Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.

Start by marking “The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires” as Want to Read:

Other editions

Enlarge cover

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Open Preview

The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires

Grady Hendrix (Goodreads Author)

3.83 · Rating details · 57,701 ratings · 10,471 reviews

Fried Green Tomatoes and Steel Magnolias meet Dracula in this Southern-flavored supernatural thriller set in the '90s about a women's book club that must protect its suburban community from a mysterious and handsome stranger who turns out to be a blood-sucking fiend.

Patricia Campbell had always planned for a big life, but after giving up her career as a nurse to marry an a ...more

Get A Copy

Kindle Edition, 400 pages

Published April 7th 2020 by Quirk Books

More Details... Edit Details

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Reader Q&A

To ask other readers questions about The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones

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

Best Horror of 2020

147 books — 295 voters

House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas

The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune

Best books of 2020

1,058 books — 1,305 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

Showing 1-30

Average rating 3.83 ·

Rating details

· 57,701 ratings · 10,471 reviews

More filters

Sort order

Start your review of The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires

Apr 08, 2020 Kai rated it did not like it

Shelves: owned

People's refusal to see sexism and harmful representation when it looks them straight in the face is what led this book to have such great reviews. Some even applaud the (male) author for being so good at writing female characters and I sit here flabbergasted, trying make my brain comprehend how they came to that conclusion.

Let's get the obvious out of the way: I'm a white man so clearly my perspective is limited. I'm stating how I perceived the book and as someone who is super keen to read book People's refusal to see sexism and harmful representation when it looks them straight in the face is what led this book to have such great reviews. Some even applaud the (male) author for being so good at writing female characters and I sit here flabbergasted, trying make my brain comprehend how they came to that conclusion.

Let's get the obvious out of the way: I'm a white man so clearly my perspective is limited. I'm stating how I perceived the book and as someone who is super keen to read books by authors (preferably OwnVoices) that care about good representation, this one fell awfully flat. Did a big ugly noise when it landed, too. Most people that left reviews on here seem to be white as well, which might explain the missing criticism of the representation of women, but especially POCs in this book.

I was so excited to read it. The title tells you everything you need to know about the book and the cover is gorgeous. It's a quick read and I finished it in less than a day (mostly because I wanted to get it over with and didn't want to have to pick it up again the next day). But honestly, the first 200 pages or so were decent. I enjoyed myself. I noticed that the Black characters in the book were only ever unnamed waiters or caregivers without speaking roles and it felt iffy, but I was ready to give the author the benefit of the doubt. He still had a lot of pages to turn things around.

I guess what's helpful to know is that the book is set in America's Deep South in the 80's and 90's. But the author took that as an excuse to push Black characters to the sidelines. Mrs Greene, a Black woman hired to take care of the main character's mother, eventually becomes part of the vampire slaying book club, but the white saviour narrative displayed in the book is still tasteless. To add insult to injury, it seems like the evil vampire is also a racist one because he only ever murders Black people. And this leads us to another role that Black characters had in the novel: to be killed. Either through lynchings or through the hands of the vampire. And of course all Black people in the book lived in a poor settlement where the female white main characters had to be scared to walk the streets. Now you can cry "BUT historical accuracy!" but honestly, there's a vampire in this book, so your argument is invalid. If a vampire is more realistic than a Black person with a degree or a nice suburban house, there's definitely something wrong.

I could probably say more but one of the reasons why I was so attentive when it came to the representation was Mikki Kendall's Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot, which was the last book I read before I picked this one up. While the two books aren't at all related, Mikki Kendall's essays about structural racism, privilege, white feminism, etc. made a stark contrast to this Vampire slaying book. So I guess what I'm saying is, if you're still debating reading The Southern Book Club's Guide to Vampire Slaying, consider picking up Hood Feminism instead.

I do want to talk about the presentation of the female characters though. I've seen a few reviewers call the characters one dimensional and crude, which is accurate. I guess the more I read, the less willing I was to let things slide and soon both plot and characters completely deteriorated. None of these women seemed to be able to pick a husband that isn't a dick, none of them gave a damn about female friendships and they acted irrationally around their children, too. I'm not advocating for female characters to be respectable so they can be called feminist. That's not how it works. But when you intend to write good rep and this is all you come up with, then that's not exactly what I would call fully fleshed complex female characters. But of course, this male horror author had to go one step further. Of course he had to make unnecessary comments about their breasts and pubes, of course horror wouldn't be horror if female characters didn't experience physical violation of their bodies in the form of rape and abuse. No, your book is not feminist just because your female characters say "That's sexist" once. I'm really tired of horror authors relying on tropes like the violation of women's bodies (and Nazi symbolism, just to throw that in too) to create discomfort. It's like comedians that can only be "funny" when they ridicule women and marginalised people.

