Adapted freely from the classic novella 'The Mysterious Stranger' by Mark Twain; Day of the Stranger revives the tradition of the acid western of the 1970's. Caine Farrowood is a bounty hunter who works under the control of ruthless kingpin Loomweather. One day a bounty retrieval goes awry and Caine is left for dead. Just when he thinks his life is over he mysteriously awakens back home to the comforts of his wife Christina. Baffled and confused by how he got home Caine insists on finding answers, but before long he is enlisted in the retrieval of another bounty. This one is huge and may cost Caine not his life, but his sanity when he finds himself pitted against somebody who may very well be the fallen angel himself.
John Abbott returns to the desert land he owns, and after being wounded by hired gunman Chick Chance, he is befriended by rancher Andrew Naab and his son, Marvin. Naab's daughter, Marian, falls in love with John but is about to marry Snap Thornton to keep a promise made by her father. She runs away on her wedding day but is captured and held hostage by outlaw Henry Holderness. John, the Naabs and fellow ranchers rush to her rescue.
A bewitching and beautiful Indian half-caste, Liah, takes her revenge on four ruthless cowboy desperadoes who have gunned down her husband for the sheer joy of killing. Using her enigmatic charm in a way that is fatal to the outlaws, the haunting young woman's vengeance is melted out in a strange, occult manner.
Billy the Kid and his pal Jeff help their friend Fuzzy Jones escape from jail, and the trio heads for Paradise Valley, where they find the Paradise Land Development Company, ran by Matt Brawley and Jack Saunders, is somewhat less than honest in their dealings with the homesteaders. They devise a plan to cause a split between Brawley and Saunders.
Roy returns home to fine a range feud between the cattlemen and the sheepmen. When his friend is killed he finds the rifle had a defective pin. He learns the rifle belongs to a ranch hand named Barker and that a third party has caused the feud. When he captures outlaws trying to blow up a dam, he claims Barker was the killer. But Barker has switched rifles and the outlaws now accuse Roy and Roy finds himself in trouble.
Jean Loring has her men illegally killing and selling game. Roy suspects her and gets himself invited to stay at her ranch. Investigating he finds the freezer where the slaughtered game are kept. But he is caught, tied up, and left to freeze.
Safely from behind some shrubbery, Johnny Hume, a boy of 6 or 7, witnesses the slaughter of his mother, father and brother by the guns of a gang led by "the Cat". Twenty years later finds Johnny grown to manhood, an expert bronc rider and target shooter - but paralyzed with fearful memories in an actual gunfight. This is brought home to him when some outlaws stick up the local saloon and Johnny ends up cowering behind the bar.
Retired actor Jack Holt is raising Christmas trees for sale at a cost which permits every family to have one. A commercial tree company tries to drive Holt out of business. Roy saves the day, of course.
A teacher, a gunman, an ex-Colonel and a beautiful girl decide to steal a big load of gold stored in Fort Henderson. The task is not easy, because the fort is very well guarded, but with adventurous stratagems...
Judy and Alex are the only two survivors of a punishment mission ordered by the rich and ruthless Moran... The girl becomes his maid and the boy is adopted by a Quaker family. Alex, in spite of the pardon philosophy taught to him, is planning a revenge.
The mysterious death of a man who is about to leave a small town in Kansas with his girlfriend triggers a chain of unfortunate events that will only end when another man completes a relentless and bloody revenge.
Two 'friends', Jonas and Mark, who live by cheating and squandering their money in saloons meet a crazy old man who tells them that gold has been discovered in the Rocky Mountains. The whole town moves, with dreams of becoming rich, but they are bitterly disappointed when on their way home they are robbed by Mulieta and his vicious gang of outlaws. Jonathan and Mark are spurred into action and decide to fight Mulieta's gang and retrive their gold.
Three men meet in the same prison and in their cell they find a Mexican boy condemned to death for murder. One night the three convicts are mysteriously released by a priest and the father of the Mexican boy who promises them a reward of $30,000 if they can find the real murderer within ten days. Certain that the Mexican boy is not guilty, Reno and the others organize a plan which leads to the unmasking of the real killers.
A young cowboy, Johnny, playing in a rigged poker game is forced to shoot one of the other players. The cowboy takes quick leave as he is accused of murder and a reward for his capture is posted. After being wounded, he finds refuge on a ranch and becomes involved with the family. While he is away, a gang of Mexicans kills the McGowan family except for Sally, who manages to escape and find Johnny who is now out for revenge.
When sheriff Joe Williams is unjustly accused of the murder of a young couple, which was in reality committed by the Mexican "La Muerte", Joe becomes a wanted man. Joe manages to steal and hide the loot from a bank robbery committed by the Mexican gang, but then is captured by them, but the new sheriff, Joe's friend, is on their trail.
A traveling "corps de ballet" is stranded in a small Western town, where the town is being terrorized by an outlaw named El Diablo. In order to hold the town at bay, he is holding several citizens as hostages. In an exciting turn of events, a medical student and Lola Colt, one of the dancers, rebel against El Diablo in an attempt to rescue the hostages.