Book picks similar to
Horror at Cold Springs by Michael Merriam


horror
weird-west
science-fiction
short-story

Quiet Magic


Sharon Lee - 2011
    Unfortunately, the Bispham is on duty, and he's taken exception to the Rove Captain and his men."Master of the Winds," by Sharon Lee follows two hopeful young people during their test to become the Kitemaster's apprentice. Only one can succeed.Lee and Miller join forces in "Candlelight," the story of a family-by-intent, and the craft that holds them together.

Walk The Darkness Down


John Boden - 2019
    Older than darkness.Levi is a monstrous man—made of scars and scary as hell, he’s glutted on ghosts and evolving to carry out the dark wishes of the ancient whispers in his head. He’s building a door and what’s on the other side is terrifying.Jones spent a lot of time living bottle to bottle and trying to erase things. Now he’s looking for the man who killed his mother and maybe a little bit of looking or himself as well.Keaton is on the run from accusations as well as himself, he suffers alone until he meets Jubal, an orphaned boy with his little sisters in a sling.Every line is not a straight line and everything must converge. A parable writ in dust and blood on warped barn wood. A journey in the classic sense, populated with dried husks of towns… and people both odd and anything but ordinary. Hornets, reverse-werewolves and one of the most vicious villains you’ll ever know are all part of it.Pull on your boots and saddle up, we’ll Walk The Darkness Down.

Karen Memory


Elizabeth Bear - 2015
    See, my name is Karen Memery, like memory only spelt with an e, and I'm one of the girls what works in the Hôtel Mon Cherie on Amity Street. Hôtel has a little hat over the o like that. It's French, so Beatrice tells me."Set in the late 19th century—when the city we now call Seattle Underground was the whole town (and still on the surface), when airships plied the trade routes, would-be gold miners were heading to the gold fields of Alaska, and steam-powered mechanicals stalked the waterfront, Karen is a young woman on her own, is making the best of her orphaned state by working in Madame Damnable's high-quality bordello. Through Karen's eyes we get to know the other girls in the house—a resourceful group—and the poor and the powerful of the town. Trouble erupts one night when a badly injured girl arrives at their door, begging sanctuary, followed by the man who holds her indenture, and who has a machine that can take over anyone's mind and control their actions. And as if that wasn't bad enough, the next night brings a body dumped in their rubbish heap—a streetwalker who has been brutally murdered.Bear brings alive this Jack-the-Ripper yarn of the old west with a light touch in Karen's own memorable voice, and a mesmerizing evocation of classic steam-powered science.

Here Be Monsters


John Birmingham - 2008
    When the undead attack they must face the end of the world.It is 1788 and Lieutenant Watkin Tench of His Majesty’s Royal Marines is an officer in charge of transporting over a thousand ne’er-do-well convicts to the great south land. But a mysterious white squall engulfs the Fleet and then it’s not 1788 anymore. Not as Tench knew it. A great and ghostly city of the dead appears out of the storm and the men and women of the First Fleet must fight not just for their lives, but for their immortal souls and the very future of the world.

Anansi Island


Christian Cantrell - 2010
    But throughout the island's history, its isolation also made it the perfect place to hide things the world was never meant to see.As Laurel finds herself entangled in the island's newest and most bizarre chapter, she must not only solve its mysteries, but also survive long enough to pass them on.This short story (about 7,500 words) mixes science fiction and horror with endearing and enigmatic characters who can only solve the mysteries of Anansi Island by facing their worst fears.

Sasquatch The Native Truth


Raven DarkHawk - 2016
    On a rural farm, in the mountains, she and her sister are constantly stalked by the Kecleh-Kudleh. For years they try to ignore the signs, until one day they can no longer ignore that the Kecleh-Kudleh are real.They have come face to face with an ancient legend. Read their harrowing encounter in Sasquatch, The Native Truth.

Return


Allison Merritt - 2011
    Will the cowboy find solace in this place or allow his regrets to consume him?RETURN received second place in the Missouri Literary Festival Award for Short Fiction in 2009 under the title For Everything A Time.

Deadlands: The Weird West Roleplaying Game


Shane Lacy Hensley - 1996
    The American Civil War rages on, neither side able to establish a clear advantage. Most of California has fallen into the sea. The Sioux Nations have reclaimed the Dakotas. And the dead walk among us. In Deadlands: The Weird West Roleplaying Game, players take on the roles of hexslinging hucksters, mad scientists armed with weird, steampunk gizmos, deadly gunfighters, fearless Indian braves, and wizened shamans. In 1863, a vengeful warband called the Last Sons unleashed the manitous upon humanity, and nothing has been the same since.

The Four Worlds of Bertie Cavendish


R.R. Haywood - 2021
    The Undead. A Town Called Discovery and The Worldship Humility.A virtual reality.A fleet of spaceships.A shimmering blue door.A virus unleased upon the planet.Four worlds that do not co-habit the same time and space.But things are never quite as they seem…*This book is intended for existing fans of the series, The Undead, Extracted, A Town Called Discovery and The Worldship Humility, and as such, it may not appeal to new readers who have not read those series.

The List


Shannon Walters - 2017
    Hope that the people who matter most are still alive. Who made it? Who didn't? Can they be saved? Can they save her? Sara has made a list of her loved ones... what became of them is unknown to her. One by one, she will discover their fates, as she works her way through... THE LIST.

The Sixth Gun, Vol. 1: Cold Dead Fingers


Cullen Bunn - 2011
    In the passing shadow of the Civil War, defiant Confederate General Oleander Hume waits to be let loose, too evil and warped to die, too mad with bloodlust to let go of his black magic. He hungers for his lost and most precious possession, an ancient weapon of foreboding doom. Having fallen into the hands of an innocent girl, this last and most powerful of six revolvers is the key to unlocking unstoppable power. But before General Hume, with his wicked bride and four twisted horsemen, can summon an army of undead to claim what is his, in his path stands Drake Sinclair--a gunslinger playing with cards close to his chest. However, Sinclair is no white knight and is himself on the hunt for the six guns...