Oh one thing I'd like to add: this, let's call it "shortcoming" is not just the author's fault. We tend to forget that behind a published book there's a team of editors, there's a publisher that decided to give the book a nice cover and release it the way it was. It's this whole industry that needs to do better, that needs to check their priorities and their privilege. Or else we'll get more questionable books like this.

At the end of the day there was no room left for any shred of patience on my part, which is why I'm giving this a really bitter rating of one star. ...more

flag 1496 likes · Like · see review

Apr 09, 2020 Emily May rated it it was amazing

Shelves: paranormal-uf, 2020

Then she got in her Volvo and hoped Grace was right and this was all just a product of the overactive imagination of a stupid little housewife with too much free time on her hands. If it was, she promised herself, tomorrow she would vacuum her curtains.

I FREAKIN' LOVED THIS. I loved every single dark, funny, gory minute of this book. I'm in no way qualified to talk about best and worst books, but I can say with absolute certainty that this is my favourite book so far this year.

For the first few chapters of The Southern Book Club, I thought I had it pegged as the easiest, breeziest, sweet tea & pecan pie of a novel. A kind of True Blood, if Sookie Stackhouse was ten years older and ran a book club. Which, don't get me wrong, sounds utterly fabulous, but it actually ended up being way more than I expected. It goes to some really dark places, so a quick warning to those sensitive to sexual assault and domestic abuse (off-page).

I'm not quite sure how best to describe this. In some ways, it's a heartwarming and funny story about a - you guessed it - Southern book club. There's so much female friendship and a good few laughs, but despite how the title and cover look, it isn't campy like I feared. In fact, as well as being fun, this book made me really frustrated and angry in parts. I hate it (and can't stop angry-reading) when women are patronized and gaslighted. Reading about gaslighting really makes me anxious, and the way the women in this book are talked down to because they are "silly" housewives made my blood boil.

But that's the whole point. In the author's note, Hendrix states that he "wanted to pit Dracula against my mom". It's a nod to those women who carry out the majority of the childcare and household chores, as well as shouldering the emotional burden. And, hell, these housewives might vacuum their curtains and freeze 60 sandwiches at the beginning of the month for school lunches, but they have some serious claws.

In every book we read, no one ever thought anything bad was happening until it was too late. This is where we live, it’s where our children live, it’s our home. Don’t you want to do absolutely everything you can to keep it safe?”

Patricia has read enough true crime novels to know a threat when she sees it. So when a mysterious stranger comes to town and threatens their neighborhood and their children, Patrica, Kitty, Maryellen, Slick, Grace and Mrs. Greene are absolutely NOT about to take it lying down. God, I love these women. They're not the stereotypical "badass heroines", which makes them so truly, genuinely badass. The book lightly pokes fun at them, but in a warm, good-natured way.

“How’s your ear?”
“She swallowed part of it,” Patricia said.
“I’m so sorry,” Slick said. “Those really were nice earrings.”

Normally I would summarize at the end of my review by saying how "fun" or "intense" or "moving" it was, but I don't know which angle to go for because this book was all those things. This book made me laugh and it made me anxious and I just loved it. It's too bad that it ended in a perfect place because I would definitely sign up for a Southern Book Club series.

Facebook | Instagram ...more

flag 1335 likes · Like · see review

Apr 21, 2020 Grady Hendrix rated it it was amazing · (Review from the author)

Shelves: southern-book-club-s-guide-research

I really think that Grady Hendrix has written his best book yet, and he did it all while dressed as a penguin. Not a lot of people know this, but in the two years it took him to write SOUTHERN BOOK CLUB he wore the exact same penguin costume every day while he wrote. By the time this book was finished that costume was a rancid, disgusting mess and he had to have it pulled from his body by hooks and burned because it was a biohazard.

flag 1013 likes · Like · see review

Oct 16, 2020 Kat rated it it was ok

no!!!! i think the fuck not!!!

