If I ever find out that Grady Hendrix is a creep, I’ll be sorely disappointed because I enjoy his horror novels so much. The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires, henceforth to be known as TSBCGTSV, is the fourth novel of Hendrix’s that I have read and is thus far, my favorite. His most well known book, My Best Friend’s Exorcism, kept Cabe and I company on our drive across the country so this author holds a special place in my heart. Without it, I’m not sure how we would have fared the 12 hours across the great flat state of Nebraska. Grady’s books are interesting and easy reads, but take that with a grain of salt, my view of horror may be skewed by my love of scary movies and what I’ve seen working in healthcare.
Like nearly all of Grady’s books, TSBCGTSV is set in South Carolina and has aspects of gore and a touch of creature fantasy violence, but what makes it truly shutter inducing are the human relationships that we see play out in the novel. I have always been pleasantly surprised to see how Hendrix discusses hegemony, specifically relating to race, aging, illness, wealth, and gender.
Meet our protagonist, Patricia Campbell, a wealthy, white stay at home mother who is married to a nincompoop psychiatrist, Carter, who spends his days kissing ass to his higher ups, begging for a shot at becoming chief of psych at his hospital. With her husband largely absent, Patricia is left at home with two disinterested teens and a mother in law inching towards the end of her days. Her only support system consists of a casual group of friends who get their social engagement quota met through their tawdry crime book club once a week. Our protagonist is desperate for something to shake up her mundane life, and she certainly gets what she is asking for when James White comes into town.
Months pass after Mr. White’s arrival and multiple black children on the poor side of town have gone missing and other obscure events continue to occur. One event even results with Patricia getting assaulted by an elderly woman and ends with the loss of her earlobe. Our beloved girl bosses in the book club become increasingly suspicious of the newcomer to town, and for good reason.
Patricia begins to do detective work which leads us to back to Mrs. Ursula Greene, the hero of our novel. Ms. Greene is the nurse who cares for Patricia’s mother in law, Miss Mary, as she declines with worsening dementia. She is a fervent advocate for her patients and her community. A black woman approaching retirement, she exposes the vampire and uncovers his feeding methods. We discover that his parasitic behaviors go far beyond just feeding on humans, he targets poor black children because he believes that they can be exploited and the ruling class won’t care enough to stop him. Mrs. Greene enlists Patricia’s help, hoping that she, with her wealth and circumstance, can help her save these children.
Patricia, afraid of rocking the boat, initially refuses Mrs. Greene. But after her husband and family turn their back on her a final time, she comes to terms with her own intrinsically racist ideologies and finally does the right thing. The book club attempts to obtain help from who they think they can trust, the police and their husbands, but they are instead met with public ridicule. The scene that shook me the most was when the husbands all gang up on their wives, completely ignoring all of the evidence that they procurred against the vampire, because of their boys club. The police in the novel actually feel there is some suspicion against our vampire, but our book clubs husbands CONVINCE them to ignore the evidence. While our villain is a vampire leech, the ghastly husbands in this book go toe to toe with him for worst men of the year. Carter and all the other men, who our narrator wants to see in a kind light, repeatedly prove to be worthless, misogynistic, and racist.
Without wanting to spoil too much, in the end, due to Ursula Greene’s bravery, she and the rest of the book club rid their community of the pests, including their awful husbands. This is a fun, interesting read that is definitely worth spending some free time with!