How To Write A Weird West Story

So you want to write a Weird Western?

If you love your historical fiction with a dash of the weird, you may have already dabbled in weird western fiction. If not? You’re missing out.

Weird western is a literary genre that fuse the gritty, sometimes brutal reality of life on the American frontier with elements of fantasy, horror and science fiction. This genre hasn’t been as popularized as its other SFF counterparts, but it has so much potential. It’s often also called gothic western, historic fantasy or fantasy western.

If you’re looking for inspiration and ways to write weird westerns, read on for tips and tricks.

How to Write weird western stories

For those of you new to the genre, think of it this way: a weird western combines the tropes of a traditional Western with speculative elements. The story can be supernatural, fantastical, horrific or just plain weird.

Some examples:

A settlement community confronting a miner vampire in Arizona
A hunter who befriends a gold-seeking dinosaur in 18th century Colorado
A Comanche woman has to save her family from a humanoid alien in the 1700s
A cowboy who has to save a town from abductions in a retro-futuristic Old West
A futuristic gunslinger decides to protect a mysterious child at all costs
And so on…

Weird western stories are typically set in the 1800s west of the Mississippi, but this is just a starting point. Weird westerns can break the rules: stories can happen in prehistory, alt-history or futuristic worlds, as long as they incorporate themes, settings and/or iconic tropes of the Old West mythos.

When you’re writing a weird western, the first thing to remember is that you want to make sure your readers are surprised by the ideas, events or characters that happen in your story. Taking the typical elements of the western genre and twisting them enough to keep the reader guessing is a surefire way to write a memorable weird west tale.

For example, maybe you have a character who typically rides a horse and has a six-shooter to defend themselves. But what if you had that character ride into town on a cougar and wielded their own cursed magic to fight instead? This is just a starting point; the idea is to take the typical Western tropes and turn them on their heads.

You can also use weird western fiction to tell stories about real issues or problems that people have faced historically.

For example, some weird western stories bring to light issues like racism or sexism. They might focus on indigenous people dealing with brutal attacks on their way of life; how women were controlled by not allowed to have jobs or land; or how society deliberately treated black people worse than white people. (Note: use common sense and sensitivity when talking about the plight of groups to which you don’t belong. This is good practice for fiction and in general.)

Now that we’ve established what this unique genre is and a general approach to storytelling, let’s look at more specific steps on how to write a weird western.

Step-by-Step Tips to Writing a Weird West Story

Below are some points to keep in mind when writing your own weird western.

1: Follow the genre’s parameters

Though there can be exceptions, these parameters generally should be followed to be classified in this genre:

If you are going with the classic “Old West” setting:
- The time period should roughly be between 1810 and 1912
- There must be significant fictional elements that take place in an environment or world based on or resembling the American Old West
If you are not going with the typical time period or geographic location for your weird western (e.g., a space western):
- The “Old West” elements and themes need to be specific and deliberate. This can be done by including the stereotypical Western aesthetics (cowboy hat, duster, six-shooter, horses); archetypal characters or themes.
- Look to examples like Firefly, The Dark Tower series or The Mandalorian.

2: Use Old West dialect thoughtfully

“He was uglier than a boot heel.”

“Courage is being scared to death and saddling up anyway.”

“A hog-killing’ good time.”

Dialect and sayings of the time can add a lot of flavor to a historical story. However, leaning too heavily into a dialect can be distracting or even worse, corny. Generally for writers new to the genre, it’s best to use slang and dialect sparingly or add your own twist.

Here are some resources for cowboy sayings that you can riff on:

100 Top Cowboy Sayings (Colorado Trails)
Western Slangs and Sayings (Writer’s Guide)
Western Insults (Legends of America)

3: Look to history

Reading primary sources, such as archival newspapers form the 1800s, can immediately put you in the mindset of the Old West. Used bookstores can be a great spot to find offbeat and intriguing historical tellings. Reading stories about women trailblazers in the Old West or heroic indigenous figures can provide rich fodder for story ideas. But, a word of caution for new writers: don’t get bogged down in history. Though historical accounts can be helpful resources, try not to let the details slow you down or interfere with your story flow. One of the fun aspects of the Weird West is the freedom to follow your imagination.

Looking to history will also help you add in the details and realistic aesthetics that will help your reader become immersed in the world.

4: Think outside the box

The gold-hearted prostitute, helpful shaman and stoic cowboy are tired tropes everyone has seen too many times and can result in lazy writing. Generally stories that demonize or fetishize a group of people based on religion, race or appearance can also make for a poor reading experience (e.g., indigenous characters portrayed as the default mystics or “bad guys”).

Weird West is a great chance to try out new types of characters and storylines. By the same token, stories of werewolves, vampires and zombies get tiresome too, so think about what makes the “weird” in your story different and why.

5 ways to find Inspiration to write A Weird West Story

Make friends with a horse. A simple afternoon horse-riding excursion or tour can help inspire a sense of what it might have been like to use these animals as a mode of transportation.
Go on a train ride. Many locations offer historic train rides or tours that can be excellent fodder for story ideas. A tour in a mine, excursion to the desert, or weekend stay at a dude ranch can also help foster ideas.
Come up with a playlist. Some songs to start your list: “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X, “Wild Wild West” by Will Smith, “Outlaw Serenade” by Maravilla, “The Gambler” by Kenny Rogers, anything by Johnny Cash, anything by Everybody Loves an Outlaw, the soundtrack of The Harder They Fall.
Take a speculative short writing course. Online offerings, such as from Reach Your Apex, Clarion West, and others, can be a great way to get your feet wet and get some feedback on a weird western.
Read work from the experts. There is a plethora of entertaining weird western stories out there. Check out this list of weird west novels and anthologies for short story inspiration.

If you’re still stuck…

If you’re still stuck, here’s a down-and-dirty outline to try:

Come up with a believable yet slightly absurd event that could happen in the Old West, such as a zombie outbreak.
Give your main character a motivation and background story. Perhaps they want to seek revenge on someone who killed their family but they are devastatingly afraid of zombies.
Follow the recommended structure of a narrative story (e.g., 3-act structure) for pacing and flow.

Happy writing!