I expected a lot from this book, being a big SGJ fan, and this was touted as being his magnum opus. I think the main thing to understand here is that this is a long, deliciously paced, slow burn and you probably won’t race through it the way you might have his previous works. Once I realised this, I really settled into Good Stab’s tale. I do think some parts might have been a tiny bit over explained, but otherwise, I really recommend this - even if you’re not typically a vampire fan. It’s totally unique, I hope to read more historical vampire epics in the future!

I enjoyed this book although found it difficult to read at times. The use of Pikuni language which is not explained can be quite hard to follow and makes the text dense. The horror aspects were excellent, both the supernatural and the historical facts that were included and at times were more horrific than the vampire. I would recommend this to fans of the genre

A journal written by a Lutheran pastor is found hidden within a wall space during renovations. The interviews and writings inside reveal details of life in colonial America... and a massacre of untold tragedy.


Anyone looking for a quick gory horror fix is in the wrong place. Oh, you'll find all the expected gore, but this story will hit you deeply as it delivers horror directly at the soul-level.

There's deep generational and cultural pain, devastating loss, scarring trauma, and battles of faith. You won't walk away from this book unscathed or altered in some way.

The writing is so very good! The journal entries carry their own distinct presence and voice making this a recommended you won't want to miss!


*I received an advance reader copy for free, and I'm voluntarily leaving a review*

Etsy Beaucarne finds a manuscript that was written by her grandfather Arthur Beaucarne and it tells the life of Good Stab a Blackfoot Indian. This is an excellent book ful of well developed characters then tell the story of the horrors the native Americans endured in a vampire novel. The pacing was slow but it keeps you reading. Thanks to Titan books and Netgalley for this review ARC

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter follows the story of the vampire, Good Stab, but the true horror in this book comes from the treatment of Indigenous People by the government and white settlers, as well as the horrific devastation of bison herds throughout the West. In The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, Jones delivers a historical horror, paranormal revenge story.

This is my first book by Stephen Graham Jones and he does not shy away from graphic depictions. If graphic violence and death is a concern for you, be warned that it is included in much of the book. After about the 60% mark, so much of the story just became too gruesome, for me, even with it falling in the horror genre. The amount of human death and animal death became too overwhelming.

The underlying story of the history of the nation, at the expense of an entire Indigenous people group, is powerful. In an exchange between Good Stab and Arthur Beaucrane, the two say, "You can't stop a country from happening, Good Stab." "But we were already a nation. We didn't ask you to come." The initial catalyst in the book is the Marias Massacre, that occurred in the Montana Territory in January 1870, and Jones definitely makes a statement in his writing, with the historical facts, that the book is based on. It is a stark reminder of the abominable acts committed throughout this time in history.

The book is written in the style of journal entries, with POVs from Arthur Beaucrane, Good Stab, and Etsy (Beaucrane's great-great granddaughter). I am a fan of this style of writing, and I thought Jones did a great job alternating between the character’s POVs. I found Good Stab’s backstory and transition to be a compelling part of the story, and loved Jones’ reimagining of vampire lore. I didn’t feel as connected with Etsy, because of spending less time in the story with her character.

I think Jones boldly brings together historical fiction, horror, and the paranormal in The Buffalo Hunter Hunter. While some of the book leaned too far into the horror genre for me, I would still suggest it for those that may not be affected by this level of horror, and are already fans of Jones' other books.

Thank you to Titan Books for the early eArc copy of this book.

I loved this. It’s harrowing and awful and graphic and so well researched. You can feel the anguish of Good Stab, his sense of loss and desire for revenge in every page.

The turn is takes throughout the novel shocked me, but made so much sense as it went all. Everything tied together in a way that makes the story feel real.

Like The Only Good Indians I loved the visceral horror alongside the strong emotions and authenticity of Stephen Graham Jones’s writing.

If you liked The Only Good Indians, you’ll like this one too.

There is something so perfect about a vampire novel told through epistolary form. Vampires are creatures from the past after all, their long lifespans letting them live through history.

A Lutheran Pastor’s diary from 1912 is discovered within a wall, and is given to his next of kin, his great-great-great granddaughter Etsy Beaucarne. This artifact details a series of conversations between the Pastor, Arthur Beaucarne, and a Blackfeet named Good Stab, who tells his unusual life as a confession, a series of events that was spurred into action by a horrific massacre. Etsy believes the finding of this journal and the story within will serve as a good project to secure her a tenure track, but as she dives deeper into the passages, she finds the book becoming less of a story and more horrifically real; the past coming to haunt her in a myriad of ways.

I loved this one. The journal entries felt real, I felt like I was uncovering a story alongside Etsy. There's a lot to love about this historical horror western; it was so immersive, and the prose was incredible. Stephen Graham Jones has such a unique writing style that was really showcased by the way this narrative was told, and I closed the book wanting nothing more than to flip to page one and start all over again.

