After reading almost all of Hendrix's books, I can honestly say he outdid himself with this one. I loved this book so much. It brings social issues, horror, and his signature wit together in a positively unique and enjoyable package.

“He thinks we’re what we look like on the outside: nice Southern ladies. Let me tell you something…there’s nothing nice about Southern ladies.”

Patricia lives for the day her book club gets to meet up to discuss their latest true-crime read. It is her perfect escape away from her idyllic southern lifestyle with her perfect family that she has aspired to achieve. Except nowadays she doesn’t seem to enjoy her so-called perfect lifestyle. So when a dark, handsome stranger appears it brings more than just gossip to the book club's meetings.
I enjoyed this for the most part but there was something that fell a little short for me. The characters were ok, but I felt could have been a bit more diverse, and the husbands were so infuriating it made me want to punch them all. I thought there would be a bit more vampire action and the slaying of vampires and that the book club would come together more.
I did enjoy the book club dynamic and their book choices. It was great to see them discussing the different true crime stories and what they learnt from them. I liked that Patricia took inspiration from them to make sure she could protect her family and friends and the children that were going missing.
TW: sexual abuse, rape, gore, death, murder, body horror, sexism, suicide attempt, toxic relationships, dementia, forced institutionalisation, animal cruelty and hate crimes.
Overall it was a good story and I liked the slow descent into the horror and how vivid it was but I do wish there was more slaying vampire action.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

started reading this book a while back and couldn't get in to it. I don't know why I decided to go back to it but I'm so glad that I did. I could not put down this book, I wanted to find out what was going to happen next. This story is so well written and has some really creepy parts that make you feel like you are living through it with the characters. I was satisfied by the end, it was as believable as it could have been. A great read for this spooky season!!

After having reviewed The Final Girl Support Group, I realized I had never shared my initial reviews and reactions to The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires, which honestly feels like a crime. This book was one of my favorites of last year; I got all my coworkers to read it, and I converted them all to Hendrix fans. It’s a must read and I decided if I can get just one more person to pick it up, it’s worth reviewing in full!

Patricia Campbell’s life on the outside looks like a picture-perfect southern woman’s – but on the inside, she’s terribly bored. The few highlights of her dull existence are the true crime book club she’s a part of, and the new neighbor up the street who mysteriously appears and grabs her attention.

But now kids in town are going missing, and Patricia is desperate to get to the bottom of it – captivated by the growing concern that the same new neighbor may have just brought something terrifying and vicious down on her small town life, threatening everything as she knows it.

This book is SO. GOOD. I have been a prolific reader for maybe ten years now, and every time someone asks me who my favorite author is, I can never tell them. How do you pick a favorite? So many good ones! But after having read The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires, I officially have a favorite. And I will tell everyone, screaming from the rooftops: it’s Grady Hendrix. An absolute master of horror.

This is Hendrix’s third novel that I have read, and I’ve loved them all. Every time I pick one up I am absolutely transported to the time and place he writes about; he’s got a great talent for world building that helps you dive deeper into the horror story he’s weaving. Which, speaking of, is some of the greatest horror I’ve ever read. It’s dark and disturbing, and paints some vivid images in your brain…I was reading some of the more gruesome parts of this story in my dark room alone at night, and it makes you want to turn on the light.

The gut-wrenching reaction I have to the way Patricia is treated by her friends, family, and other people in town says a lot about how deep I fell into this story. Reflecting a looking back, this is what I remember most about the reading experience, and what stuck with me. Despite how hard Patricia looks into this concerning disappearance of children, she’s doubted and denied at every turn, called crazy, or straight up ignored. That sense of “What if no one believed me?” is what haunts me the most when I think of this book, even a year after my initial read.

I think Hendrix’s background in 70’s and 80’s horror research helps him spin these incredible webs of stories that you just get stuck in. I feel like I’m living that time in its glory, and I don’t know why we ever left behind this masterful horror storytelling. Hendrix is the most unique horror writer out there today and his work should be praised. It’s original, playful, and still deeply unsettling. Five out of five stars from me, really.

An advance copy of The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. PLEASE go pick up a copy for yourself!!

