The horror Western is a crossgenre of both the horror and

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

genres. It has it roots in films such as ''

Curse of the Undead ''Curse of the Undead'' is a 1959 American horror Western film directed by Edward Dein and starring Eric Fleming, Michael Pate and Kathleen Crowley. Plot In an Old West town, young girls are dying of a mysterious wasting disease. Dr. John ...

'' (1959), featuring

Michael Pate Michael Pate OAM (born Edward John Pate; 26 February 1920 – 1 September 2008) was an Australian actor, writer, director, and producer, who also worked in Hollywood in the 1950s and 1960s. Biography Early life Pate was born in Drum ...

as a vampire gunfighter; and ''

Billy the Kid vs. Dracula ''Billy the Kid Versus Dracula'' is a 1966 American horror Western film directed by William Beaudine. The film is about Billy the Kid ( Chuck Courtney) trying to save his fiancée from Dracula (John Carradine). The film was originally released ...

'' (1966), which depicts the real-life outlaw

Billy the Kid Billy the Kid (born Henry McCarty; September 17 or November 23, 1859July 14, 1881), also known by the pseudonym William H. Bonney, was an outlaw and gunfighter of the American Old West, who killed eight men before he was shot and killed at t ...

fighting against the fictional vampire

Dracula ''Dracula'' is a novel by Bram Stoker, published in 1897. As an epistolary novel, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist, but opens with solicitor Jonathan Harker taking ...

. Newer examples include ''

Near Dark NEAR or Near may refer to: People * Thomas J. Near, US evolutionary ichthyologist * Near, a developer who created the higan emulator Science, mathematics, technology, biology, and medicine * National Emergency Alarm Repeater (NEAR), a former ...

'' (1987) directed by

Kathryn Bigelow Kathryn Ann Bigelow (; born November 27, 1951) is an American filmmaker. Covering a wide range of genres, her films include ''Near Dark'' (1987), ''Point Break'' (1991), '' Strange Days'' (1995), '' K-19: The Widowmaker'' (2002), ''The Hurt Locke ...

, which tells the story about a human falling in love with a

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...

. ''

From Dusk till Dawn ''From Dusk till Dawn'' is a 1996 American action horror film directed by Robert Rodriguez and written by Quentin Tarantino from a concept and story by Robert Kurtzman. Starring Harvey Keitel, George Clooney, Quentin Tarantino, Ernest Liu, and ...

'' (1996) by

Robert Rodriguez Robert Anthony Rodriguez (; born June 20, 1968) is an American filmmaker, composer, and visual effects supervisor. He shoots, edits, produces, and scores many of his films in Mexico and in his home state of Texas. Rodriguez directed the 1992 ac ...

deals with outlaws battling vampires. ''

Vampires A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mischief or deaths ...

'' (1998), by

John Carpenter John Howard Carpenter (born January 16, 1948) is an American filmmaker, actor, and composer. Although he worked in various film genres, he is most commonly associated with horror, action, and science fiction films of the 1970s and 1980s. He ...

, is about a group of vampires and vampire hunters looking for an ancient relic in the Old West. '' Ravenous'' (1999) concerns cannibalism at a remote

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

outpost and ''

The Burrowers ''The Burrowers'' is a 2008 Western horror film written and directed by J. T. Petty. The film is based on an original short film, ''Blood Red Earth'' directed by Petty. Plot The year is 1879, and beyond the fringes of civilization a handful ...

'' (2008) is about a band of trackers who are stalked by the titular creatures. '' Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter'' (2012) depicts

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

's life as a secret

vampire hunter Vampire hunter or vampire slayer is a fictional occupation in history and fiction which specializes in finding vampires, and sometimes other supernatural creatures. A vampire hunter is usually described as having extensive knowledge of vampires a ...

. ''

Bone Tomahawk ''Bone Tomahawk'' is a 2015 American Western film written and directed by S. Craig Zahler in his directorial debut. It stars Kurt Russell, Patrick Wilson, Matthew Fox, Richard Jenkins, Lili Simmons, Evan Jonigkeit, David Arquette, and Sid Haig ...

'' (2015), one of the most recent entries in the genre, received wide critical acclaim for its tale of cannibalism, but like many other films in the genre, it was not a commercial success. Among games which combine the two genres, ''

Deadlands ''Deadlands'' is a genre-mixing alternate history role-playing game which combines the Western and horror genres, with some steampunk elements. The original game was written by Shane Lacy Hensley and published by Pinnacle Entertainment Group i ...

'' is an

alternate history Alternate history (also alternative history, althist, AH) is a genre of speculative fiction of stories in which one or more historical events occur and are resolved differently than in real life. As conjecture based upon historical fact, altern ...

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...

. ''

Undead Nightmare ''Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare'' is a standalone expansion pack to the 2010 video game ''Red Dead Redemption''. It adds a non-canonical zombie horror-themed single-player campaign, two multiplayer modes, and cosmetic additions to the e ...

'' (2010), an expansion to ''

Red Dead Redemption ''Red Dead Redemption'' is a 2010 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar San Diego and published by Rockstar Games. A spiritual successor to 2004's ''Red Dead Revolver'', it is the second game in the ''Red Dead'' series. ''Red Dead Redempt ...

'' (2010) is an example of a

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

in the genre, telling the tale of a

zombie A zombie (Haitian French: , ht, zonbi) is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. Zombies are most commonly found in horror and fantasy genre works. The term comes from Haitian folklore, in whic ...

outbreak in the

Old West The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...

References

Bibliography

* {{Film genres Western (genre) films by genre Western (genre) horror films