(shoutout to zac for journeying through the madness w me tho!)

flag 622 likes · Like · see review

Apr 16, 2020 Nilufer Ozmekik rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

My vote for Goodreads choice awards for horror genre!
I truly deeply madly in love with this book! More than five gazillion stars! Somebody has to stop my fingers adding entire books of the author to my nearly collapsing Mount TBR! But I cannot stop with only one book. Can I?

They defined this book as mash up of Steel Magnolias-Fried Green Tomatoes and Dracula! No, sir: this is Stepford Wives and Southern Desperate Housewives meet True Blood!

This book is not easy, entertaining reading! It is so ...more

flag 520 likes · Like · see review

Jun 09, 2020 Claudia Ramírez rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2020, cover-love, favorites

But more like 4.5 stars. I LOVED THIS.

flag 320 likes · Like · see review

May 26, 2020 megs_bookrack rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

Patricia Campbell has a full life, but she wouldn't necessarily call it fulfilling.

With the majority of her time being dedicated to her family, the one thing she has for herself are the evenings spent with her friends, the ladies of the 'Murderinos' Book Club.

The Club consists of like-minded Southern housewives, who discuss True Crime and other less savory topics.

Cleverly, different sections of the book are titled after real-life True Crime books. These are based upon what the Club is reading d ...more

flag 317 likes · Like · see review

May 19, 2020 Melissa rated it did not like it

Shelves: 2020, dnf, not-for-me

DNF @ 63%

Go ahead, call me a quitter. I can take it. In fact, I own it.

Touted as Fried Green Tomatoes and Steel Magnolias meet Dracula—unfounded comparisons in my opinion—this novel at times felt like too much, yet somehow not enough.

Much like the bored housewives within these pages who find themselves bogged down with daily chores, family obligations, child-rearing, and their sexist and controlling husbands, I yearned for more. The author loosely connects these women with a book club that take ...more

flag 281 likes · Like · see review

Jan 20, 2020 Chelsea Humphrey rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: from-publisher, bookstagram-made-me-do-it, scared-suspense-reads

Yes, there were some gruesome moments, but the shiny appeal that this book brought was the portrayal of the resilience and underestimated power of the "common" housewife.

*Many thanks to the publisher for providing my review copy. ...more

flag 272 likes · Like · see review

May 07, 2020 Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audio, horror-etc, kindle-own, library-book

UPDATE: $3.99 Kindle US today 10/25/20

I wanted to smack everyone in this damn book! But that ending was 5 star crazy don’t mess with the ladies!

Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾 ...more

flag 272 likes · Like · see review

Jul 11, 2020 Yun rated it it was ok · review of another edition

I know I shouldn't judge a book by its title, but The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires got me real good. It sounds like a fun, lighthearted take on slaying vampires, mixed in with some Southern hospitality and book club joviality. And it started out that way. But then it went somewhere else altogether.

If I were to sum up this book with two words, it would be gory and gross. Every time I picked it up, I would read some passages on rats eating people alive, or cockroaches wiggling in ...more

flag 233 likes · Like · see review

May 24, 2019 karen rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: girls-gone-wild

oooh, goodreads choice awards finalist for best horror 2020! what will happen?

"I am not sure what the appropriate gesture is to make toward the family of the woman who bit off your ear, but if you felt absolutely compelled, I certainly wouldn’t take food.”

the thing that i am always forgetting about grady hendrix is that although his books have these zany and hilarious premises and are all decked out in wink-nudgey cover design:

haunted ikea!

teengirl exorcism!—like Beaches meets The Exorcist, onl ...more

flag 207 likes · Like · see review

May 04, 2020 David Putnam rated it liked it

I struggled with the rating of this book between three and four stars (so 3.5). I loved the opening, the voice of the character. The story was light and engaging. The characters are unique and the repartee real and enjoyable. I knew the premise of this book going in. I have always said that I will read anything-any genre as long as it is written well. Having said that I am not a big fan of vampire stories (although I truly loved The Passage and that was a vampire book of sorts). This author is g ...more

flag 209 likes · Like · see review

May 15, 2020 Brenda - Traveling Sisters Book Reviews rated it it was amazing

Shelves: traveling-sister-reads, edelweiss, good-one-for-a-group-read

4.5 stars

YaHoo!! Hot Diggity Dang! This is one brilliantly done story!!!

So how does what seems like a stereotyped, sexist story about southern woman in a book club turn into a skin-crawling, blood soaking story? Then turn into a refreshing, powering, brilliantly houmous story with meaningful character development. Well, Grady Hendrix does some mightly fine footwork here, and I couldn't help but analyze this story.