Have a lovely week, everyone!

Grady Hendrix writes a thought provoking horror/thriller that chilled me to the core but not only with the literal monster but the horrific behaviors of it's characters and the racism and sexism they portrayed.

Although not a sequel to my Best Friend's Exorcism. this title does take place in the same "idyllic" setting of Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina. Although this book had some truly gory scenes (rats and garbage just to name a few) I didn't find it a true horror novel, more horror lite. I did have trouble in the very beginning visualizing each character but I quickly was introduced to more of their stories and Hendrix clearly defined their voices moving forward. His characters (flaws and all) are what I think make Hendrix books so well done. Besides all the craziness going on around them, the characters are what center you to the story and he does that very well.

This may have been my favorite Hendrix novel so far and I can't wait to read more. I would recommend this to my patrons who like some substance to their fiction but want the creep factor as well. Highly recommend.

One of the things that makes reading Grady Hendrix absolutely delicious is that Hendrix gives us a really normal story with really normal people but then things start to slide sideways. It's a slow process - so slow you probably can't pinpoint exactly when the slide began (and probably, the slide began before the first pages of the book - we just don't realize it). And then at some point, the characters, and the readers, realize, "Whoa, this shit's gone crazy!" but it's too late to backpedal or to erase the picture in your mind of something rotten, putrid, scary, gross (or all four) that you just witnessed/read about. And then you and the characters are in a full-blown horror novel that's probably only going to get worse, but like an accident on the side of the road, you can't look away even if you wanted to.

Yeah, that's what's totally great about a Grady Hendrix novel.

The story: Patricia Campbell, once a nurse, gave up her career to marry a doctor. Her life is now tedious and dull with kids who are ungrateful and a husband often absent both physically and emotionally. The one thing she looks forward to is her book club and their shared love of true-crime and suspense novels.

Then a handsome, artistic stranger moves into the neighborhood and some local children go missing about the same time. The women of the book club spend their meetings discussing the stranger and the likelihood that he's responsible for the missing children. Their conversations get Patricia more and more convinced that he's the next Ted Bundy or Jeffrey Dahmer and she needs to investigate. What she discovers is much more terrifying than a cannibal mass-murderer.

If the title didn't give it away, you might think you were reading some chick-lot book club pick and be completely surprised about two-thirds of the way in when it's clear that the story has taken a twisted turn.

And for me, this is the best kind of horror fiction. Rather than trying to keep a steady stream of horror going through 2-3-400 pages, the delight here is know that we're reading a horror novel and watching average people - our neighbors - slide into hell, and their frantic clawing and windmill-spinning arms as they try to keep from slipping away, but the ichor and gore under their feet just keeps them slipping.

This is only the fourth Grady Hendrix book I've read, and one of those previous was a non-fiction book, but he's quickly become one of my favorites and someone I actively watch for.

Looking for a good book? The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix is absolutely top-notch horror fiction.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Wow, that was awesome! I tried to read this on my Kindle last summer (2020), but I must not have been in the mood for it. I stopped reading about 10% in. Then, I saw the hardcover at the bookstore a couple of months ago and decided to give it another try. I bought that copy and once I started, I didn't want to put it down.

I loved everything about this book. It had me so wrapped up in frustration and anger at the husbands) and fear for the children, and damn that James right to hell!

Fantastic storytelling, an amazing emotional journey, some serious social commentary, and the ending was perfect.

My only complaint was that Hendrix writes James Harris 99% of the time, rather than just "James". After the first couple of chapters with him in it, we knew who he was. Minor complaint, not a dent in the rating.

5 stars all day!

It starts off slow and kind of dense, but once the action begins, it's hard to resist the story as it drives forward. It reads as a true epic, one that makes you feel the world really has been reshaped as you read it. Would recommend.

Really enjoyed! Great ambiance. Feels like a fusion of the My Favorite Murder podcast and Good Girls TV show. Gruesome descriptions are even more so because of how they contrast the determined normality of Patricia's life. It's a very gross book — sticky, hot, skin-crawling. Characters felt like real people, though not the sort I grew up with. Had so much to say about gender and race woven seamlessly into the story. Would recommend!

