Cowboys and...werewolves?
Strangeways is first and foremost a Western, with everything that implies: cowboys, gunmen, America in flux after the Civil War, law in the face of lawlessness. Strangeways is different, though, in that it’s also a horror book, with all that implies: monsters (human and inhuman), character-driven chills, suspense.
Most importantly, Strangeways is the story of Seth Collins, a man apart and adrift in the West, coming to grips with horrors both natural and supernatural. The country is still dealing with barely-healed wounds from the Civil War and Collins is no different. He’s gone west, not only to get away from the memory of the war, but to find out if saving the Union was worth the effort. Collins is also trying to reconcile his own actions in the face of the war.
But the Strangeways, as they’re called by some, have other ideas.
In many ways, this will be a traditional western, though certainly with more modern sensibilities. Granted, instead of cowboys and indians, we’re getting cowboys and werewolves. Expect to see a lot of cliches broken, on both sides of the western/horror equation. The themes may be familiar, but their expressions will certainly be different.
The West of Strangeways is its own place, having roots in the historical west. However, the shadows and moonlight fall differently here, and in them ages-old horrors still stalk the frontier. And as the frontier closes, faced with the encroachment of civilization, the shadows strike back out of necessity.
Strangeways is also about the struggle between technology and superstition, the new forcing out the old. There will be a subtle emphasis on technology and how it and tradition attempt to come to terms with one another. This will be another way in which Strangeways stands out from the (what seems to be a growing) crowd of western genre titles. True, westerns and horror have been combined before, but not quite like this.
There will be a rotating cast of supporting characters (some recurring) as well as intriguing and depthy adversaries who have a lot more to them than your average monster or ghoul. But the action will always revolve around Collins; his character is what’s going to drive the story.
The first story arc, entitled “Murder Moon” has Collins caught between a crooked sheriff of a town called Silver Branch and the shadowy creature that just wrecked the stage he was riding shotgun on. The townsfolk are scared, scared enough that they’ll lynch Collins’ partner, fearing that he’s the very creature stalking them all. Add to this the mystery of Collins’ missing sister and the curious strangers who seem to be watching Collins’ every move and you’ll begin to get an inkling of what’s going on.
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