The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires

Grady Hendrix

Apr 2020 · Blackstone Publishing · Narrated by Bahni Turpin

About this audiobook

Fried Green Tomatoes and Steel Magnolias meet Dracula in this Southern-flavored supernatural thriller set in the ’90s about a women’s book club that must protect its suburban community from a mysterious and handsome stranger who turns out to be a real monster.

Patricia Campbell’s life has never felt smaller. Her ambitious husband is too busy to give her a goodbye kiss in the morning, her kids have their own lives, her senile mother-in-law needs constant care, and she’s always a step behind on thank-you notes and her endless list of chores. The one thing she has to look forward to is her book club, a close-knit group of Charleston women united by their love of true crime and paperback fiction. At these meetings they’re as likely to talk about the Manson family as they are marriage, motherhood, and neighborhood gossip.

This predictable pattern is upended when Patricia meets James Harris, a handsome stranger who moves into the neighborhood to take care of his elderly aunt and ends up joining the book club. James is sensitive and well-read, and he makes Patricia feel things she hasn’t felt in twenty years. But there’s something off about him. He doesn’t have a bank account, he doesn’t like going out during the day, and Patricia’s mother-in-law insists that she knew him when she was a girl—an impossibility.

When local children go missing, Patricia and the book club members start to suspect James is more of a Bundy than a Beatnik—but no one outside of the book club believes them. Have they read too many true crime books, or have they invited a real monster into their homes?

Ratings and reviews

after moving from Michigan to gulf coast Alabama I can say i found these characters as annoying as my neighbors. Moving beyond THAT, this story was incredibly frustrating. I wanted to yell at these idiots! less enjoyable than I'd hoped... and i have a degree in criminal justice!!! I've seen neighbors die from suicide, overdose, general stupidity and neglect. Police in these southern poverty pockets do not do their jobs.

The characters seemed like caricatures at first, but then they started to be fleshed out and became more believable. Then, I really started getting into the story. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was fantastic! The story eventually shows a layered look at southern culture, misogyny, racism, classism, religious bigotry, and other issues. Sometimes, I wanted to reach out and slap Carter. We also see how women will sacrifice themselves for their families, and sometimes, even for other people or their families. There were scenes of horrific gore and shudder-inducing creepiness...perfect for Halloween. I thought the ending could have played out a bit differently, especially regarding something that happened earlier in the book, but I don't want to give spoilers.

I will admit this book was very slow in the beginning...not very clear on what direction it was going to take. But boy oh boy this was a great read! And the narrator SHE WAA AMAZING! The way her could change with the turn of a phrase for each character! She had me hooked! Awesome book!

About the author

Grady Hendrix is a novelist and screenwriter based in New York City. He is the Bram Stoker Award–winning author of Paperbacks from Hell, and the Shirley Jackson and Locus Award nominated author of Horrorstör, My Best Friend’s Exorcism, and We Sold Our Souls, which have received critical praise from such outlets as NPR, the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, the A.V. Club, Paste, Buzzfeed, and more. He has contributed to Playboy, The Village Voice, and Variety.

Bahni Turpin is an experienced audiobook narrator and actress who has appeared in numerous television productions as well as films. An ensemble member of the Cornerstone Theater Company, she also works as a yoga instructor. She currently resides in Los Angeles, where she founded the SoLA Food Co-op.