Book Review: Buffalo Hunter Hunter

Clue's face says it all, this book will terrify and delight! Photo by Kate Ota 2025

Since I met author Stephen Graham Jones recently, I figured i should review one of his latest works, Buffalo Hunter Hunter, a vampire horror novel. Since I did the intro to this author in my last post, I'll get straight to the book. 

Buffalo Hunter Hunter has a couple structures going on: a frame story about a modern college professor who receives her ancestor's diary from 1912, the contents of that diary, and the story within that diary of a Blackfeet man named Good Stab, which took place 1870-1912. If you're a writer, this book is a great study in nested structures. The heart of the tale is Good Stab's experience becoming a vampire and navigating the need to feed, the power that comes with his new state of being, and the consequences of his choices.

This book was a really unique take on vampirism that I've never seen before. The downsides of being a vampire are magnified by the place, time, and Good Stab himself. If you're familiar with American history, especially the horrors of the expansion into the West in the mid-1800s, the story becomes all the richer. The resolution was also unique and though unexpected also felt almost inevitable.

For me the main downside was it started slow and took a while to build. It paid off over time, but I needed the pace to be a smidge faster. There were also very few women, despite the larger frame story featuring a woman's POV. I don't think this book passed the Bechdel test.

This book is for you if you love vampires, horror, or are craving a tale of revenge. This book is not for you if you have a low gore tolerance, dislike vampires, or are looking for feminist horror. This is a great study for writers in unique structure, differentiating POVs, and writing historical perspectives that stay true to the characters (the white guy is openly racist in 1912, what a shock) without using the language in a way that makes modern readers wonder if the author agrees.


Have you read Buffalo Hunter Hunter? What about Jones's other work? Let's discuss in the comments!