Thank you to Saga Press for providing this ARC for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own. 

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones is a horror story framed in a work of historical fiction. Inspired by the very true (and truly horrific) events of a massacre of 217 people and the over hunting of bison in the American west, the story is a a nesting doll of three narrators in three different times. Etsy, in present day, is a communications PHD researching a recently unearthed journal of a Lutheran preacher. Arthur, the aging and gluttonous minister is outrunning his own past as he takes confession from Good Stab, a seemingly supernatural being confessing his story of violence. 

The first thing that struck me about this novel that really made it stand out to me was the establishment of vampirism and vampire horror that was distant from the Western literary cannon. Although the word vampire is never said in the text in English, it is clear that is what plagues the characters. While there are elements that are familiar; blood drinking, aversion to the sun, the story and understanding of the condition is interpreted through a native lens. This is a perspective that is so unique and interesting. The vampire of The Buffalo Hunter Hunter is not a sexual icon, nor a gothic predator. Honor, revenge, and bloodshed are the core motivations here. 

The next thing that Graham Jones really excels at in this story is the distinctiveness of the narrators. There is never confusion as the chapters shift; from the sentence structure and tone alone the reader can guess who is narrating, regardless of want they’re doing. I thought the way Arthur is written is particularly masterful; at first he seems doddering, benign, while still paternalistic and prejudiced. His true character is unfurled in his journal entries as he attempts to justify himself and his actions, showing that his surface appearance masks a much darker and murkier truth. 

Where this book is a little uneven is in the pacing. The first 80% proceeds in traditional horror novel fashion but seems to grind to something much slower for the last 20%. It feels as if the rising tension takes a large step back, and simply doesn’t have the same impending uncertainty and rising fear as the earlier portions. 

I really enjoyed this book and think that the historical setting made for a very compelling and unique takes on the vampire novel. It is horrifying and devastating in equal manner. 

4.5/5 stars, rounded up to 5 stars for review purposes.