Vampires and Native American lore. What an interesting combo. Stephen Graham Jones has a way with words and writes the most detailed and graphic scenes that unnerve. This is a cross between historical fiction and Western horror. The story along with the descriptive gory scenes will stay with you long after you've finished.

Stephen Graham Jones does it again. Weird West horror is tricky to get right, but Jones is more than up to the task as he paints a vivid world.

A masterful horror novel, The Buffalo Hunter Hunter still haunts my thoughts long after setting it down. Told from three different perspectives and times, Graham Jones weaves a story of historical violence and paranormal terror through the diary of a 1912 Lutheran pastor and his documented conversations with Good Stab, a Blackfeet. The story itself is horrific in every sense—it’s full of gore and physical violence, but also of the horrors of colonial terrorism and the massacre of Blackfeet peoples by settlers in the American West. As Good Stab’s detailed story of revenge unfolds, the audience is left wondering about the nature of horror and who bear responsibility for the past.

I don't consider myself a horror reader. It's not a genre that I find myself drifting to, but I do like to dabble once in a while especially if there is any hint of historical horror or gothic horror. This is my third book by Stephen Graham Jones and so far I've been sucked in to every book that I read. In my opinion Jones draws me in with the humanity of the characters in his books and slowly creeps in the horror when I'm already invested and feel cornered.

"The Buffalo Hunter Hunter" is a great amalgamation of Blackfeet culture, history, horror, and revenge. The events slowly unfold into the Marias Massacre, a real event in which 173 members of the Blackfeet nation (men, women, and children) were slaughtered by a U.S. Calvary in what's now called Montana in 1870.

Told in alternating narratives- a Blackfeet named Good Stab and a Lutheran priest named Arthur Beaucarne, Jones invites his readers to witness a "confession" without resorting to binary judgement. Is there really a difference between these two characters? One who kills for survival and another who helps "saves people's souls"?

This is not an easy read. There are some barriers that a patient reader has to overcome such as the language. I wouldn't call this a plot driven book but rather a character driven and slow burning horror. There is plenty of blood and violence that soaks these pages. If you are new to Jones' writing, I don't recommend picking this one up as your introduction. I think "The Only Good Indians" would be a better fit for you.

This chilling, multi-layered, complex historical horror novel is my top horror pick of 2025 so far. I won't forget Good Stab for a long time. I don't read horror, but I will read anything by Stephen Graham Jones and luckily for me I got a long backlist to read.

Many thanks to Netgalley, Simon and Schuster/Gallery for the advanced reader's copy of the book.

I really wanted to like this one especially after seeing all the great reviews. Deciding to delve in on a long rainy weekend, the atmosphere was right but my wimpy mind could not accept what I was reading as enjoyable. The writing style is very different and difficult to follow. But the biggest issue for me was all the gore and graphic violence, bloodletting and vicious killing. I’m sure there are true horror fans who could read and actually enjoy the story but I am not one of those. Now I’m left feeling disappointed and quite nauseous. My thanks to Saga Press for providing a review copy via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to the publisher for an eARC to read and review. I did end up listening to the audio after the book was published.

Tropes/Themes: Generational Trauma, Revenge, Western, Historical, Vampires, Academia

This was a wild read and honestly the audio was TOP TIER, but all of Stephen Graham Jones audio books are phenomenal so I expect nothing less at this point. This is my 6th book by him in the last two years.. one could say that I like his books.

This story was unexpected and different. The story is following "Three Person's" and "Good Stab", but is being told through the journal of their conversations that "Three Person's great great great (not sure how great) grandfather that she is trying to use to get tenure at the college she works at.

I loved everything about how this story was told. It was very intense and the plot twist with the relationship between Three Persons and Good Stab was wild, and like Good Stab was playing the long game. I don't think I have ever read a vampire book like this one. The concept of turning into the animal or type of person that you eat is unique and honestly a really cool take on vampires.

Also I hurt for Good Stab. He was so torn between getting revenge while staying true to himself was heart wrenching.

