Good Stab’s life is changed completely after a scuffle with soldiers in the woods who harbor a strange creature in a cage…that gets out and wreaks havoc. Years later, the story is told to a Lutheran pastor with a penchant for baked goods, who writes it all down in a journal found a century later that is now being transcribed by that preacher’s descendant.

Part fascinating monster tale, part gut-wrenching look at (after)life in the west in late 1800s/early 1900s, this book is historical horror at its best. While reading it, I couldn’t help but think about Frankenstein even though this is a vampire book: The “monster” questioning what they are, the despair after unintentional harm, the loneliness.

I really liked the narrative device of a found journal. It added to the haunting atmosphere and uncomfortable feeling of desperately wanting to know what happens next but being forced to wait for the pastor to shakily write down the events of the day. I was so sucked in I had forgotten that our story started with the descendant of the pastor that when we switched back to her POV, it was jarring in the way that someone sneaks up behind you while you're working. However, it was also absolutely necessary to wrap up the story as much as it could be wrapped up.

This book is gross and gory monster horror, yes, but it is also exquisitely written and had me in tears at multiple points throughout. It is truly a fascinating and evocative exploration of vampires and the colonization of what is now the United States.

Stephen Graham Jones has created another masterpiece.

Hooks you from the beginning, and unravels a fictional story with a lot of basis in actual history.

This book will keep you reading long past your bedtime, and you will think about it for a long time after.

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter is a historical horror novel that spans multiple timelines. It is told through the diary entries of Arthur Beaucarne, a Lutherin pastor who finds himself drawn into the orbit of a man named Good Slab. Through these diary entries, we are transported into a story filled with vengeance, grief and survival, all with the backdrop of a vampire tale.

This was a deeply grim, gory and gripping novel. It was slow paced, but rich with detail, leading to the creation of a setting and atmosphere that left me both shivering and devastated. At it’s core, the real horror in this novel truly is real history - the massacre of America’s Native inhabitants because they were believed to be sub-human. It was poignant and painful, brutal and necessary. Those who are sensitive to horror themes should definitely check trigger warnings prior to reading this one. It does not shy away from violence.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for sharing this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Saga Press for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I always think Stephen Graham Jones’ novels are well-written and well-researched, and The Buffalo Hunter Hunter is no different. It took me a little bit to get used to Jones’ framing and I wish that I had done a quick history crash course before picking this up—this is based on the Marias Massacre, and having that background would have made for a richer first read—but things fell in place really well and I think the tension and horror was excellent. Good Stab is a rich, complex character and while the story itself is deeply unpleasant, it’s also very compelling and difficult to put down. I loved the way Jones wove history into a vampire story, and while it’s hard to read, I definitely will re-read it.

This is Stephen Graham Jones at his absolute best. Absolute best, okay. I loved everything about this and will not be quite about it ever

One of my favorite books of 2025. An absolute 10 out of 10! This book takes you on long and windy journey over more than 170 years and was impossible to put down. Breaking down a vampire story into one of true loneliness and loss. Full of more than just individual grief, but a sorrow so much larger than that. As the tale unfolds you will find yourself sucked in by the current and bashed over the head by the waves of emotion when you least expect them.
A truly emotional story while also so absolutely terrifying. Playing up the raw and real body horror elements of this version of vampire. A somewhat slow burn at the beginning but then out of nowhere it grips you until the very last page.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for gifting this over early. 10/10

DNF at 17%.

I really wanted to like this book but this wasn't for me. Thanks to reviewers on Goodreads, I read up on the Blackfeet Nation and the Marias Massacre (which was heartbreaking and informative) but it only got me so far. I'm still unable to understand most of what's happening. I know the pastor is distracted by cake though.

The vampire bits, when we got to it were great but I'm afraid, I just can't seem to get into the book right now.

Hopefully, I can at another time. Thanks to Netgalley & Saga Press for the e-copy!

