Fiction

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.

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.

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!)

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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?

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.

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

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.

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!

I know the poster makes it look animated, but this is a live action movie. It comes from the man behind the bands Misfits and Danzig. Which is to say, he's not a filmmaker. Or wasn't until recently. So even if you've set your expectations low, this sounds like a truly terrible movie.

...And another Weird Western I've never actually seen. Honestly, it looks a bit too silly for my tastes but it definitely falls within the category of modern day Weird West. Have any of you seen it? Is it worth watching?

Didn't see any posts about it in here yet so thought I'd share!

I mentioned in the pinned post on this community that once I start posting Weird West movies that take place in the modern day you'll know I'm starting to run out of ideas. Well, we've reached that point.

I may be limiting myself too much, but so far I've been defining Weird West as fiction that takes place in 1800s America and incorporates supernatural/fantasy elements. That is to say, I haven't been including any Space Westerns. What defines supernatural/fantasy may be a bit broad, but whether something takes place in 1800s America has been pretty easy to determine.

Am I drawn to twin-stick shooters are are Weird West games just more likely to be twin-stick shooters? It's weird how many I've already mentioned here. Maybe it's just hard for me to find other Weird West games since the genre doesn't have its own tag on Steam.

When I was thinking about starting this Lemmy community, I tried writing down every single Weird West work I'd seen, read, or played. In that list, I added Wild Wild West. But now that I think about it, I'm not sure if I'd call it a Weird Western.

I don't know if there's a more popular or more widely-respected Weird West game than Undead Nightmare. And it was a DLC for an existing game. Of course, it's probably so well respected because most Weird West games are from small indie developers yet this DLC was from a AAA developer expanding on an already AAA game. Whatever it was, it worked. It perfectly blended a Wild West setting with a zombie attack.

Pale Rider and High Plains Drifter are both Clint Eastwood movies that *almost* fit into the Weird West category. In both movies, there aren't any visuals that would make you think they were Weird Westerns; they're both standard Clint Eastwood Westerns. Yet both movies subtly hint that Clint Eastwood's character died prior to the events of the movie and he's back as a ghost to get revenge.

Ritual: Crown of Horns is a fun little twin-stick shooter. You play a gunslinger who was brought back from the dead by a witch. The witch needs to perform rituals in various places and the ritual takes 5 minutes to prepare. So your only task is to keep the enemies off the witch long enough for her to complete her ritual. Which means, yes, each level lasts 5 minutes. Perfect for the Steam Deck.

I don't have anything witty to say about this one, it's just Gunslinger Spawn.

To be fair, I think the first half of this movie is great. There are a lot of long, slow shots which really feel reminiscent of a spaghetti western. But as it goes on, it eventually just turns into a mindless action movie with lots of quick cuts and as much CGI as they can fit on the screen. So yet another entry into the "yes, this movie is bad, but it's a Weird Western!" category.

Vermilion is about a ghost hunter in the 1800s who is hired to investigate rumors of a vampire running a mental asylum in the Colorado rocky mountains. So it's definitely a Weird Western and I was interested. But as the story went on, I started to notice a trend in all the characters. I'm going to give some mild spoilers in terms of the characters, but no plot points.

Continuing my theme of "yes, this movie is bad, but it's a Weird Western!": Jonah Hex. Of course, this is a "big budget movie with theatrical release" bad movie, not a "direct to video" bad movie. So it's not nearly as bad as GallowWalkers or Bloodrayne 2. I personally think it's a fun action movie but I won't argue with anyone who says it's dumb.

Evil West is a lot of fun, but if it weren't for the modern graphics you would've thought it was made in the early 2000s. It's linear levels to reach open arenas for fighting bad guys and each level ends in a boss fight. The combat is really fun though and you get so many different weapons and moves that I legitimately forgot I had a shotgun for a good portion of the game. The boss fights were really tough for me but I thoroughly enjoyed this game.

This is one of my favorite songs off my Xmas playlist. The Michael Martin Murray original is also good, but I prefer the sound of the Killers' cover, and the video only makes it weirder.

The Wikipedia entry has weird west in it, so I guess so.

Six-Gun Tarot is a good Weird Western, but the author crams a lot into this world. The sheriff is undead (possibly immortal), the deputy is possibly a werewolf, and there's a talking head in a jar. But those are just the characters. The actual plot is about the Lovecraftian Old One starting to wake up under the town.

I think this will become a theme anytime I mention a movie here: yes, this movie is terrible, but it definitely falls into the Weird West category! It's about a half-human half-vampire hunting down Billy The Kid (who is also a vampire).

Maybe a little lighter on the "west" side of things and a little heavier on the "weird" side of things. Nevertheless there is a lot of "western" here to justify it! This is one of my favorite graphic novels

I don't hear it talked about much. It's from the co-creators of Dishonered & Prey but has the feel of what Fallout 1 & 2 would play like if they came out today IMO.

Western setting where a new gold rush for dark stone pits gunslingers, lawmen, saloon girls, etc against tentacles, the undead, mutated gangsters, snakemen, and lost technology as they travel between worlds.

A “Psychedelic Western.” Surreal, meditative, and a Neil Young soundtrack. One of my favorites. Also an insane cast!

Atomic Robo is a comic book, mirrored on the web, about alternate history. In this arc, the eponymous hero has been sent back in time to the Old West... where he finds an *old* enemy who hasn't met him yet.

Not sure if a perfect fit, but a comedy western rpg with a bit of a supernatural element. If you haven't already you should check it out!

8 books, one short story, and one kids book... enveloping one weird Western tale in a world that has moved on.

I think this one is perfect for this instance. I have had it on my wishlist and tried the demo back in development. Creepy, western and fun!

West of Dead is a really fun game. It's a cover-based twin-stick shooter, so there's a top-down view and you crouch behind cover in between shooting bad guys. It's also a roguelike, so you get random weapons each run and unlock permanent perks with the currency you collect. I'm typically terrible at roguelikes but I fell in love with this one and actually beat it.

Ghoultown is an American rock band with Weird West themes in their lyrics. I wish the songs were a bit better but at least they're consistent in their theme. And this is already a niche within a niche so I can't really complain.