You can order any of the Deadlands books, including the "Dime Novel" fiction directly from the Product Listing at the PEG Website.
Orson Scott Card's Alvin Maker series is a fabulous read for REALLY interesting characters, consepts, and scenes that are very "Deadlands'esque". With the exception that it's a little more "glass half full" then Deadlands tends to be. None the less a FABULOUS read! (1: Seventh Son , 2: Red Prophet , 3: Prentice Alvin, 4: Alvin Journeyman, 5: Heartfire.)
More "Deadlands'esque" then I thought it would be, "The Dark Tower Series" by Steven King (About a gunslinger named Roland.) is a very good read once it gets rolling. Part 1: The Gunslinger, Part 2: the Drawing of the Three, Part 3: the WasteLands, and Part:4 Wizard and Glass. ((Suggested by "Tallest John")) The List of 7 by Mark Frost: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and a mysterious companion confront a murderous, black-magic using cabal in Victorian England. "Some good ideas, but not very Western." ((Suggested by Friedrich VonStaat)) The 6 Messiahs by Mark Frost: "Sequel to the List of 7. All over the best analog to Deadlands I have seen anywhere." Sir Arthur Conan Doyle travels to the American West to stop a cult leader and his army of goons from destroying the world. "Contains a rabbi, gunslinger, and kick-ass zen swordsman, amoung other colorful characters. The lead baddie actually seems to be harrowed. (i.e. - Came back from the dead with mysterious powers and evil intent. He even uses the 'infestation' power to kill someone in the first chapter.)" ((Suggested by Fridrich VonStaat)) Anti-Ice by Steven Baxter: A steampunk novel in which England discovers a fuel of incredible power in the antarctic. ((Suggested by Fridrich VonStaat)) The Steampunk Trilogy by Paul Di Fillipo: "Only the first story is real steampunk- a mad scientist createates a beautiful (and rather frisky) woman from a newt. Hijinks ensue. Watch for the various malfunctioning weapon-canes he invents; also note the nuclear powered train- in 1863!" ((Suggested by Fridrich VonStaat.)) The Difference Engine by Bruce Sterling and William Gibson: "Rather enjoyable alternate history in which Charles Babbage's mechanical computer actually works, and the computer revolution occurs a century early. Light on plot, but a fun read." ((Suggested by Fredrich VonStaat)) The Drastic Dragon of Draco Texas by Elisabeth Scarborough: (OUT OF PRINT) "I had high hopes for this but it's more comedy than horror or western." A remote trading post is threatened by a dragon. Plucky women use brains rather then violence to deal with the threat, and discover the dragon's true nature. ((Suggested by Friedrich VonStaat)) Cold Mountain, "a recent bestseller, is a civil war novel about a rebel deserter's trek across the south. It could easily could be called a wierd southern novel- while no supernatural stuff happens, there is a
pervasive feeling of danger and dread. That's just the kind of feeling deadlands should have." - Friedrich VonStaat An anthology called It Came From the Drive-In contains a short story about a gang of outlaws sucked into a demon's twisted parody of the old west, where they are forced to act out classic stereotyped roles. The demon, of course, gets to be sherriff. includes a man-eating tumbleweed." - VonStaat The Alienist by Caleb Carr. "Although it doesn't contain any weirdness or steampunk is it's a great book about a serial killer in New York City in 1896. It really gives you a good feel of what the cities were like." - ? Dry Water by Eric S. Nylund. "While it's about magic in the modern west, there are quite a few encounters with old western ghosts.--in one scene, the characters make a fire with wood from a hangin' tree, and the sticks turn to bones as they burn. Great image. Also, a real deadlands-esque
scene where they are attacked by the ghosts of a snake-oil salesman and the people he killed with his poisonous elixers--the salesman has broken glass from his remedy bottles instead of teeth. Creepy." - Prolific reader VonStaat Brittle Innings is a southern gothic horror/baseball novel- about a mute pitcher on a triple-A baseball team in WWII Georgia who discovers that the team's hulking first baseman is actually frankenstein's monster." - VonStaat
