Future Treasures: Straight Outta Dodge City, edited by David Boop
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Cover art by Dominic Harman
On February 4th, David Boop’s Straight Outta weird western anthology series becomes a trilogy with the arrival of Straight Outta Dodge City, the third (but hopefully not final) volume. It follows Straight Outta Tombstone and Straight Outta Deadwood, and it looks like a strong addition to the series. Here’s a peek at the Publishers Weekly review.
This dark, diverting anthology of 14 original tales, the third in a series edited by Boop (after Straight Outta Deadwood), continues to explore “the weird Wild West.” By tossing weird fiction concepts into western settings, these tales give rise to unusual what-ifs. What if the unquiet ghost of Doc Holiday haunted his six shooter, as in “The Dead Can’t Die Twice” by Sam Stone? What would happen if, as in “The Adventures of Rabbi Shlomo Jones and the Half-Baked Kid” by Eytan Kollin, Jewish magic created a golem to confront a mob of anti-Semitic bad guys?… the ever-enjoyable Joe R. Lansdale is on hand with “The Hoodoo Man and the Midnight Train,” an energetic tale of a mystical gunfighter, and Harry Turtledove presents the delightful “Junior & Me,” set in an alternate world in which evolution favored reptiles rather than mammals, and the ornery galoot narrating the yarn is actually a highly evolved dinosaur.
Here’s the publisher’s description.
Baen’s Weird Western Fantasy and Horror Anthology Series Becomes a Trilogy!
It’s the final showdown between heroes and darkness in the Old West. And boy, howdy . . . it’s a doozy! Humans versus monsters. Supernatural beings versus greater evils. We even throw in a dinosaur or two for fun. Come explore the untold myths of the west, one more time!
Joe Lansdale [Bubba Ho-Tep, Hap & Leonard] takes us on a train ride of the dammed in hopes of rescuing one innocent soul. Mercedes Lackey’s [SERRAted Edge series, Valdemar Universe] duty-bound man races to claim sacred land. Jonathan Maberry [V-Wars, Joe Ledger] introduces us to a half-Comanche hired gun running out of time against some murderous ghosts. Alt-History legend Harry Turtledove [Videssos Cycle] gives us a West . . . slightly askew from our own. And James A. Moore [Predator: Hunters and Hunted] pits skinwalker against kachina in a Western anthology any historian would love!
Plus Irene Radford looks for a new home for a house demon, Eytan Kollin raises golems, Kim May battles a mythical creature while dangling from an airship, and much, much more!
Just when you thought it was safe to go West again, comes the third anthology in the Straight Outta series!
Here’s the complete list of Contributors:
Joe R. Lansdale
Mercedes Lackey
James Van Pelt
Ava Morgan
Harry Turtledove
Sam Stone
Eytan Kollin
Julie Frost
Kim May
James A. Moore
Irene Radford
David Boop
Tex Thompson
Jonathan Maberry
Our previous coverage of this series includes:
Straight Outta Tombstone (2018)
Straight Outta Deadwood (2019)
Straight Outta Dodge City will be published by Baen on February 4, 2020. It is 272 pages, priced at $16 in trade paperback and $8.99 in digital formats. The cover is by Dominic Harman. Get all the details at the Baen website.
See all of our coverage of the best upcoming science fiction and fantasy here.
have never been a huge western fan, but that all changed when the first Deadlands TTROG came out and introduced me to weird west. i love this type of setting, and these anthologies are fantastic, really capture a lot of what the RPG did for me, and the new setting/genre i discovered with it. havent followed Deadlands or where it’s at now, but there are a lot of weird western stories around now.
I might have to get Straight Outta Dodge City.
Joe R. Lansdale is one of my favorite authors and I always enjoy Harry Turtledove’s short fiction.
I wish more of this “Weird Western” stuff would show up in films. My daughter and I started a “Western Wednesday” tradition three and a half years ago with a different Western movie every week, and in October, it’s been difficult finding 4-5 Westerns that are also creepy/scary/Halloween-themed, that are also at least B-grade or better. I think someone here at BG suggested “The Burrowers,” which was surprisingly good, and we’ve also seen “Billy the Kid Vs. Dracula” (ugh), “Ravenous” (grim), “Cowboys and Aliens” (better than we expected), “Bone Tomahawk” (grisly and chilling), and “Purgatory” (B/B-). There are a couple more marginally weird, and I found a few listed available for streaming that look slick but cheap (no recognizable actors). I might give “Jonah Hex” another try; my daughter hasn’t seen that one yet. Anyone else have some recommendations?
I really liked Ravenous. I hated Johah Hex.
It is not overt but High Plains Drifter falls in the category.
> have never been a huge western fan, but that all changed when the first Deadlands TTROG came out
Dante,
I know exactly what you mean. I was a huge fans of Deadlands when it first appeared, and it definitely sparked a lingering interest in all things weirdly western.
Did you ever see the three Deadlands books from Tor a few years back? Written by Jonathan Maberry, Jeffrey Mariotte, and Seanan McGuire.
Here’s the links:
https://www.blackgate.com/2015/09/03/future-treasures-deadlands-ghostwalkers-by-jonathan-marberry/
https://www.blackgate.com/2016/12/21/new-treasures-deadlands-thunder-moon-rising-by-jeffrey-mariotte/
https://www.blackgate.com/2017/11/02/new-treasures-deadlands-boneyard-by-seanan-mcguire/
> I wish more of this “Weird Western” stuff would show up in films…. Anyone else have some recommendations?
Smitty,
Bone Tomahawk is terrific (but very, VERY gruesome…. uurgh). I also consider Tremors and The Dark Tower to be Weird Westerns, and both are fun (especially Tremors).
I hear good things about Dust Devil, but haven’t seen it myself.
There’s a decent list of Western Horror Films at IMDB:
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls022328189/
> It is not overt but High Plains Drifter falls in the category.
Charles,
Yeah, good choice. Although I always thought the reveal at the end (where Clint Eastwood’s unnamed character hints that the gravedigger Mordecai already knows his name) implied that he was Marshal Jim Duncan’s brother? My memory is a little fuzzy at this point, but wasn’t there a mention that the dead Marshall had a brother? It’s definitely a revenge tale, anyway.
Regardless, a very good film with lots of creepy themes.
Thanx for the IMDB tip, John. My daughter checked that out last fall and didn’t get anywhere near that many potential titles (maybe she keyed in the wrong prompt). She’d seen “Tremors” at a high school sleepover years back, and we did watch “Into the Badlands” last October (from a poor print). Looks like we’ve got more than enough choices to last us another dozen Halloweens!
John, you might be right. It has been a long time since I’ve seen HPD.
I know Clint basically made the same film three times (and all three owe a certain debt to Shane) but the third and last is the best immo – ie, ‘Pale Rider’- and possibly my favourite western.
i would love to see the comedy of the Trinity westerns mixed with the weird of something like lovecraft/cosmic horror in a book series. there isnt much humor in a lot of westerns or horror, at least that i read.
Mr. O’niell, yep, i loved those Deadlands Novels, also was my introduction to Marberry.