A sweeping western that is emotional, heavy, and just incredible. I’ve always enjoyed SGJ’s work and this is my absolute favorite.

3⭐️

This was unfortunately underwhelming. The story dragged on and on and I lost interest. The writing was well done, and the premise was really interesting, but by 75%, I couldn’t force myself to keep reading any longer and ended up skimming the rest. For something that was so highly anticipated, I sadly think this one was a little overhyped.

Simply wonderful. A historical horror spanning hundreds of years, The Buffalo Hunter Hunter had such a fantastic, rich mixture of character voices, each being entirely distinct from one another. As a horror author, Stephen Graham Jones never misses - always finding the horror in such mundane situations, and his take on vampires in this story was truly exceptional (with my Western viewpoint of what vampires are, at least).

What a fantastic historical gothic horror that will visually and emotionally sit with me, and I hope it’s made into a movie. Vampires, revenge, real historical brutality, and storytelling that becomes sublimely inescapable.

I went through three stages with this book. The first stage was nearly dnf-ing when first introduced to the authors excessive writing style (e.g., “doddering perambulations”). The second stage was realising I was being initiated and integrated into a compelling plot where the language itself becomes a puzzle that keeps giving, revealing, and layering new experiences. Not only are you decoding the common English of 1912, from the perspective of the pastor, Arthur Beaucarne, but also attempting to navigate the world through the Blackfeet Native American man, Good Stab, and his amalgamation of native tongue and English. The third stage was complete obsessive immersion, where the page length and linguistic density no longer mattered, and there was even slight grief at the concluding of the story.

Experiencing the story through three main characters' perspectives gave it such richness. We initially follow the academic of modern-day 2012, Etsy Beaucarne, who deciphers the old manuscript left by her great-great-grandfather, Arthur Beaucarne. He details a series of conversations and confessions made by a wandering and enigmatic Good Stab, well as the details of a great massacre of his people. Most interestingly is the tale of a vampire that prowls the prairie land in search of revenge.

I fully appreciated the cleverly slow build crescendo of intensity and the revealing atrocities. I also loved how atmospheric each detail became in that true gothic portrayal. I really enjoyed Good Stab’s point of view to the point I forgot I was reading a book, I could see all the events as clear as day in my mind. I think this book had a lot of thought and research put into it, and I think the representation of the real historical horrors that occurred during the colonisation of the Americas is the most heart-breaking of all. I found myself looking up facts around bison populations, Native American tribes, and geographical references. It was a real joy and privilege to be able to experience the feelings I did from this book.

Please note there are strong triggers throughout this book, including gore, animal abuse, dismemberment, child abuse/ sexual assault, and torture.

Thank you kindly to NetGalley, Stephen Graham Jones, and Titan Books for this advanced readers copy.

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter was honestly a five star from the first page. Stephen Graham Jones just does not miss. All the perspectives have such distinct narrative voices, making it easy to differentiate between the different characters and their timelines, despite somewhat frequent perspective jumps. The stylization of the storytelling really made this a unique historical horror. The prose was smart and incredibly descriptive, making especially the historical passages immersive. The historical part was action heavy and harrowing, leaving me constantly on the edge of my seat and frantic to pick the story back up every time I put it down, While the story had a slow start the horror built and built and then slammed into me headfirst. I really enjoyed some new elements factored into the traditional vampire lore that most people are familiar with. Additionally, though at first it seemed really disconnected, I really enjoyed Etsy’s perspective as a personification of generational guilt and trauma.

This was my first dive into Stephen Graham Jones' work, and I'm so glad I got the opportunity to try it! SGJ is clearly a talented author, blending real life historical fiction with mythology and fantasy of vampire-like beings. There was so much to keep track of in this story, truly SO much going on, which is a testament to SGJ's skill and the sheer amount of research needed to write something like this, but it also made it hard for me to keep plot and characters straight, especially with the Native American language and lingo used. The pacing was also very slow for most of the book, which made it hard to slog through at times.
Again, this is clearly a work of skill, it just wasn't right for me. I am excited to pick up more of his work though, and I am so appreciative to Titan Books and NetGalley for the eARC and for the opportunity to leave an honest, voluntary review.