I have loved the other books that I’ve read by this author, but I have to be honest here, I really struggled through 60-70% of this book. That’s not to say that I didn’t appreciate the author’s writing and the story being told, but this one felt long and took me way longer to read than most. The ending is, however, phenomenal so I’m left with a lot of mixed feelings on this one.

What I loved and appreciated about this was the amount of research and time that had to have gone into this to make it a historically set horror that blends many traditions, genres, and does it from two very different perspectives of the same events. I really loved this dichotomy between our vampire character in Good Stab and the Lutheran pastor that he is confiding in. The first half is what I really struggled with as it isn’t particularly plot heavy, and at times, it is purposefully vague or convoluted. But as the story slowly comes together, I am certainly in awe of the time and patience that went into crafting this work.

I think the present day timeline is really what tied this together for me and made it so much more impactful and really makes the past hit home in a way that is harder to do in just a historical context. For this alone, I ended up feeling much more appreciative of the time it took to read this book. This book is not an easy read, as I have highlighted the parts that really slowed me down already, but the content is equally difficult as it deals with the near extinction of the buffalo and the indigenous people, in this case the Blackfeet. By tying it to the present, this book really asks you to reflect on this very dark part of US history that is often glossed over or merely mentioned as a footnote to westward expansion.

I also love the revenge story aspect of this, and if this isn’t the ultimate revenge story, I don’t know what is. This book is heavily violent and gory as the events it is depicting often was. I would consider this necessary violence as it is important for us as a country to know what was done on our behalf by our ancestors to indigenous people and the animals that they relied on for survival. The characters all kind of straddle a morally grey line, particularly our vampire protagonist, who although a killer is a very sympathetic killer at times. This book will make you feel uncomfortable and squeamish and certainly won’t be for everyone (I’m still not sure if it was even for me), but I think it is definitely worth the read.

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

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter is a historical horror novel told through the diary entries of Arthur Beaucarne, a Lutheran pastor who finds himself drawn into the orbit of an uncanny man named Good Stab. Through transcribed confessions, Good Stab slowly unspools a story of vengeance, survival, and something far more ancient than simple revenge — a story that reshapes vampire folklore into something raw and uniquely terrifying.

This is the first novel I've read by Stephen Graham Jones, and I know I need to read more of his backlist. This book is being hailed as his finest masterpiece, but I sometimes had trouble following the narrative in the diary entries and Good Stab's story. The writing style and voice is one that required me to slow down to ensure I was tracking the story. I had to slow down, double back, and read carefully — but I think that was part of the design. This is not a story meant to go down smooth. It unsettles. It demands attention.

However, this is certainly an excellent book and a very important one. Horror fans will find a tale full of gruesome details and an atmosphere that compellingly conveys the pain and isolation of our narrators. For me though, the truly chilling aspects of the story are the ones based on fact: how the settlers of the American West pushed out and massacred the Native inhabitants because they perceived them to be something less than human. The scariest monsters in this novel aren’t the supernatural ones — they’re the ones responsible for it history.

This book absolutely earns the critical praise it’s receiving. It’s brutal and unforgettable. But readers should go in knowing that some of the horrors here are all too real. Sensitive readers will want to check content warnings.

Awful in every way. 4.5 stars.

I'm not sure what to say about this.

It's a vampire story of the old west, where a Blackfoot Indian man-turned-vampire preys on buffalo hunters and other enemies of his people. But it's also not nearly that simple.

It's a triple-nested epistolary-format story. In the near-present, a scholar works to preserve the newly-discovered journal of her many-times great-grandfather. In the early 1900s, that grandfather, an elderly Lutheran preacher in an isolated Montana town, records his own diary entries alongside the story of a mysterious Blackfoot man who visits his church weekly. Finally, after the diary's mysterious end, we return to the near-present day for the final denouement.