Stephen Graham Jones at his very best; years from now The Buffalo Hunter Hunter will be mentioned in the same breath as Dracula and Interview With the Vampire as a vampire classic.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for the ARC!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

"You can't stop a country from happening, Good Stab."
"But we were already a nation. We didn't ask you to come."

Insanely good. This is Stephen Graham Jones at his best. He has done such an incredible job here blending historical fiction, true Blackfeet history, and horror to make this dark and atmospheric vampiric Native revenge story. The Frankenstein-esque narrative framing device really added a lot to the story here, and in my opinion, it is very hard to make that sort of framing work. The story is a slow-burn that really ramps up at the end in a horrific, gory climax. It is honestly a masterpiece and has solidified Jones' place as one of my favorite authors. He is truly a master at horror.

A slow-paced haunting horror! I was really looking forward to this - Vampires, Native American legend and an atmosphere that would draw me in... but this did not deliver.
It was extremely slow-paced to the point of almost boredom, and waiting for what felt like pages for anything of note to happen to drive the story onward.
I am glad I finished it - would I read it again, probably not

Thank you to the UK publishers and Netgalley for an Advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

There was a lot to admire about this book. It taught me a lot about a time and culture I didn't know enough about. The horror elements were very visceral; the writing was atmospheric at times.

I did find it slow paced at times, however, and it took me a while to get used to the writing style.

This novel takes 'you are what you eat' to a whole new level!

Unfortunately, I had hoped to love this, since it's one of my most anticipated reads of 2025. Don't get me wrong: this book is good. It's well thought out, the writing is atmospheric and the concept is exciting, something I haven't seen done before. Like, a Blackfeet vampire meets a Lutheran pastor telling him all his life? A massacre? With a revenge plot? Hell yeah.

But my excitement got less and less after flipping the pages. This is definitely a slow burn. A little too slow for my tastes. I'm happy I finished it though, cause I really enjoyed the final acts, one more gruesome than the next. I cannot wait to see what this author comes up with next.

<i>Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.</i> (You cannot believe how excited I was when I saw I got approved for a Stephen Graham Jones eARC!)

Buffalo Hunter Hunter will already be added to my nomination of most surprising book of the year 2025.

BHH is an amazing take on the gothic vampire tale. Using horror as a way of telling a tale of the destruction of the native american people and their environment through colonisation. Stephen Graham Jones gives us a glimps of one of the darkest chapters of American history.

Through Good Stab's tale of revenge we learn that nothing take away who you are at heart. Good Stab struggle with cultural identity when under attack felt real and urgent. Vampirism was the perfect vehicle to expres this.

Personally I have learned so much about Native American culture and their history through this book. While it was hard to read at the beginning I was thoroughly emersed by the half way point. The writing was amazing. For the first time ever I have saved actual quotes and higlights on my kindle.

The only negative I feel was that the tale in our current time given by the scientist ancestor did not connect and at times annoyed me. I'd much rather just have Good Stab solely telling his tale to the preacher.

All in all this is a tale everyone should read. It confronts us with the worst things we have done both to other humans and the world.

It is horror so too many triggers to mention, but let say body horror and animal harm are featured extensively.

This Author has become one of my favorite authors of all time!
The fact that he has found fresh new ways to tell a story with a vampire character and erase, at least for a quick moment, anything you thought you knew about them and give you a fresh perspective of them, is nothing lest that freaking amazing! This is an “unputdownable” book, so use your time wisely!

<I>"I wanted to go back to those days. I hadn’t watched them with the right eyes, when they were happening."</I>

Following four novels in the world of the slasher, through the eyes of Jade Daniels and Tolly Driver, Stephen Graham Jones has turned on his heels and taken a different direction. The Buffalo Hunter Hunter incorporates supernatural horror alongside true, even more disturbing, events in Native American history. I read advice to do some research into the Piegan Blackfeet, and specifically the Marias Massacre, and I'm glad I did—Jones takes a historical atrocity and uses the story to help exorcise some of those demons, to explore ideas of revenge, and maybe take back some of the power from the napikwan (white people). It's all the richer, all the more devastating, for knowing something about these events before diving in, and I would recommend familiarising yourself with them.

Jones uses a Frankenstein-style framing device, the book opening with Etsy Beaucarne, an academic who needs to get published and is given the opportunity to read a recently discovered journal written by her great-great-grandfather, a Lutheran priest named Arthur. Hoping to be able to use this to gain tenure, Etsy begins to learn about the life of both her ancestor and a Blackfeet named Good Stab, who came to the priest to tell his story—perhaps his confession. This narrative style is in many ways less pronounced than in something like The Fisherman, with Etsy's contributions only bookending the main story, but they do so importantly and with great effect.

