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Format: Hardcover
Description
Steel Magnolias meets Dracula in this New York Times best-selling horror novel about a women's book club that must do battle with a mysterious newcomer to their small Southern town. “This funny and fresh take on a classic tale manages to comment on gender roles, racial disparities, and white privilege all while creeping me all the way out. So good.”—Zakiya Dalila Harris, author of The Other Black Girl 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. Steel Magnolias meets Dracula in this darkly funny Southern gothic horror novelPerfect for fans of horror with social commentary, thriller readers, and book clubsBlends true-crime obsession, supernatural mystery, and feminist themes Join the book club—but don’t invite the wrong neighbor inside. Read more
Publisher : Quirk Books
Publication date : April 7, 2020
Language : English
Print length : 408 pages
ISBN-10 : 1683691431
ISBN-13 : 33
Item Weight : 1.49 pounds
Dimensions : 6.34 x 1.34 x 9.29 inches
Best Sellers Rank: #56,419 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #2 in Vampire Horror #3 in Vampire Thrillers #10 in Witch & Wizard Thrillers
#2 in Vampire Horror:
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Top Amazon Reviews
Format: Kindle
Title: The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires Author: Grady Hendrix Genre: Supernatural Thriller Audio: Bahni Turpin Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Whew. Slow breath. This marks the beginning of my journey into the world of Grady Hendrix. He honestly flew under the radar for me, and that is a crime. The story is incredibly complex and yet easy to follow, so my discussion might be a bit longer. No worries, I won’t reveal any significant plot points, which should help keep things from getting too out of hand. Our protagonist, Patricia Campbell, tells this story from a limited third-person point of view. Patty (as her friends call her) is the picture-perfect wife, mother, and Southern lady… or so we think. To be frank, Patty is somewhat dissatisfied with her home life and career choices now that her kids are getting older, having left nursing to be a housewife. I’m not entirely sure if she genuinely wanted to do this, especially since her husband, who is a psychologist, can be pretty manipulative and completely overbearing. I must admit, the men in this book made me so angry that I could practically taste the rage. I had a strong and immediate dislike for almost every single one of them in this book, so consider yourself warned. If themes like misogyny, abuse, and manipulation bother you, then this story may not be for you. Getting back to Patty… As an avid reader, Patty was part of a book club, but the books they chose felt dull and uninspiring. After being selected to lead a book discussion on a novel she hadn’t read (and being totally humiliated when caught), she started her own book club, where they could discuss true crime and serial killer books. I know. I know., I know. I, too, wished to be a member of that book club. But the introduction of the book club is the last semi-normal thing that happens in this book, so buckle up. Now, I will tell you that this book is noticeably manic in all the best ways. I experienced a range of emotions, from tears and laughter to outbursts of anger. The humor had me in stitches. The uncomfortable horror elements were effectively juxtaposed with deeply moving social commentary about economic inequality, racism, gender power dynamics, toxic religious undertones, narcissism, and domestic abuse, making for a powerful and relevant narrative. These themes were expertly integrated into the narrative and never felt overdone. I was so engrossed that I listened at all hours, and last night, for the first time in my reading journey, I wore my headphones to bed and listened to the ending in the dark. The moment it was over, I remained there, contemplating the ending and understanding its purpose. It’s important for me to mention Bahni Turpin as well! This woman’s performance was incredible, as she played a whole cast of characters, drawing me in so completely that I forgot it was a single narrator. For audiobook lovers, this one is a must-listen. It truly was remarkable. Sigh. I honestly believe that Grady Hendrix trapped lightning in a bottle with this story, and I'm left with a book hangover, the kind you savor. I assure you, The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires will become a beloved treasure on your bookshelves. Happy reading, and keep the windows closed and the lights on.