Hoyle's Modern Encyclopedia of Card Games; Rules of All the Basic Games and Popular Variations. (Let me tell you, there's more then one book of games. Try going to Amazon.com and doing a search with the word "Hoyle") Having trouble naming your Deadlands PC? Be it a he or a she of any nationality, take a look at The writer's digest Character Naming Sourcebook. Think of it as the professional version of the "Name your child" books, because it not only gives names, surnames, etc, but the meanings and common history of the words... ((Suggested by Benjamin Schollnick))
They Saw The Elephant: Women in the California Goldrush Some Went West, More positive female rollmodels of the Old West. Black Hats and White Hats : Heroes and Villains of the West. A wonderful quick historical reference with lots of pictures and info! ((Suggested by Rob.)) "You're all at a bar when . . ." Saloons of the Old West by Richard Enfoes. ((I forget who's web page I saw the title of this book on.)) The American West in the Nineteenth Century/255 Illustrations from 'Harper's Weekly' and Other Contemporary Sources from the Dover Pictoral Archive. Dover is your friend, they have lots and lots of books out with period images of all kinds!!! America's Historic Trails: With Tom Bodett. "This companion to the 13-part PBS series (See Suggested Viewing Section.) leads travelers and history buffs along historic trails and wagon roads used by explorers, patriots, slaves, and gold seekers. The book follows ten actual routes that still exist, including El Camino Real, the Wilderness Road, the Mormon Trail, and the California and Gold Rush trails. Practical travel information is highlighted. 80 color photos. 20 maps." Illustrated Atlas of the Civil War: Echoes of Glory Series. More maps neatly bound in a book so you don't have to worry about how to fold them. (Suggested by BrickRedLeg.) Arms and Equipment of the Union/Confederacy: Echoes of Glory Series. Helpful for GRW players, LARP'ers, and the artistic tabletopper. (Suggested by BrickRedLeg) The Civil War Supply Catalogue : A Comprehensive Sourcebook of Products from the Civil War Era Available Today. This book makes me drool. Can you tell I'm a LARP'er? The Flight of Michael McBride: by Mark Sumner (Tor Books 1995). A wild mixture of Native American and Old World legendary, as a young Irish-American man is pursued across the Old West by malevolent forces from the Unseelie Court of faerie. (The Unseelie, if you didn't already know are not as nice as the Seelie Court . . . Although, if the old stories are to be believed, that's really not saying much.) The Haunted Mesa: by Louis L'Amour (Bantam Books 1987) A modern-day story dealing with the Anasazi, the mysterious ancestors of the Navajo who disappeared before the coming of the white man. The Circus of Dr Lao: At the turn of the century Dr. Lao's circus travels to a tiny town to astonish the residents with such exhibits as Medusa, Pan, a Yeti, and the (?) Loch Ness Monster. The inspiration for a slightly more light hearted movie (see the movie section.) with Tony Randal. The Mound and The Curse of Yig: by H.P. Lovecraft and Zealia Bishop (revisions set in modern day Oklahoma) are suggested by name. But you could prolly go with anything that has Lovecraft's name on it. Shadow on the Sun: Venerable fantasist Richard Matheson has turned to westerns of late, and this one features a malevolent Indian spirit. Walking Wolf: A strange tale of a white boy, raised by Indians, who just happens to be a werewolf. Featuring a vampire gunslinger, a mad monster-hunter, and lots of violence. The White Buffalo: Richard Sale's novel preceded his screenplay (see the movie section) of the same title, and in some ways it's even better. There's an excellent glossary of Sioux terms at the end. Logan Winters' Spectros Series consist of four strange pulp-occult-western novels. (U>Silverado, Hunt the Beast Down, Natchez, and The Silver Canyon.) They feature a good magician and his companions chasing an evil sorcerer across the Old West. Both magicians are shape-changers, and there are no shortages of gunplay or monsters. Exorcisms & Ecstasies: By Karl Edward Wagner contains a couple of stories and fragments of his Gothic Western character, Adrian Becker. (See Confederacy of the Dead below.)
