Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for this advanced reader's copy and the opportunity to this early. Review has been posted on Waterstones and Goodreads.

Dnf

Thank you Titan Books & Stephen Graham Jones for this read.

I really struggled with this book. I found that it was hard for me to keep up with or that I was not as engaged as I usually am. Unfortunately this book wasn't for me which I'm so disappointed about as this was one of my MOST anticipated reads. I will still pick up everything that SGJ writes but this book just was not my style.

✨ Review ✨ The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones; narrated by Shane Ghostkeeper, Marin Ireland & Owen Teale

Thanks to Titan Books, Simon and Schuster Audio and #netgalley for the gifted advanced copy/ies of this book!

This has some of my favorite narrative structures in fiction -- nested narratives, multiple POVs and timelines, and complex storytelling. This historical fiction - alternates between 1912 Lutheran pastor’s journal entries & his transcription of Good Stab, a Blackfoot man’s life story. It's definitely a slow burn, but I loved leaning into the brilliant writing with smartly crafted voices of the different POVs.

I loved that this was an Indigenous vampire story that grapples with complexities of identity, assimilation, and protection of one’s people. I won't give anything away here but the things that Good Stab struggles with and certain conditions of his vampirism made this something really fascinating. I loved this anticolonial take on vampires and horror!

A big shoutout to the historical research and the great research of historians utilized here. There's something really special about a vampire novel that still preserves historical integrity! ❤️

This is somehow my first SGJ and I'll certainly be back for more!

🎧 I don't think I could have started with the audio - it took me almost half the book to really get into the different voices. I found myself having to do a lot of backtracking at first - figuring out names, complex language etc. However, I started listening at about 40-50% and then just absolutely couldn't put it down. This one I think is best to start with your eyes - pairing with the audio even at first.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: horror + historical fiction
Setting: primarily late-19th / early 20th-century Blackfoot land
Length: 15 hours 28 minutes
Reminds me of: Lone Women by Victor LaVelle
Pub Date: March 18, 2025

Read this if you like:
⭕️ horror
⭕️ Indigenous POVs
⭕️ complex reflection on "frontier" conflicts
⭕️ buffalos and Indigenous culture

Stephen Graham Jones does it again! His way with words, and especially in building an atmosphere, is second to none. This was a fantastic read from start to finish and I can't recommend it enough!

5/5 stars! This author is so talented at weaving real-life history and paranormal horror elements together. He has done it again in "The Buffalo Hunter Hunter." In this book we meet a Montanan priest tasking himself with journalling the escapades and stories of a vampire. This book was hard to sit with at times, but it was fully intentional. What a masterpiece.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a readers copy of this title. My reviews never contain spoilers and are freely given.

I love, love, love this book! A mix of horror and a portrayal of how European people decimated the world and culture of the Native Americans. A story of the consequences of the actions of a few men, the unintentional creation of a monster set on revenge for atrocities committed against his people and culture. This is not to be missed.

Horror on every level, from squirming gore to colossal historical injustice, with a good side helping of ambiguity - it would be easy to write this book with Good Stab as an avenging hero, but here he is a brutal monster. It’s just that pretty much everyone else is worse. Not always an easy read, but a very good one.

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones is a chilling dive into history, trauma, and the haunting legacies of the American West. We begin in 2012 with Etsy Beaucarne, a struggling academic in her early 40s, fighting for tenure at a university. When a long-lost journal from her great-great-grandfather, Lutheran Priest Arthur Beaucarne, is discovered on a construction site, Etsy sees an opportunity to unlock a narrative that could solidify her academic career. Little does she know, the journal will also unlock a dark chapter of American history.

Arthur’s journal entries, written in 1912, unfold as a quiet but intense confession — a reflection on guilt, grief, and a desperate need for justice. Through his diary, we witness his unsettling conversations with Good Stab, a Blackfeet man whose recounting of the past blurs the lines between history, myth, and memory. As the priest listens, a disturbing tale unravels, revealing a world where the supernatural and the horrors of history intertwine, leaving readers with an eerie sense that something darker than just time is at work. At the heart of this confession lies the brutal slaughter of 217 Blackfeet left dead in the snow.

