The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
(Format used for this read: Audiobook)
Patricia Campbell’s life has never felt smaller. Her husband is a workaholic, her teenage kids have their own lives, her senile mother-in-law needs constant care, and she’s always a step behind on her endless to-do list. The only thing keeping her sane is her book club, a close-knit group of Charleston women united by their love of true crime. At these meetings they’re as likely to talk about the Manson family as they are about their own families.
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, and he makes Patricia feel things she hasn’t felt in years. But when children on the other side of town go missing, their deaths written off by local police, Patricia has reason to believe James Harris is more of a Bundy than a Brad Pitt. The real problem? James is a monster of a different kind—and Patricia has already invited him in.
Little by little, James will insinuate himself into Patricia’s life and try to take everything she took for granted—including the book club—but she won’t surrender without a fight in this blood-soaked tale of neighborly kindness gone wrong.
I volunteered to host book club for October which means I got to pick our read.
I wanted something a little scary but also a little funny….our recent books haven’t been either of those things and I wanted to shake it up (as per usual 🤣)
I just Googled “fun October book club reads” and this was one that popped up on several lists.
The first description I read of it summed it up as “Steel Magnolias meets Dracula” and I was like:
“OMGGGGG SIGN ME UPPPPP!”
This book did NOT disappoint.
It gave me scares, laughs, tears, anger, and excitement….just what I needed.
The “Southern-ness” of these characters was so friggin’ ON POINT….the Southern lady niceities had me cackling and their book club discussions/revelations were the BEST.
But it wasn’t all laughter and twang…there was some serious scary shit that goes down in these pages…and some pretty heavy emotional stuff and social commentary as well.
OF COURSE it is the WOMEN who recognize the dangerous things that are going on in their town and try to bring awareness to stop it….but the MEN gaslight them HARD CORE.
The women are dismissed and called “crazy”, being seen only as housewives and mothers with good imaginations.
UGGGHHH.
The women are underestimated in their abilities, intelligence, awareness and strength…
when in reality THEY are the ones that hold shit together and can see what is REALLY happening. (well…MOST of them anyways)
THAT sure isn’t fictional and damn if I did not get all up IN my feelings about all that….I can’t even COUNT the number of times a man or group of men (*our ENTIRE government *cough*cough) has done the same thing to me or other women.
SUPER honest insight in this story on what men do to women in this specific area.
Full stop honesty here: I had zero clue that the author of this book was a MAN until I started writing this review! I WAS SHOOK! 😱
Not only is he a man, he is a cisgender, heterosexual, white man….SAY WHHHUTTTT!
I usually have all KINDS of emotions and opinions on men writing from women’s POV…but I admit he actually did it well.
BRAVO to him for calling out his fellow menfolk on all their bullshit too!
This story was also commentary about how easy it is to ignore problems when we have the privilige to look the other way….how easy it is to see what we WANT to see.
There can be literal monsters among us…but we believe what we WANT to believe about our communities at large.
We hide in our “safe” white, middle class suburbs and pretend bad things just don’t happen there.
That is exactly the case in this story.
This book had good pacing to it in my opinion….nothing dragged.
The narrator was Bonnie Turpin who is ALWAYS perfection and ALWAYS entertaining.
Loved all the humor and friendship from the ladies amidst all the scary of the events….
Another thing this book drives home is how women will ALWAYS come together…we will fight for each other, with each other and we will never leave another woman alone in her struggles or pain, WHATEVER it is.
This was a great book to read and I think will be a great one to discuss.
DEFINITELY recommend!
Here are some quotes from the pages to give you a final feel for this read:
“You’d rather get stabbed forty-one times than ruin the curb appeal of your home?” Maryellen asked.
“Yes,” Grace said.”
“Being a teenager isn’t a number,” Maryellen said. “It’s the age when you stop liking them.” “You don’t like the girls?” Patricia asked. “No one likes their children,” Maryellen said. “We love them to death, but we don’t like them.”
“I think,” Grace said, and they sat up straighter, “that it shows a remarkable lack of planning on Betty’s part. If you’re going to murder your best friend with an axe, you should make sure you know what you’re doing.”
“What good is free love if nobody showers?” Maryellen asked.”
“Let’s see if we can find from hydrogen peroxide for these bloodstains in the carpet,’ Grace said.
‘I prefer ammonia,’ Mrs. Greene said.
‘Hot water?’ Grace asked.
‘No, cold.’
‘Interesting,’ Grace said.”
“Great,” Maryellen moaned. “Another man with his opinions.”
“She knew what to do if too many people showed up for supper, or if someone arrived early for a party, but what did you do when rats attacked your mother-in-law? Who told you how to cope with that?”
“Of course, behind every woman there’s a man, usually somewhere parking the car or asking why there isn’t any rice on the table,”
“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.”