Despite very recently giving five stars to the latest Grady Hendrix weirdo horror book (review HERE), I was surprised by how much I liked this. As I’ve been exploring the horror genre over the past year, I’ve learned that my tastes usually run towards the lighter end of the horror spectrum, and that I don’t do well with gore and violence just for gore and violence’s sake*. I need that sort of thing to have a purpose, and I need it to not make me want to put the book down. Despite this being in several places one of the grossest books I’ve ever read, I never wanted to put it down. It has SO much going for it, and despite the at times campier nature of it, there is a lot going on here.
*And I continue to be puzzled when horror fans read horror books and complain about the lack of these things. It’s just not a motivating factor for me. Give me story, give me characters, give me dialogue and feelings. Whether there is violence and gore is just side dressing. And if that’s all a book has, no thank you and goodbye.
This book is by turns funny, upsetting, sad, scary, disgusting, infuriating, and satisfying. The plot starts in 1993 with a group of housewives in Charleston, South Carolina who are part of a book club where they read true crime fiction, and other non-classic types of books (so, fun ones!). Then a vampire moves into their neighborhood, and Patricia, the main character, becomes his main antagonist. The way this vampire inserts himself into existing social structures and takes advantage of inequities is astounding. One of my favorite parts of this book is how even though Patricia and the book club ladies are the protagonists, because it’s a satire, they are also up for criticism and do not escape consequences.
This is a book that has really stuck with me and is just getting better in my mind, so when I inevitably re-read I’ll probably just unreservedly give it five stars at that point. Highly recommend the audiobook, which is narrated by Bahni Turpin.
I’m definitely reading the rest of Grady Hendrix’s published books by the end of 2023. Here’s how they rank as of now:
3. The Final Girl Support Group (3.5 stars)
2. The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires (4.5 stars)
1. How to Sell a Haunted House (5 stars)
[4.5 stars]