This one is not my normal story and one that was not on my radar to read, but aft ...more

flag 197 likes · Like · see review

Mar 08, 2020 Johann (jobis89) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

“Sometimes she craved a little danger. And that was why she had book club.”

FINALLY. I have found my first five star book of the year that wasn’t a reread or non-fiction! This book is basically Desperate Housewives set in the late 80s/early 90s and the housewives started a true crime book club, only for a vampire to move in down the street... sounds awesome, right?!

It’s a hell of a lot of fun, simply unputdownable, but it also tackles some more hefty issues that were relevant at the time, like th ...more

flag 198 likes · Like · see review

May 18, 2020 JanB rated it really liked it

Shelves: buddy-read-with-marialyce, 2020-reads, fiction

“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.”

There’s a reason southern woman are called steel magnolias. Their outer gentility belies their inner strength and fortitude. Underestimate them at your peril.

This book has a fun mix of satire, humor, and horror. Patricia Campbell and her friends have a classics book club but it’s stuffy and few enjoy it. When a friend gives Patricia a copy of a true cri ...more

flag 173 likes · Like · see review

May 12, 2020 Debra rated it really liked it

"We're not a lynch mob, we're a book club."

This book had me at the description of it being a cross between Fried Green Tomatoes, Steel Magnolias and Dracula! What’s not to love about that?

Patricia Campbell gave up her career as a nurse, to be stay at home Mother raising her two children with a distant husband. Her book club was her one escape. It was a place where she could indulge her love to true crime and suspenseful fiction.

When a man moves in next door, she is intrigued but her interes ...more

flag 177 likes · Like · see review

Oct 29, 2020 Miranda Reads rated it it was amazing

Shelves: published2020, audiobook, galentines

Just published my October Book Vlog and whew! It was a lot of reading but so worth it!

The Written Review

Patricia Campbell remembers what life was like before she gave into motherhood - she was an amazing nurse and strong-willed.

But marriage changed all that. She's now a stay-at-home mom and with the way her husband treats her...it is a sobering thought, the life that's ahead of her.

But at least she has book club.

Every meeting they go over the latest true-crime or grisly detective book. ...more

flag 162 likes · Like · see review

Dec 14, 2019 Nenia ✨️ I yeet my books back and forth ✨️ Campbell rated it really liked it

Shelves: horror, les-arcs-de-triomphes, vampires

Instagram || Twitter || Facebook || Amazon || Pinterest

My favorite work of Grady Hendrix's is actually his nonfiction collection of essays, PAPERBACKS FROM HELL, which is a loving homage to the horror genre that covers everything from Gothics to ghouls. As someone who reads pulps on the reg, I was excited to see someone else who appreciated trash as much as I do-- there's something about finding an out-of-print gem that nobody has heard of and getting everyone excited about reading it... it' ...more

flag 158 likes · Like · see review

Sep 21, 2020 Holly B rated it it was amazing

Shelves: had-to-finish, 2020-favorites-shelf, disturbing-content, read-in-2020, couldn-t-put-down

Five Fangs and a Big Toothy Grin!

Vampire parody and a group of southern book loving housewives with some very strange claims about the new guy next door!

I took a chance on this one and happy to say that it was a campy, creepy and wacky good time!!

I was craving something different when I picked it up (thanks again local library) and once I got started I just couldn't look away and the writing had me hooked. I found the tongue in cheek humor so entertaining and the horror parts were more creep ...more

flag 157 likes · Like · see review

Jan 26, 2021 Sumit RK rated it really liked it

It almost rare to see a combination of dark humor with blood-soaked horror and spine-chilling thriller but The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires manages to get it just right.

Patricia Campbell’s life has never felt duller. Her family is busy in their own world and she’s always busy with endless chores. The only thing keeping her sane is her book club, a close-knit group of women united by their love of true crime. One evening after book club, Patricia is viciously attacked by an elde It almost rare to see a combination of dark humor with blood-soaked horror and spine-chilling thriller but The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires manages to get it just right.

Patricia Campbell’s life has never felt duller. Her family is busy in their own world and she’s always busy with endless chores. The only thing keeping her sane is her book club, a close-knit group of women united by their love of true crime. 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. But soon the mysterious stranger turns out to be much more than imagined and Patricia’s life takes an inconceivable turn.
The story starts out well with a light and engaging tone. The characters are unique and the plot feels like a slice of real life. The author manages to craft the brilliantly layered story with dark humor, horror, and several twists and turns that will keep you hooked. The story manages to deliver several underlying messages including sexism, patriarchy, and domestic abuse. There is lots of blood and gore violence but the book manages to keep the story emotional and light, most of the time. Overall, the story starts as a fun read and it manages a nice mix of dark humor and horror till the end.

