Editorial: Westerns and Weather Events

Like many Americans, I grew up watching Westerns. To be more specific, my dad grew up watching Westerns, and when cable television and VHS came into our home in the 1980’s, it was often Westerns that my dad (and us kids) would watch. Nearly a third of movies created in Hollywood’s 20th century “golden era” were Westerns, a stat I can’t imagine being replicated in my lifetime. They must have been everywhere! Like superhero movies are now.

The plot of many classic Westerns centered on bringing “civilization”—in the form of law and order, settling families, or railroads—to a land that is wild and challenging. A classic man-vs-nature take. The scenery even appears stark and untameable on screen. The heroes of these stories are themselves untameable, often adopting the outlaw’s techniques in order to bring about a new society at the edge of the frontier.

In a short film made for The Museum of Modern Art called “Westerns: Is the Genre Dead?”, Dave Kehr has a great examination of what made these heroes so popular in the post-WWII era—essentially, their trauma as a result of violence. But in addition to this specific mid-century proclivity, I think these kinds of stories and characters had already been popular in America, even when the frontier was the Ohio River Valley, even when the frontier was Mississippi. Andrew Jackson’s reputation as a frontier man won him the presidency after all. It was the combination of this archetype, which had already existed, with the extremely cinematic scenery of the desert and mountains that really sparked people’s imagination.

Those traditional Westerns have faded away into the sunset—began fading away in the 60s with the rise of counterculture movements. The only societal message a Western could adopt then was a cynical one.

The only Westerns for today’s audience might be revisionist ones. Far too many examples of the early films contain scenes depicting (even full plot lines hinging upon) the exploitation, murder, and displacement of Native and Indigenous peoples. (Linking to this Wikipedia article does not do the issue justice, but I also am not the right person to speak on this topic.)

And what’s more, the American West is no longer the frontier. Families that moved west now have children moving back east!

Being a magazine that publishes our fair share of speculative fiction, you might expect me to pivot to “space is the final frontier.” But no, I want to stay on earth. I want the cinematic landscapes I grew up with. I want the man-vs-nature struggle. For that I turn toward climate change and weather extremes. The scramble for resources will be a theme that future generations will find resonance with, and that struggle will ultimately define where the next frontier is.

This month we have stories featuring weather events, Western backdrops, or—in the case of three out of the five—both. First up is “Tornado Breakers Don’t Cry” by Stefan Alcalá Slater, a story about a renowned tornado rider, Ethel, who needs to break free from her father’s toxic words.

Keeping with the theme of law and order is “The Hanging of Billy Crabtree” by H. A. Eugene, in which the death of an outlaw changes the course of history. Justice and revenge also figures in our reprint story for the month—“Nosebleed Weather” by Marilyn Hope.

Returning author Rich Larson brings us “To Harvest a Cloud,” a story of exploitation that begins with a classic Western intro—the wandering man comes to town.

Finally, we have “The Ruby Level” by L.L. Madrid, which gives us the dark-and-stormy night we need for a perfect segue into Spooky Season.

Speaking of spooky, our upcoming October issue is the WEIRD HORROR special, a double issue featuring eight horror stories from authors around the world (seven brand new originals, and one reprint). This issue will include an introduction by our guest editors Avra Margariti and Eugenia Tryantafyllou. If you want to get your issue right on October 1st, become a subscriber at Weightless Books or become a paid member of our Patreon page.

Thank you for being with us! Happy Reading!

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Ⓒ Rebecca Halsey