Don’t let the lighthearted title fool you, this one gets very dark!

45.

Patricia Campbell is a dutiful and sheltered housewife in a Southern small town in the 1980’s and 1990’s. Her one night of escapism is her monthly book club with four other housewives from her neighbourhood, where they drink wine, gossip, and discuss gruesome true and fictional crime reads. When James Harris moves to town, Patricia tries to be a welcoming and friendly neighbour, but from their first meeting there’s just something untrustworthy and off putting about him that she just can’t shake. And the more James inserts himself into her life, and those of her family and friends, the more uncomfortable Patricia feels. And children are changing…

An engaging, absorbing, riveting read. The prologue sucked me right in, and the references and tie-in to My Best Friend’s Exorcism has me even more excited to read that one. The author excelled at writing tense, nail-biting, claustrophobic, heart-pounding, nightmarish scenes. But then the next chapter would see me snorting out loud, which I was grateful for as it gave me a chance to calm down. The final showdown had me glued to the audio, and the ending was poignant and satisfying. The variation on the vampire myth was unique and different. It could’ve been a 5-star read, but unfortunately there were a couple of scenes that were too much for me (see next paragraph), although I understand why they were included as James was a vicious blood-sucking creature with zero humanity who relished exerting control and power over the main characters. I really warmed to Patricia and her friends, and their struggles to come to terms with the evil surrounding them, their setbacks, and struggles to remain loyal to one another. The novel was set mainly in the 90’s, although the first two chapters took place in 1988 explaining how the book club came to be. These characters submissiveness to their husbands and the misogyny of the men reminded me more of the 1950’s although I understand that there were pockets of the South like this in the 90’s and it worked well for this novel further isolating the women, and fuelling their fear that they wouldn’t be believed, and that there was no help to be found outside of one another.

The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires was something of an enigma. Because if you happened to sample the first couple of chapters on say Amazon, you could mistakenly buy it thinking it was going to be on the lighter side of horror because a lot of the novel was entertaining, fun, and amusing. Until it wasn’t. Things took a turn in the third chapter, we’re talking blood, gore, and mutilation. And it didn’t stop there. There was a chapter straight out of James Herbert’s first novel (true horror novel fans will get this reference and it was a cool tribute), and for those who are squeamish or phobic when it comes to cockroaches, spiders, or bugs in general, I advise you to give this book a wide berth. And there’s more. Around the 75% mark, the novel went in an even darker direction, and I now understand why some readers/reviewers gave up at this point. 

I listened to most of the book via Libby and the narrator, Bahni Turpin, completely and utterly brought these characters to life. Bravo! For those who can get past the above trigger warnings I highly recommend The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires on audio. I am thrilled to have found a new horror author in Grady Hendrix.