Also the end, like wtf, did not see that coming in a million years. Also, super creepy but I loved it.

Honestly, Stephen Graham Jones, did it again. It is different from the other 5 books I have read by him but I loved it.

I'm not sure how this could have been a better read. The dual (or actually triple) timeline and vampires were done so well. Jones is amazingly talented at bringing readers into the story and weaving a tale where no details are wasted. This may be one of my favorite of his works now.

This one was very interesting! I honestly loved the writing it was so different than what I’m used to reading. It was one of those books where I just couldn’t put down because I needed to understand and know what happened next

SGJ continues astounding growth as an artist. Set mostly in the late 19th century, this story examines the violence of settler colonialism through the lens of the vampire. Gripping, unpredictable, and haunting, the story eventually serves a cold justice. Highly recommend.

Etsy Beaucarne is an assistant professor in need of a book project. She thinks she finds one in an old diary written by her great-great-grandfather, Arthur Beaucarne, a Lutheran minister in Miles City, Montana, in 1912. The diary records the conversations between Arthur and an Indian known as Good Stab. The book she will write after reading and researching her great-great-grandfather’s diary will be her key to tenure and a secure future in academia. But the diary grows more disturbing with each entry as it becomes clear Arthur is in conversation with a revenge-seeking vampire.

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter is a challenging read on several layers. Jones integrates a lot of history into his novel. I was familiar with the mass slaughter of the buffalo, but not the Marias Massacre. Nor was I familiar with many of the names in the story. As a result, I spent a lot of time looking things up to find out more. There is a lot of violence in this story, which can be a bit hard to take at times. The voices of the characters are distinct, but the styles of speaking took some getting used to. The novel is told in three different points of view—Arthur with his Victorian diction, Good Stab’s particular way of speaking, and modern-day, academic Etsy’s voice. But what really drew me into the story are the characters and the revealing of their backstories.

Arthur is a Lutheran minister, trying to atone for something in his past. Good Stab is a Blackfeet vampire dressed in clerical robes, seeking revenge. As the novel progresses, Good Stab’s well-thought-out plan to avenge his people is slowly revealed. By the time Arthur realizes what is happening, it is far, far too late.

The ending of the novel—what an ending!—is back in Etsy’s point-of-view. The end of the diary forces her to make a decision—how is she going to end her part of this story, an ending one hundred years in the making?

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter is a fantastic book. 5/5 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley and Saga Press for a free e-copy of the book. All opinions are my own.

An interesting take on a home-grown American vampire, told through a story within a story. which is interesting as we draw the conclusion that Good Stab lives as long as his story teller’s diary, but it also slows down the story a little, as the pastor’s character transcribes Good Stab’s story then retells and pontificates on the story (which does remind me of one or two pastors I’ve known). The Buffalo Hunter Hunter is full of native folklore and packed with emotion - humor, sadness, terror - and definitely worth a read, especially for Jones’ fans.

(4.5 Stars)

I believe this is Stephen Graham Jones’ first take on historical fiction, and I have to say: I love this look on him. It works so well. I love his singular voice and vision in that space. You can really tell he had fun with this one, and I think it shows.

I’m just gonna state the obvious. This book has huge, huge “Interview with a Vampire” vibes, but obviously with the twist of being an Indigenous revenge story. So if you love the dynamics and intricacies of that series, especially the storytelling structure which falls somewhere between oral history and found documentation, I absolutely think you would enjoy this.

I also really love what this story is doing with vampire lore, which is such a refreshing take. The vampires in this story actually begin to take on the physical attributes of the creatures whose blood they’re drinking, especially if they’re feeding on a lot of the same kinds of creatures. So if Good Stab — who is the Blackfeet vampire in this story — drinks from a bunch of buffalo, he’ll grow horns and fur. If he drinks from a bunch of white men he will begin to look like a white man. That really opens up the door for some interesting narrative possibilities.

