LITTLE BIG MAN BY WAY OF CTHULHU: STEPHEN GRAHAM JONE'S THE BUFFALO HUNTER HUNTER

Stephen Graham Jones' The Buffalo Hunter Hunter created huge buzz even before it arrived. One of the most lauded horror writers with a historical take on the gnre, exploring the clash of American culture with that of its indigenous. As someone who always meant to read the author, but never did, I found this introduction to him daunting, intricate, and providing a curiosity to read more of him.

The novel uses a nesting story story structure to deliver a centuries spanning tale from different points of view. The diary of Arthur Beaucarne, a Lutheran pastor in 1912 Montana, is discovered in a wall a century later. It reaches the hands of his granddaughter, Etsy, an flailing academic who sees this as her opportunity. As she reads the diary, another life story is embedded in her ancestor's, that of Three Persons , a Blackfoot seeking absolution. He tells of his life when he earned the name of Good Stab, that starts out history, moves into legend, then dark myth with a creature known at The Cat Man Man and a Blackfoot version of vampirism. However, both Beacarnes learn how true the mythical is as it becomes linked to an atrocity and Etsy may have opened up something for the killing to come into her time.

Jones takes his knowledge of horror and combines it with some of the darkest parts of America's past. He uses Lovecraft's ideas of the knowledge of ancient ancient evils and marries it with the country's mistreatment of of the Indian He uses a deliberate pace as the horror seeps into the historical which proves to be the more horrifying. The threat builds as the pastor and granddaughter discover an evil they can't run, hide, or fight. The only chance of hope comes from an understanding that leads to the final paragraph that is both chilling and poignant.

The book is not always an easy read, nor is it intended to be. It demands your full attention. The voice of Three Persons/Good Stab is acracharistic and it takes some pages to get into his rhythm. The story is thematically complex with layers within layers, dealing with history, genocide, white guilt, and other ideas. I even sensed satire.

Those willing to fully engage with The Buffalo Hunter Hunter will be rewarded, It is rich in in thought with a voice you can not shake. I believe it to be a book written to be reread with discovers for each dive. I'm already looking forward to doing it.