The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires

A Novel

by Grady Hendrix

General Fiction (Adult) | Horror

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General Fiction (Adult) | Horror

Pub Date

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Description

The New York Times Best Seller
#1 April LibraryReads Pick
April Indie Next Pick
Goodreads Big Book of Spring

Steel 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.

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.

A Note From the Publisher

#1 LibraryReads Pick for April | Amazon Best Book of the Month | April 2020 Indie Next Pick | 4 Starred Trade Reviews from Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, Booklist, and BookPage

Advance Praise

“[A] clever, addictive vampire thriller….This powerful, eclectic novel both pays homage to the literary vampire canon and stands singularly within it.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Hendrix has masterfully blended the disaffected housewife trope with a terrifying vampire tale, and the anxiety and tension are palpable...a cheeky, spot-on pick for book clubs.”—Booklist, starred review

“Hendrix cleverly sprinkles in nods to well-established vampire lore, and the fact that he's a master at conjuring heady 1990s nostalgia is just the icing on what is his best book yet. Fans of smart horror will sink their teeth into this one.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires is funny and warm and it’s genuinely creepy and disturbing. Grady re-creates a time and place without the dangerous, distortive lens of nostalgia.”—Paul Tremblay, author of A Head Full of Ghosts and The Cabin at the End of the World

“Grady Hendrix has cemented his place as a literary luminary with The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires. Hendrix has taken his genuine affection for housewives and their work, and folded it seamlessly into a horrifying story of social decay and community betrayal. Cancel your plans and lock your doors—you won’t be able to stop reading this one until the very end”—Sarah Gailey, Hugo-Award winning author of Magic for Liars

“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.”—Stephen Graham Jones, author of The Only Good Indians

“[A] clever, addictive vampire thriller….This powerful, eclectic novel both pays homage to the literary vampire canon and stands singularly within it.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Hendrix has...

Available Editions

EDITION	Other Format
ISBN	9781683691433
PRICE	$22.99 (USD)

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Additional Information

Average rating from 289 members

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Featured Reviews

Jess M, Librarian

My Recommendation

Sometimes you read a book where the premise is so good and the follow-through is so not and you feel so disappointed. And then sometimes you read a book where the premise is so good and the follow-through is even better and you fall in love with reading all over again. The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix is the latter. This is the second book I've read by Hendrix and while I liked My Best Friend's Exorcism and it technically exists in the same universe, The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires hit so many more of my bookish pleasure points.

This book is scary, twisty, weirdly sexy, and so good. There's a nice dose of social commentary mixed in with incredibly written horror. By giving the reader more information than the characters have at certain points in the story, Hendrix creates a narrative arc that is almost impossible to put down. You can't help but root for Patricia and her book club friends to kick vampire ass while also showing their ungrateful families what's up. I've consumed a lot of vampire pop culture and Hendrix knocks this one out of the park. I should also note a cw for sexual violence among other more typical horror tropes.

Recommended for readers who want to read a book that doesn't hedge its bets. The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires goes there and doesn't apologize one bit.

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Joshua F, Librarian

My Recommendation

Just read this.  It is a fun and fast read.  It is a wonderful and campy take set in the south.  It is an enjoyable distraction from life, and you will find yourself wanting to talk about it when finished.
Highly recommended.

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Trevor O, Librarian

My Recommendation

I look forward to Grady Hendrix's new material much like a long overdue vacation, or winning some ungodly sum of money -- a lot, to say the least! His work continues to get better and better with each release, and that has to be a difficult feat, as it's so damn good already! This had moments where I felt a Jack Ketchum "Girl Next Door" vibe, of the real horrors that go on behind closed doors in polite society. Also, much like Jonathan Janz in "Dust Devils" and Glenn Rolfe in the forthcoming, "Until Summer Comes Around" gives readers a refreshing, original, atypical take on a classic monster. At times funny, and at others, downright scary & stressful, this will be in my "best of" list for 2020.

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Kaye B, Bookseller

My Recommendation

This book absolutely ruled and I can’t wait to sell it at my store. This book makes vampires scary again. I ripped through this super quickly, and it’s absolutely my favorite of Grady Hendrix’s books

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