{"id":2614,"date":"2022-09-17T16:29:48","date_gmt":"2022-09-17T20:29:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/?p=2614"},"modified":"2022-12-28T20:32:16","modified_gmt":"2022-12-29T01:32:16","slug":"west-of-hell-is-born","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/west-of-hell-is-born\/","title":{"rendered":"“West of Hell” is born…"},"content":{"rendered":"

My latest novella called The Trickster of Paradise <\/em>(There is a link to me reading a 5-minute scene at the end of this article) is out now in a collection of three wonderfully weird westerns by myself and my fellow writers and friends Michael Burke and James A. Moore.<\/p>\n

You and buy the eBook, paperback, or hardcover version of “West of Hell” at this link: WEST OF HELL<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0How did I, an uncanny & macabre thriller writer, end up writing a weird western? Well, my friends, tie up your horse and come sit by the campfire, and I’ll tell you a tale from yesteryear.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I grew up in the 70s on Long Island, New York, wearing a red cowboy hat and toting two silver plastic cap gun \u201csix shooters\u201d strapped to my waist. My imaginary horse was called \u201cToby,\u201d and he and I went on the most insane adventures a young boy could think up. This was before \u201cCreature Double Feature,\u201d \u201cThe Twilight Zone,\u201d and \u201cKolchak: The Night Stalker\u201d changed my life.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 My dad\u2014may he rest in peace\u2014was a western fan all his life. From the books of Zane Grey to those of Louis L\u2019Amour and the movies of Roy Rogers and Gene Autry, my dad loved them all.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I remember watching those old movies on WPIX channel 11 in New York. I also loved \u201cThe Rifleman\u201d (and always thought I would make a better son to Chuck Connor\u2019s Lucas McCann rather than actor Johnny Crawford). I would wait eagerly for \u201cThe Wild, Wild West\u201d to come on (and as an adult, I\u2019ve decided never to discuss the cinematic remake starring Will Smith).<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I guess what I\u2019m trying to say is that before the darker speculative fiction that became my passion in my teen years and beyond, westerns were the first stories that tickled my imagination. The sense of adventure. The peril of living \u201con the frontier.\u201d The simple morality tales at the end of each episode of \u201cGunsmoke.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And the singing of Gene Autry.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Westerns were my childhood; so it was only natural that as an adult speculative fiction writer, I would create a weird western story that would combine the supernatural with a \u201chearty \u2018Hi ho Silver, away!\u2019\u201d My novella as a part of \u201cWest of Hell\u201d is, in many ways, a tribute to my father as it is a story of revenge and the power of legends, both good and bad.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I hope you enjoy the collection as much as we enjoyed bringing it to you. In the meantime, I\u2019m going to grab my red cowboy hat because Toby and I are riding off into the sunset of our next adventure.<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0And I would be much obliged if you grabbed yourself a copy of “West of Hell<\/a><\/span>” today!<\/p>\n

Here is a 5-minute snippet of me reading from\u00a0The Trickster of Paradise:<\/em><\/p>\n