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Reviewed in the United States on October 4, 2025 by Rue Volley
Format: Hardcover
“The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampire’s” is a bit of a misnomer. You don’t really get a “guide” and there is just the one “vampire”, and the lore around that particular vampire is unlike any I’m familiar with. But that was part of the fun of this book. Or, not fun, as this was an intense commentary on gaslighting, sexism, and racism in Charleston in the early 90’s. Or as intense of a commentary as a white man can make, but I think the point was infuriatingly well made. And while there is no mystery around the vampire, even if it takes these housewives awhile to see it for themselves, the writing was easy and creepy and managed to make me absolutely rage at all the right places. This book really was a look into just how vital the invisible support system of running a household is, the overlooked emotional labor, and just how overtly that gets taken advantage of, in no small part thanks to the burden of hospitality ingrained in each of these women. This was my first book by this author so I was a bit hesitant at first as horror is hit or miss for me, but I thoroughly enjoyed this satirical horror story. I am a new mom and a big true crime fan so already the ladies in this book resonated with me. These moms, despite being very different from one another, are all easy to like and root for. And it’s also very easy to wish every single one of their husbands would burn in a fire. And that’s before the “villain” shows up. But really, James isn’t just a vampire. He’s a symbol of the socio-economic divide between communities. The fact that no one cared about what he did in the poorer, predominately Black neighborhoods until it started to affect the upper-class white neighborhoods, for example. It would have been nice if Mrs. Greene was more of a main character for that very reason, but as Patricia was the only main character in the entire book club, I’ll try not to get hung up on it too much. This book is satire, and while some people may claim it feels more like the 1950’s instead of the 1990s, I KNOW a lot of places in the South still operate the way Hendrix portrays this community (I lived in a suburb of New Orleans for a few years and can attest to that). Hendrix may be the only male writer I’ve read that really captured the utter rage and frustration of how these women are constantly talked over and how condescending their husbands are to them. I honestly went to bed mad so many times because of it, but that was also the point, so kudos to the author there. However the book is a bit slow in the middle. Which is why I am giving it 4 stars; the pacing was my only real issue. It felt like it took such a long time for the housewives to go up against James in, as Hendrix says, “Dracula vs. my mom” once Patricia knows what she’s up against. When the showdown did happen, it was perfectly gory and unsettling and Patricia and Kitty were so clutch that I was mentally clapping for them the entire time. Even Slick and Grace, who I liked the least, had my sympathy at the end and I wanted nothing more than for them to win. Well, maybe not Grace so much, but I liked how Ms. Greene called her out, too. The ending was a little bittersweet, but it also felt right for the characters and their families, as well. All this to say, not only did I really enjoy this book, but I’m excited to read more by this author in the future!
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Reviewed in the United States on May 18, 2023 by Chelscey
Format: Kindle
Though he’s regarded by some as drenched in irony and snark, I’ve never found Grady Hendrix’s forays into horror to be less than great, embracing all sorts of horror tropes with the ease of an expert, all while finding some way to marry the themes of the horror to something larger – the dangers of defining yourself by your work in Horrorstör, for instance, or the way that we grow apart from our friends as filtered through demonic possession in My Best Friend’s Exorcism. And in Hendrix’s hands, The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires turns from a typical vampire novel a la Salem’s Lot (mysterious stranger comes to small town, etc.) into an exploration of motherhood and what it’s like to try to find your way through parenting when you can’t even find time for yourself. That metaphor isn’t quite as tight as usual for Hendrix, which both frees up the book to go in different directions but also makes it a little looser in terms of structure, with some odd beats that never quite feel tied into the novel. (I can’t help but feel there was more to the story of our main character’s son than ended up in the final version of the story, where it simply feels disquieting but also unresolved.) But the result is a pretty fun tale about a group of suburban women who start bonding after they start a book club that’s less pretentious than the “official” one, becoming tight friends and each other’s lifelines when life is hard. And when a young man named James Harris moves in down the street, as good Southern women, they want to reach out, but, well, he’s never that active during the day, and the windows are darkened… Hendrix nicely leans into the dramatic irony brought about by the name of the book, letting the reader be aware of what’s going on well before the main characters, but that doesn’t stop him from taking the idea of vampires into far more unexpected territory, as Harris both plays to the desire for money by the men folk and the willingness of a small town to overlook crimes happening in the Black neighborhoods of the city. Indeed, if there’s another central conceit to the novel beyond the motherhood one, it’s the reframing of the vampire not as the romantic Count Dracula, but as the wandering serial killer, one without ties, human morality, or any connection to the world around him, and in doing so, Hendrix gives us a vampire that’s both true to our ideas of the creature and yet doesn’t remind us of anyone but himself – a hard thing to do in vampire fiction these days. I really enjoyed Book Club a lot; yes, the book isn’t quite as thematically tight as Hendrix’s other works, but it gains from the way that that looseness allows Hendrix to take the plot into ways that examine classism, sexism, racism, parenting, suburbia, and more, all while never forgetting that he’s delivering a horror novel and has to bring the goods on that front. And he definitely does here, with a few knockout sequences that show that there’s more to Hendrix than the unfair labels that have been put on him by some. For my money, Hendrix is four for four, and Book Club is just further proof that he’s not just a lover of pulp horrors, but a solid writer for any horror fan to enjoy.
