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

 

I first discovered Grady Hendrix from the Tiktok account @booksinthefreezer (you can also find her on Instagram at the same handle). She talked about My Best Friend's Exorcism and I knew I had to buy it. I had never been a big horror reader. I've read a few Stephen King novels: Salem's Lot, Carrie, Pet Sematary, but I never really got into the genre. 

Grady Hendrix is a fantastic writer. The first book I read of his got me hooked on horror. I picked up The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires pretty quickly after finishing My Best Friend's Exorcism. I started reading this book pretty quickly after I got it, but then another book caught my eye and I set it aside half-finished. 

This book takes place in the 80s-90s and follows the life of Patricia Cambell, a Southern stay-at-home mom living in a nice neighborhood. The one surprise about her is she participates in a book club obsessed with true crime books. When a new neighbor moves into his aunt's home, Patricia's worked upturns. She gets attacked by the said old aunt and other gruesome events take place (I don't want to spoil the fun for you). 

I liked Patricia, her kids were a bit weird, especially her son who was obsessed with Nazis (it's weird and a big yikes). Her husband was not great, but she seemed interesting. I will say there is a lot of segregation involved in this book. The rich white people live in one area and the poor black people live in another. The white people don't care about the black people's troubles as long as they still clean their houses. This is not really problematic since it reflects the reality of the world, I just think it's good to note as some people might not enjoy reading about that kind of thing. 

I will also mention (and this is maybe a spoiler, sorry) that Patricia's husband is the absolute worst as the book continues. He uses his medical degree to make her believe she is unhinged. He makes his kids believe she is mentally incapable and like the typical horror movie trope, he does not listen when she expresses her concern with a malevolent figure. 

I also thought the instance of rape in this book was unnecessary. Why are women always threatened with rape or the murder of their families? If it is necessary, Hendrix could have handled it better than it's handled in the book. 

As far as possible triggers in this book, there are many. This book contains gore, rape, child molestation, suicide, child suicide, and bodily harm. I urge readers to be aware of these things before reading the book. 

Overall, I did enjoy the book despite the parts I didn't like. I would give it 3.5/5 stars. I will also most likely be reading more Hendrix in the future.