Here are three strikes for you: Black and white. Anthology. Western. Common wisdom says that Western Tales of Terror should be dead meat in this market. I'm so glad that Joshua Hale Fialkov has uncommon wisdom, because Western Tales of Terror is not only a success, it is damn good reading. It overcomes some of my common complaints about anthologies (stories too short, talent wildly varied) by being just consistently good or better, and Fialkov has so far managed to have a great balance between established names and brand new talent to hook in readers and then show them something new. There are six tales in this issue of Western Tales, and while some are stronger than others, there's not a bad one in the bunch. That's an almost unheard-of ratio of quality in anthologies, but then Western Tales of Terror is breaking all kinds of other rules, what's one more?
Still my favorite story is the one co-written by Fialkov and Porter and illustrated by Keating, the three-part "Phineas' Gold" which concludes in this issue. It has had just the right flavor of humor (I loved that the indian zombies seemed more annoyed than angry undead at some points in this issue) and horror, and strikes me more than anything as the kind of thing you'd expect from Robert Rodriguez, Bruce Campbell and/or Sam Raimi. The finale features a darkly funny twist at the end as well.
My other favorite story in this issue is "Tame the West" by Nate Bellegarde and Ryan Ottley. Bellegarde has created a character and concept here worthy of an ongoing spinoff, a monster hunter who tamed the remaining monsters in the Old West at the behest of the President. Using gadgets worthy of Artemus Gordon powered by an academic's intellect and adventurer's gumption, Curtis Aloysius Twain takes on some kobolds and a Mexican Cave Troll in a delightfully gory, funny and action-packed tale. The story shows off Ottley's talents as well, and is probably the strongest art in this issue of Western Tales, and I find myself hoping to see a lot more of this character and concept, which is fun in these four pages but which would be spectacular in 22 on a more regular basis.
Even in a genre as relatively unexplored as the western/horror, there are bound to be some similar ideas, and two creators hit on the same idea in this very issue. Given the impressive editorial talents that has gone into selecting these stories, I was surprised to see two stories that sort of stepped on each others' toes in the same issue, but both stories are well-written and fairly different, even if their twist endings are similar. "Forbidden Valley" is more of a gunfight against a mysterious, seemingly unstoppable foe while "The Stool" is suspense, waiting for the other shoe to drop. I don't want to give the twist endings away, so I'll simply say that I found the notion of the sheriff (in "Forbidden Valley") more interesting than the somewhat random "quiet guy" in "The Stool," but again, both stories are solid.
"Ghosts of the Past" is a neat idea that skips the twist ending common in these kinds of short stories and winds up with something of a weak payoff as a result. Fortunately, the juxtaposition of Magallanes's depiction of the ghostly men defending the town and Thompson's evocative prose telling of the bargain that resulted in these defenders is an interesting story, even if the ending lacks punch. "Fool's Ransom" by Faerber and Francis is all shock ending, offering up very little in terms of the characters who we meet on the way to that ending, but it's a good twist and one I didn't see coming (although I should have), so it's a pretty good yarn as well.
This leaves only one thing to talk about, and that's the unnamed narrator of this book, a foul-mouthed, straight-talkin' ghoul who is exactly like the old west version of the Crypt Keeper and other venerable horror hosts. His opening page and sarcastic "Stan Lee Presents" style openers to each story lend the book a lot of its flavor and its edge, and maybe it's this unifying element as much as the talent in the stories that helps Western Tales of Terror to rise to the top of all the other anthology books. 8/10
