Blood in the Soil, Terror on the Wind by Kenneth W. Cain.
20 stories Featuring the talents of Antonia Rachel Ward, Nick Kolakowski, Villimey Mist & Damascus Mincemeyer, Jonathan Kemmerer-Scovner, Sean Eads & Joshua Viola, Craig E. Sawyer, Lana Elizabeth Gabris, Joel McKay, David Niall Wilson, Ej Sidle, Brennan LaFaro, Michael Bailey, Amanda J. Spedding, Taylor Rae, P.L. McMillan, Wen Wen Yang, Ben Monroe, and Chad Lutzke..
A good collection of scary twisted stories. 4*.

Unique tales of old west horrors. A doctor who is experimenting on patients. A man out for revenge finds the Cowboys who killed his relative. Maybe he didn't need revenge. Other horror's await. I received a complementary copy and left a voluntary review.

Review Copy

BLOOD IN THE SOIL, TERROR IN THE WIND. What a great title! Sure grabbed my attention. Then I saw then Kenneth Cain was editing this anthology. That checked another box for me. He's edited several of my favorite anthologies. Look inside...Chad Lutzke is reason enough to read this book, and Cain placed his story at the end telling everything I need to know about that story.

Now, Chad Lutzke's story isn't the only great story in this Western Horror collection. But it is a mixed bag. There were a couple that just didn't do it for me and many I really liked.

Have some fun and pick this one up now.

What a grim tale of horror. Thank you so much for giving me the chance to read this ARC. It was uncomfortable and disturbing just how I like my horror.

I love horror in all it’s forms, but one subgenre I don’t see often enough is Westerns. Well, Blood in the Soil, Terror on the Wind rounds up an entire posse of Western horror goodness. Now when it comes to short stories I have a love/hate relationship with them. In my opinion a well told short story is harder to craft than a novel. With a short story an author must deliver a satisfying tale in only a matter of pages, whereas in a novel authors have the luxury of taking their time setting things up, slowing building tension or building up a reader’s relationship with the characters. I’m thrilled to say the vast majority of the short stories here are excellent…with a few of them being merely very good, lol. Each of the authors in this collection delivers a satisfyingly spooky and at times gruesome tale. If you’re looking for a unique spin on the horror genre, do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of Blood in the Soil, Terror on the Wind. Thanks to Brigids Gate Press, LLC and NetGalley for allowing me access to an eARC.

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Horror Westerns? A genre I didn't know I needed in my life! I loved these stories so much. Each story had such satisfying twists, and I couldn't get enough. The gritty characters and settings were just so entertaining.

I loved The Good Doctor; it was one of my favorites. The western take on Frankenstein was brilliant. Each story only got better as I flew through this anthology. This anthology delivers on gore and suspense, and I will definitely be looking forward to more from Kenneth. W. Cain. Honestly, I will be looking forward to reading more horror westerns and I can thank this author for introducing me to a new genre that I thoroughly enjoyed.

DNF - I enjoyed the first handful of stories but didn't quite appreciate the "Ballad of the Overeager Gun" or, shall we say the way the story approached indigeneity. I'm bowing out at this point. I'm sure that there is an audience for this book. It spoke to a corny & cheesy old-timey horror that works well.

Here are my incomplete thoughts on this piece:


It is important to note that the majority of the themes explored in this book deal with sensitive subject matters. My review, therefore, touches on these topics as well. Many people might find the subject matters of the book as well as those detailed in my review overwhelming. I would suggest you steer clear of both if this is the case. Please note that from this point forward I will be writing about matters which contain reflections on graphic body gore, violence, death of a child, & others.

The West is the promised land; the stolen land; the land of fools & fights; the land of terror & a sickening siren call for those who long for the unknown. The brocading cover art warns those who wish to travel through the rough & tumble that the crows caw loudest of all as a reminder that the tumbleweed is blown forth by the invisible wind that carries the ghosts of our lives alongside it.

Crimson Noon :
In the mining town of Mirage a young worker, hardly older than a boy, watches as a caravan of strangers makes their way into town. He reflects on the sleepiness of his home; no one comes around & no one leaves. As the caravan moves into the town proper we learn that this character—Boy—is an orphaned labourer for the mines; subjected to brutal labour in an effort to make his way in the world.

