“Nachzehrer: a type of wiedergänger (revenant) which was believed to be able to drag the living after it into death, either through malice or through the desire to be closer to its loved ones through various means.”

I listen with a good heart.

I say this for every Stephen Graham Jones book, and his upcoming novel, The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, is no different: SGJ 👏🏼 DOES 👏🏼 NOT 👏🏼 MISS 👏🏼

This epistolary novel is a work of art. SGJ crafts an incredibly impressive vampiric period piece that deserves a spot among the best of them. Think Anne Rice’s Interview With The Vampire, but better, darker, and with that mind-boggling unique flare only SGJ has.

Unique is a word I will use a lot when I talk about this book. Impressive, important, beautiful, dark, amazing, heavy, emotional, disturbing, are others. But unique is the big one, the best one, to use to describe The Buffalo Hunter Hunter. You absolutely will not read another book, another Vampire book, like this one.

That’s the SGJ way though, yeah? Nothing he does is like anything else out there. He has his style, these stories, this incredible way of writing the most horrific things paired with the most emotionally devastating or beautifully heart-wrenching moments. The dude is a genius, through and through, and The Buffalo Hunter Hunter Hunter is a prime example.

This book does some things I have never even considered or ever seen done when it comes to the Vampire genre. SGJ is one of a kind. One of one, really. The setting, the confessional aspect, the gore, the new lore, the timeframe… everything about this book works to perfection. It’s gnarly as hell at times, and one of the saddest things ever at others.

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter is an easy 5/5 for me. It’s such an immersive and important and beautiful and, here it comes again, UNIQUE, piece. I HIGHLY recommend you check it out when it hits shelves March 18th. This book is absolutely incredible and you all NEED to get those preorders in yesterday. You won’t want to miss this one.

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

I absolutely LOVED this. Gothic horror is my favorite genre. Dracula is one of my favorite books of all time. This story feels a lot like Dracula, if Dracula took place in the American frontier. It’s even written in diary passages the way that Dracula was. Imagine your worst vampire nightmare come to life in the wild Wild West.

But if that’s not good enough, it’s also a story about so much more. It has themes of self discovery, forgiveness, revenge, loss, racism, imperialism, all told from the perspective of a Native American. I loved seeing all the beautiful native language that was used and to see such a terrible time period retold from the point of view of the victims.

The characters were so layered and tragic. I hated and loved every single one of them. Even the most evil had some redeeming qualities. It makes you wonder how far you would go to save your family from starving or freezing to death.

Jones is an absolute gem on an author and will forever be on my “automatic read” list.

I had the absolutely pleasure to travel to the Black Hills last year and I was able to visit the Native American Indian museum at Crazy Horse mountain. It was a humbling experience to witness the horrors that we committed on both the buffalo and the Indians and then to see wild buffalo back on the wild prairie in Custer state park.

This is not an easy read. The prose and style is quite advanced, but if you’re an American into horror, check it out!

I would recommend this for everyone. It’s bloody and gruesome, but it’s such an important reminder about a part of American history that we are so quick to forget.

Stephen Graham Jones has done it again—The Buffalo Hunter Hunter isn’t just a horror novel, it’s a reckoning. It creeps into your bones, settles under your skin, and refuses to leave, long after you’ve turned the last page. The interview format makes it feel so real, like you’ve stumbled upon something you were never meant to read. If you love horror that feels like it’s whispering a dark secret directly into your ear, The Buffalo Hunter Hunter will wreck you in the best way.

I read about about 64% of this book and to be honest, I felt like I was reading the same thing over and over again. The concept is interesting, but I just was not getting into it. There was nothing wrong with the writing, The story was drawn out and it felt like deja vu with every chapter.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

My first Stephen Graham Jones was ONLY GOOD INDIANS, and I was completely unprepared for what I was about to experience. I came out of that book dazed, awed, and compelled to delve right back into it. Which I did.

This is how it has been with each successive work of his I've read. Without exception, each one is a masterpiece and usurps the previous as his masterwork. Last year's THE ANGEL OF INDIAN LAKE and I WAS A TEENAGE SLASHER was a stunning double-punch tour de force. Now, in 2025, Jones brings us THE BUFFALO HUNTER HUNTER in March and a double-feature KILLER ON THE ROAD and THE BABYSITTER LIVES in July.

Jokes abound about his prolific literary output (he's also publishing the wonderful EARTHDIVERS, and last year reissued six older titles), but such jokes miss the real point——he's producing astoundingly brilliant work at an astounding pace.

