“A chilling historical horror set in the American west in 1912 following a Lutheran priest who transcribes the life of a vampire who haunts the fields of the Blackfeet reservation looking for justice. Perfect for fans of Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V. E. Schwab and Interview With The Vampire by Anne Rice.

Etsy Beaucarne is an academic, who needs to get published. So when a journal, written in 1912 by a Arthur Beaucarne, a Lutheran pastor and her grandfather, is discovered within a wall during renovations, she sees her chance. She can uncover the lost secrets of her family, and get tenure.

As she researches, she comes to learn of her grandfather, and a Blackfeet called Good Stab, who came to Arthur to share the story of his extraordinary life. She discovers the journals detail a slow massacre, a chain of events charting the history of Montana state as it formed. A cycle of violence that leads all the way back to 217 Blackfeet murdered in the snow.

A blood-soaked and unflinching saga of the violence of colonial America, a revenge story like no other, and the chilling reinvention of vampire lore from the master of horror.”

Hello and welcome to damppebbles. Today I am delighted to share my review of The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones. The Buffalo Hunter Hunter was published by Titan Books on 29th April 2025 and is available in hardcover, audio and digital formats with the paperback to follow. I chose to read a free eARC of The Buffalo Hunter Hunter but that has in no way influenced my review.

Oh my gosh, where to begin with this book?! Stephen Graham Jones is one of my favourite horror writers, his books have a tendency to completely floor me. One of my favourite books of last year was I Was a Teenage Slasher. It SHOULD have been on my top ten(ish) books of the year but due to a technical glitch (that technical glitch being me!) it was missed off. It will, however, be featuring on this year’s list. Question is, will there be TWO SGJ novels on that list? Of course there will be, this is SGJ we’re talking about! Now, I know it’s not fair, but there are certain expectations I have when starting a SGJ novel. The Buffalo Hunter Hunter (what a title!) was as dark, as devastating and as horrifying, perhaps more so on that last point, as I have come to expect from this author.

So, back to my original question. Where do I begin? Etsy Beaucarne is an academic at the University of Wyoming. She needs to publish something extraordinary to get tenure, otherwise she is out on her ear. That’s when a journal is discovered hidden inside a wall. The journal belonged to Etsy’s great, great, great grandfather, Arthur Beaucarne, who was a Lutheran pastor in Montana in 1912. Could this be Etsy’s key to tenure? The journal details meetings between Beaucarne and a Blackfeet, Good Stab. Good Stab’s tales are astounding and Arthur’s own struggles to believe his visitor are documented in the fragile pages. But Good Stab has a confession to make and he won’t stop visiting Arthur until his story is told…

First and foremost, I have never read anything like this before. The Buffalo Hunter Hunter is horrifying, eye-opening and completely unflinching. It marches right up to your face, stands nose to nose, and stares you the f**k down. It made me feel deeply uncomfortable, and rightly bloody so! The destruction of a nation, a group of indigenous people destroyed just because the white man thinks he knows better (he really, really doesn’t). Devastating, hard-hitting and powerful. The most confidently told, yet disturbing storytelling from a master of the genre.

SGJ has taken your common-or-garden vampire and filled his veins with fresh, new blood. Which, as a historical horror novel, is quite a feat! Good Stab has a story to tell, a confession to make, and his chosen recipient is Arthur Beaucarne. As Good Stab’s confession plays out, the horror, the brutality and the violence all grow. It’s inescapable, it’s unrelenting and it’s impossible to look away from.

Would I recommend this book? I would, yes. The Buffalo Hunter Hunter tears the reader in half. You’ll be bewitched by the beautiful storytelling but appalled by what you’re reading. The truth of it. You’ll want to devour the story in one sitting, but you’ll also want to look away, take a breather. It’s gorgeous but grotesque. There is nothing else quite like this book out there. I was completely hypnotised by the storytelling, reading this 448 page saga in two sittings. Most books take me a good week to read! All in all, The Buffalo Hunter Hunter is an epic novel in both scope and delivery. Absolutely fascinating characters who felt wholly believable. A creeping, unsettling tale that will leave its mark on its readers, for sure! Highly recommended.

I chose to read and review a free eARC of The Buffalo Hunter Hunter. The above review is my own unbiased opinion.

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones was published in the UK by Titan Books on 29th April 2025 and is available in hardcover, audio and digital formats with the paperback to follow (please note, the following links are affiliate links which means I receive a small percentage of the purchase price at no extra cost to you): | amazon.co.uk | Waterstones | bookshop.org | Goodreads | damppebbles bookshop.org shop | damppebbles amazon.co.uk shop | damppebbles amazon.com shop |

Stephen Graham Jones is the NYT bestselling author thirty-five or so books. He really likes werewolves and slashers. Favourite novels change daily, but Valis and Love Medicine and Lonesome Dove and It and The Things They Carried are all usually up there somewhere. Stephen lives in Boulder, Colorado. It’s a big change from the West Texas he grew up in.