The Book Review Podcast: Book Club – Let's Talk About ‘The Buffalo Hunter Hunter’

Host: MJ Franklin, with panelists Gilbert Cruz & Joumana Khatib
Original Air Date: October 31, 2025
Main Theme: A deep-dive book club discussion of Stephen Graham Jones’s genre-bending horror novel "The Buffalo Hunter Hunter"—exploring its plot, horror tropes, historical resonance, and the meaning behind its blood-soaked pages.

Episode Overview

This special Book Club episode dives into The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones—a horror novel selected for October’s club to celebrate the Halloween season. Host MJ Franklin is joined by editor Gilbert Cruz and writer Joumana Khatib for a passionate, multi-layered conversation. The first half of the episode unpacks the novel in rich, spoiler-free detail, focusing on its innovative take on vampires, historical trauma, and metaphoric complexity. The second half dives into major twists and the controversial animal transformations in the novel’s climax, followed by community reactions and recommended next reads.

Book Setup & Non-Spoiler Discussion

Setting the Stage

• Plot Overview (03:08)
  • Joumana introduces the story:
    • Etsy Bokarn, a modern academic seeking tenure, discovers her ancestor's 1912 journal.
    • The ancestor, Arthur Bokarn, is a Lutheran pastor in Montana facing grisly murders and a new, mysterious parishioner—Good Stab, an Indigenous vampire.
    • The narrative unfolds in nested layers: Etsy reading Arthur’s journal, which records Good Stab’s confessions—his origins, the trauma of being turned into a vampire during a violent clash involving the figure King Catman.

Panelist Reactions & Key Themes

• Horror & Historical Layers (05:55)

  • Gilbert:

    • Finds the novel “extremely satisfying,” even for a seasoned vampire fan.
    • Appreciates the historical twist: “Jones makes the vampire a metaphor for the avenging Angel...how it would have been great as white people were taking over this land...if there was something that indigenous people could have done to fight back.” (07:20)

  • Joumana:

    • Not typically a horror reader; expected to be overwhelmed by the gore but found the alienation of Good Stab “unbearable” and more affecting than violence:

      “He talks about the profound alienation from his tribe, from his family...I was like, oh my God, I don’t know if I can keep reading this. This is so heartbreaking.” (08:21)

• Innovations in Vampire Lore (10:02)

  • Jones plays with classic vampire tropes, introducing new rules:

    • Vampires are allergic to tobacco smoke.
    • They “are what they eat”—feeding on different prey literally changes their bodies (white-tailed spots, skin color, etc).
    • If Good Stab feeds on white settlers, he physically and spiritually shifts toward whiteness, deepening his alienation.

  • Gilbert:

    • Praises the “ingenious” moral dilemmas and metaphorical richness tied to hunger, transformation, and assimilation.

• Literary & Cinematic Imagery (14:01)

  • Panelists highlight powerful, memorable scenes—like Good Stab standing in a bull's insides by the fire—calling the violence and visuals “Tarantino-esque,” and loaded with both narrative horror and historical pain.

• Environmental & Historical Resonance (16:40–17:57)

  • The novel's horror is also ecological—vividly depicting the slaughter of buffalo alongside the genocide of Indigenous people.
  • Joumana notes how the landscape knowledge and spiritual connection of Good Stab complicate his monstrousness—"what really makes somebody monstrous" becomes an unsettled question.

Notable Quotes

• On Vampire as Metaphor:

  “Stephen Graham Jones makes the vampire a metaphor for the avenging Angel—the way that he wishes native people in the history of America could have fought back.”
  —Gilbert Cruz (07:20)

• On Alienation:

  “He doesn't know how to relate to his land anymore. He’s losing his sense of identity. And that I found excruciating.”
  —Joumana Khatib (08:34)

• On Sensory Impact:

  “This book was a feast for the senses, and I mean that in the creepiest way possible.”
  —Gillian from Colorado (reader comment, read aloud by MJ Franklin) (18:21)

Community Feedback

(18:21–20:35)

• Positive: Readers praise the originality, violence, setting, and the way vampire lore is adapted.
• Critical: Some complain the violence is too graphic. Gilbert pushes back: “If you’re going to read a horror novel, you should expect that there will be some level of violence... That was absolutely a plus for me.” (19:53–20:26)

[Spoilers Begin | 22:57]

Spoiler-Filled Discussion: Endings, Twists, and Controversies

The Wild Climax

• Return of Catman & Animal Transformations:

  • Catman, presumed dead, returns for revenge, manipulating Good Stab’s tribe against him.
  • Good Stab ultimately turns Catman into a fish (feeding him only fish, which vampires find repulsive), then banishes him in a frozen lake.
  • Arthur Bokarn is discovered to not only be alive but has—through vampire magic—been transformed into a seven-foot-long, chain-smoking prairie dog.
  • Etsy, armed with ancestral knowledge, dispatches “Prairie Dog Granddaddy” by force-feeding him cigarettes in the backseat of her car.