A conventional horror plot would expose Jones has sold his soul in a Faustian bargain, and we know how that plays out, but when we're in a Stephen Graham Jones story all bets are off and you best buckle up tight.

THE BUFFALO HUNTER HUNTER is, as many have already declared, a vampire novel unlike any you've read. It's a narrative within a narrative within a narrative and imbued with blood-hot pulsing horror and heart.

This novel is so impressive, both for its creativity and its craftsmanship. I only just finished this book and I will re-read it upon publication and study it for years to come. (Of course there will be dozens of future Jones works demanding the same treatment in all these years ahead...)

Horror in Jones's hands is not simply entertainment (though it is the highest grade of horror entertainment), it is social commentary, historical rebuke, and a reminder of inherited sins.

Jones loves a slasher, and some sins they never die, coming back again and again so Jones can hold us to account and teach us a thing or two about responsibility, courage, and what it really means to get your hands bloody.

If you've read him, you know. If you haven't, double check your belt's fastened, clench those armrests, and don't blink.

This ride you never forget.

I'm a fan of Jones's work, and this might be my favorite so far (it might be tied with The Only Good Indians and Mongrels). The Buffalo Hunter Hunter's title says a lot, and readers will find themselves in a book inside a book. The first book is the story of Etsy, a young academic trying desperately to get tenure in a terrible academic world; the second is a journal belonging to her ancestor. Within the journal is the tale of a Pikuni--Blackfeet--man, a blood-drinking revenant forced to grapple with the demise of his humanity as he tries to protect his people and their traditional lands and ways from white soldiers intent on killing them and claiming their land and buffalo.It's heartbreaking and ghoulish and terrifying and also full of moments of beauty. You may be tempted to race through it, but my advice is to savor it, every horrifying moment, every dreamlike moment, every word and idea.

The chapters threw me off in the beginning because I didn’t make the distinction when the narrative shifted from the narrator to the diary at first. I caught on and it was very interesting, but it was jarring at first. Super dark spooky book though

I am convinced that if Stephen Graham Jones writes it I am going to love it no matter what. He could write a grocery list down and I would find it to be facinating. While it was a little slow for me in the beginning but still interesting enough that iit still grabbed my attention enough for me to continue knowing that with the other SGJ books that I have the payoff would be worth it.
This book is mainly set in the West in 1912 but we do have parts in the beginning that we see another Character named Etsy and the current time is 2012. This is a tale following a Lutheran priest who’s diary is found in a wall that describes the events that happened and a tale of revenge.
While this story is a tale of fiction the events, minus the vampire, of the Marias Massacre which did actually happen. I understand why SGJ wanted this book to be his next realease!

All you had to tell me was that this was an epistolary written by SGJ. Adding in that this is a historical fiction set in 1912 wherein 217 Blackfeet are murdered and there are vampires, I am that Bender meme--shut up and take my money. I don't want to ruin the plot, but if you like bleak historical fiction that includes incalculable tragedy told as an epistolary, I think you're going to love this. The writing here is so crisp and moves so quickly, as I was reading it I could SEE it as a movie or shortform show. This is probably my favorite Jones book since 'Night of the Mannequins'.

Thank you NetGalley and Titan Books for the ARC, such a phenomenal showing.

I'll just leave you with one of my favorite lines:

This is where my confession is over, Three-Persons.
I leave you now with your dead.

Weasel Plume, I’ll never forget you 💔

I think a lot of people are going to have a tough time with this book because it’s a *tough* read. The subject material is dark, the writing is challenging to get your arms around, the historical scenario it’s set within is beyond bleak, and it’s pacing was incredibly slow for ~70%. But—it’s a work of art.

I struggled to read this, and I struggled to know what to rate it. Don’t go into this expecting to race through it. Read it slowly, sit with the history. I do think, as many times as I thought “should I DNF this? is it *too* hard of a read?” this is one of the most masterful books I’ve ever read and ultimately was absolutely worth the time I invested in it. But, because I didn’t necessarily enjoy my experience reading it, I couldn’t give it a 5 star.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

The best vampire tale I've read. Jones wrote this in three months while in between other projects, and it hits like lightning. A brilliant voice telling an uncompromising story that captures the horror and wonder of our nation’s sordid history. A fresh take on the legend that I couldn't put down. An instant classic.

Stephen Graham Jones reinvigorates the vampire story and makes it entirely his own in The Buffalo Hunter Hunter. I'm in awe with this alligoral supernatural revenge western. There so much to take in, i don't think my brain has fully digested everything.

I had never heard of the Marias Massacre for which Graham Jones uses as the focal point. The events of the massacre are horrible along with the slaughtering of the buffalo. My heart was broken by what happened.