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Reviewed in the United States on April 13, 2021 by Josh Mauthe
Format: Kindle
Overall it was a good book. Took me only a few days to read which means it kept my attention. But I just can’t decide if I really enjoyed it or was just slight curious what was going to happen. There were some inconsistencies, there was more detail than there needed to be, and yet I don’t know if changing those would help. It’s definitely worth reading, but also I can foresee some people finding it just too hard to finish. 3.5 stars
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Reviewed in the United States on August 13, 2025 by Marissa L.
Format: Kindle
I first became aware of Grady Hendrix a number of years ago, when he gave his Paperbacks from Hell presentation at a Writer's Retreat I attended, and the man was funny. Downright hysterical. I don't remember the last time I laughed so hard. So naturally, I assumed his books would be just as funny. So on my next trip to the bookstore, I grabbed a copy of Horrorstor... And hated it. The book just wasn't funny. No, wait... I take that back. There were maybe two funny lines in the entire book, and they occurred very early on in the book. Like maybe Chapter 1. Possibly Chapter 2. The rest was a slog with a bunch of very unlikable characters. I wanted to give the author another chance, though. I mean, everyone is entitled to have an off day (off book), so it was with some reluctance that I picked up The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires. It was described as Steel Magnolias meets Dracula, and I like both of those, and while it didn't WOW! me, I did end up enjoying it more than my previous excursion into Hendrix Country. The premise is nothing new: handsome stranger (James Harris), who is not who or what he claims to be, worms his way into the lives of a close-knit community, while on the outskirts of town, children are either disppearing or committing suicide. The events happen to coincide with each other, but is he responsible? Patricia Campbell eventually stumbles onto the man's secret and takes it to her book club, and it's up to them to put an end to his reign of terror. But it's not as simple as it sounds because Patricia can't come right out and say the man is a vampire. Who would believe here? They don't even want to believe her when she accuses the man of being a child molester and a drug pusher who's selling drugs to children. It takes her three years to finally gather enough evidence, but even then they're reluctant to believe her because Mr. Harris has so firmly ingrained within their circle as an upstanding citizen, best friend and business partner to their husbands, and becomes idolized by their children. And as long as he doesn't hurt those within the community, that he continues to target the "poor" part of town, they're content to look the other way. But Patricia won't let it rest, and it's only when he attacks one of the book club members and sets his sights on Patricia's children that they decide something needs to be done. While the book isn't as funny as I wanted it to be after seeing Hendrix's presentation, it does have its moments that had me chuckling, and it was 100x better than Horrorstor. There's a large cast of characters you need to keep track of, not all of which are likeable, but if feel like Hendrix drew a line on the floor and told all the good characters need to be on one side, and the bad characters on the other, and after everyone had chosen their sides, it's pretty much guys vs girls, which pretty much reflects the southern society of the time. I did find the pacing to be inconsistent. The book starts of strong, but about halfway through, it flatlines, at least for me (at this point I almost put the book aside), and doesn't pick up again until you're about three-quarters of the way through, at which point it moves like an express train toward the climax. Would I recommend it? If you only read "serious" horror, I don't think this is the book for you, but if you don't mind your horror on the light side with a smattering of humor, it's definitely worth checking out. 4/5 stars But now I need a tie breaker. Which Hendrix book should I read next? Hmmmm...
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Reviewed in the United States on November 20, 2024 by M. J. Evans
Format: Kindle
This book was a quick and entertaining read. I just have a couple of critiques. MC’s husband is a trope throughout the entire book. I’m not sure if this was intended, but his character was very annoying and one dimensional. Another problem is the character Mrs. Green. She was simply a background character for the first act, then became a featured character in the second and especially the third act. It seemed to come out of nowhere. This character was also extremely annoying. Every time she spoke it was to blame the housewives for one thing or another. She was very entitled, especially for a person of little means. It made her an unlikable character with little substance. I would have liked to have seen this character written with strength and heart, rather than bitterness and entitlement. It would have really added to the story instead of detracting from it. Other than that, I really enjoyed the book.
