A tour of the genresural treatment by a doctor who has worked with the criminally
insane) are both successful recent entries. The vampire craze will
probably intensify with the approach of the hundredth anniversary
of Bram Stoker's Dracula in 1997.
For new authors seeking to enter the horror arena, it is wise to
expect an icy reception. Still, strong sales for a few young authors
like Poppy Z. Brite, Kathy Koja, and Alan Rodgers are encouraging.
However, publishers will not soon be rolling out the bandwagons
again. That is too bad. The graveyard is a lonely place to be.
WESTERNS: NEW FACES ON THE FRONTIER
Not too long ago, the traditional western shoot-em-up was gunned
down in the publishing business back east, and was declared dead.
Although certain long-running series like Lone Star, Gunsmith,
and Longarm have continued, the last few years have been a tough
time for series in the traditional mold. It is the sunset of a proud
heritage that gave us novels by Luke Short, Les Savage, Jr., Max
Brand, and the grandmaster of them all, Louis L'Amour. It also
closed a writing school that had nurtured such authors as John
Jakes, Marvin H. Albert, and Elmore Leonard.
Now, though, a new day is dawning for the western. Fresh blood
and original approaches have brought new life to this genre. For one
thing, the historical periods covered under the umbrella term "west-
ern" have expanded. The mountain man era, the French and Indian
War years, the Civil War period, and the declining days of the terri-
tories are all being examined in new American works of fiction.
Revisionist approaches to the role of Native Americans, African
Americans, Hispanics, and women have also enlivened the western
scene. Don Coldsmith's twenty-book Spanish Bit Saga is one such
innovation. Elizabeth Fackler's Blood Kin recently gave us an eye-
opening look at women in the West.
The cover look of westerns is also changing. Instead of action
scenes with blazing sixguns, one is today more likely to find on a
western cover a daguerreotype photo, a Frederic Remington or
Charles Russell-style painting or a saga-look collage.
Even that grizzled old authors' organization Western Writers of
America has some new company: Women Writing the West. The