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter at times i found it confusing and it tried my patience. Expect a slow burn that eventually kicks up to full throttle. There is so much slaughtering and blood throughout the novel it felt repetitive or maybe because there was so much of it i became numb to it. Overall, I was really impressed. The way Graham Jones is able to weave the narratives and make them distinct is a masterclass in writing.

This was an unfortunate circumstance for me. I read read and enjoyed three other Stephen Graham Jones, and I went into this hoping it would be the same. Unfortunately the writing for just too much for me. I know SGJ has a brilliantly unique style of writing that has entertained me in the past, but not here. I couldn't finish the book, and I hope to return to this some other day. But as of now, if I force myself to read it, it will get a very low rating. Two stars seems right for the concept and cover, and the fact that I am willing to continue this, but no higher due to the simple fact that I am DNFing it

I think I’m going to have to accept the fact that this author isn’t for me. All of his summaries sound so freaking good but I just cannot get invested in the story. This is the 4th book of his that I’ve read and I just don’t think his writing style is for me, although I can appreciate it and understand why others would love it.

This novel is the burning iron used to cauterize a wound by campfire light. Stephen Graham Jones takes an unflinching look at some of the worst violences of American history, the deepest wounds whose poison still taints this nation’s lifeblood, and confronts it with equal parts heart and terror. Everything about this novel is great, from the story to the characters to the writing style and framing device to the scenes of heartbreak and terror that are scattered through the book, enough to make sure you never forget how bloody of a history you’re reading. But, also, it is a violent vampire story with literally one of the best interpretations of vampire mythology I think I have ever seen, deserving to be in the upper echelon of great vampire stories.

I have more thoughts about the overall framing device which I will get to, but first the choice to use an epistolary format is great. Of course it is a huge nod to Dracula, but it also brings an authenticity to the story that is deeply felt. Being honest, there is almost always some element of artifice with epistolary stories—how could the interlocutor remember all of this dialogue, why is this being recorded in the first place, and of course the pesky problem of how to deal with an ending—and to some extent those issues are here, though others are very cleverly circumvented. Yet they never are an obstacle because the personal voice conveyed through this narrative device is so powerful it far outweighs any such considerations. The characters are incredible. We have two central characters and they both are given voice, as epistolary sections come from both of them. What is beautiful about them is that they are complicated and painful and both have a mix of heroic and admirable traits along with the horrific and terrible. Never for a second do you doubt the authenticity of these characters, and having the story written in their alternating voices is powerful and affecting. The world-building is similarly breathtaking. Whether it be the small, grey vicissitudes of life in early 20th century Montana colony or the vast, ebullient geography of the Blackfeet, the sense of place, and all of its joy and desperation, is constantly present. It shapes the characters and story in important ways, and invites the audience deeper into the story. The writing is spectacular, the way two distinct voices are captured so well and are so pivotal to the story. The way Pastor Beaucarne can somehow have simultaneous awe and disdain, jealousy and hatred born form that jealousy, for the Blackfeet, for Good Stab, is beautifully captured. The way that he can gently mock the Blackfeet way of naming animals in very descriptive ways, childish, he calls it, and then slowly catch himself unintentionally using the Blackfeet terminology as his story progresses. It’s all great. The pacing works well, for the most part. It isn’t a fast-paced novel, but Graham Jones chooses to start it with a wonderfully lurid scene, one that tells the same story in two different ways, which serves to not only get the audience invested but also to make clear how important a role authorial voice has on the framing of events. Then there are some scenes of action and violence throughout, pretty evenly distributed, until a horrific climax that just keeps escalating. The ebb and flow is good, aided by the switching between voices. However there is a section after the climactic scene that felt a little longer than it needed to be. It was never boring, it was telling us an important story, and it could be a story all unto itself, it was that interesting. But it seemed to disconnect the climax from the denouement and resolution, a little. This novel is telling more than one story at once, in fact it is telling three, (or three-in-one), woven beautifully around each other through the novel, and this section, the longest chapter in the book, feels like a knot in that weave. There are other slow or slow-ish sections, this is a history story, a time-traveling story, first and foremost, and I suppose that may not work for some people. For me the history served to amplify the tension and terror of the present. Aside from that one section being a little longer than I may have wanted it to be continuing its placement in the overall story I really enjoyed the pacing and the way it helped keep the story bristling with meaning and emotion.

