie right now on tubi.

I'm always surprised anytime I stumble upon a new Weird West video game and I just have to post it here. I know nothing about this game other than what's in the trailer, but apparently the developer is calling it a "Souls-Like Western". It reminds me more of the SNES Zelda game Link To The Past than a souls-like, but sure, whatever.

Enter the haunted town of Tombwater, where shadows roam and whispers echo from deep within the abandoned silver mines. Once a thriving community, now a cursed shell of what was, its people have been haunted by the darkness below. Play as a lone gunslinger, drawn to the eerie, decaying streets by the disappearance of Sheriff Elliott Flintwood—your only friend in a town lost to madness. To uncover the truth, you must face the terrors lurking in the cursed depths and confront what festers in the heart of Tombwater.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3308200/Tombwater/

This game releases tomorrow but there's a demo you can play on steam right now. It's another top-down roguelike that we see everywhere these days.

It's got a pretty unique game mechanic where during the day you collect resources to unlock items and when the night comes you have to fight off a zombie horde and survive until sunrise. Simple enough gameplay loop, but it's a roguelike so I wasn't expecting it to be too complex. Anyway, there's a demo; give it a try.

I want to start off by saying I haven't played this game. The trailer makes it look like a solid Weird Western though.

I remember watching the trailer for Hunt: Showdown but it looked like the entire game took place in a swamp so I wasn't interested. Since I wasn't paying attention, I'm not sure at what point Hunt: Showdown became Hunt: Showdown 1896 but I don't think they're separate games. As far as I can tell, Hunt: Showdown 1896 replaced Hunt: Showdown and is more of a Western now. But maybe someone else can explain the differences.

Unfortunately, it looks like I might be coming to this game a bit too late because right as I realized it was a Weird West game, it was in the middle of being review-bombed:

So this post isn't so much a recommendation as it is a request for more information. Have any of you played it? Is it good? Does that recent review bombing actually represent the game getting worse?
https://store.steampowered.com/app/594650/Hunt_Showdown_1896/

This looks like your standard "gunslinger shooting demons in the Wild West" setting, but of course that's what I'm here for so I'm ok with it. Also, they called this the "launch" trailer but I'm pretty sure it's actually just a "reveal" trailer since the game isn't out yet. They claim it'll release in Q4 of this year though, so maybe it's close.

Official synopsis:

Altarium is a first-person, asymmetric PVP Co-Op horror game that can be played by 1-5 players together. Players can choose to play as either the victim or the evil character. Get ready, choose your role, shape your destiny, and survive!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2524700/Altarium/

Deadlands is an RPG originally published in 1993. It's been through a few iterations and currently is under Savage Worlds rules, I think.

This very old book is from the original run.

What happens if the supernatural comes back to the world during the American Civil War? Well you get gunslingers dealing with hucksters, people who make deals with demons to sling magic and Blessed running around trying to save the world with Mad scientists makings thing better (or far worse) while all dealing with blood thirsty tumbleweeds (tumblebleeds) and the dealing with the Reckoners, unknown True Evils.

The original system was its own creation, using a deck of cards including 2 jokers and multiple types of dice, it was an exciting system. Eventually the old system was replaced a free times and it's currently published under Savage Rules.

I can only talk on the original system, quite liking the use of decks of cards for initiative and other uses. Combat could be quite slow, but it is a very flavorful system.

This is a bad photo, but it's the book from our shelf!

Howdy partners, got a weird western y'all might want to partake in here.

Falling In Love On The Path To Hell is a new ongoing comic series being released by Image Comics currently. Issue #4 came out last week, and reprints of 1, 2, and 3 are coming out next Wednesday (10/02/2024). If you're looking for physical copies, here's a site that will help you find your nearest local comic book stores.

The basic story so far, is MacRaith (that handsome devil up front with two Colt Navy 1851 revolvers) and Asami (that beautiful Samurai in the background) die, and wash up with the corpse tide on the shores of Purgatory. They're "alive" however, and get recruited to fight the hordes of hell (who come out every night when the river Styx dries up) by a strange Sikh named Mohan (that feller there with the sun for an eye). Things, however, may not be as they seem, nor how they're presented by Mohan, time will tell...

Content warning: Mature Audiences only. "Sexual violence" has been (almost, it was prevented) depicted already.

I know I typically define the "weird" in "Weird West" to mean supernatural, but this time I'm just going with straight weird. Also, I've run out of recommendations that would typically fit this genre so now I'm loosening the definition a bit just to keep this Lemmy community (somewhat) active.

You know how you can take a phrase in one language, translate it into another language, and then translate it back to the original language and it's almost what you started with but isn't quite right? Well this movie is taking the Japanese movie Yojimbo, translating it to English as A Fistful Of Dollars and then translating it back into Japanese to be called Sukiyaki Western Django. It's a very strange movie.

The core plot of "two warring gangs in a small Western town being shaken up when a stranger with no allegiance arrives" is still here, but everything is just... strange. And Quentin Tarantino occasionally shows up as the narrator. I struggle with calling this a "good" movie. it definitely knows what it's doing and has its own style, but I'm not entirely sure I understand what they were going for.

Here's a trailer. You can watch it anywhere: Amazon, Peacock, Tubi, Pluto, Kanopy, anywhere.

