'An Occurrence in Crazy Bear Valley' – Brian Keene (Deadite Press)

After going a bit crazy on Amazon when I first got my Kindle (don't tell me you didn't do exactly the same thing), I couldn't even tell you the titles of half the books on it now. Not the best way to keep your books in order but it does mean that whenever I turn my Kindle on, it always has something for me that I want to read. Funny that :o)

All of which is a slightly roundabout way of saying that when I fancied reading a little Brian Keene last night, my Kindle didn't let me down. I went for 'An Occurrence in Crazy Bear Valley' as I tend to read Keene's longer works (and I'm counting short story collections here, they're big books...) and I fancied something short and sweet just to get me through to the end of the day. Also, the two stories in this book are 'Weird Westerns' which I enjoy but don't often read. After a bit of a shitty day, I wanted to take a little step outside what I'd normally read and have it take my mind off things, just a little bit.

And it did, it really did. I've just had the pleasure of spending a couple of hours in an Old West that came with all the ingredients for some great pulp reading. Just what I needed...

Strap on your six-guns and saddle up for a shoot-out against a horde of angry Sasquatch, zombies, dinosaurs, and more.

The Old West has never been weirder or wilder than it has in the hands of master horror writer Brian Keene.

Morgan and his gang are on the run--from their pasts and from the posse riding hot on their heels, intent on seeing them hang. But when they take refuge in Crazy Bear Valley, their flight becomes a siege as they find themselves battling a legendary race of monstrous, bloodthirsty beings. Now, Morgan and his gang aren't worried about hanging. They just want to live to see the dawn.

Deadite Press is proud to present Brian Keene's An Occurrence in Crazy Bear Valley for the first time in paperback. Also includes the bonus short story "Lost Canyon of the Damned".

'An Occurrence in Crazy Bear Valley' feels like a straight horror read to me while 'Lost Canyon of the Damned' is, well... a little bit of everything I think! What they both have in common though is that they're both very easy to get into and just keep reading until the pages stop coming. Keene has never been afraid to mine different veins of horror and it's clear here that he knows exactly what to do with what he finds.

My own limited exposure to Westerns (mostly film) is that it's all about those wide open spaces of America and mans attempts to tame these back in the day. It's a setting that's ripe for a touch of horror as you never know what you might find over the horizon, or in shadowy canyon passes. The land is there to be taken but it was there long before the white man turned up to hunt gold or drive cattle. Who knows what might still be there...? Brian Keene knows and lets us have a little look for ourselves...

'An Occurrence in Crazy Bear Valley' is a great lesson in how to draw out the tension to breaking point... and then let it explode at just the right time. It's also a timely lesson in being damn sure about what's at the end of your gun before you pull the trigger. This story is a lot of things but for me, it was about that air of foreboding, between the trees, that almost had me holding my breath as well as a siege (at the end) with a little tiny hint of 'Night of the Living Dead' about it. Or maybe that was just me. Anyway...

What really added to the horror here, for me, is that Keene asks a pretty hard question of his readers. Where does the real horror lie and who do you feel for as a result? Is it the raiders dealing with something far beyond their understanding? Or is it that unknown 'something' which, when you think about it, is probably doing exactly the same thing? It's almost like you're being attacked on two fronts. Either way, or both at once, 'An Occurrence in Crazy Bear Valley' is a horrifying tale that I didn't want to put down. I wonder whether Crystal made it out? I hope she did.

Onto 'Lost Canyon of the Damned' and another gripping read, albeit for different reasons. I love zombie books and I have a soft spot for dinosaurs as well; 'Lost Canyon of the Damned' has both. In fact, it would only need robots to be the perfect storm for me.

We're back in the zombie world of Keene's 'Hamelin's Revenge' virus but I think there are hints that this is actually happening in one of the many alternate worlds of his 'Labyrinth' mythos. Actually, I don't think they're even really hints to be honest, it's pretty much in your face. And that's a good thing as the result is a fast paced adventure (well, not for the zombies but you know what I mean) that takes in a little horror at the same time. I love the seamless switch between zombie horror and dinosaur and if that wasn't enough for you, there's the inevitable results of these two things meeting. Actually, I don't think we needed robots after all :o)

'Lost Canyon of the Damned' is unashamed pulp goodness and a timely reminder that all the best pulp stories had a little vein of horror running through them. Those trees are looking foreboding again but for an entirely different reason this time...

I haven't read these stories for years but I'm so glad I took a little time to get reaccquainted with them. If you're after a little Western action but with an edge of horror, you really should give 'An Occurrence in Crazy Bear Valley' a look.