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Media Watch
📚WHAT I READ: “The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires” by Grady Hendrix.
Set in the 1990s in an upper-class Charleston suburb, the main character, homemaker Patricia Campbell, is violently attacked by her elderly neighbor, leading to an escalating series of disturbing encounters with the neighbor’s nephew.
Socially isolated due to her disconnected teenagers and misogynistic husband, Patricia relies on her true crime-obsessed book club of stay-at-home moms to investigate the evil weaving its way into their community.
Why It Works: The exploration of sexism, family dynamics, and racial tension added some realism and depth to this supernatural thriller. The main character was well-written — her struggles with her family and her community’s societal expectations were given equal weight with her battle to expose the vampire.
The plot gradually unfolds as the general sense of unease increases, heightening the creepy vibes of “something is wrong in suburbia.”
Why It Doesn’t: The timeline jumps were a bit hard to follow. There were frequent gaps of months or years, and I was left wondering what the heck Patricia was doing with all that time.
Read It? Yes, even if you typically don’t like horror. The plot has a lot more nuance than you would expect from the title and cover. Fair warning, though: some parts are gory and disturbing, especially if you’re afraid of creepy-crawlies. 🪲🐀
Rating: ✨✨✨✨.5/5
