The Final Girl Support Group

Grady Hendrix

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2021

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-5

Chapters 6-10

Chapters 11-15

Chapters 16-20

Chapters 21-24

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Discussion Questions

Background

Authorial Context: Grady Hendrix

Grady Hendrix has focused his career on horror. Paperbacks from Hell, Hendrix’s 2017 nonfiction examination of horror fiction from the 1970s and 1980s, reveals his fascination and delight with the forgotten pulpy genre novels of that time, and the iconic cover art in which they were packaged. Hendrix’s previous novels are evidence of how he’s applied this fascination to his own writing: His novels The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires, We Sold Our Souls, My Best Friend’s Exorcism, and Horrorstör all reveal his thoughtful and unique approach to horror. The Final Girl Support Group follows this pattern of work and is perhaps his most ambitious novel, as the book is richly layered with references to horror movies and the genre of horror itself.

Cultural Context: The Slasher Horror Genre

The horror movies referenced in The Final Girl Support Group are slasher (also called ‘survival’) franchises: Friday the 13th, Halloween, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Nightmare on Elm Street, Scream, and Silent Night, Deadly Night. Slasher movies contain certain elements that define the genre. There is always a Final Girl who survived the brutal and often gory attacks of a killer. The killing happens at a Terrible Place that will forever be associated with what occurred.