In Undead in the West: Vampires, Zombies, Mummies, and Ghosts on the Cinematic Frontier, Cynthia J. Miller and A. Bowdoin Van Riper have assembled a collection of essays that explore the many tropes and themes through which undead Westerns make the genre’s inner plagues and demons visible, and lay siege to a frontier tied to myths of strength, ingenuity, freedom, and independence. The volume is divided into three sections: “Reanimating Classic Western Tropes” examines traditional Western characters, symbolism, and plot devices and how they are given new life in 
undead Westerns; “The Moral Order Under Siege” explores the ways in which the undead confront classic values and morality tales embodied in Western films; and “And Hell Followed with Him” looks at justice, retribution, and retaliation at the hands of undead angels and avenger. The subjects explored here run the gamut from such B films as Curse of the Undead and Billy the Kid vs. Dracula to A-list features like From Dusk ’til Dawn and Jonah Hex, as well as animated films (Rango) and television programs (The Walking Dead and Supernatural). Other films discussed include Sam Raimi’s Bubba Ho-Tep, John Carpenter’s Vampires, George Romero’s Land of the Dead, and Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West. Featuring several illustrations and a filmography, Undead in the West will appeal to film scholars, especially those interested in hybrid genres, as well as fans of the Western and the supernatural in cinema.
Contents
The Living the Undead and the Western Saloon
The Frontier Motif in Supernatural
Frontier Romanticism in John Carpenters Vampires
The Old World Meets the Old West
Hollywood Horror and Western Iconography in Gore Verbinskis Rango 2011
The Old West in AMCs The Walking Dead
Part II THE MORAL ORDERUNDER SIEGE
The Moral Order under Siege in the From Dusk Till Dawn Trilogy
Conquest Cannibalism and the Wendigo Spirit
Part III AND HELLFOLLOWED WITH HIM
The Undead Avenger in Sergio Leones Once Upon a Time in the West
Life in the Midst of Death in Purgatory
Elvis and JFK versus The Mummy in Bubba HoTep
Jimmy Haywards Revision and Reconfiguration of a Genre
Supernatural Strangers and Different Conceptions of Law and Punishment in Two Horror Westerns
