Sitting at my desk with a few minutes to spare, I tried to shake off the dregs of medication and write a few comments up. It was in that moment of inspiration that I recalled I had been playing with some voice recognition software a few weeks ago. With that in mind I did my best to catch up with all the comments. Any mistakes in what follows, must lie with the software. (Honest.)
Flugel Miester – a simple but effective tale that catches the theme wonderfully. There is something perfectly traditional in a story that sees a mysterious stranger turn up in town, with the additional unusual properties that are hinted at in this story. The threat of the Indians at the end just seems to add something to this unusual character, is he there to help or merely to observe?
The Spurring Platty - it took me a read or two to actually get this one, but once I did I could do nothing else that groan. But in a good way. The set up was good, I really enjoyed the description of the strange man coming back to the bar. The last line though... I really do not know what to think! Very good.
Phyrebrat – I had to admit this one has left me slightly perplexed. I'm not sure that my drug addled mind can fully appreciate the story that is being told. However the ideas presented and the images conjured up are incredible indeed. The impression I got, is of a man dying in the sun, alone with only the remains of what he took with him. There is a surrealistic feeling to the entire piece, which successfully conveys the disorientation of the protagonist.
Brev – this is a wonderful poem superbly put together, well in keeping with this month's theme, and it tells a stupendous story as well. This one really worked for me, mixing together reality, legend, and some superb storytelling. The white man's greed is well portrayed, and what they did in the name of gold is well woven into the story. By going back further and bringing into play myth and teaching those prospectors and well deserved lesson is the icing on the cake.
RSliwinski - straightforward, simple but very effective. This story delivers just like it ought to, as it says on the box. It really is a good commonplace western story, with that weird edge added to it. In some ways this makes the story work better, because you can see it play out in your mind, and it is what you can build around this framework that really makes it work.
TE - this is a never really enjoyable story. Possibly because it has so much reality as its basis. I can remember people talking to me about making a quilt and having each patch mean something else, quite literally the story of someone's life. The mystical overlay that has been woven into this story just adds to it, and the fact that it could be taken as nebulous as to whether there is any magic involved really deepens the tale. The last line though sells it perfectly.
David B -this was a very clever story that twisted first one way and then another. When I started to read it I have to say I thought it was going to be an alternative take on history. But then it turns out that it is all a dream, but a dream that should be acted upon. Once again I thought it was leading me down the road to an alternative history, only once again I was wrong footed as the natives lost. But it was the true end that really made the story work, where we find out that those that lost in the physical world may well have gained most in the metaphysical.
TheTomG –for me at least this story carried a somewhat macabre overtone, of course it all depends on whether I was interpreting it in the right way. What starts out as a straightforward and simple gunfight, looks to be so much more as though the unfortunate gunslinger is taking on none other than the Grim Reaper himself.
TDZ – something a little different and very entertaining, this story reminded me of a series of reflections, were each reflection takes is a little further away from the starting point. Of course that is no bad thing especially in the way it is handled here, with some deft prose and that quirky humour that works so very, very well. The final scene sticks with me quite a while after I first read it.
JohnnyJet – yet they know the story that plays with our expectations. When we see a man about to be hanged, especially in a western setting, you generally get the feeling you know what to expect. Once more those expectations are played with, as our condemned criminal does not drop to his death, but rather an altogether different form of retribution. (Probably a better one!)
Juelz4sure – this attempt was something really different again, moving away from the fantasy element and moving on into horror, and in this instance horror done very well indeed. In many ways it was a simple story, but one with all the right elements to sell itself. What makes it work even more is the fact that until the end it could well be a simple, straightforward western.
High Eight - almost a straightforward historical piece, as we see the last minutes of one of the wild West's most legendary characters. It is the actual moment that gave rise to the term the dead man's hand, but in this instance it is overlaid with ghostly whisperings. Insanity, alcoholism, or the imagination, or even a real spirit you just wish old Bill had been listening.
Highlander - a straightforward decent fun story, that works perfectly. There is very little that needs to be said as the story does what it needs to. It is well written, set up well and ends with a punchline that does all it needs to do.
Joe The Timelord – I really enjoyed this entry, taking things in a different direction once again. Not only does it seem to reference the old West, with that classical scene of someone riding off into the sunset, but it manages to pull the rug out from under your feet with the revelation that this is not the America of the past, but a land torn apart, a post apocalyptic landscape.
Scott R. Forshaw – a well set up and presented tale, that works perfectly. Giving you the background you need in the opening sequence to make the end work without telegraphing that conclusion. When I read the story properly for the first time I have to admit I felt a slight tremor as the lights went out and you heard that terminal click.
Bob S. Sr –another historical character makes an appearance in these tales of ours, and in this instance it is yet another stupendous tale. Despite what the record show Judge Roy Bean was rather more lenient than his legend has become, and somehow this story catches that. Showing a character that is prepared to judge each case on its merits rather than by the ongoing letter of the law. The irony of why this particular criminal goes free his humorous and fun.
Hoops – the next tale is a rather strange mix I felt came across as both fun and subtly horrific at the same time. It is one of those that when you read it you think it is humorous, but the more you think about it the more the image at the end becomes one of uncertainty and horror. Just what was hidden behind that coat, so that the gunslinger could actually be carrying 12 guns. Very entertaining and thought-provoking.
TJ – Ah, the frontier life. As much as it has its appeal, it also has all the inherent dangers that come with it. Land grabs, and stakeholder wars are all represented here, and you could see how easy it would be for the ranchers with cattle to let their beasts run free over the land they would rather have had, even if that land is rich with another’s crop. Of course this being a weird western there is a lot more at stake and the final line that sees the tables turned his one that will leave a surreal image floating behind my eyes for a long while.
Ursa – my brain hurts.
Stormfeather - This was a very different but completely entertaining story, super imposing the land of Oz on to the wild West could only be described as totally weird. In itself that would have been entertaining enough, but adding the more serious issues of a drought and the persecution of witches, especially the wrong which gave us a superb end of this month's stories.
