In honor of Women in Horror Month (WiHM) this March, we’re highlighting weird west horror authors from marginalized genders whose works blend the supernatural, the fantastical, and everything in between. From gripping books and haunting novellas, to short stories, anthologies and graphic novels, these authors’ tales feature epic adventures, unsettling encounters, and high stakes set against the rich and unforgiving landscape of the Old West.
Katie Berry
She is a transplanted easterner from Ottawa, Ontario, now living for the last several decades in the beautiful West-Kootenays of British Columbia. She is a long-time writer (and wrote her first short story in grade 2) and voracious reader with a life-time fascination with all things macabre, supernatural and unexplained.
Arlo Zven Graves
Arlo Zven Graves lives in a salvaged shack deep in the woods and mostly comes out at night. They can be found lurking, collecting cool rocks, or playing ocarina. Zven doesn’t bite (often) and you should come say hi on social media.
KC Grifant
KC Grifant is an award-winning writer based in Southern California who writes and edits internationally published horror, fantasy, science fiction and weird west stories. She is the author of the supernatural western series Monster Gunslinger, with the first book, Melinda West: Monster Gunslinger, receiving positive reviews internationally. She is also the founder of the Weird West Fiction website, the editor of Women of the Weird West (Brigids Gate Press, 2026), and co-editor of Of Terrors and Tombstones (Stars and Sabers, 2027).
Jo Kaplan
Jo Kaplan is the author of It Will Just Be Us and When the Night Bells Ring. Her short stories have appeared in Fireside Quarterly, Black Static, Nightmare Magazine, Vastarien, Horror Library, Nightscript, and award winning anthologies. She has also published work as Joanna Parypinski. In addition to writing, she teaches English and creative writing at Glendale Community College. She is currently the co-chair of the Horror Writers Association’s Los Angeles chapter.
Bitter Karella
Bitter Karella is the horror writer and aficionado behind the three time Hugo-nominated microfiction comedy account Midnight Pals. Karella writes gonzo psycho-sexual body horror with a grotesquely humorous edge. His short story “Low Tide Jenny,” originally published in Seize the Press magazine, was a winner of Tenebrous Press’ Brave New Weird award in 2022, and her work has also been published by Eerie River Publishing, Ghoulish Books, and From Beyond Press.
Nicole Givens Kurtz
Nicole Givens Kurtz has been called “a genre polymath who does crime, horror, and Science Fiction and Fantasy (Book Riot).” They’ve named her as one of the 6 Black SFF Indie Writers You Should be Reading, 30 Must-Read SFF Books by Black Authors, and The Best of the West: 8 Alternative History Westerns (Sisters of the Wild Sage). She’s a two-time Atomacon Palmetto Scribe Award winner. With over 20 years in publishing, She’s written for Pseudopod, Apex, Fiyah, White Wolf, The Realm, Baen, Subsume, and MV Media. Nicole has over 50 published short stories, including her story, “The Way Home,” in Marvel®’s Captain America: The Shield of Sam Wilson anthology from Titan Books. Nicole is the author of the Cybil Lewis and Death Violations cybernoir series as well as the Kingdom of Aves fantasy mystery series.
C.R. Langille
C.R. Langille spent many a Saturday afternoon watching monster movies with their mother. It wasn’t long before they started crafting nightmares to share with their readers. They are a retired, disabled veteran with a deep love for weird and creepy tales. This prompted them to form Timber Ghost Press in January of 2021. They are an affiliate member of the Horror Writer’s Association, a member of the League of Utah Writers, and they received their MFA: Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University.
Christine Morgan
Christine Morgan writes across a variety of genres, from the historical to the hellacious and beyond. Her novel Lakehouse Infernal (set in Edward Lee’s universe) won the Splatterpunk Award in 2020, and its sequel, Warlock Infernal, came out in 2022. She’s also known for her Viking-themed horror and dark fantasy, loves mythology and folklore and twisted fairy-tales, and was a longtime contributor to The Horror Fiction Review.
Hailey Piper
Hailey Piper is the Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Queen of Teeth, Cruel Angels Past Sundown, A Light Most Hateful, The Worm and His Kings series, and other books of dark fiction. She is an active member of the Horror Writers Association, with words appearing in Library Journal, CrimeReads, Tor Nightfire, Pseudopod, Vastarien, and various other publications. She lives with her wife in Maryland, where their occult rituals are secret.
Stephanie Rabig
Stephanie Rabig has been into horror ever since she could read (a librarian remembered her decades later because she tried to check out Dracula in kindergarten). When not reading or watching her favorite genre, she’s making jewelry and tea blends, or adopting yet another cat.
More Weird Western Authors to Check Out
Rachel Aaron – The Last Stand of Mary Good Crow
Emma Bull – Territory
Julie Bozza – Queer Weird West Tales
Catt Colborn – Biting the Golden Dust Canyon
Kelly Sue DeConnick – Pretty Deadly
Gemma Files – A Book of Tongues
Sarah Gailey – River of Teeth
Pamela Jeffs – The Terralight Collection
Kenzie Jennings – Red Station
Suzanna Lundale (editor) – Zehlreg Augustus Grindstone’s Spectacular Western Oddity Emporium
Catherine Lundoff – Queer Weird West Tales
Laura Marden – “Come Devil“
V.S. McGrath – The Devil’s Revolver (4-book series)
Regina Garza Mitchell – Shadow of the Vulture
TC Parker – Salvation Spring
Rebecca Roanhorse – Tread of Angels
Tammy Salyer – Weird West Otherworld Outlaws series
Catherynne M. Valente – Six-Gun Snow White
More references:
Check out “5 Supernatural Westerns to Add to Your TBR” at The Horror Tree
Looking for more weird western book recommendations? Keep an eye out for upcoming titles releasing in 2023 at this frequently updated list:
Weird West Fiction 