That number isn’t just part of the fiction. It mirrors the real-life Marias Massacre — an 1870 attack where U.S. soldiers killed hundreds of Blackfeet people, most of them women, elders, and children. Jones doesn’t wave a flag at the history, but it lingers behind every page, fueling the horror with something deeper than fangs or folklore. The violence, the aftermath, and the ongoing legacy of that massacre shape much of the narrative and the unsettling events that unfold in the journal.

As Good Stab’s story unfolds, the supernatural elements creep in, creating a sense of dread that intertwines with the brutal history of westward expansion and the deeply embedded ideology of 'Manifest Destiny.' Jones masterfully blends the horror of the supernatural with the very real, harrowing history of violence against indigenous peoples, showing how the past continues to haunt the present in unyielding ways. The idea that some horrors — those rooted in violence and injustice — may never truly fade is a key theme that runs throughout.

Jones masterfully layers these two narratives — Etsy’s present-day quest to uncover her family’s dark past and Arthur’s journal entries detailing the brutal history of the Blackfeet nation — to highlight the long-lasting effects of colonialism and the unresolved wounds of violence against indigenous peoples. The horror here isn’t about monsters stalking the plains; it’s about the monsters created by history, trauma, and a thirst for justice that transcends generations.

If you're into historical horror that blends supernatural elements with hard-hitting commentary on the effects of colonialism, The Buffalo Hunter Hunter will keep you hooked. It’s a layered, thought-provoking read that dives deep into the traumas that continue to shape the American landscape today.

Stephen Graham Jones seamlessly blends horror with dark humor and history in this one. Fans of "The Only Good Indians" may like this better than his "My Heart IS A Chainsaw" trilogy, because it's more similar. Still, there is some dark humor here that I think Jade would really appeciate.

"Buffalo Hunter Hunter" was a surprise smash hit. I thought there were no original vampire stories left to tell. I was so, so wrong. This was so unique, suspenseful, and folkloric. Cheers for the early copy.

I chose to read a free eARC of The Buffalo Hunter Hunter but that has in no way influenced my review.

Oh my gosh, where to begin with this book?! Stephen Graham Jones is one of my favourite horror writers, his books have a tendency to completely floor me. One of my favourite books of last year was I Was a Teenage Slasher. It SHOULD have been on my top ten(ish) books of the year but due to a technical glitch (that technical glitch being me!) it was missed off. It will, however, be featuring on this year's list. Question is, will there be TWO SGJ novels on that list? Of course there will be, this is SGJ we're talking about! Now, I know it's not fair, but there are certain expectations I have when starting a SGJ novel. The Buffalo Hunter Hunter (what a title!) was as dark, as devastating and as horrifying, perhaps more so on that last point, as I have come to expect from this author.

So, back to my original question. Where do I begin? Etsy Beaucarne is an academic at the University of Wyoming. She needs to publish something extraordinary to get tenure, otherwise she is out on her ear. That's when a journal is discovered hidden inside a wall. The journal belonged to Etsy's great, great, great grandfather, Arthur Beaucarne, who was a Lutheran pastor in Montana in 1912. Could this be Etsy's key to tenure? The journal details meetings between Beaucarne and a Blackfeet, Good Stab. Good Stab's tales are astounding and Arthur's own struggles to believe his visitor are documented in the fragile pages. But Good Stab has a confession to make and he won't stop visiting Arthur until his story is told...

First and foremost, I have never read anything like this before. The Buffalo Hunter Hunter is horrifying, eye-opening and completely unflinching. It marches right up to your face, stands nose to nose, and stares you the f**k down. It made me feel deeply uncomfortable, and rightly bloody so! The destruction of a nation, a group of indigenous people destroyed just because the white man thinks he knows better (he really, really doesn't). Devastating, hard-hitting and powerful. The most confidently told, yet disturbing storytelling from a master of the genre.

SGJ has taken your common-or-garden vampire and filled his veins with fresh, new blood. Which, as a historical horror novel, is quite a feat! Good Stab has a story to tell, a confession to make, and his chosen recipient is Arthur Beaucarne. As Good Stab's confession plays out, the horror, the brutality and the violence all grow. It's inescapable, it's unrelenting and it's impossible to look away from.

