The New York Times Best SellerA Barnes & Noble Best Fiction Book of 2020A Goodreads Choice Awards FinalistSteel Magnolias meets Dracula in this ’90s-set horror novel about a women’s book club that must do battle with a mysterious newcomer to their small Southern town, perfect for murderinos and fans of Stephen King.Bonus features: • Reading group guide for book clubs • Hand-drawn map of … features:
• Reading group guide for book clubs
• Hand-drawn map of Mt. Pleasant
• Annotated true-crime reading list by Grady Hendrix
• And more!
Patricia Campbell’s life has never felt smaller. Her husband is a workaholic, her teenage kids have their own lives, her senile mother-in-law needs constant care, and she’s always a step behind on her endless to-do list. The only thing keeping her sane is her book club, a close-knit group of Charleston women united by their love of true crime. At these meetings they’re as likely to talk about the Manson family as they are about their own families.
One evening after book club, Patricia is viciously attacked by an elderly neighbor, bringing the neighbor’s handsome nephew, James Harris, into her life. James is well traveled and well read, and he makes Patricia feel things she hasn’t felt in years. But when children on the other side of town go missing, their deaths written off by local police, Patricia has reason to believe James Harris is more of a Bundy than a Brad Pitt. The real problem? James is a monster of a different kind—and Patricia has already invited him in.
Little by little, James will insinuate himself into Patricia’s life and try to take everything she took for granted—including the book club—but she won’t surrender without a fight in this blood-soaked tale of neighborly kindness gone wrong.
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Every vampire novel is going to have blood and teeth, but this one’s got that one essential ingredient that nobody else does like Grady Hendrix: heart. These aren’t characters, they’re people, and I consider myself lucky to have known them for a few pages.
[no spoilers] This is a good, solid book. It has a terrific blend of tragedy and comedy. The absurd juxtaposition of a dangerous Vampire and the charming, welcoming Southern ladies made for great comedy. It also showed that we want to be welcoming and kind, but too many people take advantage. Can Southern hospitality survive in the face of a murderer?
Great Halloween choice for our book club. I enjoyed quirky characters, growth of the protagonist, pop-culture references to late ‘80’s and early ‘90’s, the way that their reading selections are woven into the plot of the novel, and female friends pulling together.
I disliked some of the gore (two particularly gruesome chapters seemed to go on FOREVER!) and the lack of even one decent male character.
I freaking loved this book! Netflix needs to turn this into a movie or limited series right away! This is the best supernatural book I’ve read all year! I laughed, I cried, and I was scared for the characters! Set in the 90’s, our gentile southern ladies find themselves working together to protect themselves and their families from a handsome stranger who turns out to be a vampire of sorts! Patricia is living a life that doesn’t really stimulate her brain anymore. She doesn’t have anything in her life that is just for herself! The other women in her community form a book club where they share their love of true-crime stories. Things change when Patricia meets James. There is something about him that initially interested her. He seemed like he really needed a friend. It’s not too long before Patricia starts to see that James is not what he seems. Children are missing from the other side of the tracks; strange things are happening. Sadly, she is on her own because no one really believes her! Eventually, she finally helps others see what is really happening. Now they must figure out how to solve this problem and rid themselves of James before he destroys their families. Patricia is amazing! I felt for her during this book so many times and I kept hoping that in the end, she would be vindicated and finally have the life she wanted. This is my first story by Grady Hendrix and I’m hooked! I’m already making a list of his other stories to read!!!!
If you’re a fan of the mainstream horror genre, then you’d enjoy this book. I didn’t find it super gruesome or violent, but it definitely had some creepy moments and was loaded with page-turning suspense. It’s presented as Steel Magnolias meets Dracula. Spot on. This band of book club housewives are relatable, tough, and endearing. I read this in one sitting, so make sure you have plenty of reading time to devour it!
Be prepared for a spicy opinion on this one.
I hated this book. There were moments that I did enjoy, but they weren’t enough to change my overall lack of love for this novel. However, as with any book, there are always going to be differing opinions. What I love others may hate. And conversely, while I hated this doesn’t mean you will.
But hated it I did.
In my opinion, this book was over-the-top with the misongyny and the racism. Yes, those two things were a part of the point, but the way they were treated seemed lazy and undeveloped. Almost gratuitous rather than adding anything to the story. So many thought Hendrix did a wonderful job of portraying female characters, and I’m honestly unsure of how anyone could feel that way.
Let’s talk about the issue of racism… To be fair, the book is set in the Deep South, in the 1980s through the 1990s. The issue of racism within that setting is entirely appropriate. And I’ve heard the argument that their portrayal was historically accurate. To some extent, that’s true. But there is also a vampire, so I think we can safely assume this book isn’t entirely based on reality. There’s something very wrong when the idea of a vampire is more believable about a vampire, than a Black middle-class family in that same time frame. Besides, the reality of racism was used lazily, like a flimsy excuse to not have to have any Black characters of value. Most of the Black characters were both nameless and voiceless, and all of them relegated into roles of servitude. They all lived in a poor area where the white female characters were petrified to be, in a place where the white male characters saw as unimportant. And the sole purpose of the black characters, for most of the novel, was to be killed. Mrs. Greene was the only Black character to have any voice whatsoever. And even then, it was taken away more often than not. The White Savior narrative took anything she did away, away from a Black woman to give credit to white women.
