Book Review - THE SOUTHERN BOOK CLUB'S GUIDE TO SLAYING VAMPIRES by Grady Hendrix

(Title: The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires / Author: Grady Hendrix / Publisher: Quirk Books / Publication Date: April 7, 2020)

Grady Hendrix has been churning out some amazing horror books for quite some time now.  But it wasn't until his last release, the highly acclaimed We Sold Our Souls, that I feel like he finally got the notoriety that he's been due.  Now everybody is aware of what a lot of us already knew, the guy has some serious writing chops and can spin a tale better than most.  Needless to say, when I received an advance copy of his latest offering from publisher Quirk Books, I couldn't wait to dig in.  The description immediately intrigued me and the cover is just completely hilarious.

Patricia Campbell is a housewife and mother living in a suburban area of Charleston, South Carolina.  Her daily life consists mainly of dealing with her unappreciative children and a marriage that grows more and more stale with each passing month.  The one and only joy in her life seems to derive from getting together with her fellow wives and mothers for their women's book club reading discussions.  These meetings provide a well-needed opportunity for Patricia to feel valued and appreciated in a way that she really doesn't most of the time.

The club get-togethers often devolve into sensational gossip that don't really pertain to the topic of whichever book is on the schedule.  These gossiping sessions span a wide variety of topics from the infidelity of a certain husband in their neighborhood to the latest scandal or tragedy being reported ad nauseam on cable news.  So when a mysterious stranger by the name of James Harris moves into their community, it is only natural that this will be next burning subject for the book club to debate.  James is fairly handsome, well-spoken, and intriguing to Patricia on a number of different levels.  She immediately becomes interested in his comings and goings (often times very late at night).

Patricia's imagination regarding the town newbie further runs wild when a few children go missing in and around the vicinity of her home.  Speculation grows among the book club moms that their newest resident might be involved in the disappearances.  It stands to reason that a True Crime book club would wonder if a real serial killer may be operating in their midst.  And soon Patricia is even conducting her own stakeouts of James in an attempt to uncover his potential hideous crimes.  In doing so however, she may very well have stumbled upon something far far worse than she or the members of the book club ever bargained for.  

This was one hell of a read I have to say!  THE SOUTHERN BOOK CLUB'S GUIDE TO SLAYING VAMPIRES is equal parts suspenseful mystery, horror, biting satire, and a plain old kick-butt story that will consume you as the chapters fly by.  The publisher's description states that the book is "Fried Green Tomatoes and Steel Magnolias meet Dracula."  While I agree with the former, for me the latter was more akin to Fright Night and Disturbia.  It certainly made for a phenomenal combination nonetheless.

It was interesting to see Patricia's character develop from a mostly timid wife and mother who just sort of accepted her lot in life, followed a certain schedule etc... to a bold and persistent amateur investigator who stops at nothing to try to uncover the mystery behind what is happening in her neighborhood.  Hendrix does an outstanding job of showing how the lines between fiction and real life can be blurred at times and that talking about True Crime books can make the imagination wander into areas that normal people may not want to particularly go.  

We've all see this plot before, it's by no means a new one - mysterious stranger moves into town, bad stuff starts to happen, suspicion turns to them, yada yada yada.  Somehow though, Grady Hendrix makes this story feel entirely new and fresh and there are a number of twists that made me not want to put this book down for even a minute.  It's so difficult to write a horror book that both delivers maximum scares and also truly entertains at the same time.  This book walks that line beautifully and is what I believe raises it to a level significantly above most in the genre today.  And the ending is absolutely stunning.

If you are looking for a book that will scare the heck out of you, make you snort with laughter, and keep your face glued to it for hours upon hours, you need to read Grady Hendrix's newest book THE SOUTHERN BOOK CLUB'S GUIDE TO SLAYING VAMPIRES. This is a story that every reader regardless of reading taste, will find something to connect with and enjoy.  It appears that Grady Hendrix is continuing to turn heads with his marvelous writing and lucky for us, should be putting out fantastic books for countless years to come!  For those who would like to purchase the book, it won't be released until April 7th, but you can use that time wisely by reading Grady's other great books in the meantime.

(My Rating: 9/10)