Hendrix gets most of the characters spot-on, From Patricia and her family to the lives of the five-book club members (Patricia, Grace, Maryellen, Slick, and Kitty) and their families. They might start off as typecasts but slowly they evolve into distinct characters of their own. I quite enjoyed the camaraderie between the women and I felt the book could have focused a lot more on the book club.

The book starts with a light and funny tone and slowly becomes more and darker as it reaches the end. Which in a way is disappointing because I was expecting it to stay light, unlike most horror stories. The author touches on several issues like sexism, child abuse, domestic abuse, etc. I wish the book had focused more on the characters in the book club because it feels like drifting away from the main story whenever it wasn’t. As a note of caution, the blood and gore in this book (quite graphic at times) may not be suitable for everyone’s tastes.

Overall, The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires is a fun book, full of quirky characters, blood, and gore with a unique story. It’s full of dark humor and some dark disturbing horror. If you are looking to read a horror story with a twist, this one is a must-read.

Many thanks to the publishers Quirk Books and Edelweiss for the ARC.
...more

flag 145 likes · Like · see review

Mar 08, 2020 Sadie Hartmann rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: cemetery-dance, night-worms

Review originally posted to Cemetery Dance April 1st, 2020
You might be a horror book consumer like me and have already bought into the Grady Hendrix brand. You come for the unique titles and clever packaging (My Best Friend’s Exorcism) but you stay for the alluring storytelling, memorable characters, and iconic cultural references.

Hendrix fans, this might be your new favorite. Within the first few chapters, I got a real sense of the author setting the pace. If you’re one of those book-bingers wh Review originally posted to Cemetery Dance April 1st, 2020
You might be a horror book consumer like me and have already bought into the Grady Hendrix brand. You come for the unique titles and clever packaging (My Best Friend’s Exorcism) but you stay for the alluring storytelling, memorable characters, and iconic cultural references.

Hendrix fans, this might be your new favorite. Within the first few chapters, I got a real sense of the author setting the pace. If you’re one of those book-bingers who jump in with both feet and start tearing through the story, let me caution you to slow down with this one and really savor the moments. There’s some masterful set-up going on in this book; some juicy nuances.

Patricia shows up to her Book Club and she’s supposed to lead the discussion, but motherhood and “life obstacles” have prevented any kind of self-care, let alone time to read a whole book (and a boring book at that). Instead of just coming clean, she decides to wing it and fake her understanding of the story hoping that by asking enough vague questions, the discussion will naturally give her enough clues to sound knowledgeable.

This scene is hysterical. The dialog, the characters, all the awkwardness of the moment—it’s almost like Grady Hendrix spent actual years in a woman’s book club. His focus on Patricia and her friends—their struggles with motherhood and married life—is why this book is so successful.

This is a vampire horror story, yes, but only as a vehicle to tell Patricia’s story—a woman with a thousand expectations put on her. Raising two kids and looking after an ailing mother-in-law, all while keeping up appearances.

At some point, members of the Book Club go rogue and instead of reading the typical literary go-to books (The Bridges of Madison County), they take a deep dive into the scandals of true crime novels. Around the same time, a strange man, James Harris, moves into the neighborhood under mysterious circumstances and befriends our attention-starved Patricia.

What might be mistaken as telegraphing the whole “vampire thing” is actually Grady Hendrix remixing a tired old trope, so don’t be tempted to exclaim, “I figured it out!” or “I knew this was happening!” You didn’t and you don’t. In the case of The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires, Grady Hendrix knows exactly what he’s doing. Everything you think you know was hinted at on purpose and everything that blows your mind at the end was Hendrix showing off.

Horror lovers who enjoy era-specific pop cultural references and a smart blend of vivid character-driven horror and humor will be well pleased. It’s everything Hendrix fans have come to expect from his exclusive brand of storytelling: Clever, compelling and plenty of chills. A new favorite!