The vampire lore is highly interesting. I'm not usually a vampire story person, but I'm familiar with 2 styles of vampire: Dracula, and the 2010s pop vampires. This book's version is unlike either style, and introduces complications to the vampire condition with fascinating, horrible consequences. There are no loopholes in this universe available for a vampire who wishes to be "good."

By 5% in, I was hooked. By 50%, I was slightly freaked out because things had escalated SO much, but there was still half the book left! By 75%, I had intended to take a break to get necessary daily tasks done, but was unable to do so. I had to read the whole thing straight through to the end, because there was no way I could set it down at that point.

This book is painful in almost every possible way. The evil of American westward expansion and the slow-motion Indian genocide. Good Stab's own personal pain as he grapples with the monster he's become. The all-pervasive gore, blood, guts, decaying corpses, body horror, mutilation, and viscera as he deals out violence everywhere he goes. The loathsome dread and shame of the old preacher as he hides from his past.

It's deeply grim, but absolutely gripping and impossible to look away from. I loved it and was repulsed all at the same time.

The only moment of fun came from the OG vampire. His vibe was evil, of course, but in a way so dissonant to the rest of the story's tone that he was almost a breath of fresh air while he was around. (Honorable mention to the time Good Stab went undercover as a statue. That wasn't funny, really, but it was almost funny.)

The ending when we find ourselves back in the near-present was another strong tonal shift, but continued to be entirely insane and horrifying. Overall, this book had me in a chokehold from the very first chapter, and I definitely recommend it if you're a person who enjoys horror.

First I would like to thank Netgalley and Sage Press for the ARC of this novel.

This was an interesting read for me. I loved the horror and historical fiction aspects of this novel but I had a hard time getting through it. I found the language difficult to follow. And although I understand why the author decided to use this language it did make it hard for me to stay engaged while reading.

I also found the novel to be a little slow. I think it would have benefited from being 50-100 pages shorter. This is an interesting part of American History that I knew very little about so that really kept me going. Also, be mindful of the amount of killing in the book. There is a lot. Both human and animals.

3.5/5 stars rounded down to 3 for this review.

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

I have enjoyed a few of Stephen Graham Jones’s books– but nothing prepared me for “Buffalo Buffalo Hunter.” This is a truly unique experience.

Glancing at the dust jacket, you might assume you know what you are in store for: this is a western, a Blackfoot man becomes a vampire and rains his vengeance down upon white America for the decimation of his tribe and family. However, this initial perception belies the story's true depth. The narrative transcends predictable tropes, delving into a darker, more profound exploration. Shadows deepen, spirits cry out, and souls undergo agonizing torment. In other words, Jones is leading us into a gothic, nightmarish realm.

In 2012 a document was discovered, written a hundred years ago by a Lutheran minister, Arthur Beaucarne. This is forwarded to his great-great granddaughter, Etsy Beaucarne, who studies it in the hope of capitalizing on this find. Her voice bookends the novel, with the preacher’s journal entries revealing the details of his life and the eerie confessions he heard from one man.

Historically, in 1870, the US Army broke a promise of protection and murdered over 200 Blackfeet people, mostly women, children, and the elderly, in the Marias Massacre. Arthur’s journal reveals that over forty years later a mysterious character, a Blackfoot man by the name of Good Stab, periodically appears at his church to reveal his fantastic history. At the same time, mutilated and painted bodies are turning up in the vicinity. As their dialogue progresses, Arthur becomes increasingly alarmed, threatened both by the evil he fears in this supernatural being and by an unspeakable guilt he has tried to keep repressed.

To say the atmosphere Jones conjures up is creepy does not do it justice. The church scenes, in particular, evoke a chilling dread that lingers long after reading, making you question whether the terror will follow you beyond the book's pages. A character named “Cat Man” is one of the genre’s most menacing figures. Finally, one character suffers a staggeringly insane fate; one hard to believe, if not totally justified.

