Wondering where you should start with the work of Joe Lansdale?

We’ve got some suggestions that will get you hooked.

Remember that kickass episode ofBatmanwhen Jonah Hex met a youthful Ras Al Ghul in the Old West?

Yeah, that was Joe Lansdale.

Both series are a must read for any comic book or dark western fan.

Yeah,thatinsanity was based on a Joe Lansdale short story.

Dead in the West (1986)

You like zombies, right?

Who doesnt these days?

After a mysterious comet passes overhead, a large crowd is trapped within a Texas drive-in movie theatre.

This one echoes Stephen KingsThe Mistfor the sheer claustrophobic madness that ensues.

What happens when a group of people only have movie snacks to eat?

Ill tell you what, things get ugly.

He is also an unflinching martial artist who will kick your head off if youre being a douche.

Leonard Pine is an ex-Navy seal who is even more brutally kickass than Hap.

Plus, theres a cryptozoic creature called the Goat Man who may or may not have committed the murder.

So yeah, theres that.

Its like The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen without all that dang fluffery.

The Tin Man and Frankenstein, I tell you!

Like many of Lansdales works, this one takes place in the South during the Great Depression.

The Thicket (2013)

Jack Parker already suffered through his fair share of tragedy.

His grandfather was killed in a farming accident and his parents succumbed to smallpox.

All Jack has left is his sister Lula who he swore to always care for after his parents died.

Along the way, he becomes a man and Joe Lansdale delivers another Texas fried triumph.

And yes, Peter Dinklage is connected to a film adaptation ofThe Thicket.

Im hoping Lansdale centers a new book series around Shorty, because man, is that little kneecapper awesome.

Read our interview with Mr. Lansdale aboutThe Thicketand other works right here.

This is Lansdales most recent novel, proving that hisownself keeps getting better with each successive yarn.

All these are worthy of consumption by the discerning bookworm.

So get to reading, pardner.