And the misogyny.. oh, my. Honestly, I felt this was used lazily, too. These are smart women, some of them well educated, yet no one of them seemed to have the ability to pick a husband that wasn’t in some way reprehensible. Their husbands often did horrible things, yet none of them did anything but make excuses for them and accept it all. At times, I felt like I was reading fiction from a much more bygone era. For God’s sake, the husband of the main female character, a shrink, medicated his wife when she didn’t act as he thought she should. It was bananas in such an over-the-top way. The presentation of the female characters as having little value beyond the toys and property of their spouses is almost dangerous.
And the nonstop Nazi content… The main female character’s son is obsessed with Nazis. There’s absolutely no commentary on why, or for the parents’ attempt to curtail that. And that was incredibly off-putting, in my opinion.
Yes, I’ve read the reviews who thoroughly disagree with me, the ones that would say I’ve missed the point. The ones that would say that I’m taking this book too seriously. The ones that say my critical thinking skills need improving. To these same people I say… you have your opinions, and I have mine. That’s the joy of reading. We each experience a book through our own lens, developed by our own thoughts and life experiences, and then we develop our own opinions. So there you have it.
The publishing industry needs to do better.
This book reminded me why I don’t generally get book FOMO when everyone around me is reading The Next Big Thing.
The title of this book lead me to believe it was going to be mostly about vampires terrorizing the ladies in the book club but I was surprised to find it was more about the women in the book club supporting each other . Though they all seemed to be trapped in the expectations of their roles as wives, the common goal of defeating the evil in their town also showed them they could face their lives and change what they wanted to change. I enjoyed this book because of the scary story but also because they ladies were kick ass.
“We’re a book club,” Maryellen said. “What are we supposed to do? Read him to death? Use strong language?”
How the f*** do you review a book like this?? I mean seriously…I am at a loss here. This book was exhausting, seriously disturbed, weird and PERFECT!!! All I am going to say is read the blurb, gird your loins and get ya some sweet tea. Cause babes this book is going to take you on a ride. What kind of ride? That I still have no effing clue!!
Patricia is a lonely housewife that joined a book club. I liked the ladies of the book club but I didn’t much like James. Half of me liked this book, the other half me didn’t. I like the action parts (i.e. The ear, the rats) but when the everyday life was being talked about, I thought it was boring. The parts I liked were very well written. I’d read something by this author again but in a few months.
10/10 would recommend.
The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires
by Grady Hendrix
I had to stop and process this in bits because I wanted to strangle all the men in this book! There is so much going on in this book, so many layers to it.
There is a pleasant neighborhood that has ladies that try to be everything to everyone. Super mom, super wife, takes care of house, yard, family, elderly in-laws with dementia, and school projects…you name it. The ladies start a Book Club.
A stranger moves in the neighborhood and everything changes. Kids go missing. The husbands all adore him. But our one main gal of the story sees him attacking a little black girl from a poor neighborhood. Nothing is done. Several kids died there. No one believes her.
This book made me so angry at the sexist, racist men! Warning! There is a place in the book where one of the ladies tell how she is raped. I hate stuff like that so I know others might be too. It was important for the story.
There was a lot of tension, suspense, and a menacing feeling in here from all the men not just the stranger! But the resilience and fortitude of these women was awesome! Girl power mostly wins in the end! This was a deep story. Sexist, racism, and women’s role in society in general and how we live in a male dominated society. Was this monster a symbol of men sucking the life out of the weaker people? They take and take until you go crazy? Just a thought from a crazy old woman.
“Sometimes she craved a little danger. And that was why she had book club.”― Grady Hendrix, The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires
This was a great little read – light and fluffy, no romance, with the perfect amount of horror and a nice blend of lady friends who are book buddies. (The best kinds of friendships, in my opinion. A little shoutout to my book club, the BBC. I hope everyone enjoyed this month’s selection.)
The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires is entertaining and fun with lots of dark humor all wrapped up in a classic vampire tale.
A women’s book club in Charleston in the 1990s is up against a blood sucking stranger who has charmed all the men in town into being his friend. (The jabs at the husbands are priceless. Loved it.)
Patricia Campbell seems to have it all, but her life is just a little too boring. Her husband is a jerk and her kids are ungrateful. The only thing Patricia looks forward to is her book club meetings and their love of true crime and thrillers.
When local children start to go missing, Patricia suspects the new neighbor and she starts her own investigation.
Soon enough, it’s book club versus vampire. This was not particularly gory until the attic scene and from then on, it’s all action. It reminds me a bit of the Sookie Stackhouse series, but focuses heavily on female friendships and books.
I could get into how women were treated in the 90s and a few other elements of this story that have received some negative feedback, but I’m not going to. Take note of WHO Grady says Dracula is up against at the beginning of this novel and why he wrote it this way.