Devil's Engine: Either the sequil or the prequil to Devil's Tower above. (Top, 2nd from the left.) The Hawkline Monster: A fairly quiet but surprisingly modern-sounding tale of a mind-bending energy creature. The thing lives in the cellar of a house owned by sisters who, along with the cowpoke assassins they hire to kill the creature, are psychically befuddled at every turn by the misunderstood monster.
--==Suggested Reading OUT OF PRINT==--
(Let me know if you find these.)
Razored Saddles: "Steampunk" type Sci Fi novel.
The Magic Wagon: A much quieter Joe Lansdale western about a tiny travelling circus carting around the petrified body of Wild Bill Hickok.
The Big Book of the Weird Wild West: (Paradox Press/DC Comics 1998.) Like others in the Big Book series, this large volume retells dozens of interesting and/or funny western tales and legends in comics form. Nasty gunfighters, cannibals, Indian legends, tall tales, and weird folks abound. Dead in the West: (2 issues, Dark Horse Comics 1993-1994) Science fiction author Neal Barrett Jr. and artist Jack Jackson (both Texans) adapt Joe Lansdale's zombie western novel. (See above) Desperadoes: (5 issues Homage/Image Comics 1997-1998, Collected edition 1998) This brief horror-western series reads like a superhero team comic, with lots of action and wisecracking from its typically diverse cast: ex-marshall, ex-prostitute, ex-slave, and Pinkerton detective. They're hunting a serial killer who may or may not gain supernatural powers from (gasp) skinning children. The final issue is an intriguingly different ghost story. Jonah Hex: Riders of the Worm and Such: (5 issues Vertigo/DC Comics 1995). Joe Lansdale and Timothy Truman's 2nd, even more bizarre Hex miniseries (See below.) offers up monstrous Lovecraftian worms and a lost race of reptilian humanoids, along with a ranch-full of singing cowboys. A 3rd Hex series from the same creators, titled Shadows West, is scheduled to begin in early 1999. Jonah Hex: Two-Gun Mojo: (5 issues Vertigo/DC Comics 1993)> Lansdale and Truman's first Hex miniseries resurrects DC's old hard-bitten western character and pits him against a travelling show that features zombies created through Haitian-type voodoo -- complete with references to "the Old Ones"! Funny, gritty, and spooky. (Not to mention a good reason to say to word "MOJO"!) Justice Riders: (DC COMICS 1997) This fun "Elseworlds" one-shot is a transposition of traditional DC heroes Wonder Woman, Flash, Hawkman, Guy Gardner, Blue Beetle, and Martian Manhunter into characters in the Old West. The opposition includes several steampunk foes -- gunslinging robots, a giant robot monster, and infamous DC warlock Felix Faust. If you can find them, try to get a look at DC Comics' original Wierd Western Tales and Jonah Hex titles, from the 70's. Shortly after Hex's debut. The Lone Ranger and Tonto: It Crawls: (4 issues, plus collected edition by Topps Comics 1994) Lansdale and Truman reunite to bring these classic characters to life -- and put them up against an Aztec mummy of alien origin. An interesting take on the legendary duo. The Secret of San Saba: (Hard and soft-cover editions, Kitchen Sink Press 1989). Underground comic artist/writer Jack Jackson's sprawling cosmic epic recounts the arrival of an alien slug-creature before the arrival of the White Man in America. The creature's influence on Indian and white cultures alike is shown over the course of nearly 400 years. A brooding Cthulhu Mythos-tinged epic of Indian magic and mysticism, and white lust, greed, and corruption. Generation Hex: An Amalgam book that puts mutant superheroes in the West. Weird but fun. Blood and Shadows: Another strange western tale by Joe Lansdale. This on moves back and forth between the 1880's and the 1930's. A bit gory, but good. Warren Publishing's black and white comic magazine Eerie featured a western-horror comic character. The cursed walking dead man, Coffin, in issues 61, 67, 68, and 70 (1974 - 1975) -- HIGHLY recommended!