Showdown at Midnight

Here's a brief review/synopsis of Showdown at Midnight in which Native American gunfighter Lone Crow makes an appearance. This review is extracted from Black Petals Issue #57

I found editor David B. Riley’s Western horror collection quite a contrast to the modern and urban. SHOWDOWN AT MIDNIGHT (Tales of Horror and Dark Fantasy from the Weird Weird West) features stories by a wide variety of authors. Although not as polished as Cassiday’s work, it was definitely worth reading. The book goes way beyond "cowboys and Indians" out West, although not quite as far as the summer box office success, "Cowboys and Aliens." Pull up a stool, sip a sarsaparilla, and dig in.


Don D’Amassa’s "The Incorruptible" centers on a Choctaw belief in a haunt that kills and eats up ignorant innocents. The Devil’s bounty hunter plays his cards right in Bill Craig’s "A Ghost of a Chance." Comanche phantoms and murdered miners go for the gold in Joel Jenkins’ "The Shadow Walkers." Sam Kepfield mixes Civil-War era science and superstition in the wolvishly clever "Lycaon Unbound." The cover with zombie gunman derives from Henrik Ramsager’s humorous "Low Noon." Another ironic piece, about Annie Oakley on vacation, proved to be my favorite—"The Great Ghost Train Robbery" by Jennifer Campbell-Hicks. This was followed by the morose but satisfying haunted-sword tale, "Samurai Blade," by John M. Whalen. "Wolves of the Comancheria" by Carol Hightshoe is a poignant narration by a female warrior ghost, Wolf Shadow, who delivers vengeance. M. H. Bonham warns us about the dangers of "The Banshee Mine." The final three offerings are: Jennifer Brozek’s "A Promise Made," with a ghost sheriff helping another ghost settle a score; Aaron B. Larson’s "Belfry’s in Your Bats," about an unholy attack on General Grant; and the editor’s "Night Thunder," about a hellish horse.


Cover art for SHOWDOWN AT NIDNIGHT is by Russell Morgan. Print and layout are nice, and Mr. Riley did a good job with the bios in back.