The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires

Hardcover, 408 pages

Published April 7, 2020 by Quirk Books.

ISBN:: 978-1-68369-143-3

(2 reviews)

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 …

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.

6 editions

technicat@bookwyrm.social reviewed The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix

The characters are great, and even the vampire has his moments, but otherwise the men are duds

4 stars

I resumed reading and actually managed to finish this book, which considering I'm not really into vampire stories or horror in general (I like Stephen King's writing but can't manage to get through one of this long long books), is a testament. What really moves it along are the characters portrayed humorously and sympathetically, singly and together, in a bit of a Desperate Housewives manner (with completely unreliable and cardboard character men as the counterparts) except when it gets really gross and violent, so I was in danger of stopping again close to the end, but I powered through to the somewhat satisfying and a little bit open-ended conclusion (I wouldn't be surprised if the author had visions of a Netflix series dancing in his head - Desperate Vampire-Killing Housewives?)

Marcus K. reviewed The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix

Review of "The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires" on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

A good fun thriller, I enjoyed it. There is not as much on the horror and vampires, a few good scenes, but mostly about the families and what happens when a vampire comes to the prim-and-proper suburbs in the South.