I think this book undoubtedly proves that I would read anything by Stephen Graham Jones!

There were so many things I enjoyed about this book, but I think the setting and historical context explored here was the shining centre. It felt so real and vivid, but also sprawling and intense, and it's clear Jones has not only drawn from history but lived experience to draw this story together. There’s also a human, emotional centre to this book that I felt made the horror even stronger and exceptional, as well as was a big factor in keeping me turning the page!

As a Brit with a glaring lack of American history of knowledge this was a challenging read for the first quarter or so - not bad, just difficult. It took time to acclimatise to the historical context and language of the book, but I am so glad I persevered because this book is special.

My academic days are behind me but if I was still in that field I would push and push for this book to be studied. It’s the kind of book that marries raw emotion, real history and metaphor to shed heart wrenching and damning light on the events of the past. The past never stays buried forever and the buffalo hunter hunter strikes a bloody stake through the heart of those who think otherwise.

3.5 Stars

It took a few chapters for me to get into this book, mostly because of the writing style; there was another reason, but I’ll get into that later. The sentence construction was a bit odd and can take some getting used to. For most of the book, it can be attributed to the historical setting and the writing style common in those times, but even in the chapters set in Etsy’s P.O.V. in 2012, it was written the same way. I got used to it after a while, but I do think it’s something that could turn readers off.

Stephen Graham Jones is a very skilled writer. ‘The Buffalo Hunter Hunter’ showcased his talent for writing characters so brilliantly that they are able to evoke very visceral feelings in readers. Or at least for me. The rage I felt reading Arthur Beaucarne’s journal entries, that racist piece of shit had my hatred from the get go. The cast of characters and their introductions were woven throughout seamlessly. Each character, no matter the length of time we “see” them, felt intrinsic to the story.

His writing ability also carries over to the setting and descriptive elements of the book. The narration from every single character in this book painted such vivid imagery. Not only Good Stab’s narration but also Arthur and Etsy’s writing. Overall, every aspect of the author’s writing style led to an immersive reading experience.

Unfortunately, Etsy’s character had an entirely negative impact on my enjoyment of this book. Her voice is so irksome, and while I do acknowledge that her presence in the book allowed for some scenes that added to the story and characterisation of Good Stab, we spent too long following her. Also, not only was her narrative voice annoying, but her P.O.V. was a bit nonsensical in the sense that what she was “saying” didn’t match the format. She was supposed to be typing in a majority of her chapters, and then there were a few scenes where she is speaking into a digital recorder. But there were lines of her talking to herself or something like that, and it made no sense for her to be typing these things out.

Overall, I enjoyed this novel. It is a book that deals with and features heavy topics, so it definitely isn’t a lighthearted read, but I had a good reading experience.

Trigger Warnings for:

Racism, Genocidal Massacre, Blood, Violence, Rape, Death, Child Death, Animal Death, Murder, Fire, Gore, Grief, Body Mutilation, Bodily Injury

3.5 stars

I was excited to dive into The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, I love this location and time period, e.g. I’m a big fan of the Yellowstone prequels. This book lands right between those timelines, so I went in with high expectations. Unfortunately, I came away a bit disappointed.

The writing is very atmospheric and has a great tone. The themes of obsession, identity, and survival are intriguing, but by the 50% mark, I felt like I had the gist of the story. It became a lot of setup with little payoff, and the pacing dragged for me. The modern-day POV especially felt redundant, it didn’t seem to add much and broke the immersion of the historical thread.

That said, I’m a fan of vampires and liked exploring the rules of this world, what being a vampire is like, the loneliness, the hunger, the limitations. There’s creativity here, and I can absolutely see why some people might love it. For me, it just wasn’t quite the right fit.

This was my first book by Stephen Graham Jones, and while it didn’t fully land for me, it definitely had its merits. I’m not against trying something else by the author in the future.

There is something so special about SGJ books, I have loved everything I have read by him so far and Buffalo Hunter Hunter is no different.
I will say, this feels like his most "accessible" book to date if you are a reader that has previously struggled with his writing style this is much easier to broadly recommend.

