I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is one of those most horrifying books I've read in a long time.

Yes, this book would be categorized as traditional horror--a Southern housewife pursues a vampire, after all, and--and the suspense and gore certainly fit within those parameters. But Hendrix also introduces domestic, social horror as well. The men are all (yes, ALL) irredeemably terrible and stupid, including the husbands and the villain himself, and the titular vampire preys on poor, Black neighborhoods because he knows he'll get away with it. I had to put this eARC down several times not because I was tired of it but because I wanted to scream at these men.

CW: rape, child abuse, domestic abuse, general gore