Throughout his stellar career as a horror writer who sets most of his stories in the world of Native American lore, Stephen Graham Jones has continued to take readers behind the curtain of what is a mostly foreign culture and show us its dark side. His latest release, THE BUFFALO HUNTER HUNTER, may very well be his masterpiece.

The book opens in July 2012 as we are introduced to the Beaucarne Manuscript. Arthur Beaucarne was a small-town Lutheran pastor whose diary from 1912 explores more than just church readings and the occasional confession. That year, Beaucarne made the acquaintance of a dark and mysterious Native American gentleman, a Blackfeet named Good Stab. What unfolds before our eyes is one of the most remarkable and chilling tales I have read in quite a while. It is made that much more bizarre because the world we are learning about is both foreign and scarily familiar to us.

"THE BUFFALO HUNTER HUNTER is not for the squeamish as Stephen Graham Jones has never been one to hold back on graphic storytelling. This book really rocked my world..."

Good Stab called Beaucarne Three-Persons, which is a reference to how the pastor represented the Holy Trinity on earth. Before their relationship is done, Three-Persons will find his belief system to be extremely challenged, if not totally shattered. The lengthy confession that is captured from Good Stab provides everything a reader would want out of gothic literary horror. Good Stab was originally a member of the Small Robe clan, which was part of the Amskapi Pikuni tribe.

There is one particular tale described by Good Stab that seems too good to be true. It is also a story that Beaucarne will be forced to believe and reckon with in more ways than one. Good Stab and his tribe came upon a strange sight while on a pack hunt: a man (or what appeared to be a man) trapped in a cage. He looked like nothing any of them had ever seen before, and they called him Cat Man. Although the name is never used in the novel, it becomes apparent that Cat Man was some sort of ancient vampire who quickly wiped out every member of Good Stab’s clan before biting him on the shoulder. Cat Man was then wiped out by the cannon fire from a US regiment, or so we think. But the damage was already done to Good Stab, who will now live the eternal life of those who walk the earth thirsting for blood to slake their urges.

THE BUFFALO HUNTER HUNTER rivals DRACULA for how it mines classic vampire lore and brings it to life before our eyes. The story of Good Stab during his new existence, set against the backdrop of 1912 and the American west, is mesmerizing. The diary that Beaucarne keeps of his discussions with Good Stab also reminded me of Anne Rice’s INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE, and I am sure that Jones drew upon that work, as well as Bram Stoker’s novel, to reimagine it through the eyes of a Native American warrior.

With his newfound abilities, Good Stab can now do things he never dreamed of, which includes killing those who are preying upon and poaching the animals of his land, especially the mighty buffalo. In 1912, people are seeking the villain who has slaughtered a handful of men visiting from California, more specifically an inspector from Pinkerton. Like the Cat Man who made him, no one is a match for Good Stab, and soon Beaucarne will learn exactly what he has in store for him.

When Good Stab declares that it is now time for Beaucarne to give him his own confession, things get really interesting, and the end result is quite unexpected.

THE BUFFALO HUNTER HUNTER is not for the squeamish as Stephen Graham Jones has never been one to hold back on graphic storytelling. This book really rocked my world, and I am confident that one day it will be remembered with the classic horror novels that I mentioned above.