Imagine, just for a moment, that whilst renovating a building, you discover an old journal. Not just any old journal, but a journal from your very own great-grandfather. And contained within this journal, isn’t the thoughts of a turn-of-the-century gentleman, but a story within a story, a Russian dolls nest of horror and unimaginable events. A story of bloodshed, wanton and destructive. A tale both lucid and yet seemingly ethereal, charting the events of one man’s life across the plains of Montana, a man who has no place, rejected by both the white man and his own people. But this man’s story is more than just a tall tale; it’s one of revenge. And when seeking revenge, a vampire has all the time in the world to wait.

And so Stephen Graham Jones, author of the award-winning novels The Only Good Indians & The Indian Lake trilogy, is back with another masterpiece, this time tackling the vampire mythos and turning it into something wholly original and new. SGJ harkens back to the great vampire novels that came before it – Interview With A Vampire, Dracula, Carmilla – but using an epistolary narrative form to tell this tale spanning multiple generations, and over 2 centuries of violence. Etsy Beaucarne, one of our three storytellers and chroniclers, is of the present day, having found her great-grandfathers journal in the walls of a building that is being renovated. Desperate for academic success, she begins to transcribe this book. From here, and for the biggest portion of this novel, we then read the journal enters of her descendant, Arthur Beaucarne, a Lutheran priest, as in the spring of 1912, he is visited numerous times by a Blackfeet Native American, a man by the name of Good Stab. Good Stab’s story is then told through first person narration, as he “confesses” his frankly wild life to Arthur.

The interactions between Arthur & Good Stab, which are always seen from Arthur’s POV/writings, are tense from the beginning. I never knew which direction this was going to go, and to be honest, for the first 200+ pages of this story, I wasn’t sure what exactly was going on or why. This isn’t a bad thing; normally I wouldn’t like what feels so meandering, but SGJ’s writing is so immersive, and all three narrative throughlines are so unique from each other, it becomes so incredibly readable because you are fully encompassed in the journey. And as each layer of both Arthur’s & Good Stab’s stories unfold – when both characters pipes are full – you are pulled along for more. Etsy’s POV is very familiar and modern; Arthur has this almost romantic idea of Victorian style language, and he writes with a long-winded hand. Good Stab is wholly unique from anything I’ve experienced before, and his tale can be confusing (for me at least it was) to comprehend at first. This is book you cannot read fast. SGJ does not hold your hand. Instead, he wants you to dive deep straight in and work things out, puzzle them out until you have your own grip on the events being told between these pages.

Because this is a very deeply thematic novel. It demands to be read slowly, and each section becomes its own learning curve. It’s almost best to read one POV until it switches to another, then break there and think about what has just been said. This story explores the bloody takeover of Native peoples lands, of the violence found in colonial America, how this was built on the wholesale destruction of the lands, peoples, and nature held within. It’s a blood-drenched story of vengeance, of being an outcast, of metamorphosis. It’s also a story that you have to trust in the process. The writing is of a quality that will keep you reading anyway, but as you move through this book, each of these themes and more are hit upon in symbolism, in allegory, and come the final 150 pages of this story, SGJ smashes it into another gear. The final confrontation and closing moments of Arthur’s & Good Stab’s respective stories are up there with some of the best one-on-one face offs I’ve ever read.

Arthur & Good Stab are these two opposites, yet so incredibly alike, and their juxtaposition to one another only becomes more interesting as the book carries on. Good Stab, being a vampire (more on the vampire stuff shortly), dressed in his own set of priest blacks, has an insatiable thirst for blood, a curse that causes him afflictions to the suns light, all of which he cannot control. Arthur, however, has his own gluttony, but it’s entirely something within his control. Yet he always chooses not eat, and eat of the food given to him by his parish he will. I see them as two sides of the same coin.

