Otherland Book Recommendations August 2025: Horror

Stephen Graham Jones | Buffalo Hunter Hunter

Titan Books: €28

In the age of never-ending reinvention of the vampire trope (and frankly, of every other trope too), it is pretty damn hard to create something original, and more importantly, something meaningful out of this rusted, crusted, dusted motif.

One way of achieving such originality is by putting the vampire in all sorts of unconventional, unexpected, surprising, sometimes even silly or compromising situations, which, if we're being honest, isn't all that original anymore.

Another way is to dive into the heart of what vampires are about, and use or maybe modify that foundation in order to suit your story and to make your point. Horror author Stephen Graham Jones makes exactly that in his latest novel, The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, and to make a meaningful point, as is well known, is his strong suit.

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter is the nested narrative of present-day academic Etsy Beaucarne who wants to write a book about the 1912 diary of her great-great-great-grandfather Arthur after it was recovered from the remains of a wall during some renovations. In his journal, the Lutheran priest tells the story of an indigenous man turned vampire looking for justice for a massacre committed against his community, in which 217 Blackfeet died. So, the story works on three levels which throughout the course of the book gradually find to each other, and blends the historical into the horror, while the line between these two remains blurred, as it is usually the case when Jones writes about Blackfoot people, now or in the past.

“This, I believe, is the story of America, told in a forgotten church, in the hinterlands, with a choir of the dead mutely listening.”

The Blackfoot named Good Stab first shows up to pastor Arthur Beaucarne's Sunday speeches, and in time he makes it clear that it's actually a confessional that he wants. The pastor accepts, and that is the point where the real story, and the fun begins. This peculiar Indian who wears darkened spectacles in church has had a close encounter with what he calls "Cat Man" and it transformed his life in ways he never would have thought. Being an immortal, rather beastly, wild kind of vampire, and needing to drink blood to survive, he shifts his shape according to the being whose blood he drinks. Thus, he is in a constant state of dilemma of wanting to still belong to his community, but needing to consume them in order to stay one of them - and that's only one of his struggles.

As in each and every one of Jones' novels, the climax in The Buffalo Hunter Hunter too is a breathtaking one: there is a reason why Good Stab chose to confess to Beaucarne and the showdown is crushing. The path leading there meanders through constant clashes, debates, and conversations of two characters who couldn't be any more different, but still pull this confession through. What they have in common is that they are both unique characters and have a sense of humour. That humour keeps on resurfacing throughout the whole book, and even briefly takes grotesque dimensions when we move forward in time, from the 1910's to 2012, when we find out what genius strike Good Stab plays on Beaucarne.

Which brings me, again, to the interesting division of the story, something SGJ does a lot - the number three, the trinity seems to play an interesting role here. Both Good Stab's and Beaucarne's lives can be seen in three stages, their lives before the massacre, the massacre which transforms both their lives and the aftermath. While Beaucarne ends a man of faith, Good Stab is taken by dark forces, placing them on opposite sides of one scale. And yet, nothing is as it seems. While, from the very beginning of the book, Beaucarne shows a distinct weakness for worldly pleasures, is a glutton, and that gluttony is an attribute which can easily be extended to his "tribe", colonialists, Good Stab, in his heart, does the right thing, since revenge is arguably the noblest of causes. His story is one of pain, he is haunted, he is the Byronic, tormented main character we've been waiting for (and he wore sunglasses back in 1912!).

Well, what else can I say? A bona fide fan of SGJ now and always, even I am surprised how each new book he writes is better than his last one, and this one indeed one ups all that came before. If you see cover blurbs saying this is his masterpiece, believe it. The Buffalo Hunter Hunter isn't only his best (I’m still leaving a tiny space there since I’m on the fence whether The Only Good Indian comes first or this) yet, I think it is also a good starting point if you don't know the author, but want to try reading him, as the historical aspects, the many massacres and the vampire story make for a speedy pace. And it’s a no-brainer if you already

know his work. As they say, if you're going to read only one horror book this year, make it this one.

[Inci]

Piper Hailey | The Worm and his Kings

Off Limits Press: €17.5

“This is a good place for people to disappear.”

New York. 1990. Falling off the ladder of societal safety has never been easier. For Monique and her girlfriend Donna, lost jobs lead to lost apartments and lost ways. Then Donna vanishes from the homeless community, and Monique finds herself without food or friends, scouring the city for her lover. She is not the only one. A pale reptilian fiend is stalking the backstreets. With sickle-clawed feet and a 10-foot build, “Grey Hill” has been snatching up homeless victims and dragging them down to the city’s underbelly. Down to... something. Down past the squatters and the subway tunnels, down through abandoned buildings and cracks in the sewage lines, a new society is gathering. Now Monique is certain that Donna was taken, not killed, and she is determined to bring her back. 

I’m still working my way through the suggestions from Sadie Hartmann’s 101 Horror Books to Read Before You’re Murdered, and I’m currently on the cosmic horror chapter. Other chapter entries include LaValle’s Ballad of Black Tom (insert love heart) and Langan’s Fisherman (insert fish), so it is a pretty classy selection to find yourself in. Hailey Piper’s 2020 novella is a good fit: a must for anyone keen on the alternative, indie publishing side of modern horror, and it has an emotional punch alongside the expected creepy cult vibes and the monster-of-the-week creature features. Much like in Black Tom, the traditional cosmic horror elements are repurposed for a new community here. As well as shining a light on the failures of America’s (absent) social protection system, Piper puts a LGBTQIA+ spin on the Other, and comes up with a refreshingly new take on self-love, damage and personal identity. And at 114 pages you could read this in a day, there and back on your U-Bahn commute. Just don’t fall through the gaps.

[Tom]