Mother Horror blurb:

“Horror lovers who enjoy era-specific pop cultural references and a smart blend of vivid character-driven horror and humor will be well pleased. It’s everything Hendrix fans have come to expect from his exclusive brand of storytelling: Clever, compelling and plenty of chills. A new favorite!”
Full review coming to Cemetery Dance

If Melissa McCarty and Kathy Bates don't star in the movie version of this book--then what would even be the point?!
...more

flag 144 likes · Like · see review

Jul 12, 2020 MarilynW rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: edelweiss

I liked the writing of The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires very much except for the extreme, over the top, way too much (for me) gory and gross passages describing, in too much detail, rats, roaches (the worst!), spiders, blood sucking, like I never imagined it, horribleness. Picture a small, well to do community where no one locks their doors, the kids are safe playing outside until dark or even after dark, the men earn the income, and their high achieving housewives iron socks a I liked the writing of The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires very much except for the extreme, over the top, way too much (for me) gory and gross passages describing, in too much detail, rats, roaches (the worst!), spiders, blood sucking, like I never imagined it, horribleness. Picture a small, well to do community where no one locks their doors, the kids are safe playing outside until dark or even after dark, the men earn the income, and their high achieving housewives iron socks and sheets and vacuum curtains and keep the china and the silver cleaned and polished. The men also have their, not to be discussed, extracurricular activities while the women are bored out of their gourds, almost wishing for a murder or kidnapping or something interesting to happen.

Several of these women have a little book club where they alternate real life true crime (the higher the body count the better) and thriller fiction that can only hope to match the real life crime stories. So when Patricia begins to suspect something very wrong about a handsome newcomer to their community, her husband, his friends and even her book club members think that it's her imagination running wild, after all the real and fictional crimes she has been reading about with the book club. But, Patricia is really on to something with her suspicions about this newcomer. He IS a thing of fiction, come to life, and he is consuming and preying on the young and old of the area, with no one but Patricia thinking he is anything but a financial savior for their little community.

I'm giving this book 4 stars because, overall, I enjoyed it that much. But I had a really hard time with the detail of the descriptions of some of the really bad things happening in the book. One of the worst, for me, involved a roach and an ear but there is so much more gruesomeness going on in this book. And it is all described in the most vivid detail. I had to read this book as an over the top comedy horror story to handle how we could go from a Fried Green Tomatoes kind of vibe to something very dark and dirty, so quickly. Even during and after a huge bloody fight scene, the story is so very campy and I think the campiness is what allowed me to handle everything that is thrown at us in this book.

I want to add something to this review. Animals and people alike come to harm in this story because it's a vampire story. But I love a very touching scene in this book and for all my griping about gruesome, this book has the sweetest treatment of an old dog. It's very special and it meant a lot to me and that treatment has made me a big fan of this author.

Thank you to Quirk Books/Random House and Edelweiss for this ARC. ...more

flag 138 likes · Like · see review

Apr 17, 2020 Nataliya rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2020-reads

“I wanted to pit Dracula against my mom.
As you’ll see, it’s not a fair fight.”

I admit: this book tricked me. After the first few chapters I had it pegged as a lighthearted and delightful mildly satirical story about prim and proper Southern ladies banding together to defeat a supernatural evil over sweet tea and peach pie and something equally stereotypically Southern.

I was wrong. I did not see this coming.

“This story ends in blood.
Every story begins in blood: a squalling baby yanked fr

“I wanted to pit Dracula against my mom.
As you’ll see, it’s not a fair fight.”

“This story ends in blood.
Every story begins in blood: a squalling baby yanked from the womb, bathed in mucus and half a quart of their mother’s blood. But not many stories end in blood these days.”

It turned dark really quickly. Really dark. And not just rats-gnawing-on-people-to-death kind of dark. No, more mundane and therefore scarier dark: like child abuse, emotional and physical domestic abuse, gaslighting, manipulation, sexual assault and death kind of dark, punctuated at times by bright glimpses of strong female friendships and solidarity, finding common ground despite betrayals and prejudices and even dejected cowardice.

“You can’t stop me from going to the police,” Patricia said.
“I can’t stop you, Patty,” Carter said. “But I can inform them that I believe my wife is not in her right mind. Because the first person they’ll call isn’t a judge to get a search warrant; it’ll be your husband. Ed’s made sure of that.”

The humor and laughs of the first few chapters get slowly replaced by anxiety, unsettling discomfort and frequently almost helpless anger. Yes, some humor stays, but it also becomes dark, matching the absurd horror of the situation these women find themselves in.

“He lives in the Old Village. With us. There isn’t anything wrong with him because people who have something wrong with them don’t live here.”