I appreciated this story's ease with which the author transplanted the reader into the fantastically morbid town. One did not need a great deal of effort or layout to be inserted wholeheartedly into the plight of Boy & to grow a longing to see him be avenged for the terrible treatment he receives. I have read a couple of vampire-focused stories in my day; this one fits snuggly into all those who showcase castles & foreign countries. Reminding the reader that the first for blood is innately found in their backyards with the weeds, the gold, & the ravaging landscape of the American West.

The Good Doctor :
After removing the bullet from the seeping wound on the leg of an unruly Outlaw, the Good Doctor, takes a moment to remember where he came from. The European scenery of his previous life is now a long-since departed possibility; no longer the environment in which he might thrive. The desolate landscape of the American West welcomed him into its clutches as he allowed the rambunctious fiends of yonder to roam into his front yard.

For those who have any inkling of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s "Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus” (1818), the Good Doctor's character will ring the bells of familiarity. The conclusion of this story sees this man reveal himself clearly to those whom he is on the brink of mutilating in the hopes of fulfilling his life’s work. The ode to the original tale is wonderfully undertaken in this adaptation of the environment of the West. The Monster takes on new meaning when he is recognized for all the bits & pieces that make him who he is.

Sundown Showdown :
Emilia voyaged to America from Iceland in the hopes of profiting a better life for herself & her grandparents. Known to those in the business as a ‘Reaper’, she works the land as a Bounty Hunter maneuvering the bloody highways while upkeeping a saloon. As the reader meets Emilia she is running up a hill to catch a convict whose body has been overtaken by the Pale Ones—a race of Goliath strength & Methuselah age who are tracking her from beyond the grave.

We never learn the reason for which Emilia murdered an entire family of people in Iceland but we are told that she is remorseful. Her guilt does not hold her back; she feels the need to survive more than she believes in paying her dues with her own life. The Pale Ones remain in a chase with the woman we view initially as a protagonist but who is, ultimately, as much a villain as the bodies she reaps for profit. I enjoyed this story because so little is given to the reader but, the emotional grandeur is felt & understood.

The Werechrist :
Silas transports the demon-ridden body of a Reverend through the planes with the goal of getting him to the monastery that boasts a dignified life for those who have been plagued with the ‘change’. In the course of so few days, the pair adopted the companionship of a boy who longs to see his sister safe & well-cared for at the monastery. When they arrive, the desecrated corpses of the residents litter the grounds & a putrid smell seeps through the stone walls.

This story presents the long-since abandoned practice of ‘sin eating’ a once relied upon means of allowing people to approach death with the belief that their sins were consumed by the eater—having presented them with specific items to represent specific sins. In this case, I enjoyed that the sins in question boasted the peril that the Brother was trying to make his own, having made a deal with a devil unknown.

3.75 stars

Now this was a fun book to read. As with all short story novels, it has some stand outs and some not so much. None of them were complete duds though. I especially love the title and the cover art which drew me to the book right away. And the stories all delivered on the theme. I say go for it!

This anthology from Brigids Gate Press is true to its premise - it is all horror, from talented authors, set in the dusty deserts and plains in the long-since-passed American west of our dreams, where the buffalo roam and cowboys travel from town to town, where monsters lurk in canyons and woods and something unknown sings in the night.

I enjoyed this anthology, but I do think certain stories were stronger than others. Some of the standouts, for me, were "Crimson Noon," because I love a good zombie-monster story and I need more of (view spoiler); "Ballad of the Overeager Gun" for sheer authorial balls, humor, and Papi's absolute over-the-top insanity; "Ada" for centering the human element of horror and for the potential that Ada and her vaquero meet again; "Boneweaver" because I need to know what happens next and I love some good, dark magic; and "The Wound is Covered," as a where the horrors of American colonialism and imperialism and the acts of genocide committed against the Indigenous peoples of the United States comes to a fitting and absolutely justified head as a woman gets her revenge on General George Wright, pun somewhat intended.

Like I said, I liked this anthology a lot - the standouts were great, but a few clinkers caused me to knock a star off my whole review, and also because, while I liked them, none of them really moved me in a meaningful way? They were enjoyable, and spooky, and the anthology was everything it said it was, but none of it made me go, "Wow," Owen Wilson-style. There was no softly-whispered "holy shit" moment, although I was interested in devouring this book to see what the next story entailed.

It was good. It was enjoyable. I liked it - it has some hits and some misses story-wise, but I'd recommend reading it, even if you don't end up purchasing it for your collection. The good stories in this anthology are good, and I wouldn't want to miss out on those just because you might be worried you won't like everything. Take a look at it!

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review!