Would I recommend this book? I would, yes. The Buffalo Hunter Hunter tears the reader in half. You'll be bewitched by the beautiful storytelling but appalled by what you're reading. The truth of it. You'll want to devour the story in one sitting, but you'll also want to look away, take a breather. It's gorgeous but grotesque. There is nothing else quite like this book out there. I was completely hypnotised by the storytelling, reading this 448 page saga in two sittings. Most books take me a good week to read! All in all, The Buffalo Hunter Hunter is an epic novel in both scope and delivery. Absolutely fascinating characters who felt wholly believable. A creeping, unsettling tale that will leave its mark on its readers, for sure! Highly recommended.

I chose to read and review a free eARC of The Buffalo Hunter Hunter. The above review is my own unbiased opinion.

[Review will be published on 1st May 2025]

In 1912 Montana, a Lutheran pastor agrees to hear a confession from a local Indigenous man. Let’s just say he’s NOT prepared for what he’s about to be told…or what will happen to him after. I went into this one mostly blind and I recommend that you do the same, so I won’t divulge too much of the plot. But if you love body horror, the Wild West, and watching smug white men get what’s coming to them, you’re going to love this one as much as I did!

Not for me sadly, it lost me with the three layers of stories and then some of the imagery confused me.

Thank you to Stephen Graham Jones, Titan Books, and NetGalley for the ARC!

3.5 Rounded down

I've not read a SGJ book, so I was unfamiliar with the impressive yet laborious prose that he writes. Combine that with the length of the book and you have...a slog.

That's not to say I didn't enjoy all of the book. Blending this real life massacre of Blackfeet natives and nearly an entire population of buffalo with a fictional vampire revenge story is such an interesting concept and a bold project to undertake. It's such a good story in fact, that it's completely overshadowed by the diary entry format and slow pacing. The good, gripping parts of the story kept being halted by Arthur's character writing at length about something so incredibly boring that I found myself literally nodding off. This is of course probably intentional. Arthur is a pompous Lutheran pastor in 1912 after all. When it's so imbedded in the majority of the story though, it gets difficult to want to keep reading.

In fact, I can look back on the portion of the book that was Good Stab's story and enjoy so much of it. I loved the original vampire lore, I loved the super gnarly gore, I loved Weasel Plum- his buffalo companion. I felt the injustice and frustration of it all, and I think that will be what sticks with me for many winters.

DNF at 58%

I really struggled understanding the writing (style). It felt like not much is happening, even though I'm that far in. I kept having to go back like 10 pages and reread constantly.

I'm new to Stephen Graham Jones' work but have only ever heard amazing things, so paired with the incredibly intriguing premise of this book I was very very excited to read his new release, "The Buffalo Hunter Hunter". And it is, objectively, a very good book. It's well-written, it packs its emotional punches and it deals creatively with a horrible event in human history, one I wasn't aware of but read up on afterwards. it's real history mixed with horror, and the horror is incredibly raw and atmospheric.
It is rather slowly paced and while it makes sense with how the story unfolds, it did lose me here and there and I do think it could have been edited more sharply. But that can also simply be blamed on the fact that I never really warmed up to the author's writing style. It's objectively good and I loved the way it used authentic language, but sometimes you can recognise good writing yet have to admit it's just not your cup of tea. That's what happened here. I also, personally, didn't enjoy the way the story develops later on.
So take this review with a grain of salt, because while I, in the end, wasn't blown away by "The Buffalo Hunter Hunter" due to the writing style and pacing, I absolutely recommend it. The subject matter and themes alone turn this into an important and still relevant for today read and the vampire in this is just fantastic.

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter is not an easy read, nor should it be. Some books exist to comfort, to provide escape. This one exists to confront the carnage that history books so often obscure.

The type of horror that hits you deep in the soul. I thought this was written well and I would definitely read more from the author.

Fantastic. A wild ride of a read. Beautifully concocted to spook and unnerve while constantly drawing the reader further into the web of the story. The ending was unexpected and worked really well.

Historical fiction, well good historical fiction is a difficult art, the subjects are often sensitive. This book achieved that fine balance, it worked as a fine fiction/horror piece, yet was still sensitive to the historical subject of the treatment of indigenous North Americans, the mind set of colonialists in justifying their actions, is also engaged with.

As the best horror often points out who are the monsters? The horrors of colonialism in the racial prejudice, mass extermination of people, along with the decimation of entire species and destruction on the environment, are more vile than any supernatural beast.

Ok, that is my preachy part, the book has a good pace and the found manuscript device works well in this instance, the characters even the supporting cast are strongly pictured and combined with history ground this book well,

I expect to see awards for this one.