And it’s also taking that sentiment of “you are what you eat” to another metaphorical level, because in so many ways, we are what we consume, we embody the things we surround ourselves with, we reflect back all the things we internalize within ourselves.

I also loved the parallel between Good Stab and the Lutheran priest he’s confessing to. Not only are they narratively connected, but we see their very different experiences with gluttony and gorging themselves on things that they shouldn’t. Obviously it’s much more gory and violent with what Good Stab is doing, by necessity, and that same gluttonous instinct is presented as more charming and endearing with the priest, who likes to indulge in little treats given to him by his parishioners. In that way, the story makes you think about whether the priest’s gluttony seems more inoffensive simply because he positions himself as a “good and righteous man”. And the story is, of course, gradually picking apart that image and flipping the script on who is the monster and who is the man.

Much to my surprise, I also ended up really appreciating the narrative framing device that bookends this story, because there’s a young academic uncovering these diary entries in real time. It kind of felt like a throwaway perspective in the beginning, but it comes back in the end in a really satisfying way.

While I do think the story could’ve been tighter in a few places, I still really enjoyed this and I was so happy to see this author step a bit outside of his comfort zone. If you ask me, I think the risk really paid off. I would give this a solid four-and-a-half stars.

An American Indian revenge story and a remarkable work of American fiction. This chilling historical horror novel was not an easy read.

This was my first Stephen Graham Jones book, and it was so incredible that I can’t decide if I want to read all of his other books immediately, or if I never want to read them, because at the moment nothing can possibly top this one. This was one of the best things I’ve ever read, and so far it is my runaway pick for best novel of 2025. It’s simply phenomenal and an absolute must read.

I was hooked by the second page and read the entire 450 page book in about two days; I absolutely could not put it down. Excellent, and brutal, and harrowing, as a book like this should be. I don’t want to say too much about it because I think it's best experienced without a lot of background. But I will say that this is very much a horror story, so check the content warnings as needed. It takes place in multiple timelines, but primarily during the late 1800s and early 1900s in Montana, so it’s also got a strong historical fiction flavor.

For me this book goes in the same general category as The Reformatory, Lone Women, Chain-Gang All-Stars, and The Marrow Thieves: horror novels where the true horror is in the things that have actually happened in our own history. Please don’t miss this - it’s so powerful and well worth your while. Very highly recommended.

Huge thanks to Stephen Graham Jones, Saga Press, and NetGalley for generously providing an ARC for review.

Thank you to Netgalley, Stephen Graham Jones, Simon & Schuster and Saga Press for the ARC copy of the book! I also followed it up with the audiobook, as I do with all of SGJ's work, and want to give praise to Shane Ghostkeeper, Marin Ireland, and Owen Teale for the narration. They collectively bring the story to life in a way that I don't think I'm able to fully convey properly in words.

“What I am is the Indian who can’t die. I’m the worst dream America ever had.”

5 stars for The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, to me, is not enough. I, as others tend to, struggle sometimes with SGJ's writing style. I am not smart enough for this book, so I pivoted to a collaborative audio/physical experience to fully grasp the story itself and let myself be fully immersed in it.

"It's why I'm here , talking to you. You Black robes know about drinking blood, don't you?
In that way we're the same.
But you're still a two-legged, even from drinking all that blood. Not me. What I am now is a four-legged, but with a man's memories, as punishment. And no arrow or bullet can stab deep enough to kill me, because Beaver Chief won't let them."

I can say, with full confidence, that this story is not only SGJ's best work, but it will covet awards and go down in history as one of horror's best historical pieces. I will stop my review here, because as stated before, I don't think I can properly convey how powerful and incredible this piece of work is.

“The depravity of man's heart knows no floor, and everyone in this hard country has a sordid chapter in the story of their life, that they're trying either to atone for, or stay ahead of.”

Incredible. A truly chilling, layered epistolary story that deconstructs and condemns both the Western and vampire genres. The three narrative threads contrast and complement each other, as the frame story's curious academic narrator delves into the guilty diary of Three Persons and the unflinching, brutal confessions of Good stab. All three stories build slowly upon each other, finally converging into an ending that is at once horrific, unsettling, and perhaps just faintly hopeful.