At its heart, The Buffalo Hunter Hunter is a vampiric revenge story, with Jones' take on the creature being unsurprisingly brutal. He adapts the mythology to make it feel a part of the Native American history and creates a character that my feelings changed on throughout the book. Vampires and body horror should be natural bedfellows, and that element is leaned into here—in addition to many, many deaths, both animal and human, there are some truly twisted and grotesque depictions of the creature. Without wanting to spoil any of the surprises, there's imagery here that will stick with me for a long, long time.

I adore the writing here, but it is very typical of Stephen Graham Jones. If someone has struggled with his style in the past, I don't think this is the book that will change it—especially the bulk of the narrative consisting of journal entries from the early 1900s. There's a lot of Native American terms used here, often without much explanation—I'm still not sure which animals are referred to in some cases, with the likes of real-bears, dirty-faces, and sticky-mouth referred to often. As always for me, though, I fell into the rhythm of the writing quickly and adored his more conversational, tale-around-the-campfire style. It worked well in I Was A Teenage Slasher, and it works just as well in the journal format here.

Slow-burn literary horror, crescendoing to set pieces of exquisite brutality and violence, framed within a story of family discovery—The Buffalo Hunter Hunter is an equal parts challenging, disturbing, and powerfully satisfying journey. His third novel to be released within a 12-month period, it's easy to make a case for Jones as the best modern horror author.

Thankyou to NetGalley and Titan Books for the opportunity to read this e-ARC.

This is my first time reading a Stephen Graham Jones’ books, and I will be back to read more. The cultural aspect of this book, and Good Stab’s connection to his people and environment mixed with the element of horror was unlike anything I had read before.

I personally think I will revisit this title in the future with the audio version, as I think I would enjoy the story more if I felt like Good Stab was telling me the story the way he is tells Arthur Beaucarne.

My only critique of this book was that it was at times a bit slow and/or a bit too long.

Steeped in history and true horror, Stephen Graham Jones' The Buffalo Hunter Hunter is a stunning reinvention of vampire lore that will transport you to the early 1900's American West. The epistolary format, reminiscent of Dracula, pulls readers into a chilling fragmented narrative that unfolds like a long buried secret finally coming to light.

Jones' character work is top tier. Pastor Arthur Beaucarne and Good Stab are vividly drawn, their perspectives rich with sorrow, faith and fury. Jones explores questions of identity and heritage alongside revenge and guilt in the face of the justification of atrocities. The horror hits hard - both the blood soaked violence and the quieter more insidious emotional wounds. Jones doesn't just write monsters - he writes haunted complicated people who will leave you questioning who the real monster is.

This is a slow burn novel where the mystery unfolds gradually, rewarding patient readers with layered revelations. At times the pacing lingers longer than necessary, stretching the suspense past the point of the reveal and yet the characters and their stories remain gripping. The modern day bookends of the novel don't resonate as powerfully as the historical core and I personally found the name 'Etsy' somewhat distracting.

But none of that dulls the impact. The Buffalo Hunter Hunter is an unforgettable, meticulously crafted work of horror. Thought provoking, terrifying, and impossible to shake, Jones proves why he's one of the genre's greats with a must read for lovers of historical horror and vampire lore alike.

After loving "I was a teenage slasher," I was excited to read another book by Stephen Graham Jones. Sadly, this one just wasn't for me.

It was difficult to read and just went on and on. I wasn't enjoying it, but I pushed on anyway in the hopes it would get better.

I didn't know who was who and, in the end, didn't care.

Thank you NetGalley and Titan Books for the eARC!

"You put your reminders of pain on the wall and pray to them. We still hurt, so we don't need that reminder."

Where do I even begin with how incredible this book was? It's everything I love in a horror novel - suspenseful, jarring, exciting, and like all good horror books, able to make you realize that the real monsters are not as fictional as we may want to believe. Aside from the vampire aspect, I sometimes forgot this was supposed to be a horror novel - the realities of what the Indigenous people of North America experienced when they were colonized are far more horrible than anything found in fiction. The Marias Massacre is just one very real event amongst many of its kind where grievous violence was allowed to happen to Indigenous people.

The take on vampires in the West was so refreshing and so interesting. I loved the author's note at the end where he says that vampire stories are intrinsically time-traveling stories - and this is true to this novel, where we see this Pikuni man turned into a vampire and having to survive this new immortal reality alone while the rest of his people shun him and the world goes on without him.

The characters in this book were great because nobody was really "good", but that's really not the point or realistic at all. I found I really didn't wish to be rooting for one character or another (okay, except for the cats), instead just thoroughly enjoying watching how the events of the story affected and changed them. And as far as main characters go, Good Stab is a damn memorable one.

A slow burn horror that turns tropes on their heads. Extremely well researched and informative historical worldbuilding that invited the reader into the world without feeling preachy or educational. The epistolary element was a great touch, especially with the vampire element, echoing Bram Stokers Dracula in the best way.

"What I am is the Indian who can't die. I am the worst dream America ever had."
I consider it one of the great blessings of my life that every 6 months I get to read a new Stephen Graham Jones book and it's the best thing I'll read for the next 6 months.