I enjoyed the story and recognize it for what it is – a great summer read.
Best Snarky Laugh Lines
“We’re a book club,” Maryellen said. “What are we supposed to do? Read him to death? Use strong language?” ― Grady Hendrix, The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires
“A reader lives many lives,” James Harris said. “The person who doesn’t read lives but one. But if you’re happy just doing what you’re told and reading what other people think you should read, then don’t let me stop you. I just find it sad.” ― Grady Hendrix, The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires
“I wanted to pit Dracula against my mom. As you’ll see, it’s not a fair fight.” ― Grady Hendrix, The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires
This book has been well-reviewed, and I’m glad for that because I didn’t write many notes while reading. I started reading it and wouldn’t have put it down except bedtime came, and I’m a stickler for sleep. It starts charming enough, with a, we’re bored, let’s make a better book club than the boring one we’re in. The men in this community are all, “Isn’t that cute. Our little ladies are in a book club. More like gossiping hens, am I right, fellas?” These are southern men straight out of the 50s that you love to hate because they want their women pure and in the kitchen, raising their children while they’re off golfing with the boys.
What you might think is just a charming, cozy mystery if it weren’t for the title turns bizarre. Hendrix has done such a good job at laying out a charming book, that when things get weird, it takes you by surprise. No, he didn’t just do that to these almost Stepford wives, did he? Yes, he did, and he did it well. Good on Patricia for sticking with her guns, even when she sometimes doubted herself. This was a super fun, addicting read from start to finish, and if you haven’t read it, you should.
Patricia and her friends have a book club that’s supposed to be fun and enlightening , but a new neighbor brings a sinister ploy to their neighborhood and the poor county not far from them . It’s up to Patricia to expose the monster even if no-one believes he’s real . Great characters / personalitys , good plot line .
The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix, Bahni Turpin (Narrator).
I loved this book! Such a refreshing and unusual take on vampires and a dead-on description of how many wealthy men STILL treat their wives. There are episodes of violence that are not for the squeamish, but they are essential to convey the dark, atmospheric horror undercurrents of the book. The audio-version is perfect, the narrator is so good!
Like all the other books by Grady Hendrix, this did not disappoint at all. The writing is fierce, story both terrifying and heartfelt. I love how he balances horror and humanity.
I’d give this book 4.5 stars if that was an option. This was an innovative take on the regular vampire stories. It made me cringe a bit more than I expected and for a moment I was considering to just stop reading. I am glad that I didn’t.
The women in the book club are a very interesting bunch that brought the story to life. The men, well…., they just had to be the way they were to make the story work. Sometimes I just wanted to give a punch. LOL
I thought that this book was awful. All of the women in it were naive and stupid. I wanted to slap them all. I had to skip to the end just to see if they FINALLY got a clue.
This cover, the name, and all hype made me want to read this book. It’s considered horror but it’s not scary. This was very different type of vampire book than what I’ve read in the pass. It’s also set in the 90s. The husband’s drove me crazy how they treated their wives. I not sure if it fits the time-line since I was born in 87. The book started off with great humor and fun that I couldn’t put down and I just couldn’t imagine being a horror novel. I guess that’s where I got sucked in with the “hype”. There was a few parts that were graphic but not overly detailed. Glad I read this.
What a fantastic book…unlike anything I have read in a while!!!!
The synopsis sums the book up, “Steel Magnolias meets Dracula.” It was the selection for my book club’s October read, and it couldn’t have been more perfect for Halloween.
Our main character, Patricia, has her plate full. Her husband’s work seems to be more important than his family life. Her children are now teenagers, and she is the full-time caretaker of her mother-in-law who is suffering from some type of dementia. The one thing she looks forward to is her book club.
Her life completely changes when she is attacked one night by her neighbor, and her nephew becomes embroiled in her life, more and more every day. She feels a pull toward him but soon begins to realize he may not be who he claims to be…he may be something much more dangerous. She will have to rely on her friends in the book club to save herself and those she loves.
There were so many things I loved about this book! First, I’m a Charleston girl myself so I love reading anything that takes place in Charleston. The author really captured what old Mt. Pleasant was like in the 90s, changing yet charming.
Second, I liked the little twist on the vampire genre. James is definitely not your typical vampire. Third, the bond these women share highlights everything that is so special in female relationships. Hendrix amazed me with his insight into what makes female relationships so incredibly special.
In addition, I loved the characters. Patricia is the main character, but her fellow book club women are complex characters in their own right. They each add their own strengths to the story! When these ladies join forces, they are formidable opponents.
Most importantly, the author touches on the important issue of race and socio-economic differences. Even though the story takes place in the 90s, these are still relevant today.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking there aren’t some really creepy parts to this book….there are!!!! It is a book about a vampire, and James might be charming, but he is a monster!
Grady Hendrix gave his readers a fantastic read. He combined so many elements, such as horror and yes, even humor. There were some parts that were quite funny. He also added in important social issues. Each element was blended flawlessly together without overpowering each other. He has a new fan in me. In fact, I have downloaded several of his other books as well!