FIGHTS: The Weird West with Dominic Stabile

A STRONG VOICE IN THE WEIRD WEST GENRE SITS DOWN WITH ZBFBOOKS.COM

ZBFbooks.com - What part of the world are you writing out of?

Dominic Stabile - I’m currently living in a small Maine town called Penobscot. I’m from South Carolina, so most of my fiction takes place in the South East.

ZBF - What got you into the weird west genre?

DS - Joe Lansdale’s Jebediah Mercer stories. I had been writing for about a year when I read “Dead Man’s Road” in a Lansdale issue of Weird Tales. I had never read anything like it. Most of the Horror I had read up to that point would build suspense, reveal the horror, and then end with the character either dying or going mad. I was expecting the same from Dead Man’s Road. But what blew me away was that after the horror was revealed, and the hero, Jebediah, narrowly escaped death, the story kept going. He went after the creature, and the story ended in a climactic battle. It was a refreshing break from the norm, but it also crippled my own writing for years, because nothing I did could stand up to it.

ZBF - Do you have any favorite weird west stories?

DS - Well, “Dead Man’s Road,” for sure, as well as the rest of Lansdale’s Mercer stories. A novella of Lansdale’s called “On the far Side of the Cadillac Desert with Dead Folks.” The films Seraphim Falls, Bone Tomahawk, Blood Moon, and others I’m sure I missed.

ZBF - Tell us about your title.

DS - The synopsis for Full Moon in the West goes: Juan “Tezcat” Medina is about to take the law into his own hands. Having lost his wife and daughter to a gang of outlaws, he strikes a deal with a local witch. She can resurrect his family. All he has to do is kill the six outlaws before dawn and bring their souls back to her. But there's something different about this gang of outlaws, something Tezcat isn't aware of until it's too late, and he's forced into a showdown with evil.

I originally wrote this for an anthology, but never submitted it. The story grew and took a path that didn’t fit with the anthology’s guidelines. By the time I was done, I had a story that was too long to submit to magazines and too short to submit to book publishers. I came across Grinning Skull Press’s Grave Marker Series, which focuses on publishing ebooks of stories in this range. They accepted it, slapped an amazing cover by Jeffrey Kosh on it, and that’s that.

ZBF -  Man, that sounds like an excellent story.  Where can people get your title?

DS - Full Moon in the West can be purchased for Kindle HERE.

ZBF - How can readers keep in touch with your progress?

DS - I write movie/book reviews at dominicstabile.com. I’m also active on facebook, Instagram , and twitter . I’ll be giving updates on my progress through the third book in my Scifi/Noir series from Mirror Matter Press (Stone Work is available on Amazon, Stone Wall and Stone Factory pending), as well as my progress on my Horror/Magical Realism novel, The Youth Room.

7.       Do you have a favorite alcoholic drink?

Oh yes. Maker’s, neat.

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BOWIE V. IBARRA is the author of the Weird West title 'The Cruel Fate of Dr. Brewster McGill', available in paperback and Kindle format. Network with Bowie at his official website, ZBFbooks.com.

FIGHTS: Alana Melos slings her brand of erotic Weird West

DELILAH DEVILSHOT IS DANGEROUS AND DELIGHTFUL
BY Bowie Ibarra

ZBFbooks.com - So Alana, where do you write your erotic weird westerns?

Alana Melos - South Dakota. Not the middle of nowhere, but next to it.
ZBF - How did you get into the Weird West?

AM - Deadlands the game, but I've always sort of like the weird aspect of many genres. It was sort of eye opening to see the old west portrayed in such a cool way!
ZBF - Any favorite weird west storties?

AM - Right now, my favorite is probably Cthulhu Armageddon. Although it's not "technically" weird west, it's a dystopian horror, but it's got that weird west feel to it with the lone gunman hunting down his prey.
ZBF - Tell us about your Weird West title.

