Explore our new BookBrowse Community Forum!

BookBrowse Reviews The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix

Summary |  Excerpt |  Reviews |  Beyond the book |  Read-Alikes |  Genres & Themes |  Author Bio

The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix

The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires

by Grady Hendrix
  • BookBrowse Review:
  • Critics' Consensus:
  • Readers' Rating:
  • First Published:
  • Apr 7, 2020, 408 pages
  • Paperback:
  • May 2021, 424 pages
  • Rate this book

  • Buy This Book

About This Book

Reviews

BookBrowse:


Grady Hendrix is back with another suspense-filled horror novel set in the American South.

Grady Hendrix's novel The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires revolves around Patricia Campbell, a 1990s small-town matriarch. The stay-at-home mother of two lives an unremarkable existence, going about her day driving the kids to school, cleaning house, catering to the whims of her successful husband and caring for his elderly mother. Her social circle consists of other women living similarly constrained lives who get together once a month to ostensibly discuss true-crime books (but really to drink white wine and gossip). Their predictable world is disrupted by the arrival of James Harris, a handsome, charismatic stranger who quickly insinuates himself into their community. As bizarre attacks occur and children from the poor section of town start dying, Patricia begins to wonder if James could be responsible or if, as her husband insists, she has simply been reading too many books about mass murderers. She enlists her fellow housewives to help her investigate—with unexpected and harrowing results.

One might expect from the book's title and description that this would be a lighthearted, tongue-in-cheek take on the well-worn vampire and horror genres, and indeed, the novel starts out in that vein. For example, in describing an early encounter between two of the women, the author writes:

Patricia knew that Maryellen was a Yankee from Massachusetts who told everyone that she was a feminist. And Kitty was one of those big women who wore the kind of clothes people charitably referred to as "fun" – baggy sweaters with multicolored handprints on them, chunky plastic jewelry. Patricia suspected that getting entangled with women like this was the first step on a slippery slope that ended with her wearing felt reindeer antlers at Christmas.

This narrative style continues on for the first quarter of the book, and it's entertaining enough to keep the reader engaged. Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the author's technique, though, is the way he gradually transitions the story from what seems like a horror spoof to a true horror story with characters and a plot in which the reader becomes deeply invested. As the plot darkens, there are passages that are humorous but terrifying at the same time, a tricky balance to achieve but one Hendrix manages with remarkable success.

Several passages are quite gory. The author warns readers in the prologue that "this story ends in blood" and that's certainly the case—there's a lot of blood in the middle as well. Given the somewhat frothy tone of the first part of the narrative, the "ick-factor" of these encounters was initially shocking; the level of violence seemed out of synch with my expectations for the novel. While I came to anticipate these sections, I was nonetheless repulsed by the author's excessively detailed, no-holds-barred descriptions. They're for the most part skimmable but not entirely avoidable, so those who are bothered by intensely gruesome books will want to give this one a pass.

That said, if you don't mind the occasional explicitly violent scene, The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires is a great escape; its compelling characters, fast pace and unique modern take on vampire literature make it a worthwhile read. I'd recommend it for book groups, as it raises good discussion questions surrounding friendships, spousal relationships and community responsibility.

Reviewed by Kim Kovacs

This review was originally published in The BookBrowse Review in April 2020, and has been updated for the June 2021 edition. Click here to go to this issue.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Read-Alikes

Read-Alikes Full readalike results are for members only

If you liked The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires, try these:

  • The Historian jacket

    The Historian

    by Elizabeth Kostova

    Published 2006

    About This book

    More by this author

    What does the legend of Vlad the Impaler have to do with the modern world? Is it possible that the Dracula of myth truly existed—and that he has lived on, century after century, pursuing his own unknowable ends? Elizabeth Kostova's debut novel is an adventure of monumental proportions, a relentless tale that blends fact and fantasy, ...

  • Wolves of the Calla jacket

    Wolves of the Calla

    by Stephen King

    Published 2005

    About This book

    More by this author

    The Wolves of Thunderclap and their unspeakable depredation are coming. To resist them is to risk all, but these are odds the gunslingers are used to, and they can give the Calla-folken both courage and cunning.

We have 4 read-alikes for The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires, but non-members are limited to two results. To see the complete list of this book's read-alikes, you need to be a member.
More books by Grady Hendrix
Search read-alikes
How we choose read-alikes

Top Picks

  • Book Jacket
    The Rest of You
    by Maame Blue
    At the start of Maame Blue's The Rest of You, Whitney Appiah, a Ghanaian Londoner, is ringing in her...
  • Book Jacket: The Book of George
    The Book of George
    by Kate Greathead
    The premise of The Book of George, the witty, highly entertaining new novel from Kate Greathead, is ...
  • Book Jacket: The Sequel
    The Sequel
    by Jean Hanff Korelitz
    In Jean Hanff Korelitz's The Sequel, Anna Williams-Bonner, the wife of recently deceased author ...
  • Book Jacket: My Good Bright Wolf
    My Good Bright Wolf
    by Sarah Moss
    Sarah Moss has been afflicted with the eating disorder anorexia nervosa since her pre-teen years but...

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    Pony Confidential
    by Christina Lynch

    In this whimsical mystery, a grumpy pony must clear his beloved human's name from a murder accusation.

Who Said...

At times, our own light goes out, and is rekindled by a spark from another person.

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

X M T S

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.