Patricia Campbell and a few of her fellow middle-class suburban housewives form a book club where they pour over true crime stories until danger comes close to their sheltered manicured neighborhood. A mysterious new next-door neighbor’s arrival coincides with some strange happenings - including strange behavior and disappearances, especially children. But the newcomer has swiftly formed business and friendship ties with the women’s husbands, and the children affected are mostly from the wrong side of the tracks, and propriety, complacency and conformity impose their strict demands.

“We are men of standing in this community,” Bennett said. His voice carried extra weight because he hadn’t spoken yet. “Our children go to school here, we have spent our lives building our reputations, and y’all were going to make us laughingstocks because you’re a bunch of crazy housewives with too much time on your hands.”

My reaction to so many parts of this book was quite visceral. The mundanity and pervasiveness of everyday horrors as a backdrop to the supernatural horror managed to really deliver a gut punch - a bunch of gut punches, actually - and the empathy and frustration were painfully real. And isn’t it a point of books - to make you really feel?

“You protected yourself, but you didn’t do a thing for the children of Six Mile because they weren’t worthwhile to you. Well, now he’s coming after your children.”

It’s a pleasure to read a book that has both a compelling and engrossing story and a wonderful execution. The plot is tight, the storytelling is crisp, the pacing is consistent, the loose ends get tied up neatly. The characters are drawn perfectly, complex, life-like and very real, and avoid becoming caricaturish - something that a less skilled writer could have easily succumbed to. The setting is vivid and atmospheric and draws you in slowly and surely.

“A child is being hurt,” Patricia said. “Don’t any of you care?”
“Of course we care,” Kitty said. “But we’re a book club, not the police. What are we supposed to do?”

Well, sometimes you just need to do what needs to be done. Because, as we learn, in the end, “there’s nothing nice about Southern ladies.”

4.5 stars. ...more

flag 131 likes · Like · see review

Apr 08, 2020 Heather rated it really liked it

Shelves: adult-horror

What an insane, intense and gripping horror novel.

flag 128 likes · Like · see review

Apr 17, 2020 Bridgett rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

My first Grady Hendrix novel has me longing for more. This book was such a refreshing change of pace. I'm hooked.

I do, however, feel like I should offer some warnings to my fellow readers. While there are some laugh-out-loud sections, and while much of the book is lighthearted and fun, this book also delves into several dark, grisly, macabre places...and I loved every minute.

This was one of the most realistic portrayals of vampires I've read, and although I'm not from the South, the lopsided rel ...more

flag 124 likes · Like · see review

Jul 07, 2020 Tina rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, favourites, audio-books, audible, southern

This book was getting so much hype so I decided to check it out. It did not seem to be my regular type of reading material but the title intrigued me a lot and I listened to the Audio. What a magnificent surprise! There is so much packed into this little book and the audio was amazing! The narrator was exceptional and I loved her different voices for the characters and how she delivered the story. I was mesmerized! At times this was a humorous book with cute little Southern idioms and then it to ...more

flag 128 likes · Like · see review

Apr 26, 2020 Gabby rated it really liked it

Shelves: 4-star-books, horror, adult, love-the-concept, own, read-in-2020, favorites, liked-it, reviewed, thrillers-or-mystery

Really enjoyed this! I love the 90’s suburban mom vibes and I’m not even a huge fan of reading about vampires but this book was just so fun and creepy, and there were definitely a few scary scenes that have stayed in my brain since I finished it.

Here’s my reading vlog with my experience reading this book: https://youtu.be/J2LyhHZvGo4 ...more

flag 123 likes · Like · see review

Mar 31, 2020 Char rated it it was amazing

Shelves: arc, dark-fiction, vampires, psychological-horror, evil-in-a-small-town, edelweiss, creatures-of-legend-myths, corruption

Evil in a small town is one of my absolute favorite horror tropes and THE SOUTHERN BOOK CLUB'S GUIDE TO SLAYING VAMPIRES aces it!

Set in the 90's, we begin with a southern lady’s book club, (surprise!), that turns from reading fiction to true crime. These are rather old fashioned ladies for the 90's, they're stay at home wives, some with children and they feel their lives are complete. Until one day, one of them, (Patricia), is attacked by an elderly neighbor. Patricia is okay, but the neighbor Evil in a small town is one of my absolute favorite horror tropes and THE SOUTHERN BOOK CLUB'S GUIDE TO SLAYING VAMPIRES aces it!

