Review: The Buffalo Hunter Hunter

5 stars. I'm a big fan of SGJ, but The Buffalo Hunter Hunter is truly on another level. Perhaps the bloodiest book I've ever read, this story takes on vampire lore from a brutal angle. It's not the flowiest read - the prose is intentionally and beautifully antiquated - but needing to slow down and focus on the historical language actually lent itself to some startling moments. In other words, I was concentrating so hard I got jump-scared a few times. 

Let's back up. Written in epistolary format (my favorite), this story also takes on a Russian Nesting Doll structure. In 2012, Etsy Beucarne begins transcribing the journal of her extra great grandfather, Arthur, who, in 1812, writes down the chronicle of a Native American named Good Stab, as told to him over the course of several Sundays while the town around them is plagued by mysterious and violent murders. And that's it - that's where I'll end with the specific details. I would emphasize that this is a deeply American horror story, weaving tragedies gigantic and small into a dark and devastating tapestry. You've been warned.

I suppose I could include a few things that didn't fully resonate with me: the ending, which was super imaginative and unpredictable, but not necessarily what I was hoping for. Etsy, as well - this is a very male book in general, which is kind of understandable but also I sort of... missed female energy, and the female energy that did make it in was honestly just annoying. I've heard that the audiobook version of this is incredible, though, and that Etsy's narrator does an impressive job. So take that for what you will.

I do think that this book is, or will become, foundational historical horror. There's a lot to be said about the horror lens and the way we experience, process, or learn through the act of consuming something scary. I personally - a White female of privilege who received an imperfect but multifaceted education around Native American history - learned a lot. And I have a lot more to learn. As a horror fan, I really enjoyed the creative twists and turns and yes, the buckets and buckets of blood. But the way Jones tackles colonialism, capitalism, cultural memory, fractured identity,  generational trauma... that shit is truly heartbreaking.

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads