Grady Hendrix’s 2020 novel, The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires follows the life of Patricia Campbell, a Southern housewife who belongs to an unconventional book club: housewives that solely read books about true crime and murder mystery novels. The arrival of the handsome James Harris causes the women to question everything they think they know about the safety of their neighborhood, and it brings to light the truth about a man said to have preyed on children in the past. When their own children are attacked, the women of the book club band together to defeat James Harris, who is not only a murderer, but a ravenous vampire. Hendrix successfully blends the genres of horror and Southern Gothic literature to explore themes of gender, race, and socioeconomic differences as they relate to the American South. The book also tackles topics such as mental health and ageism. The novel was one of Goodread’s top 2020 horror picks. Other works by Hendrix include My Best Friend’s Exorcism (2016), The Final Girl Support Group (2021), and How to Sell a Haunted House (2023).

This guide uses the Quirk Books edition of the novel, printed in 2021.

Plot Summary

In 1988, stay at home mom Patricia Campbell wants nothing more than to live in a safe neighborhood. Patricia’s days are filled with caring for everyone except herself: her husband Carter, her children Korey and Blue, and her mother-in-law. Eager for a book club where members actually read the books, she joins a club focused on true crime and murder mystery novels. Patricia is enthralled by the texts and finds solace and community within the group, which is comprised of other housewives. Over four years, the friendship between these women grows stronger, and their meetings fulfill a need for community. 

The arrival of a handsome stranger, James Harris, sets off a chain of events that quickly threatens the safety Patricia so desperately craves. James’s great-aunt, the elderly Mrs. Savage, attacks Patricia, knocking her to the ground and biting her earlobe off. After the grisly incident, Mrs. Savage passes away, and doctors assume she was on drugs.

When Patricia brings James a casserole to express her condolences for his loss, she finds him seemingly dead and administers CPR. James quickly awakens and urges Patricia to leave. The next night, James arrives at Patricia’s home. Patricia’s mother-in-law is shocked to see him, but Patricia and Carter chalk her outburst up to dementia.

Patricia helps James start to establish himself in their neighborhood, helping him at the bank and bringing him to the book club. During his visit to the book club, James praises their welcoming community and reveals his investments in Gracious Kay, a gated community being built in Six Mile, a historically Black neighborhood in Mt. Pleasant.

Meanwhile, Miss Mary’s obsession with James grows. She believes that he is actually Hoyt Pickens, who was responsible for bankrupting her family and killing several children. Hoyt blamed the deaths of the children on a local Black man, whom the town lynched. Soon after telling this to Patricia, Miss Mary dies when rats suddenly swarm the house.

Patricia travels to Six Mile to visit Miss Mary’s caretaker Mrs. Greene, who claims that Six Mile isn’t safe for children anymore. Two boys turned up dead; Francine, the elderly woman who helped clean for Mrs. Savage, is missing; and a little girl, Destiny, is mysteriously ill. There have been reports of a white van, the same vehicle James owns, and of a white man standing at the edge of the woods. Patricia realizes that much of the mysterious activity originated around the same time James Harris came to town. 

Patricia ventures into the woods and discovers James sucking on the unconscious Destiny’s leg in the back of his white van. Patricia flees the scene and files a police report, but, without evidence, is unable to have James arrested. A few days later, Destiny, who was placed in a foster home after the police believed her mother had abused her, dies by suicide. The news wrecks Patricia, who tries to kill herself. Seeing the damage she’s done to her family, Patricia agrees to stop searching for evidence against James.

The narrative then jumps ahead three years. Gracious Cay has brought financial prosperity to Mt. Pleasant and its residents, including Patricia and Carter. James Harris has found the community he craved and has developed a close bond with Patricia’s son Blue, now a rebellious teen.

Patricia still distrusts James. One night, she sees the ghost of Miss Mary, who tells her that Mrs. Greene has proof James is Hoyt Pickens. Mrs. Greene feels that Patricia abandoned her and broke her promise to help the people in Six Mile, who have lost one child per year to James’s unquenchable appetite, but agrees to help Patricia stop the killing. 

Mrs. Greene and Patricia break into James’s house to find evidence against him. They discover the body of Francine in the attic. Patricia shows the body to Kitty, a friend from book club, gaining an ally. Later, Patricia receives a phone call from another book club member, Slick, whom James has sexually assaulted. A few nights later, Patricia wakes in the night to find James in her daughter’s bedroom—this is one of many times he’s feasted on her. Patricia, the book club members, and Mrs. Greene devise a plan to kill James Harris once and for all.

Patricia offers herself as bait while the other women ambush James and kill him. Slick, meanwhile, has been slowly dying since the assault and passes away shortly after. Patricia tells the unfaithful Carter that she wants a divorce and begins a new life as a single mom strengthened by hardships, and as a woman who found her voice at her book club.