Oblivion (1994) is a terrible movie. And it technically takes place in the future, which I try not to include as Weird Westerns or else the definition of "Western" becomes a bit vague (I believe Space Western is a separate genre). But this really is just a Western with aliens (they don't go into space), so I'm including it.

Also, this movie has George Takei, and the writers really took advantage of that. They gave him lines like "Jim, Beam me up" while drinking Jim Beam, and "great Scotty!" when surprised. I guess he really needed a paycheck in 1994.

Here's a trailer, but honestly, I wouldn't recommend watching the actual movie. RiffTrax (the guys behind Mystery Science Theater 3000) made their own audio commentary for this movie which makes it bearable. Plus that's the version available on streaming. You can watch the RiffTrax version of Oblivion on Tubi and Pluto. I should mention there's somehow a sequel to Oblivion, called Oblivion: Backlash which also has RiffTrax versions on Tubi and Pluto.

When I watched the trailer Netflix had for RIPD 2, it just showed a clip of the main character in limbo where the RIPD is explained to him. So I just assumed it'd be like the first RIPD where even though Jeff Bridges plays a gunslinger, the movie actually takes place in the modern day. And I ignored this movie. It's not like the original RIPD was any good, why would a low-budget sequel be better?

But, I finally decided to watch RIPD2 and it's totally a Weird Western. The entire movie takes place in the wild west and they're hunting down demons that escaped hell. Here's a trailer that actually shows the movie and not just a single scene like Netflix showed me.

Of course, just because this movie is a Weird Western doesn't mean it's a good movie. Actually, if you look at the other movies I've mentioned in this community, they're almost exclusively bad movies. And this is another dumb one. It's mostly the lame jokes that irritate me. Also, personally, I don't think there were enough "weird" parts in the movie. They're hunting down demons but there actually aren't too many special effects until the last act. So that's disappointing too.

If you're willing to try it, the movie is still available to watch on Netflix. And maybe Apple TV+.

This movie is from 2020 yet I've never heard of it. And it looks like it perfectly fits my definition of a Weird West too. I have no idea if this movie is any good but I still wanted to share. It looks like it's streaming on Hoopla and Shudder if you have either of those.

This is a VR-only game so I haven't tried it but the trailer makes it look like a Weird West game for anyone interested. There's also a demo available during Steam Next Fest.

I'll be honest with you, I don't play D&D and don't fully understand if this new class is "official" in any way. I just like the artwork and the name Spellslinger so I figured I'd post it here.

https://www.dmsguild.com/product/482150/Pandemonium-Spellslinger--DD-5e-Sorcerer-Subclass

Still my favorite book of all time. Plenty of mystical and crazy in the 1850s southwest.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_Meridian

Blood Meridian; or, The Evening Redness in the West is a 1985 epic historical novel by American author Cormac McCarthy, classified under the Western, or sometimes the anti-Western, genre.[1][2] McCarthy's fifth book, it was published by Random House.

Set in the American frontier with a loose historical context, the narrative follows a fictional teenager from Tennessee referred to as "the kid", with the bulk of the text devoted to his experiences with the Glanton gang, a historical group of scalp hunters who massacred American Indians and others in the United States–Mexico borderlands from 1849 to 1850 for bounty, sadistic pleasure, and eventually out of nihilistic habit. The role of antagonist is gradually filled by Judge Holden, a physically massive, highly educated, preternaturally skilled member of the gang with pale and hairless skin who takes extreme sadistic pleasure in the destruction and domination of whatever he encounters, including children and docile animals.

Although the novel initially received lukewarm critical and commercial reception, it has since become highly acclaimed and is widely recognized as McCarthy's magnum opus and one of the greatest American novels of all time.[3] Some have labelled it the Great American Novel.[4] After multiple unsuccessful attempts to adapt the novel into a film, New Regency is currently set to produce a feature film based on the novel.

Ninjas wouldn't usually be considered "weird" enough for a Weird Western but this is a highly-stylized movie where the ninjas can basically fly. They might as well be mythical creatures given how ridiculously they're portrayed here.

Of course, like most movies I've mentioned here, this isn't a good movie. So lower any expectations. It takes a while to get started and basically the first half of the movie is "slice of life" as the main character settles into his new life. Also, there's something weird with the lighting where I can't tell if the entire movie was filmed on a sound stage or if all the backgrounds are cgi (probably both).

Here's a trailer. You can watch it on Amazon Prime, Tubi, Vudu, and Plex.

According to the synopsis, this game is a "Wild West-themed roguelite FPS" where you play as a "gunslinger in limbo, involved in a gritty war against "The Cartel", a ruthless organization harvesting souls to break free of the shackles of the afterlife." So that sounds like a Weird West to me!

Just from watching the video, I wasn't sure if it'd be a Weird West or not. Some of the architecture looks Western but other parts just look like ancient ruins. It's weird how the architecture is the deciding factor here, since there's also the game Witchfire which looks to have the same game mechanic of casting spells with a gun. But Witchfire definitely uses more European/Medieval architecture in their level design. So Witchfire doesn't appear to be a Weird Western to me. Yet given the synopsis for Soulslinger, I'll say that one is a Weird Western. It's weird where I draw the line.

Anyway, Soulslinger is in Early Access on Steam and Witchfire is in Early Access on the Epic Games Store.