There are triggers everywhere, particularly with regards to animal cruelty. While these incidents are integral to the plot, if you are at all sensitive, I would give this book a wide berth. Violence is a given, as well. Of course, historically the ease at which white America butchered humans in their way is far more horrific than any fictional depiction.

A complex and profound narrative, "Buffalo Hunter Hunter" stands as one of the best horror novels in years.

Thank you to Saga Press and NetGalley for providing an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review. #BHH #NetGalley

This is my book of the year. It’s an absolutely horrific tale of grief and rage that I couldn’t put down. Any fans of vampires, historical fiction, or just well-written, riveting novels should read this immediately.

Thank you Saga Press and NetGalley for the eARC

3.5 stars

Way more historical fiction than horror than I was expecting so definitely know that before going in. A great story with real historical foundation but the pacing was just so slow for most of the book. This would've benefited being 50-100 pages shorter. I did enjoy how complex the characters were. I went into this expecting a basic good vs evil kind of structure but luckily it wasn't like that at all. Everyone has skeletons in their closets.

Oh wow, what a freaking book. This is truly a masterpiece in horror literature. It's beautiful, it's compelling, its heartbreaking.

I went into this blind, and I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn't this book. This is the ultimate story of love (but not romantic), kinship, religion and revenge. With its vivid imagery and beautiful prose, it sucked me right in and then spit me back out.

The characters feel so real - like they could just pop off the page and tell you their stories in person. The story is also told in a way that has you feeling all types of ways about the characters, and as the story evolves so do your feelings about them. I certainly had a different perspective about Good Stab and Arthur when I finished the book vs when I started.

I know that SGJ isn't for everyone, and I'll admit that I often have a hard time with his particular style of writing, but his way of weaving a story is exceptional, and the epistolary style that this one is told in is no exception. I ended up absolutely loving it.

“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. It’s what binds us one to the other.”

The Buffalo Hunter HunterA novel that evokes the strongest of feelings that are not easily described, The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones is, simply put, a modern masterpiece. There is no other way around this very bold sentiment other than to state so first and foremost, hoping the words used in the following passages do enough justice to convey every reason of its truth. The Buffalo Hunter Hunter is not a novel that falls squarely into one genre; it is undeniably bloody (horror, check), we spend the majority of the novel in 1912 and previous years (historical fiction, check), but perhaps the signature of this novel is the earnest nature in which the story of Good Stab and Arthur Beaucarne is told. Stephen Graham Jones possesses an undeniable talent, a masterful storyteller who holds readers rapt with devoted attention as untold stories of our nation, those stories paved in blood, suffering, and infinite pain, are shared.

In 2012, a woman is notified of a found manuscript written by her distant relative from 1912. Arthur Beaucarne, a Lutheran pastor, recounts a series of events in connection to a Blackfeet known as Good Stab. What seems like a simple artifact of history, Beaucarne’s inscription, Good Stab’s story, is one that is filled with death, blood, violence, and revenge made possible through seemingly impossible circumstances. However, certain buried truths find the light of day — every word of this manuscript plausible, the consequences earth-shattering for all connected even in the present.

The weight of a book like The Buffalo Hunter Hunter has no quantifiable value, its gravity immense. Stephen Graham Jones does not tell this multilayered, interconnected, complex story in a linear fashion to our immense benefit, taking a wholly nuanced stance on that of the vampire. While the pieces fall into place with every turn of the page, the awe in such plotting and planning cannot be contained. Moreover, with every shift in perspective, Jones manages to wholly and completely embody voices, tones, colloquialisms, mannerisms, and personalities so defined. To call this style of writing “immersive” falls short of the transportation experienced in reading these words.

Most profound is the emotion ingrained in each character, most specifically Good Stab, the Blackfeet who has encountered oh so much. His is a story that hurts deeply, as it should. The bleak realities of colonialism are displayed in full, stomach-churning detail with no soul spared. As Good Stab recounts the many winters he has endured, the trials, tribulations, deaths, and lives he has lived, the human heart cannot help but ache. We are gifted a wholly unique version of a vampire that is viscerally upsetting for the newly discovered facets of imprisonment within an eternal body. Dare I make the bold statement that this may just be Jones’ bloodiest book yet in every sense, with gore and emotion hemorrhaging from every imaginable outlet.