AM - My particular series for the Weird West is Delilah Devilshot, which is Weird West erotica. Her family is gunned down and she makes a pact with a devil for revenge. Although it's got a lot of steamy sections in it (it IS erotica!), it's really heavy on plot, action, and characterization as well. I can't write a story, even a sexy one, without heavy plot!
ZBF - I can dig it! Where can folks find your works?

AM - All of my works are available on Amazon HERE, though for this month I am doing a giveaway of The Devil and Delilah at Instafreebie HERE. ZBF - How can folks keep up with your work?

AM - Sign up for my mailing list! (see above giveaway at Instafreebie) I'm also pretty active on Facebook and Twitter

ZBF - And if we're ever in a bar talking erotic fiction, what are we drinking?

AM - White Russians. :D The dude abides.

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BOWIE V. IBARRA is the author of the Weird West title 'The Cruel Fate of Dr. Brewster McGill', available in paperback and Kindle format. Network with Bowie at his official website, ZBFbooks.com.

ZOMBIES/FIGHTS/BLOOD - REVIEW: 'High Midnight' the epitome of eloquent mayhem

A WEIRD WESTERN WRITTEN LIKE A CLASSICAL MASTERPIECE OF LITERATURE
by
Bowie V. Ibarra

 

 

'High Midnight' by Rob Mosca is an outrageously wild 'grindhouse pulp'-style weird western.  The story was amazingly eloquent in spite of its violent and spooky supernatural setting.  When I saw a luchador sheriff on the cover at a horror convention, I had to grab it!

 

The story is about a group of homicidal clowns who lay siege to the town bar of the haunted south Texas town of Unity.  Unity is a seedy western-style town in a modern world, which brings in the tourists, but is still lost to the progress of the state because of infestation with killer cryptids, ghosts, and the living dead.  But the town has a charm and allure that houses the world's vagrants and vagabonds looking for solitude in its creepy streets.

 

Laredo Beaumont is the sheriff of the town.  And as you might imagine, he's the right man for the job in the bizarre city.  He's a drunk and former money fighter who found, among other things, who found some peace in the city for him to drink his pain away.  He's in love with the ghost of a dead prostitute in the local brothel and managed by the mayor and her husband.  And when he's ready to lay down the law, he puts on his old money-fight luchador mask.

His only deputy and help is a bonabo chimpanzee named Cicero, whose habits are even worse than Laredo.  But they're the defenders the strange city needs.

 

The clowns who lay siege to the city are just as outrageous.  They range from the traditional buffoon to the modern juggalo.  When they hold a local bar hostage, its up to Laredo to figure out what their problem is and save its citizens in danger.

 

The reason for their assault on the city and the final battle is amazing.

 

The book is easily one of the most enjoyable I've ever read.  I was immensely pleased with the ease of eloquence that Mosca sculpted the tale.  Mosca is one of the most poetic writers I've ever read.  His prose is beautiful, even as he describes the violence and bloodshed, its a book that follows in the eloquent tradition of the classics.  There's even a human/ghost love scene that is a testament to Mosca's imagination.

 

The story is linear, but places flashbacks throughout to fit in the missing puzzle pieces to the story and build to a very enjoyable climax. The finish to the story was surprisingly touching, filling a 'love story' element to the book that readers will appreciate.

 

'High Midnight' by Rob Mosca is a weird western/'grindhouse pulp' masterpiece.  The book is completely ZombieBloodFights.com approved.  I encourage everyone who reads this review who hasn't picked up this book yet to get it today in kindle or paperback here today.

 

For more weird western reading, check out 'The Cruel Fate of Dr. Brewster McGill' from ZombieBloodFights.com.  It's the story of a snake-oil salesman who grows envious when he discovers a rival has discovered an ancient Aztec relic that creates an elixir that not only cures all, but raises the dead.  It's available in Kindle and Paperback here.

 

 

BOWIE V. IBARRA earned a BFA in Acting and an MA in Theatre History from Texas State University.  Network with Bowie and explore the ZombieBloodFights library at ZombieBloodFights.com.