Decorah residents will have a chance to hear one of the country’s best-known contemporary horror writers when New York Times bestselling author Stephen Graham Jones visits Luther College on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026.
Jones will appear at 7 p.m. in the Center for Faith and Public Engagement’s event, “An Evening with Stephen Graham Jones on the Social Roles of Horror.” The program will be held in the Center for Faith and Life Recital Hall. Admission is free, but attendees must reserve tickets.
The event is being presented by Luther’s Center for Ethics and Public Engagement. Andy Hageman, the center’s director and a professor of English at Luther, will facilitate a conversation with Jones about how horror fiction can examine history, fear and culture.
What Jones will discuss
According to Luther, Jones will consider how horror can bring buried history to the surface, confront what has been repressed and help people face their fears. The discussion will draw on Jones’ own writing as well as horror classics, lesser-known works and imagined “future hauntings.”
“Stephen Graham Jones is one of the most prolific, award-winning and admired horror writers working today,” Hageman said in Luther’s announcement.
Jones is an enrolled member of the Blackfeet Tribe of Montana. He has written more than 30 novels and collections and is known for “The Only Good Indians,” the Indian Lake Trilogy and “The Buffalo Hunter Hunter.” His companion novel to “The Only Good Indians,” “Off the Reservation,” is scheduled for release Oct. 13, 2026.
“The Only Good Indians,” published in 2020, received substantial recognition. The Los Angeles Times awarded it the 2021 Ray Bradbury Prize for Science Fiction, Fantasy and Speculative Fiction, describing the book as both psychological horror and social commentary about identity politics and the American Indian experience. Jones also received the 2021 Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award.
NPR reviewer Gabino Iglesias wrote in 2020 that Jones was “one of the best writers working today regardless of genre” and called the novel gritty, heartbreaking and possibly his best work.
Q&A, book signing and livestream
The Luther program will include a question-and-answer session with the audience. Jones also plans to sign books after the discussion.
Three titles will be available for purchase at the event: “The Only Good Indians,” “The Buffalo Hunter Hunter” and “Off the Reservation.” Luther’s Book Shop currently has the first two titles in stock, and area residents are encouraged to purchase copies on campus.
The lecture is also designed to reach people who cannot attend in person. Luther said the program will be livestreamed.
How to reserve a seat
Tickets can be reserved online at tickets.luther.edu or through the Luther Ticket Office in the Center for Faith and Life. The event itself is free, but tickets are required.
The ticket office is at 700 College Drive in Decorah. Regular hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, with extended hours from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday. On show days, the office is open from 9 a.m. until the performance. Luther notes that the office may close during scheduled academic breaks.
For questions, residents can email [email protected] or call 563-387-1357. The event announcement lists Michelle Volkmann, Luther’s media relations specialist, as a media contact at 563-387-1417.
Jones lives and teaches in Boulder, Colorado. Luther described the Oct. 29 appearance as a rare opportunity to meet him in the Midwest.