this post was submitted on 21 Dec 2024
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Weird West
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Weird West (or Weird Western) is a genre of fiction that uses the Wild West period of American History as a foundation and then adds fantasy/supernatural elements to it. So stories where gunslingers encounter zombies, vampires, demons, robots, or any other creatures that wouldn't otherwise be present in a standard Western.
This is a community for sharing various Weird West works. Movies, Books, Comics, Video Games, TV Shows, whatever fits.
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I know it's pointless to argue semantics about genre definitions but I do enjoy discussing the boundaries of where one genre ends and another begins.
While I won't argue Valley of Gwangi is Weird West since it has dinosaurs, do you think subverting Western tropes is enough to make something Weird West? I mean, The Quick and The Dead plays pretty loose with the laws of physics just to make for some fun shots:
Or there's Western comedies like Blazing Saddles and Maverick that subvert a lot of Western tropes. I guess I'd almost define Weird West as whether or not something could happen in the West (even though it obviously didn't). So inclusion of vampires, monsters, dinosaurs are "obviously" Weird West but a Western where the "monsters" are simply cannibals isn't Weird West to me. Of course, there's also the sub-genre of Acid Western where things might get super weird but not in a supernatural way. And this is why I like making these posts, to discuss the fringes of the genre.
No, just a subverting of tropes isn't Weird West to me. As I said, it has to be significant. Something that implies much larger implications to the setting/world. Examples: steampunk tech, some alien/scifi tech, magic users, fantasy creatures, etc.
Even better for me is if it feels like a seamless addition. Like if everything about the town is a standard Wild West town but is also a low magic setting where some heirlooms have enchantments or a magic user is uncommon but not strange.