Now, the vampire shit; I will keep it short as I want you to experience this yourself. This shit is so original and so cool! Vampirism here is truly a curse. There is no romanticism here; Good Stab suffers physically and emotionally. For him, there is no lust, no castle with thralls and a gorgeous lover. There is only rejection, from his own people, from the people who took his land, from everything. And what he must do to survive is pure horror. SGJ said that he wanted this to not feel like other vampires, and the vampire lore we have come to expect. Instead, it had to feel like Good Stab was just scraping by at all times, and that this curse was always there to cause pain. It’s heartbreaking, seeing what he goes through, despite the fact that some of the things he does are monstrous – justifiably or not, that is for you to decide.

Please note: this is not the story for those faint of heart. It is very gory, very bloody, and there’s lots of animal stuff in this one. It’s never gratuitous nor is it done for shock value. It is always in service to the themes, to the characters, to the story at large.

In short, The Buffalo Hunter Hunter is a masterwork of revenge fiction, coated with one of the most original spins on the vampire I’ve ever experienced. Stephen Graham Jones writes with such confidence and immersion, never holding your hand in this book that is supposed to challenge you. It was my first SGJ novel, and it definitely is not going to be the last. The Buffalo Hunter Hunter is out now, and it’s going to be remembered as a classic.

Good Stab has a story to tell. So you had better listen.

With thanks to Titan Books for sending me an ARC and a finished copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I am very grateful to have received such a wonderful book!

I enjoyed this book, it is very dense prose and the antiquated language from the 1812 narrative added to the dialect used by the Native American character made it quite difficult in places to work out what was going on. This made me slow down and really think about the writing, which once you get into it is really clever and careful. The story follows a Lutheran pastor who is approached by a mysterious Native American man who asks to confess his sins over a period of several Sundays. What emerges is a clever, historically accurate (minus the supernatural aspects) horror story. I couldn’t work out if the vampire lore or the genocidal aspects of the book were the more chilling part. The descriptions are visceral and haunting, the storyline dark and upsetting throughout. The modern day sections were jarring in comparison to the historical sections, they were a plot device that I didn’t think was necessary whilst reading but did tie things together at the end and gave context for the rest of the novel.

Blending the historical Marias Massacre and vampire mythology should be a powerful and horrifying story that should grip and appal the reader. I even pre-ordered the book in anticipation. Unfortunately, I found this was not the case for me.
The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones is an admirable book, and the writer is brave to tackle the subject and infuse a vampire story within it. The problem I had with it was that there was never a moment I found it exciting or even a flicker of tension. Every character had a penance that had to be paid, and none of them were likeable. Usually, I do not have a problem with this, but I found that by the middle of the book, I stopped caring.
Even though this did not work for me, I would definitely recommend it to lovers of the slow-burn horror novel and for that truly bizarre end. I did not expect that.

Wow I was not expecting to love this book as much as I did!
Hooked from the first chapter even though the pacing I felt personally was slow, this is not distract anything from the story. It was so well written that it had you turning the page and wanting and needing to know how it would all play out!
This is a vampire novel with detailing of Native American culture following the journey of a manuscript.
This book most definitely hits you with all the emotions! Obsessed

This was one of my most anticipated horror reads of the year and I was enthralled throughout the full book..
I enjoyed how this was based on true events but these were events I was not fully aware about and shocked me while reading about this.

Stephen Graham Jones knows how to tell a story. He really immerses his reader into the world he's created, and being a horror/thriller writer, it really ups the ante. Reading his work isn't just reading a book but a whole visceral experience. Though, I don't even think its fair to just call him a horror author... he doesn't just write gore and jump scares for shock value, he tells heavy, painful, brutal stories that confront a real history that is just as heavy, painful, and brutal.

I can't understate how powerful his stories are. You are going to feel uncomfortable, there are going to be things that are hard to read, but you will never regret picking up a SGJ book.

This was such a great reimagining of a vampire story. Including historical massacre and folk horror through Native American experience really helped ground the book in what almost felt like a story a group would tell around a campfire. I can't wait to read more from the author!

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

3.5 stars.

Overall, this was not my favourite Stephen Graham Jones. But i found it incredibly creative and well thought out, I found that a lot of the story building went over my head, this would be a great book to listen to, so I might re-read it with the audiobook once it is released. As always Stephen Graham Jones has an impeccable writing style and his mind always produces wonderful books.