Book Review – The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones

In 2012 Etsy Beaucarne is told of the discovery of her great, great, great grandfather Arthurs 1912 journal pulled from a wall of a parsonage. Etsy is determined to use the journal in some way to earn tenure at her job with the university. Arthur is a Lutheran priest and the journal itself details two storyline’s “The Absolution of Three Persons” detailing his growing uncertainty about the mysterious Native American man who has suddenly begun appearing at his church sitting in the back of his services and the second “The Nachzehrer’s Dark Gospel” in which we learn the story of the Blackfeet man Good Stab who is compelled to confesses his story to Arthur. His youth as Weasel Plume, his life as Good Stab his encounter with the strange creature he named ‘Cat Man’ who infected him and changed him into what he is now.

A Historical Vampire story within a story told in epistolary format by the master himself OMG yes please, sign me up, was I excited to read this? Yes! Stephen Graham Jones is one of the best modern horror writers, and this book is potentially the best example of that (but who knows what’s coming next). It is a stunning reinvention of the vampire story and poignant expośe of colonialism in the American West. At the same time, it not only rips your heart out in the horror stakes, it all packs all the punches with an incredible epic scope and emotional resonance, all so beautifully wrought together, it will also basically kill you. This is not just a vampire novel its also a amazing work of historical fiction.

For me this is the vampire novel that will eventually be help up against other classics as genre defining it is a work of art, I absolutely loved it, it is something I will read again and again for years to come and recommend to everyone I possibly can, if you haven’t read this masterpiece do yourself a favour and pick up a copy today.