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A review by screamdogreads
In the Land of the Pigs: A Western Horror Novella by Caesar Ruell
4.0
"What I was seeing had almost become run-of-the-mill. It seemed that people had lost their minds lately, and were finding various ways to sink ever lower as the days went by. I would put money on it that even the flea-infested, mangy dogs in the streets were morally superior to the people of Crow's River."
Disclaimer: The author of this book offered me a free copy in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way affected my rating, and the below thoughts are mine alone.
Horror Westerns are one of my favorite genres of novel. When done properly, it's a brilliant combination, the harsh brutality of the landscape and otherworldly beasts unleashing their cruelty upon the land, it's something that will never cease to amaze. In the Land of the Pigs is an example of a horror Western done right, Ruell has created something truly spectacular here, offering us an incredible, fresh, and really rather unique concept for a novel. At every turn, it's truly action packed, most of the time feeling as if it were a movie rather than a book.
The thing with Caesar Ruell as an author is that he knows how to make horror fun, how to entertain his readers while also delivering a savage and ruinous story. In the Land of the Pigs is downright nasty, sickening, it's an absolute fucking riot. There's simply never a dull moment, this is pure, unbridled entertainment, this is what we mean by reading for pleasure, it's horror at its most strange and bizarre, told with a disgusting and sickening vividity.
Disclaimer: The author of this book offered me a free copy in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way affected my rating, and the below thoughts are mine alone.
Horror Westerns are one of my favorite genres of novel. When done properly, it's a brilliant combination, the harsh brutality of the landscape and otherworldly beasts unleashing their cruelty upon the land, it's something that will never cease to amaze. In the Land of the Pigs is an example of a horror Western done right, Ruell has created something truly spectacular here, offering us an incredible, fresh, and really rather unique concept for a novel. At every turn, it's truly action packed, most of the time feeling as if it were a movie rather than a book.
The thing with Caesar Ruell as an author is that he knows how to make horror fun, how to entertain his readers while also delivering a savage and ruinous story. In the Land of the Pigs is downright nasty, sickening, it's an absolute fucking riot. There's simply never a dull moment, this is pure, unbridled entertainment, this is what we mean by reading for pleasure, it's horror at its most strange and bizarre, told with a disgusting and sickening vividity.
"I took in the main area of the slaughterhouse. It was immense, with lanterns burning overhead and steel work-benches of all shapes and sizes scattered across its entire expanse. Standing behind many of those were pigs, who were presently gorging themselves on humans in various states of death, and in some cases, complete dismemberment. Crimson blood poured down and gathered in large pools at their feet."
This novel takes many of the best tropes from both horror and Western tales, flings them into a blender, pulps them into a nasty, bloody sludge and then throws them at the reader. The result is a sickening, maddening bloodbath, a gruesome yet entirely delightful novel that's both hilarious and compulsively readable. Talking pig monsters wearing human clothes, the undead, dusty plains, a saloon called The Drunken Coyote, a villain that monologues in Shakespearean English? All that is packed into one tiny little novel and it's all so damn brilliant, it's twisted and captivating and wonderful, a truly fantastic example of a Western Horror novella.
"It felt like the most natural thing in the world, as I closed my eyes, before placing the barrel of the gun to my right temple. I took a deep breath in, then I pulled the trigger."