I haven’t mentioned the actual framing story, that of a great-great-granddaughter coming into possession of this journal and transcribing it. This section is so short in the beginning it does just feel like a convenient framing device. However, it comes back in the end with a lot more substance, and you realize that it is not just a literary means to deliver the story but it is the story, or at least an important part of it. I will say that these sections are where the epistolary style was the least convincing (though they also are what made the epistolary nature of the rest of the story work so well). From a thematic perspective, though, it felt important for the framing sections to also be epistolary. This is because Graham Jones doesn’t ever try to pretend there aren’t big themes and ideas being explored. Obviously there are ideas of genocide and occupation, what it means to steal not just a peoples’ land and lives but their histories, their culture, their humanity. Part and parcel with this are questions of vengeance, justice, and ownership. There are echoes of The Fall of the House of Usher, and how culpability lives in bloodlines. It is also about knowing yourself, observing your own transformation and identifying the catalysts, maybe nurturing them, even. What is ownership—of land, of actions, of blood, tragedy, and reparation? But even as these ideas are clear and present there are never easy answers, no one-size-fits-all solution. There are only messy resonances, stabs in the dark, hoping to hit the right spot. As always Graham jones highlights these obvious questions with more subtle strands running through the story. For instance, there is a wonderful fascination with trilogies, with an often contradictory (or contradictory-seeming) tri-partite nature of things. Obviously Good Stab calls Pastor Beaucarne “Three-Persons,” seemingly coming from the holy trinity worshipped in Christian mythologies. The pastor has his own triple nature, though, one that isn’t revealed in full until later in the novel so I won’t spoil it here. But Good Stab also has his own trilogy of identity: he is Good Stab, but he is also Fullblood, and also Takes No Scalps. The story itself is tri-partite: the pastor’s story, Good Stab’s story, and Etsy’s story—which is, in part, why the framing device needed to be epistolary in nature. The other reason is that even the very epistolary structure is tri-partite: it is gospel, it is confession, and it is witness. This is what this story is, at its heart, a witness. Witness to atrocity, to reality, to potential—to past, present, and future, all at the same time. It was a thrill to be able to be allowed to bear such witness, and live to share the tale.

(Rounded up from 4.5)

I want to thank the author, the publisher Saga Press, and NetGalley, who provided a complimentary eARC for review. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This is the first book I’ve read by Stephen Graham Jones. The first thing I ever read by him was his introduction to Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.’s collection of short stories, Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology. In this introduction, Jones presents a series of hypothetical Indigenous horror narratives, all branching off a single story, which he borrowed from someone else. This is a pretty common thing among Indians. Somebody tells a story, then somebody else takes it and shifts it over a little bit, makes it their own. The story winds around a bit, but, ultimately, there’s a lesson somewhere in there. Or it’s just something crazy (or just crazy entertaining). Buffalo Hunter Hunter is very much like that, too, in the best ways possible—but more on that in a minute.
The story Jones presented in his introduction to Hawk and Van Alst’s book was this: someone is driving late at night in an area far out from any towns, they’re the only person on the road, and suddenly they’re stopped dead in their tracks by the sudden appearance of an Indian warrior or war band from a bygone era. In one version of the story, the driver has to slam on their brakes to let the band’s horses, who aren’t stopping at all, cross the road. In another, the driver looks into the rearview mirror and sees a Native warrior in their backseat staring back at them. In each of these scenarios, Jones asked the reader to consider two possibilities: the driver is white, or the driver is Native. Certainly, for the white driver, this is already a horror narrative (What kind of revenge is about to take place? What retribution will the Indian, or Indians, enact?). But what would make this situation horror for the Native driver? That’s something Jones admits is trickier. Possession is one option he presents, and certainly, that would be terrifying.
The whole time I was reading Buffalo Hunter Hunter, I found myself thinking back on Jones’s hypotheticals. That is because here, with this novel, he offers another possible answer: possession is terrifying, but what about transformation? What if the Indian isn’t just an Indian anymore?
With this novel, Jones taps into a scenario in which the presence of the Indian passenger is horrifying for both the white and the Native driver: a vampire with a hunger for vengeance against the white men who took his people’s land, killed them, and turned him into a monster, but who must himself, like the white colonizers, prey on his own people (literally) in order to survive and maintain even the megrest strand of connection to them.
Jones expertly takes the vampire, historically a paragon of the white man’s fear of the Other, and makes it his own, presenting his readers with a Native American vampire protagonist who is, at least for me, both terrifying and a source of pride. Good Stab (formerly known as Weasel Plume, A.K.A. The Fullblood, A.K.A. Takes No Scalps) is my Blade (who, admittedly, I know very little about, other than that he’s a Black vampire antihero/morally-grey protagonist, and a capital-B Badass, so forgive me if this is not a good comparison). I love him, and I am deeply disturbed by him, but most of all, I am in awe of him. My only regret after reading this book was that I had finished it and there was nothing more for me to read about my new best friend Good Stab. I need two more books about him, a big-budget miniseries, a feature film, a poster of him to hang in my bedroom, and at least three T-shirts (and I don’t even wear T-shirts).

