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BOOKS in 2026

What if you were right but because youre a housewife youre locked up in a mental hospital

What if your children were being eaten but no one cares bc the children are Black

It shows the casual sexism and misogyny she has to live with. Patricia doesn't work, except for the household labor and emotional labor, but that isn't considered a "real* job in society. She, and every other stay at home wife, are seen as silly little women with too much time in their hands. And that plays a part in the narrative, how nobody believes her or her friends, how James Harris was able to tie her up in such a neat little knot while befriending the husbands. Because nobody believes her. Why would they? She's a WOMAN.

Even the fact that she's specifically a white, middle class house wife. Because she grew up with money, believing in things like the police will help you and tragedies are far away and can't hurt you. This is why the people of Five Mile are reluctant to rely on her, because they're (understandably) expecting the worst. And when Mrs. Greene makes the decision to trust Patricia, to believe her former employer will use the privilege society gave her to actually help, and because nobody (aka her husband) listens to her, and the child is taken away and dies, Patricia is to blame. Even though she did her best. Because even though she has more power and influence then some people, she is still surrounded every day by people who undermine her and disregard her as a silly little housewife.

Plot

Patricia Campbell had always planned for a big life, but after giving up her career as a nurse to marry an ambitious doctor and become a mother, Patricia's life has never felt smaller. The days are long, her kids are ungrateful, her husband is distant, and her to-do list is never really done. The one thing she has to look forward to is her book club, a group of Charleston mothers united only by their love for true-crime and suspenseful fiction. In these meetings, they're more likely to discuss the FBI's recent siege of Waco as much as the ups and downs of marriage and motherhood.

But when an artistic and sensitive stranger moves into the neighborhood, the book club's meetings turn into speculation about the newcomer. Patricia is initially attracted to him, but when some local children go missing, she starts to suspect the newcomer is involved. She begins her own investigation, assuming that he's a Jeffrey Dahmer or Ted Bundy. What she uncovers is far more terrifying, and soon she--and her book club--are the only people standing between the monster they've invited into their homes and their unsuspecting community.

Rating ⭐⭐⭐. 5

REVIEW WITH SPOILERS

@storyseekers​ event 04 : time — the southern book club’s guide to slaying vampires by grady hendrix

books i read while quarantined: the southern book club’s guide to slaying vampires by grady hendrix

Book Club Questions: The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires

Once again I am answering questions for @readerbookclub​. Last month we read Grady Hendrix’s The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires, and here are some of my thoughts about it.

What were your expectations before reading the book? Did it meet them?

There are two ways to understand this question. The first is did I have high expectations for the book and did it meet them? And the answer to that is yes, I did have high expectations. I think this is mainly due to the book’s high rating on goodreads and especially amazon (it’s got 4.5 stars over there!). It was one that seemed very unique to me. Also, there’s no denying that the cover is gorgeous. And though everyone says not to judge a book by it’s cover, how many of us actually follow that advice? So yes, I was expecting to really like it and no it didn’t meet those expectations.  

The second way to understand this question (and frankly the more fun way) is what was I expecting the book to be about. And for that, there were a few things I had anticipated:

1. Because of the title I had assumed that the novel would be written in the form of a guide. Basically, I thought it would be in the first person and would have actual steps and instructions scattered throughout. Turns out it’s not actually a guide, that’s just to make the title catchy.

2. I was expecting it to have some comedy/humor in it. I think this expectation was partially born from the assumption that it was a guide and partially because of the mixing of suburban mom’s with vampires. That didn’t end up being the case though.

3. I thought there’d be more than one vampire and they’d take over the town. Once again, I took the title too literally, but it quickly became clear that James Harris was the only vampire around.

I guess I had envisioned a very different story before reading it, and little of what I had in mind ended up being in the actual novel.

How did you feel about the characters? What did you like about them? What didn't you like?

I didn’t feel strongly about most of the characters, either in a good way or a bad way. Patricia was the only character that we really explore in much depth and I felt very neutral towards her. 

I think many of the not-so-book club women were quite cliche. Grace was the uptight housewife who likes everything to be spotless and perfect. Slick was the very religious suburban mom who wouldn’t let her kids take part in Halloween. Kitty was the disaster mom (not an insult, just someone who doesn’t pretend to have everything together) who all children love. You get the idea. 

But I actually really liked having the characters be quite cliche. I usually struggle with a large cast of characters (as we saw with the Gurnsey Society) so having them divided into their little boxes made it much easier for me to keep track of who was who. And towards the end of the book, they begin to break free from those cliches and we see other sides to them.

As for the women’s families, I absolutely hated the characters. Let’s start with the men. Every single one was a sexist piece of garbage. The whole lot of them. I understand that the writer did this on purpose to show the struggles that these suburban women have to deal with, but I felt it was quite poorly done. I’ll be sure to elaborate on this in my review, but for now, I’ll leave it at this.

Then come the children. Could you write teenagers in a more stereotypical way? Always complaining, always yelling, and generally being shitty to their parents. Sure, some kids are like that, but this was taken way too far. And what’s up with Blue’s WWII obsession? It served absolutely no role in the story and added nothing to his character.

And as for James Harris, I have no complaints here. I think it was really chilling to see the contrast between how everyone else saw him and who he actually was.

Did this book remind you of something? Another book? A film or TV show? A song? What was it and in what ways are they similar?

When I had just started reading it, I described it to a friend as Stranger Things but  the main characters are the mothers not the kids. I think Stranger Things is far better, but I stand by that description. It’s mostly the setting and ordinary protagonists fighting an evil that no one else is aware of. 

Would you consider re-reading it in the future?

A strong no :)

If there's one character you could meet, who would they be and why?

I’m torn between Patricia and her husband. On one hand, someone needs to go give that woman a hug and tell her she shouldn’t feel responsible for a vampire killing children. She puts so much blame on herself for being a bad mother and person, which isn’t deserved. It’s not her fault there’s a vampire roaming free, the men are all turning a blind eye, and the police aren’t willing to conduct a proper investigation. 

On the other hand, I would very much like to visit her husband (all the men actually) and yell at them. I think they desperately need someone to knock some sense into them and make them realize that the world doesn’t revolve around them. Idiots. 

Which scene stood out most to you? Why?

I really enjoyed some of the spookier scenes. I think the rat scene was the one that really stuck with me. Especially when Mrs. Greene remembers the rat who bit her sister’s belly button off. It was awfully gruesome and I loved that.

I think the scene where they’re cutting Harris up was also one I enjoyed. The way that he started begging was such a stark contrast to his usual manipulative demeanor. My favorite moment has to be when he’s spilling some nonsense and then they casually break his windpipe so he can shut up. 

Also when Patricia opened the suitcase I was definitely not expecting her to find Francine in there. So that was also another one that stood out. 

I feel like Hendrix did a good job of creating a vampire. He gave Harris a lot of the classic characteristics (sensitive to light, nocturnal, blood-sucking) so that he clearly came across as a vampire. 

But at the same time, Hendrix also added his own unique touches. That thing in the back of the throat is a good example of that. It made the vampire feel less human, which I liked. Another thing I enjoyed was that Grady Hendrix chose to take a very literal interpretation of vampire’s immortality, making Harris essentially un-killable (I think it would’ve been quite silly if Patricia ended up killing James Harris using garlic-poisoning. so I’m glad that wasn’t a thing).