I had high hopes for this book, it sounded like just my kind of read. Well, I was very wrong about that. That whole rape thing and what happened to her was just bizarre and made me downright uncomfortable. I was really disturbed and had to make myself finish it. Although, if utterly creeping people out was what he was going for, he absolutely nailed it!

Grady Hendrix ties together horror, humor, and vampires in The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires. Growing up in the south, I could name someone in my past that could play any of the characters in Patricia's book club. I love Hendrix voice and as someone who does not typically enjoy the horror genre I loved this book.

This read was such a mess that I don't even know where to start. It never drew me in and I had no feelings about it one way or the other until the final third or so, which it where I started hating it.

The characters feel flat. Not a single one feels realistic or fully realized. Everyone reads like a stereotype or caricature of one kind or another. The cast isn't very diverse, and what little diversity it has is very cringe. The representation of women is also incredibly cringe, which shouldn't have been a surprise.

The story itself wasn't even interesting or unique. The pace rambled along rather than building up to anything. The author chose all the lowest hanging fruit when it came to moments intended to shock or frighten. I rolled my eyes at times and felt angry at others.

So much of this book made me angry. For example,

***SPOILERS***

the use of rape and child abuse in horror and thrillers as a cheap shock is inappropriate and says a lot about the author's level of respect for women. It's harmful and unnecessary, while also lacking creativity. If a writer can't come up with a better way to deliver a surprise, they probably shouldn't be writing. There were also other cringe moments that were inappropriate, such as a mother taking time to analyze her teenage daughter's breasts and pubic hair when she finds her being assaulted by a grown man. Like... the fuck?? No, Hendrix. Just no.

***END SPOILERS***

I could keep going on. But I really don't want to put any more energy into this.

This book is poorly written, lazily plotted, misogynist garbage. Do yourself a favor and just don't.

Thanks to NetGalley and Quirk Books for the opportunity to review an ARC.

This book is a satisfying blend of satire and suspense. While there is a clear supernatural monster, the social commentary shows that everyday monsters of the human variety permeate the lives of these women. Book clubs will devour it

Oh my gosh - WHAT A BOOK. The premise was so good, I was worried the book itself couldn't possibly live up to it - and it was an absolute delight.

I don't quite know how to feel about this book, to be honest. It's nothing like what I was expecting, first off: the pacing is very, very slow and the plot doesn't really start until about 50% of the way through. I suppose that did a decent job of slowly ramping up the the feeling of dread and malaise, but it also meant I was tempted to DNF a couple of times until things got started.

This book made me uncomfortable in a lot of ways, but it's a horror book, so...it's supposed to do that, isn't it? But what is the line between being scared and being uncomfortable? There were so many things that felt unnecessary: really gross scenes with Patricia's dementia-addled mother-in-law, rodent stuff, a pretty awful rape scene (off-page), and like, lots of Nazi symbolism? Patricia's son is obsessed with Nazis for some reason, and I feel like this was the author's attempt at drawing some sort of parallel to the vampire character's racism, but it never really went anywhere, so in the end it just felt kind of superfluous and just like a random detail thrown in to make the reader uncomfortable. On the other hand, all of this really does evoke a an 80s trashy horror vibe, so I suppose it succeeds at achieving its own ends.

The representation of the Black characters, and the whole running thread about the vampire character being racist...I don't know. On the one hand, I see what the author was trying to do and I appreciate it. It makes perfect sense that a white man who has lived for centuries would harbor racist views and would prefer to prey on the marginalized who are ignored by society. On the other hand, the only significant black character, Mrs. Greene, is a cleaning lady who exists kind of on the periphery of the main characters' lives, and whose entire purpose just seems to be guilt-tripping Patricia in a way that I think is meant to subvert the Mammy trope but ends up just feeling kind of uncomfortable.

I probably wouldn't have been so cognizant of these flaws had I liked the characters a bit more; as it was, I couldn't really connect to any of them. I don't know if it was the writing style or what, but I felt like I was held at arms' length from Patricia, the main character. I never could get a handle on her personality, and everything we were meant to know about her felt like it was just being told to us but never really shown especially clearly. I didn't like the other members of the book club either; there's supposed to be a sense of female camaraderie but I never felt that. If anything, these women didn't seem to like each other very much at all. Their lives seemed so awful and depressing, and their supposed friendships were shallow.