I have been a fan of Stephen Graham Jones' since the early days. I'm talking like "Ledfeather" I have always read his books and short stories through the years, and been so amazed at his abilities as time went on. He really does just keep getting better.
I love historical fiction with supernatural or horror aspects thrown in. I also love native American fiction, as I'm Cherokee and I love reading others myths and lores. This book hit everything on the nail and I loved it. Will definitely be buying my own copy.
I know before this is actually published, I know it will be edited. I saw a few spelling errors and simple misplaced words.

This was a struggle, a never ending struggle if I’m honest. I was really excited for this ARC as I was really pulled in with the promise of a gothic vampire novel with the historical fiction to carry it. What I got was a lot of ramblings it felt like from the preacher, who’s pacing and way of detailing his life seemed a complete 180 from the way Good Stab tells his confession. This just really didn’t do anything for me and I’m sad it dragged so much, thus making me lose interest so quickly.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me read and review this ARC!

Stephen Graham Jones continues to redefine the horror genre with The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, a haunting tale that masterfully blends historical fiction, supernatural horror, and Indigenous storytelling. Set in the stark landscapes of the American West in 1912, the novel explores themes of justice, memory, and the devastating weight of history.

The story is framed by the discovery of a Lutheran pastor’s diary, hidden within a wall for over a century. Through the pastor’s transcriptions, readers are drawn into the chilling confessions of Good Stab, a Blackfeet man whose life is inextricably tied to a series of horrifying events and an unrelenting hunger for justice. At its heart lies a massacre—217 Blackfeet left dead in the snow—that casts a shadow over the narrative, fueling the spectral presence of a vampire whose existence challenges the boundaries between the living and the dead.

Jones’s prose is both lyrical and visceral, painting vivid images of the unforgiving landscape while delving into the psyche of his characters. The pastor’s quiet, methodical documentation contrasts with Good Stab’s raw, urgent voice, creating a tension that builds as layers of the story are revealed. The vampire, more than a mere monster, serves as a symbol of unresolved grief and the relentless pursuit of reckoning, making this tale as emotionally resonant as it is terrifying.

The novel’s historical setting is integral to its impact, and Jones doesn’t shy away from exploring the brutal realities of the era. The massacre, the displacement of Native peoples, and the cultural tensions of the time are all woven seamlessly into the horror, grounding the supernatural elements in a starkly realistic foundation.

What sets The Buffalo Hunter Hunter apart is its ability to balance genre conventions with deeper thematic explorations. The story is gripping as a revenge narrative and chilling as a vampire tale, but it also examines the cyclical nature of violence, the weight of collective memory, and the cost of seeking justice in an unjust world.

For fans of historical horror, Indigenous literature, and stories that linger long after the final page, The Buffalo Hunter Hunter is an absolute triumph. Stephen Graham Jones has once again proven himself a master of weaving the horrific with the profound, delivering a novel that is as thought-provoking as it is terrifying.

Stephen Graham Jones is a hit or miss for me. His characters always tend to ramble, and the plot gets thrown to the wayside. Which definitely isn't my thing at all.

But I decided to give this a try since Western Gothic is one of my absolute favorite niche subgenres. (The Power of the Dog and Lone Women are excellent.) I'm very happy to say that The Buffalo Hunter Hunter didn't disappoint. The slow burn horror combined with a lit fic, epistolary type of narrative worked well to tell the story.

While it has its lulls (of the early 1900s navel gazing, purple prose, boring subplots sort), I was still invested in the main storylines. It was a great take on vampires and racial injustice in the US. The novel's version of vampires really leaned hard on the gore, killing, and near immortality. If you have a weak stomach, I wouldn't recommend. People are murdered and animals are killed. (Justice for Weasel Plume!)

I think the narrative style worked for the most part. The present-day researcher POV petered out at the end for me tbh, but Good Stab and Arthur Beaucarne's narratives were strong and complex. They were quite immersive and made me believe that I was in 1912 Montana, watching the whole drama unfold before me.

And of course, I was seated and ready for a good ole revenge story against colonizers.

This would work so well as a film, complete with wide landscape shots with dark, cool tones. And period accurate costume design for the Native Americans and white settlers. Think Netflix's The Power of the Dog combined with Hulu's Prey.

Thank you to S&S/Saga Press and NetGalley for this arc.