what is a book enthusiast The Lon Williams Weird Western Megapack: 25 Fantastic Western Stories
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Neither fish nor fowl, but generally okayBy LibrarianI greatly enjoy reading all kinds of older pulp stories that I was too young to purchase and read in their heyday. But having since read a great many of them, I have discovered that pulp stories combining two genres are usually less successful and satisfying than those which stick to one alone. Not infrequently, I suspect, even back in the day such hybrids would have proved disappointing to fans of each. For example, in these tales from the 1950's (all from "Real Western" magazine), the western components are underwhelming, and their superficiality is not particularly enhanced by incorporating elements of the weird and fantastic. Therefore, the fantastic predominates and establishes the overall tone of these stories. But are they weird enough? Or creepy enough? You'll have to decide that for yourself.Of course, this Megapack displays the consistently great formatting of that series (and has an active TOC). For a mere dollar, one does get quite a few stories, so it's hard to be overly critical of this collection. One does not exactly pick up a set of weird westerns expecting to find high quality literature, and you won't find it in this one. These stories are much further down the literary food chain, and even there they are definitely a mixed bag (both in terms of genre and quality). Nevertheless, those who approach this pulp collection with realistic expectations should experience many hours of spooky entertainment, and I enjoyed it more than I expected to.8 of 9 people found the following review helpful. Opportunity to read "Lost" WritersBy LcthulouI know you didn't come here looking for Lon Williams: You came here from clicking on the hundred odd Wildside Megapacks and this one caught your eye.What do you get? A lot of similar stories. Let's face it, Lon isn't one of the better known Writers, and his stories can be formulaic and predictable.But there's a certain innocence to these old pulp tales, and they hit the spot for the quick and unusual reads they're meant to be.Just don't try to read them straight through. Mix them up, read a couple at a time, dole them out over a few months, the way they were meant to be enjoyed.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Don't be fooled - this is very good!By Timothy W. MooreYou will begin by reading the first few stories and say "Hey! This is the same thing over and over!". Don't be fooled - stick to it.On the surface, this is an interesting collection of short stories with the exact same protagonist (a sheriff), protagonist's friend (the barkeep), and the same general plot structure. Each introduces a new antagonist and twist, typically supernatural in flavor, and ends basically the same. What is fun about these stories is they build on each other, providing tiny new glimpses of the main character and his friend / sidekick, painting more detail with each story until you have a rich tapestry. Overall it has a nice, old time western feel mashed with the weird west. Highly recommended in it's symbolistic, yet simple imagery.