• Panelist Reactions (27:01–28:40)

  • Joumana: Enthusiastic about absurdity:

    “I think this is the best way to take the wind out of somebody's sails—make them the most pitiful, comedic, absurd... Like a plot point from [David Lynch’s] Twin Peaks.”

  • Gilbert: Ambivalent but ultimately satisfied:

    “I was a bit thrown when Prairie Dog Granddaddy came into the picture... but it felt of a piece with the rest of the book in some way.”

  • MJ:
    • Found the animal transformations clever but anticlimactic:

    “Scene after scene of justice and retribution...and then there’s something that felt so deflated...they live out the rest of their days as an animal.”

The Nested Narrative Structure

(32:01–34:10)

• Framing Device and Confessional Layers:
  • Discussion about the necessity and effectiveness of the journal-within-a-journal structure.
  • Joumana: Sees the oral tradition and epistolary lineage (a la Dracula) as fitting:

    “It also lets Good Stab tell a story in a real oral tradition...the nesting didn’t bother me at all.”

  • MJ: Appreciates the theme of “remembering” and the unreliable narrator:

    “It felt connected to the plea of the book...which is Remember.”

Other Critical Insights

• Arthur’s Guilt and Gluttony:
  • The character’s overconsumption parallels his complicity in colonial violence—a metaphor for “consumption without consequence.” (37:18)
• Complexity and Convolution:
  • All agree that the book’s plot is at times difficult to follow, but agree the effort is worthwhile.

More Memorable Moments & Quotes

• On Violence as Literary Tool:

  “There’s a moment late in the book when Good Stab essentially traps Bokarn in the church. And Bokarn finds he is surrounded by dead people from the town, as well as a bunch of dead dogs in the pews. That was just sick and very memorable.”
  —Gilbert Cruz (40:05)

• On Legacy and Remembrance:

  “What use, me preserving them in the privacy of this log? I know, but neither can I just let them drift past, not without attempting to stab the nib of a pen down through them... Had no one written the Gospels down, what would the world have lost then? So I dutifully record this, the Gospel of Good Stab, in his own words.”
  —Arthur Bokarn (quoted by MJ) (34:10)

Book Recommendations

(41:26–45:44)

If you liked The Buffalo Hunter Hunter...

• Joumana:

  • Pushing the Bear by Diane Glancy – Historical novel about the Cherokee during the Trail of Tears.
  • Beloved by Toni Morrison – A literary ghost story confronting American history.

• Gilbert:

  • Lone Women by Victor LaValle – Montana horror novel with a female protagonist; similar mix of supernatural and history.

• MJ:

  • The Reformatory by Tananarive Due – Horror meets Black American historical trauma.
  • Dracula by Bram Stoker – The foundational vampire novel; inspiration for Jones.

Closing Reflections

• The panel agrees that Jones’s novel is ambitious, traumatic, inventive, and memorable—a horror novel that is as much about America’s past as its monsters.
• The theme of “you are what you eat” resonates across plot, metaphor, and moral dilemma.
• The animal transformations spark debate—are they clever commentary or a letdown?
• The nested narrative structure, metaphorical violence, and burden of memory are central to the novel’s ambition.

Next Month’s Book Club

November Book Club Pick: "Hamnet" by Maggie O’Farrell
(Dovetails with new movie adaptation and NYT Best Book status)

For rich discussion and diverse views on horror, historical memory, and Narrative innovation, this book club episode is a must-listen for readers and fans of literary horror alike.

Quick Reference: Major Timestamps

• Book Setup & Non-Spoilers: 03:08–21:13
• Reader Comments/Community Feedback: 18:21–20:35
• Spoiler Discussion Starts: 22:57
• Climax & Final Twist Discussion: 25:18–32:01
• Framing Device & Narrative Structure: 32:01–34:10
• Book Recommendations: 41:26–45:44
• Announcement of Next Book: 46:31

Notable Quote:

“History is the true horror show.”
—Gilbert Cruz (43:07)

End of comprehensive episode summary.