Here’s where I begin to lose words for the deeply impactful significance imparted with a novel such as this: Jones’ exploration of devotion and faith. No, not religion, but the idea of committing to a cause, an idea, a notion, or a feeling that defines every action taken by a character. Concerning Good Stab and his relationship to Beaucarne at the beginning of the novel, Jones pens such an emotionally intelligent conversation surrounding what it means to be dedicated. While the parallels to faith are clear to see, ideas of revenge and reckoning also thrive in this space. Things not said are just as important as what is, a remarkably intense, fruitful style of unveiling what this story is really about.

Brilliant, harrowing, and irrevocably devoted, The Buffalo Hunter Hunter feels like a novel that only comes around once in a lifetime. Stephen Graham Jones has given us earnest, emotional stories before, but this particular venture into the past, a tale of reckoning, feels like something else entirely. Good Stab, Weasel Plume, Wolf Calf, Otter Goes Back, Tall Dog, Peasy, and every Pikuni lodge themselves deep within the heart. Their loss, their suffering is felt so deeply, reverberating deeply within our bones and souls. Jones’ words make this feat possible, a visceral reading experience that transcends the page. Incredibly constructed, passionately told, and simply unforgettable, The Buffalo Hunter Hunter is every reason Stephen Graham Jones is a writer like no other, a sincerely devoted storyteller with a masterful voice that must be heard.

I was drawn to this after book after viewing an Instagram reel from Saga Press Book featuring the author SGJ giving a synopsis. Bottom line, this historical fiction horror story is an incredible read. I’m still processing what I read and having difficulty articulating my thoughts. The vampire lore entangled with the historical fiction is told brilliantly. The characters came to life in my mind. The slow burn of the horror was ever present. It feels wrong to say I loved this book, given the atrocities endured by the Indigenous people of America. The vampire mythology is definitely unique but does give nods to the classic vampire predecessors. I highly recommend this one if you love vampires! Thank you to NetGalley, Saga Press Book and Stephen Graham Jones for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an ARC of The Buffalo Hunter!

This book completely tricked me. The whole time, I thought I was following Arthur, a quiet, isolated man, the preacher, and Good Stab, an Indian vampire confessing his past sins. I was locked in, waiting to see where it all led, only to realize that what I thought was happening was something else entirely.

The writing is rich and luxurious, reminding me of A Dowry of Blood. That same lush, almost lyrical style that makes everything feel bigger than life. But I’ll admit there was a stretch where it dragged a little for me. The slow burn pacing worked until it didn’t, and I started losing interest for a bit. That said, the payoff was worth it, and I love how unsettling the whole thing ended up being.

If you want a historical horror novel with unreliable narrators and a story that completely shifts once you see the bigger picture, it is definitely worth the read. Just be ready for it to mess with your head. I’m still not entirely sure I grasped it all. And it is out today!!!

Like with all Stephen Graham Jones books, The Buffalo Hunter Hunter builds on historical horrors and makes something new from them. This book is terrifying, bloody, and full of generational trauma.

Some Family Secrets Are Better Left Buried
Luckily for us, this one wasn’t. The last time I was held captive like this was reading The Only Good Indians. Stephen Graham Jones has a way with words and an even better way at stringing them all together. Here, he teases us with a found diary then transports us back to the all too true horror of the Marias Massacre in 1870s Montana, then paints the history that follows with one of the most unique and creepy vampires the West has ever seen. The story itself is amazing. So why not five stars ? It is a little slow in places. Perhaps that's from the epistolary form of the novel. But don't let that stop you. It also adds much making it one of the most creative and interesting tales I've read this year.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2