This book has stuck with me a long time after reading it. I am a huge fan of Stephen Graham Jones, and this quickly became my new favorite of his. The three different POVs are all interesting and weave together well. It is not an easy read, but this is by no means a bad thing. It is challenging in the way all good horror should be. It does not shy away from the horror of the time period.

"What I am is the Indian who can’t die.
I’m the worst dream America ever had."

The narrative of The Buffalo Hunter Hunter starts in 2013 with Etsy, a professor coming into the possession of a diary written by one of her ancestors, a Lutheran priest in Montana in the late 1800s/early 1900s. The story is told through the point of view of the priest, Arthur Beaucarne, and a Native American man, called Good Stab, who continues to show up at Sunday services with a strange tale and a confession. The story pivots around the Marias Massacre of 1870, the unprovoked slaughter of hundreds of Blackfeet people by white colonizers.
The Buffalo Hunter Hunter is difficult and disturbing to read, not just because of the relentless animal and human death, but mostly because many of the events in the book really happened.
Stephen Graham Jones' genius is evident in this work. He has written an immersive and terrifying monster story which reveals the true horror that is American history - colonialism, white supremacy, smallpox, starvation, land theft, the genocide of Native Americans and the subsequent whitewashing of all of it. Jones has written a meticulously crafted, insightful, emotional and unique vampire story with complicated, well-developed characters.
The Buffalo Hunter Hunter audiobook's superb cast of narrators made the story even more vivid.
Thank you to Saga Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, for the free copy for review.

Where to even begin!!

A few things out of the way - this is my first full-length Stephen Graham Jones, having only read the first volume of Earthdivers and the Mapping the Interior novella previously, despite being interested for a while (listen, there are just so many books I'm interested in). Also, the Buffalo Hunter Hunter did take me a bit to get into, however! When I got into it, I got INTO it.

Here we take Interview with the Vampire but only in the most basic way in that a human man is talking to a vampire, who's telling his heavy, sorrowful story. Pastor Arthur Beaucarne is, however, a lot more flawed than Daniel (the interviewer in Anne Rice's book) in a way that gets peeled away little by little, chapter by chapter, until he's forced to come to an unavoidable meeting with the demons (literally) of his past. It's a horrific tale of not only non-consensual vampirism, but also the absolute devastation of the early century genocide via both forced starvation and actual downright in-the-moment murder in the Great Plains and against the indigenous peoples of the now-United States. Good Stab (the aforementioned interviewee) has to deal with not only the effects of vampirism on his own body (and the tenants of vampirism in this book are really fascinating!), but watching his people get continually beaten down by the encroaching white settlers as he continues to live on, a man who while alive had run from things now unable to run any longer.

And among this story, we have Arthur's descendent (her "greatest" grandfather) Etsy Beaucarne, telling the story of being able to read her distant relative's journal accounting Good Stab's stories to him and his disappearance... and then in the last part of the book, going back to her dealing with everything she's learned.

Heed the content warnings (there are so many) if you need them but this was a book that I was just Locked In listening to this book (and its three very skilled narrators) when I got into it, gripping onto my steering wheel as things Kept Happening in a way where I just want to whip out the thesaurus to find other ways to say it. A great read, very painful, very gory and body horror and man.

Thank you to Saga Press | S&S/Saga Press and NetGalley for the eARC for review!!

Every time I hear about a Stephen Graham Jones novel, I am so intrigued. And then I start reading and it is always so slow going for me. This was no different - the premise was great and the twist kept me on my toes, but it was a hard read. Told in three different timelines/ways - that of a Lutheran preacher in 1912 who is hearing a confession from Good Stab, who is professing to be an almost 50 year old vampire and then 2013, where this confession and manuscript has been discovered.

Intriguing premise, but not my cup of tea, unfortunately.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a digital ARC of this title!