The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones – A Book Review

After spending some time with slashers over the last few years, Stephen Graham Jones is back with his new book, The Buffalo Hunter Hunter.  A vampire novel told through the journals belonging to a Lutheran priest and transcribed interviews with a Native American vampire bent on revenge in 1912, the book’s four hundred forty-eight pages see Stephen Graham Jones masterfully juggling three narratives in what is another amazing read in his ever-growing bibliography.

Etsy Beaucarne is an academic trying to secure a college job when her great-great-grandfather’s (Arthur) journal is found during a building demolition.  Etsy is tasked with interpreting it. The journal details two storylines. The first, “The Absolution of Three Persons,” concerns Arthur’s growing uncertainty about a mysterious Native American who has suddenly begun appearing at his church.

The second, “The Nachzehrer’s Dark Gospel,” details Arthur’s interviews with the Native American, whom we learn is named Good Stab. Arthur senses something is wrong with Good Stab, who confesses to a sickness and a desire to confess his sins; Arthur feels compelled to listen.

Check out another book review from Forrest: How to Become The Dark Lord And Die Trying.

I always appreciate the experimentation Stephen Graham Jones does with prose, whether it is the three perspectives shown presented in The Buffalo Hunter Hunter or the framing of My Heart Is a Chainsaw with Jade Daniel’s essays deconstructing the slasher genre. It’s a different way to present an unreliable narrator, and it always pays off well.

Good Stab’s vampiric origin is interesting. Jones doesn’t really subvert the tropes, but repurposes them. He is clearly taking inspiration from Bram Stoker’s epistolary novel, but also from Anne Rice’s Interview with a Vampire. He plays with the lore a bit, but that’s okay. There are times where Good Stab is going over injuries and pointing them out, which is the opposite of “show, don’t tell,” but it’s still effective on the page.

I feel like there are some residual feelings from Jones’s previous book, I Was a Teenage Slasher.  Good Stab, like that book’s protagonist, Tolly Driver, has urges that neither can control. The only difference is Tolly fights these urges and Good Stab eventually embraces them. You can’t fault an author for not being able to get some aspect of his previous novels out of his system, especially if he spent five years on it.

Overall Grade: 8/10

Buffalo Hunter Hunter is another fantastic tale from one of the horror genre’s best writers. Stephen Graham Jones has a better handle on it than most classic authors of the genre and knows how to use all its parts effectively. I’ve read a handful of his books, and this is probably my favorite so far. If you like his writing or need a new take on vampire lore pick up this book without haste.

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