Four friends. One horrible thing from the past dead-set on revenge.
Lauded horror author Stephen Graham Jones’ 2020 release, “The Only Good Indians,” centers around the lives of four old friends born and raised on a Blackfeet reservation. Although the group went their separate ways long ago, they find that their collective past is much more difficult to shake off than they thought.
The story opens with Ricky, and that first chapter is the only time the audience spends with him. Ricky’s chapter definitely starts the book off with a bang—full of action and with little to no explanation of his fate. If anything, this section of the novel feels more like a prologue than an actual chapter, due to its brevity and sudden end.
The story really begins with Lewis, the only one of the four to successfully live a life outside of the reservation. With his easy-going demeanor and sense of loyalty to his family, Lewis is easily my favorite character. Unfortunately for him, being favored isn’t usually a good thing in the horror genre. When the past catches up with Lewis, it starts slowly, progressively wedging itself into every crevice of the life he’s built until he inevitably destroys it all. Not only is this terrifying to watch unfold, but it is also a testament to the self-destructive nature of letting the past control the present.
The perspective immediately switches from Lewis to an unknown speaker, an element of Jones’ writing that I enjoyed a lot. The faceless narrator talks about Lewis’ failings in life and hints at those of the other men, creating a haunting and foreboding mood for the chapters to come.
Gabe and Cass are the last two on the past’s list, and fortunately for the vindictive, they both still live on the reservation. As the past sets out to destroy their futures, the two men receive the news of Lewis’ misfortunes off the reservation, and things only spiral from there. A sweat lodge turns into a bloodbath. A pick-up game of basketball turns into a fight for survival. A clearing full of elk turns into a thing of nightmares.
“The Only Good Indians” is a perfect example of what happens when the buried past begins to bleed into the present, and an even better one of what happens when that past is extremely vengeful. Jones does this all while highlighting the prejudice faced by indigenous people in the modern day and the long-term effects of this discrimination. His writing made the story feel painfully real and incredibly poignant. My only issue is the lack of suspense and fear that I felt while reading. Despite the ample amount of horrifying events in the story, Jones’ style didn’t evoke any real anxiety or terror in me as I read.
All of this leads me to give “The Only Good Indians” four out of five stars. It’s a fast-paced, eerie, and completely unique horror novel. It’s perfect for fans of the genre looking for something a little different.