Set in the 90's, we begin with a southern lady’s book club, (surprise!), that turns from reading fiction to true crime. These are rather old fashioned ladies for the 90's, they're stay at home wives, some with children and they feel their lives are complete. Until one day, one of them, (Patricia), is attacked by an elderly neighbor. Patricia is okay, but the neighbor later dies. Soon thereafter, the neighbor's nephew comes to town and so begins this terrific tale of a vampire in a small town. Will Patricia and the rest of her book club survive? You'll have to read this to find out!

I couldn't help but be reminded of Salem's Lot while reading, but I have to say, in many ways, this book was better than that one. 400 pages never went by so fast for me. Also, we didn't have to sit through a lot of description about the town and all of its inhabitants. There was just enough so that the reader has a good idea of what life is like for the town's inhabitants-those on both the good and bad sides of town.

Even though most of the horror here is quiet, there were a few scenes that definitely reminded me of horror's heydey and authors like James Herbert; and even the "quiet" scenes were filled with suspense and dread. I think Mr. Hendrix has this horror thing down pat.

I've been a fan of Grady Hendrix since PAPERBACKS FROM HELL came out and with this book, he has made me his bitch. I will read anything this man writes from here on out. He has the writing chops, his work always seems to have a bit of humor and in a way, some of it seems like an homage to those authors from the horror boom of the late 70's and 80's. To that, I say Huzzah! (And keep them coming!)

My highest recommendation!

Available April 7th, but you can preorder here: https://amzn.to/3bMcLY7

*Thanks to Edelweiss and Quirk Books for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it!* ...more

flag 130 likes · Like · see review

May 29, 2020 Danielle rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fab-book-club-books

2020 F.A.B. Bookclub pick # I.❤️. F.A.B.

This book, by title alone, is a campy good time. The southern ladies are exactly as you’d expect. They knock on doors with casseroles in hand and write down license plate numbers from cars they don’t recognize in their neighborhood. Everyone knows everyone else’s business. So, you add a creep vampire into their world and of course they’re going to handle it. There are some creepy crawling bits and it definitely had the B movie raunchy vibe. It was as ente ...more

flag 120 likes · Like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
Nothing But Readi...: The Southern Bookclub's Guide to Killing Vampires (Grady Hendrix) - December 2020 Adult BOM - starts 2 Dec	34	325	Dec 09, 2020 09:55AM
YA Buddy Readers'...: The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix - Restarting November 28th 2020	70	75	Dec 08, 2020 01:27PM
Stephen King Fans: The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires	18	112	Dec 06, 2020 12:02PM

Readers also enjoyed

See similar books…

Genres

Horror

2,570 users

Fiction

923 users

Fantasy

800 users

Paranormal > Vampires

523 users

Fantasy > Paranormal

449 users

Audiobook

341 users

Adult

306 users

Thriller

255 users

Mystery

223 users

Fantasy > Supernatural

147 users

See top shelves…

About Grady Hendrix

Grady Hendrix

6,804 followers

Want a look at my newest book, The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires? Then enter now for an ARC giveaway. You could get your blood-soaked paws on one of these books before anyone else on your block!

Grady Hendrix is the author of the novels Horrorstör, about a haunted IKEA, and My Best Friend's Exorcism, which is like Beaches meets The Exorcist, only it's set in the Eighties.

He's also ...more

Books by Grady Hendrix

Paperbacks from Hell: The Twisted History of '70s and '80s Horror Fiction

More…

Articles featuring this book

Goodreads Members Suggest: 32 ‘Vacation’ Reads

As this strange summer of staying put winds down, one thing remains truer than ever: Books offer us endless adventure and new horizons to...

Trivia About The Southern Book...

16 trivia questions

More quizzes & trivia...

Quotes from The Southern Book...

“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.” — 45 likes

“Sometimes she craved a little danger. And that was why she had book club.” — 42 likes

More quotes…

See a Problem?

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

The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires

Get A Copy

Friend Reviews

Reader Q&A

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topic
Discuss This Book

Readers also enjoyed

Genres

About Grady Hendrix

Books by Grady Hendrix

Articles featuring this book

Trivia About The Southern Book...

Quotes from The Southern Book...

See a Problem?

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

The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires

Get A Copy

Friend Reviews

Reader Q&A

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topicDiscuss This Book

Readers also enjoyed

Genres

About Grady Hendrix

Books by Grady Hendrix

Articles featuring this book

Trivia About The Southern Book...

Quotes from The Southern Book...

new topic
Discuss This Book