The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires

Grady Hendrix’s 2020 novel, The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires follows the life of Patricia Campbell, a Southern housewife who belongs to an unconventional book club: housewives that solely read books about true crime and murder mystery novels. The arrival of the handsome James Harris causes the women to question everything they think they know about the safety of their neighborhood, and it brings to light the truth about a man said to have preyed on children in the past. When their own children are attacked, the women of the book club band together to defeat James Harris, who is not only a murderer, but a ravenous vampire. Hendrix successfully blends the genres of horror and Southern Gothic literature to explore themes of gender, race, and socioeconomic differences as they relate to the American South. The book also tackles topics such as mental health and ageism. The novel was one of Goodread’s top 2020 horror picks. Other works by Hendrix include My Best Friend’s Exorcism (2016), The Final Girl Support Group (2021), and How to Sell a Haunted House (2023).