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Reviewed in the United States on June 10, 2026 by Sodapants
Format: Kindle
“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.” ― Grady Hendrix I love a great vampire story, unfortunately, they're hard to find. The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires did not disappoint. This is a Southern-gothic horror novel reminiscent of Flannery O’ Connor’s style of writing, specifically, her short story, A Good Man Is Hard To Find. Set in Charleston South Carolina during the early to mid-1990s, a group of housewives forms a book club that focuses on true-crime literature. Aside from the disturbing subject matter they read, their lives are relatively placid and filled with the everyday routines of keeping house for their husbands and children. The main protagonist, Patricia is enthralled and somewhat ashamed of the subject matter she and her friends read in the book club. At times, though, she feels angst toward the direction her life has taken, how unremarkable and humdrum it’s become. She wishes that just once something exciting would happen. Excitement does come in the form of a new neighbor, James Harris. It’s unclear where James is from, his story changes depending on whom he’s talking to, and James has some strange habits. Over the course of Patricia’s friendship with James, disturbing aspects of his character come to light. When Patricia learns that her neighbor is not who he pretends to be, but someone or something that may be preying on the community, she makes it her mission to stop him, but James has already gained the trust of Patricia’s husband and the husbands of her friends. This is a well-written novel, with rich descriptions that run from idyllic, to unsettling, to masterfully grotesque. The dialogue is sprinkled with southernisms, the characters likable and deeply flawed. As a reader you are lulled into Patricia’s domestic world, her everyday worries of laundry, school lunches, and house cleaning, and the warm friendships she forms with the other women in the book club. The club is a place for them to get away and let their hair down a bit, drink cheap wine, read trashy novels, eat junky snacks and take a whack at dissecting the mindset of serial killers. Quirky and sometimes darkly humorous, The Southern Book Club’s Guide To Slaying Vampires also reads likes a cozy mystery. It uses the tropes of small-town life, and a benign cozy activity the characters revolve around, in this case, the book club, Patricia acting as the amateur sleuth. Yet, the author also makes a mockery of small-town southern life and its pleasantries, as well as the traditional gender roles, exaggerating them so that it almost feels a little Stepford, a little nineteen fiftyish, although it’s the 1990s. A parallel theme in this tale is the banality of the kept woman and her smothered potential, niceties, and etiquette standing in for true feelings or truth in general until one’s life becomes a sort of aberration. Etiquette is the aide that holds Patricia’s community in the diabolical grip of the smiling well-mannered new-comer, and it takes our protagonist a long time, years, in fact, for her to realize that she needs to throw her nice girl cloak off and finally get real before she loses everything.
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Reviewed in the United States on November 3, 2020 by C.A. Wittman
Format: Hardcover
Judging by the title alone, I wasn't sure this would be my kind of book. I'm a massive horror fan, and I expected this to be just a lighthearted jab at the vampire genre. In truth, had my own book club not chosen it, I'm not sure I would have picked it up. I'd heard good things about the author in the past, but never read any of his work, so I didn't really know what to expect. I have to say, I'm quite pleased. The author definitely deserves his reputation. Admittedly, this is not a traditional horror novel. It doesn't have scares all the way through. It has some good scares balanced with some excellent character building, and more than a little wit. But I have to say, when Hendrix does write a thrilling scene, he does it right! This isn't the kind of horror novel that'll make you sleep with your lights on, but it does maintain tension throughout, and when that tension peaks, you'll find yourself white-knuckling your way to the next page in a way very few authors could pull off. Combined with a plot that's at once original and respectful of vampire tropes in general and you end up with a hell of a book. Unfortunately, there's one significant flaw. As good horror often does, the book veers occasionally into social commentary. I'll go into more detail in a "spoiler" section below, but suffice it to say that while the social commentary did make for engaging reading in the moment, it was a bit too heavy-handed, and ultimately detracted from one character's realism and slightly marred my enjoyment of the book. Don't get me wrong, though. I still loved the book and I still recommend it. But when compared to the rest of the book, which can only be described as masterful, one of the book's major political themes falls a little flat. Minor spoilers in this paragraph only: The political issue in question has to do with sexism and husband-wife relationships. In the novel, one of the ways the vampire is successful is by integrating himself into the community. In particular, he "corrupts" the men of the community. This results in the men being frankly dismissive of their wives' concerns. Fair enough; that's an interesting subplot. However, it's taken to extremes when ALL of the men in the book are portrayed as domineering husbands, particularly (but not exclusively) with regards to their wives' suspicions. Characters thinking their spouses are delusional is interesting, but when it's divided perfectly along gender lines, it begins to feel a little forced. It's particularly forced in the character of Carter, who starts off seeming like a respectable husband and a respectable psychiatrist and ends up rapidly devolving to the point that he feels like a moustache-twirling villain who behaves poorly toward his wife AND poorly as a psychiatrist. Clearly, he's meant to be under the influence of the vampire, but he never becomes so corrupted as to lose his mind (a la Renfield) and yet also never seems to struggle at all with his behavior. Frankly, I don't buy it, and this puts a stain on what I otherwise consider a masterful novel. Despite this single flaw, this remains a great book. I highly recommend it. I'm more than happy my book club turned me on to it, and I'll definitely be reading the author's other works.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 9, 2020 by Bob Lewis