- Genre: Horror, Historical Fiction
- Published by: Saga Press
- Publish date: Mar 18, 2025
- Number of pages: 448 pages
- Author’s website: https://www.demontheory.net/
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A chilling historical horror novel set in the American west in 1912 following a Lutheran priest who transcribes the life of a vampire who haunts the fields of the Blackfeet reservation looking for justice.
A diary, written in 1912 by a Lutheran pastor is discovered within a wall. What it unveils is a slow massacre, a chain of events that go back to 217 Blackfeet dead in the snow. Told in transcribed interviews by a Blackfeet named Good Stab, who shares the narrative of his peculiar life over a series of confessional visits. This is an American Indian revenge story written by one of the new masters of horror, Stephen Graham Jones.
Rating: 5/5
One of my most anticipated reads of 2025 did not disappoint!
Similar to most books by Stephan Graham Jones this is a slow burn. It wasn’t until I was about 25% in that I was hooked. The main reason it personally took me a while to get into was because of the language– the majority of the book uses the language of the early 20th century and the main character Good Stab’s use of Pikuni dialect and phrases. One of my favorite things about SGJ is he makes reading engaging, you have to use context clues to figure out what is being talked about. For example, napikwan are white people, black robes are clergymen, and then all the animals and other aspects of nature have their own descriptor.
This is a vampire revenge story told predominately from the diary entries of a pastor named Arthur as he documents the confessions of Good Stab, a vampire whose features are altered by the animal or human he consumes. These journals are then read during the 2010s by Arthur’s great-great-granddaughter. What unfolds is a devastating story of a vampire honoring the Blackfeet who were murdered during the Marias Massacre and witnessing the history that sought to erase them.
Horror fans, in particular fans of body horror and gore, will eat this up (pun intended). The imagery is spine-tingling and the way revenge is served is deliciously satisfying, leading to this being one of the most unique vampire stories I have ever read. This one gave me chills and I can’t recommend it enough!
Have you read this book? What are your thoughts? I’d love to know!
I received an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this book from Netgalley. Thank you to @netgalley @simonandschuster @sagapressbooks for the e-ARC! Thank you to libro.fm and Simon & Schuster Audio for the ALC! This has not impacted my rating and this review is voluntary.
Musings by Michelle 