Michael Merriam has a new queer weird west/horror book out (ace, bi, lesbian, etc): Terror at Terra de Cobre.
An ancient evil has awakened… Strong women, ancient magic and the walking dead make for a heady mix.
In Michael Merriam’s tale, seven women are called to protect a small mining town in the New Mexico Territory, Tierra De Cobre, against an evil that has killed or stolen the town’s men and is twisting the souls of the townswomen. The Sihuanaba is part siren, part shapeshifter, possessed of the body of a beautiful woman, her face a horse’s skull with flaming eyes.
Once she is freed from her copper prison in the mine, she feeds off the miners to regain her strength, then consumes or twists all the men who come to rescue them. Maria Garcia, recently widowed and quietly fierce, has the answer: hire women to fight the monster. And they do.
Taking the classic Western “The Magnificent Seven” as a jumping off point, the town’s defenders are assembled, all women from wildly different backgrounds, united by one mission: to defend the town and defeat the Sihuanaba. All the odds are against them, the price of failure is death or worse and all they have is each other.
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Excerpt
Maria glanced at the group of women gathered in the darkness. A few held torches, looking down the main street. Temperance, a shotgun cradled in her arms, stood next to Maria.
Anna-Beth’s niece Daisy, acting as lookout, climbed into the belfry of the Catholic mission as she had every night since the last men of Tierra de Cobre went searching for their brothers and friends, never to return. The teenager had raised the alarm, summoning the women into the night.
A lone horse trotted up the dirt road, its rider slumped over the saddle. The horse walked into town on wobbly legs, and its nostrils flared, eyes rolling in fear. The rider fell from the saddle to the dusty street with a wet thump. A smear of blood gleamed on the saddle, evidence of his gruesome injuries. Anna-Beth captured the animal’s reins and managed to calm it.
Charlotte stepped up and poked the body with her rifle. It stayed limp on the ground. “Well, I suppose that’s the answer to our prayers.”
Several of the women began to wail and cry out. Temperance turned to the gathered group. “Hush! Hush, the lot of you! This is no time for this caterwauling and carrying on.”
Rachel Owens stepped forward. Maria narrowed her eyes at the sturdy brunette. Maria considered her neighbor level-headed and fearless, but lately Rachel proved the most vocal in favor of quitting their claims to the copper mine.
“We should leave,” Rachel said. “We should abandon this godforsaken town. Whatever’s out there, we can’t stop it. If it comes for us, it will slaughter us all.”
The dead body of the rider rose to his feet, swaying. Charlotte scampered back with a shriek. The bloody corpse turned its pale, lifeless eyes on the women and its mouth opened. “Give them to us,” it said in a raspy voice. “Give the rest to us, or we shall take them. Give them over and join us, sisters. Join—”
Temperance fired her shotgun into the middle of the dead man’s chest. The animated corpse fell to the dusty street. “Quiet down!” Temperance tried to regain control of the panicked women. They shuffled nervously, ready to bolt at the next sign of trouble, but gave the old woman their attention. “If some of y’all want to run, I would not blame you, but I’m too damned old to be running, and I’m not giving up my claim.”
Charlotte sighed. “Temperance, I know, but that thing, it’s taken or killed everyone we’ve sent.”
Something clicked in Maria’s mind, a crazy idea. “Every man we’ve sent,” Maria said. She kept her eyes on the corpse. Dead things should stay dead, but she worried this one might rise again. It lay still, so she hoped whatever kept it moving must be over and done. With a sigh, she looked away. The other women stared at her in confusion before realization dawned on them. “Every man we’ve sent,” she repeated. “So we stop sending men.”
Anna-Beth shook her head. “Are you daft, girl? Do you think you’ll find, I don’t know, mercenary women? Women soldiers?”
“I don’t know.” Maria shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know, but I’m willing to try.”
“There’s a few out there,” Temperance said.
“Women of ill repute,” Charlotte chuckled.
Rachel Owens frowned. “We’ve got our own of that ilk.”
Maria shook her head. “No, not prostitutes. I mean adventuresses.”
“I don’t care what you call them,” Anna-Beth replied. “Can we find them, and will they help?”
A scream arose from the crowd of women as they scattered like startled sparrows seeking sanctuary. Maria half turned. The corpse climbed to its feet as if pulled by strings. It lurched toward her. She took a step backward and drew her pistol. Lining up her shot, she put the lead bullet through the shambling corpse’s head. It fell back and withered into dust.
Maria turned to Temperance. “I’ll ride to Magdalena.” She looked around at the remaining women. “I hope at least one or two of you will ride with me.”
Author Bio
Michael Merriam is a writer, performer, poet, and playwright. He is the author of the urban fantasy Last Car to Annwn Station and co-author, with Sherry Merriam, of Charming Mayhem: a Six Guns and Sorcery Omnibus. His essays have appeared in Uncanny Magazine, Cast of Wonders, and Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine. His scripts have been produced for stage and radio, and he has appeared in the Minnesota Fringe Festival and StoryFest Minnesota. Like most artists, he has worked a variety of odd jobs over the years, including short order cook, late night radio disc jockey, international freight specialist, and manager of a puppet troupe. He lives in Minneapolis, MN with his wife and an exuberant cat and a quiet dog.
| Author Website | https://michaelmerriam.com/ |
| Author Mastodon | https://wandering.shop/@mmerriam |