I do like the book's fresh take on vampirism; while I do like the Swoony Vampire trope, I really enjoy reading about vampires as cruel, terrifying monsters too. In particular, I liked this vampire's characterization as racist and cruel and a bit gross and properly monstrous, because it's different! I also really liked the spectacularly gruesome ending, when the book club finally came together, but it was literally like, the last 10% or something, and I'd expected that sort of crime-fighting camaraderie way earlier in the book.

And going back to being uncomfortable, the book just felt kind of unpleasant in a lot of ways, and there wasn't anything to anchor me amidst it all, like endearing characters. So I don't know! I kind of enjoyed reading this and I'm definitely glad I read it but I wish I had loved it more. I think I liked the idea of it in the abstract more than I liked the execution, but I would definitely love to see more books of this ilk!

The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires involves a quirky cast of characters in a tight-knit American town. Despite being promoted as a horror, this title goes beyond that as the character study of a woman that has been pigeonholed into a specified role. Although protagonist Patricia's voice goes unheard time and again, ultimately it's up to her to rise to the occasion to protect her children and community from the threat they face. An enjoyable read with just enough terror and gore to darken the mood.

I admit it. I wanted to read The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires solely because of the title. I had read something when I was first considering reading the novel about the author and his penchant for mixing satire into his stories, which also appealed to me. I am so glad I took a chance on this book. It was entertaining, creepy, and fun.

At times cringe-worthy and extremely disturbing, there were many more moments in which the horror elements were more subtle. It's in those moments that the tension builds up the most, leaving Patricia and the reader a little off balance. I really felt for Patricia, not only knowing something was terribly wrong with her neighbor and the threat he may pose to her and her family as well as the rest of the community, but also most people not really believing her and making her think she was going crazy.

Grady Hendrix's portrayal of vampires is one straight out of nightmares, both seductive and as leeches. It is much darker and more insidious than that of Bram Stoker's Dracula. I found the backstory particularly interesting, especially in comparison to the novel's present day events--and how closely they mirrored each other.

My blood boiled quite a bit at the treatment of Patricia by her husband. A bit of satire on the author's part, portraying life in the white suburbs, the wives expected to stay in their place. Monsters come in all forms, even the human variety. There are several strong women featured in the novel who turn the idea of helpless little housewife on its ear. I appreciated that the author does not shy away from tackling not just sexism, but racism as well.

The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires turned out to be all I hoped it would be and more.

POTENTIAL SPOILER


This is one of those books that's so good that I wish it was better. I have toyed with the idea of reading Hendrix's other books, started and stopped "horrorstor." Finally took the plunge. Started off slow and then ramped up quick. But the title, cover, and editing don't do the book justice. This book is not really about a book club or about a vampire. The description of the story is totally misleading. It's race, class, and sexism all wrapped up in body horror and true crime obsession. There are many underdeveloped sides of the story, sacrificed for gooey description and tongue-in-cheek humor. I wish there had been more development of the book club at least woven into the story more. I don't like when authors repeat a line/theme to death without giving it any weight. "But the children!" even though it seems like no one actually cares about what their children are doing. And this is clearly not a vampire, its more of an X-Files creature.

All in all, it feels like it should have been longer or restructured in a way that can accommodate the whole story. And maybe just change out Vampires for Monsters.

This book was quite different from what I expected. It's dark and in many ways deeply disturbing. But I also found it so entirely compelling, I couldn't put it down. In the beginning, it feels like it should be a book about the power of female friendship, but that isn't what it ends up being at all. While I still can't put my finger on how I felt about this book entirely, I also have recommended it multiple times to various friends and readers in my library.

I was so sucked into the story which took turns all the time.
I found it easy to read, exciting and pageturning. The horror elements in this kind of chocked me as did the ending but the ride there, the way to get there was just great. Would so recommend to everyone who wants suspense but also with something more.