Two characters will be conversing and one of them will notice a sudden movement in the distance before Jones quickly jumps to the elk-spirit’s demented thoughts – indeed, the elk is always around, watching its quarry. Getting a story from the killer’s point of view is not in itself unique, but Jones proves his ability to creep his readers out, with sudden, seemingly out of nowhere second person narrative. An interesting, often unsettling tactic Jones sprinkles into the narrative is the use of point of view from the elk. He structures the novel as such, following the four friends – Ricky, Lewis, Gabe, and Cass, as they succumb mentally and sometimes literally to the vengeful spirit of one of the fallen elk who, to make matters more complicated and dangerous, has the ability to shift itself into human bodies.Įach of the four main cast gets his own section of the story as the focus, in varying degrees, before it’s on to the next victim - a classic slasher standby. Jones is a fan of the slasher film horror subgenre, and it shows here. Since that night, the four proud huntsmen have grown up and gone their separate ways, forever tied together in their decision to rebel against tradition and their tribe, Blackfeet Nation. Earning her interest in his story, he set to work on what would become his first novel, The Fast Red Road: A Plainsong (Fiction Collective 2, 2000).Ģ020 should be considered a breakout year for Jones, given his inclusion in Saga Press’ vast and diverse catalog with The Only Good Indians, a fantastical revenge horror story set a decade after four men commit an illegal hunting expedition, slaughtering a group of elk on off limits land, and shooting more than they need.

His stories are often as bizarre as his own career origin story, having fabricated a novel upon meeting former Houghton-Mifflin editor Janet Silver at a writer’s conference. Prolificacy has been a key element to his success, contributing over twenty stories of varying length to the world of genre fiction. Stephen Graham Jones has quietly amassed a following over the course of his twenty-year career writing fiction.

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