Endless heartfelt thank yous to Savannah and Saga Press for my gifted ARC of The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones — my most anticipated read of 2025, available March 18!

» READ IF YOU «
🦬 are looking for a slow-burn historical tale about the horrors of humanity
🧛 love a unique take on the makeup of a monster
🧁 ever promised yourself the cake would last a week but suddenly it's gone...

» SYNOPSIS «
Arthur is running from something, something he's hiding from his congregation and trying to bury beneath homemade cakes and sausages. But the past always catches up, doesn't it? This time, it arrives in the form of a mysterious Blackfeet man, who starts to confess his own sins to Arthur. But that's neither here nor there...

» REVIEW «
"In quietness begins devotion, does it not?"
It sure does—at least, that's how my devotion for SGJ began, in the quiet solitude of reading his words on the page. And he's strengthened those ties yet again with this stunning, quiet horror of a story.

It's 1912 when we meet Arthur and Good Stab, but their rememberings take us backward in time. Though time is a tricky concept in any Stephen story, and The Buffalo Hunter Hunter is no exception—what is the past, really, if it lives inside you each day? If the things you've done haunt your every waking moment? I can almost relate, because this story has been haunting me for a week now. It's a slow burn, with lush historical detail, and plenty of horror—though maybe of a different sort than you're expecting from a vampire novel.

Speaking of that, Stephen is the only author I know who consistently writes monster stories that are hardly even about the monsters. This one in particular is about identity, and grief, and revenge, and repentance, and forgiveness—for others as well as for yourself. It's dark and sad, but so fascinating and well-written that you hardly feel the nearly-500 pages flip by. I was so engrossed in Good Stab's story that I finished the whole book in under a day, but I can't wait to go back for a reread so I can pick out even MORE little gems Stephen has layered into the narrative.

Be forewarned that this book is different from I Was a Teenage Slasher in superficial ways, though both stories essentially boil down to similar themes of identity and love. I'd venture to say that BHH is most like a combination of Ledfeather and The Only Good Indians—in fact, I read Ledfeather right before this one and there is a LOT to be gained from that particular arrangement, as they're set on the same Blackfeet reservation in Montana.

I can't say much more without spoilers, but there's a scene in here that will never leave my brain (incredible) and also, I'm fairly certain that SGJ is a vampire himself after reading his firsthand account of what it's like to be one? The way Good Stab struggles with identity and the choices he has to make to maintain it are...breathtaking. My DMs will forever and always be open to discussing this book, so feel free to scream into the void that is my inbox.

Thank you, Stephen, for blessing us yet again with a staggering tale of men and their monsters.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you NetGalley and Saga Press for the ARC.

This was amazing. Brutal Indigenous history mixed with a very difficult creature and mythology to pull off. Stephen Graham Jones does it masterfully. He seems to hold nothing back in the history that is pillared in the truth of the past.

Each scene is described in exquisite detail, without being bogged down by empty words. Greatly appreciated was the Indigenous terminology and mythology, woven together with other perspectives. Impeccably done.

The characters are deep and extremely complex. Each has flaws and each is human and each can be an abomination in their way.

The disturbing part is that the horror/fantasy portion of the story pales in comparison to what has happened so often, in so many ways to the indigenous communities around the world. As disturbing as the monster(s) in this story may be, the real world has been much more brutal.

It’s not hard to find a vampire story these days, but it is hard to find one that hits you like this.

There’s not another vampire I can remember reading about, or watching on screen, whose story felt as personal as this one. So often we see a vampire story only through the eyes of the people that live in fear of those nocturnal monsters. They’re stories of us vs. them, humans vs. something that left its humanity behind long ago.

But we experience so much of this story through the eyes of the vampire, the nachzehrer The Buffalo Hunter Hunter. We see how Good Stab tries so desperately to hang onto the man that he was. We see that he can’t, not entirely. Not after how he’s been changed, not with the way the world he lives in is changing around him. We see the pieces of himself that he has to sacrifice, the lines he has to cross. We see why he does it all, what drives him to become a terror. And we’re reminded that fangs and a thirst for blood are far from the biggest reason that a vampire can be so terrifying. Because Good Stab is far from the only monster in this story, and far from the worst.

Reading this story feels a lot like walking through some desolate, abandoned, western town. You know the feeling if you’ve ever wandered through any abandoned place, like you’re surrounded by ghosts. There’s the ghost of who Good Stab once was. There’s the ghost of his people’s past, when they were still striving. There’s the ghost of what America used to be like when the buffalo used to roam as free as the native tribes, before the white man came and changed everything. It’s desolate and bleak, a heavy weight that settles on you as you read.

Fans of Stephen Graham Jones will recognize him at his best in this novel. The creeping, unsettling horror that he does so well. The struggles that the indigenous people have been faced with ever since Europeans decided to make America a colonized land. It’s all here, everything that makes him a master of his craft, a gory treasure sandwiched between these covers. It’ll sink into you, it’ll eat at you, and it’ll be worth it.

Stephen Graham Jones does it again in the historical horror novel, it had that element that I was looking for and enjoyed how everything flowed in the historical period. I enjoyed the use of vampires and how the story unfolded. It had that element that I was expecting and was glad everything had that feel that I was looking for.

An excellently written novel for those who like their horror along the lines of Blood Meridian or The Terror.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for gifting me an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

SGJ hits the high note EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. This was historical fiction and horror told partially through an interview lens, diary entries, and anecdotes and I absolutely loved it. I found this to be complex but in the absolute best way and the layers of the story were so impressively written that I just flew through this book. I really have a deep appreciation for Jones' commitment to telling Indigenous stories but the cinematic element that he weaves into the story make it compulsive and impossible to put down. This was his best work yet, in my opinion. Five stars.

Holy moly I started this book and didn’t stop until I reached the ending. SGJ has written good books in the past, but this - THIS - is on another level. Not only does he bring something new to the vampire genre, but I do believe he’s written a vampire classic. This is going to be one of the most talked about books of 2025. Thanks to the publisher for allowing me to read early!

Stephen Graham Jones has done it again. This book is an absolutely masterpiece. Taking the vampire mythos and making it completely his own, Jones has made a vital piece of fiction that should be read, studied, and passed down for generations. This book brings in a tragic real life incident and just builds so much around it, creating a Shakespeare level revenge story that absolutely wrecked me in the best possible way. Shortlisted for the best book of 2025.

I will never shut up about this book. NEVER. SGJ knows how to use the dagger, then dig it in and twist it. There is so much to unpack here but this book gets all the stars from me. Thank you so much to Saga Press books for sending me a manuscript ARC copy a couple of months ago. Also thank you NetGalley for the eARC. For those SGJ fans out there, you do not want to miss this one so check it out when it publishes March 18, 2025.