Revenge and the Wild


Michelle Modesto - 2016
    But it’s perfect for seventeen-year-old Westie, the notorious adopted daughter of local inventor Nigel Butler.Westie was only a child when she lost her arm and her family to cannibals on the wagon trail. Nine years later, Westie may seem fearsome with her foul-mouthed tough exterior and the powerful mechanical arm built for her by Nigel, but the memory of her past still haunts her. She’s determined to make the killers pay for their crimes—and there’s nothing to stop her except her own reckless ways.But Westie’s search ceases when a wealthy family comes to town looking to invest in Nigel’s latest invention, a machine that can harvest magic from gold—which Rogue City desperately needs as the magic wards that surround the city start to fail. There’s only one problem: the investors look exactly like the family who murdered Westie’s kin. With the help of Nigel’s handsome but scarred young assistant, Alistair, Westie sets out to prove their guilt. But if she’s not careful, her desire for revenge could cost her the family she has now.This thrilling novel is a remarkable tale of danger and discovery, from debut author Michelle Modesto.

Lawless Lands: Tales from the Weird Frontier


Emily Lavin LeverettBarb Hendee - 2017
     The whistle of the eastbound train. The heat of the desert sun. The western is the quintessential American literary genre, and now we're turning it on its head. From sentient tumbleweeds to time-traveling schoolmarms, desert demons to werejaguars, space-faring herd drivers to gunslinger justice, there's something for everyone. Featuring many of the best writers in speculative fiction today, saddle up for the thrills – we're going to take you on a wild ride through a West that never was. Lawless Lands includes 20 mind-bending weird western stories including - Desert Gods by Aubrey Campbell Railroad by Matthew J. Hockey Pixie Season by Seanan McGuire The Men with No Faces by Alexandra Christian Lost Words by David B. Coe Boots of Clay by Laura Anne Gilman Trickster's Choice by Jo Gerrard Wolves Howling in the Night by Faith Hunter To Hear a Howling a Howling Herd by Gunnar De Winter Calliope Stark:Bone Tree Bounty Hunter by Edmund R. Schubert Cards and Steel Hearts by Pamela Jeffs Bloodsilver by A. E. Decker Volunteered by B. S. Donovan The Stranger in the Glass by Dave Beynon Belly Speaker by Nicole Givens Kurtz Walk the Dinosaur by John G. Hartness The Time Traveling Schoolmarms of Marlborough County by Barb Hendee Rainmaker by Margaret S. McGraw Out of Luck by Jeffrel Hall Rollin' Death by Jake Bible Featuring twenty original western short stories from new worlds and the familiar worlds of Faith Hunter's Jane Yellowrock novels, Laura Anne Gilman's The Devil's West series, and John G. Hartness' Bubba the Monster Hunter series, Lawless Lands is a weird western anthology with something for everyone.

Tales of the Far West


Gareth-Michael SkarkaEddy Webb - 2012
    Far West is a world based on the tropes of the Spaghetti Western and Chinese Wuxia. Add steampunk elements. Mix well.Product DescriptionImagine: A fantasy world, but not one based on Medieval/Dark Ages European culture and myth, but rather on the tropes of the Spaghetti Western and Chinese Wuxia. Add steampunk elements. Mix well. A fantasy world that mixes the inspirations of Django and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon... The Good, The Bad & The Ugly and House of Flying Daggers... Fistful of Dollars and Fist of Legend. A fantasy world that's explored through a book series, a constantly-updated website, a tabletop role-playing game, comics, artwork, webseries and much, much, more. This is FAR WEST. Tales of the Far West is the first book in Adamant Entertainment's Wuxia-Western mash-up, featuring a dozen all-new tales written by critically-acclaimed and award-winning fantasy, science-fiction, horror and adventure authors, including: "He Built The Wall To Knock It Down" by Scott Lynch: A master teaches an unforgettable lesson in the pursuit of excellence in all things. "In Stillness, Music" by Aaron Rosenberg: A wandering musician is all that stands between a village and a cattle baron. "Riding The Thunderbird" by Chuck Wendig: A herd of giant, flightless birds, a young girl, and a sudden lesson. "Purity of Purpose" by Gareth-Michael Skarka: Who seeks the secret of the Unsurpassed Weapons? "Paper Lotus" by Tessa Gratton: A strange girl tasks a wounded man to deliver a crucial message. "In the Name of the Empire" by Eddy Webb: A sheriff is charged with the murder of an Imperial Magistrate. "Errant Eagles" by Will Hindmarch: A gunslinger faces the consequences of his past. "Railroad Spikes" by Ari Marmell: A bandit finds that he's robbed the wrong train. "The Fury Pact" by Matt Forbeck: An inventor's son faces the responsibility of his name. "Seven Holes" by T.S. Luikart: An apprentice learns the true nature of demons. "Local Legend" by Jason L. Blair: Red Phoenix was dead, and the bounty hunter tells the tale. "Crippled Avengers" by Dave Gross: A band of fighters seek to take revenge on the steam baron who crippled them.

Silver on the Road


Laura Anne Gilman - 2015
    But this is not the devil you know. This is a being who deals fairly with immense—but not unlimited—power, who offers opportunities to people who want to make a deal, and makes sure they always get what they deserve. But his land is a wild west that needs a human touch, and that’s where Izzy comes in. Inadvertently trained by him to see the clues in and manipulations of human desire, Izzy is raised to be his left hand and travel the circuitous road through the territory. As we all know, where there is magic there is power and chaos…and death.