Title: Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones
Book Beginnings quote:
Friday56 quote, from page 36:
Summary:
"In this story-within-story-within-story structure, Buffalo Hunter Hunter opens with a discovery — in 2012, a book hidden in the wall of an old parsonage is found by an unnamed construction worker. It turns out to be a journal, written in 1912 and belonging to Arthur Beaucarne, the pastor of the local Lutheran congregation. Inside it contains the story of his strange encounters with Good Stab, who, after years of carnage, has seemingly come to him to confess. Good Stab is an Indigenous man from the Blackfeet tribe living in Montana around the time of the 1870 Marias Massacre, when U.S. Army troops killed nearly 200 unarmed women, children and elderly members of the Blackfeet Nation, a tragedy that figures in a multitude of ways throughout this gruesome joyride of a novel" (NYT).
Review: Randy Boyagoda, in his review for the New York Times, wrote the best, most appropriate title I've ever seen --
"He's Undead, He's Indigenous, and He Wants Revenge on America: In the Buffalo Hunter Hunter a Blackfeet man becomes a vampire and seeks vengeance for the country's sins."
One doesn't have to read the whole summary to figure out this is a vampire story with a huge twist. No usual vampire fare in this story -- no foreboding castles, caskets, or bats, and the setting is not Eastern Europe. Instead, the beautiful setting is Montana near the spine of the continent in the area we now call Glacier National Park, where the Blackfeet (Piikani in their own tongue) have lived and thrived for millenia. Enter the white men, including the buffalo hunters who kill off whole herds of the beasts for only the hides or just for sport leaving the meat to rot. The Blackfeet people can no longer sustain themselves and thousands starved to death even before the 1870 Marian Massacre where the cavalry slaughtered hundreds, many of them women and children. When Good Stab gets turned into a vampire, he begins hunting those buffalo hunters, those men who started the whole chain of catastrophes for his people.
Typically I don't read horror novels and neither does Don. But when I offered this audiobook as an option to listen to together, Don chose Buffalo Hunter Hunter over the others. We got about 30 minutes in when it suddenly dawned on him it was a vampire story. I guess his brain skipped over that detail when I read the summary. By then we were both into the story and forged ahead. We just visited Glacier National Park this past summer so we could clearly picture the setting. The writing was spectacular and we were both interested in learning more about this shameful chapter of American history. Historical horror can be a good subgenre if done right and this book was done right! In fact, I think this is my favorite horror novel of those I've read. Gabino Iglesias, writing for NPR, has read all of Stephen Graham Jones' books, and says Buffalo Hunter Hunter is his masterpiece because "the prose is gorgeous, the plot is complex, engaging, and multilayered" (NPR). I agree. Don't be put off by this book because it's a vampire story, read it because this is an important historical tale, worth your time and attention.
General Sheridan is credited with saying, "The only good Indian is a dead Indian." Now there is Good Stab who quips right back, “What I am is the Indian who can’t die. I’m the worst dream America ever had.” Ha, how do you like that, General?
The audiobook is expertly narrated by three voice actors: Owen Teale, Shane Ghostkeeper, and Marin Ireland. All three did a masterful job at bringing the story forward with their voices and intonation. I highly recommend this format.
Both Don and I rated Buffalo Hunter Hunter with 5 stars.
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