We like supernatural stuff. We like the Old West. It doesn't take a genius to see that we really like supernatural stuff in the Old West. DEADMAN'S ROAD, by Joe Lansdale, nicely fills that niche. In short, this collection of short stories and a novella make for pure entertainment.
The stories in this collection star Reverend Jebidiah Mercer. He's your typical Old West Reverend...well apart from his alcohol addiction, gunslinger skills, and his penchant for violence. You see, he sees himself as the Lord's Messenger in the Old Testament sense. Wrathful and all that. He is a compelling character that, despite his faults (or perhaps because of them), you love to root for him.
DEADMAN'S ROAD contains the following stories: "Dead in the West", "Deadman's Road", "The Gentleman's Hotel", "The Crawling Sky", and "The Dark Down There".
"Dead in the West" is the novella that introduced the world to the good Reverend, but we hadn't read it before. It all has to do with an Indian Curse that leads to a zombie infestation. This story takes up over half the 271 pages of the collection, and it is easily the strongest of all the Reverend's adventures. It is in this story that we see the most character development, and the best story and plot progression. Really, the collection is defined by this story, and it manages to have that pulp quality while not feeling cheap like many pulp novels often do.
The remaining short stories are all...uh, short. "Deadman's Road" deals with a ghoul of sorts. "The Gentleman's Hotel" has ghosts and werewolves. "The Crawling Sky" deals with some bizarre creature thing that wants to kill the Reverend dead. Lastly, "The Dark Down There" is about a pack of kobolds killing miners with the Reverend teaming up with a 300-pound woman named Flower. While all the stories are solid, none of them match the strength of the novella "Dead in the West". That being said, "Deadman's Road" and "The Gentleman's Hotel" were our favorites of the shorts.
The overall positive this collection brings is Lansdale's pure ability to give the readers an uncompromisable, visceral description of the horrors the Reverend is facing. He describes the grotesque in a way we have rarely ever seen. Amidst all the horror and supernatural, Lansdale never loses site of the western flavor of the stories. The Reverend is put into intense, horrific situations that grab you by the head and force your eye-lids open so you get every gut-wrenching detail. It is this near perfect blend of western horror that makes this collection one that should be read by every horror-lover out there.
As usual, this being published though our favorite Subterranean Press, there is a lovely introduction by the author. We love hearing where authors got their starts, or where their original inspiration came from. It's a personal touch that really puts Sub. Press above the rest because it lets the readers see through a window into the author's usually-disturbed mind. It just doesn't get old. The production quality of the book itself is perfect. The cover art by Timothy Truman, the pen-and-ink interior illustrations by Glenn Chadbourne and (naturally) the awesome stories by Joe Lansdale make us completely giddy.
What a great collection...
Recommended Age: 18 and up.
Language: All sorts.
Violence: This is a seriously grim and grisly collection.
Sex: Mentioned quite a bit.
Deadman's Road
7:00 AM
Nikki
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