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A review by izzyvb023
The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
4.0
This book was on my Christmas list and I finished it by new year’s.
Having grown up in the South, I really appreciated and enjoyed all the “southern-isms” throughout the book. Hendrix perfectly captures the essence of the upper middle class southern white lady (who has a classy drawl not a tacky twang, of course). Grace and Slick especially were written so on the nose. I found all the passive aggressiveness between the ladies and the general southern behavior extremely witty. Of course vampires would love the south-everyone is always invited in!
I don’t read a lot of horror, so this book was SHOCKING to me at some points. I physically recoiled at some of the gore and violence. But it was worth it because I love vampire stories. What a great allegory for sexual abuse and how these housewives are gaslit by their husbands into thinking the violence is normal and that everything is all alright.
I’ve seen a little bit of criticism regarding how Mrs. Greene was treated by the characters and how her arc was written. I would agree with the general criticism that race relations are not really Hendrix’s commentary to make. However, i do think it’s unfortunately an accurate depiction of southern small towns and the pervasive racism that still lurks there. Mrs. Greene is right—the police *dont* care that children were dying in 6 mile. The men treat that area of town as their real estate playground. The white ladies turn their backs as soon as helping Mrs Greene becomes an inconvenience. They even refuse to take part in the eventual “slaying” and make her do the actual cutting and slicing. It probably wasn’t Hendrix’s place to write from Mrs. Greene’s point of view, but the socioeconomic context certainly matters, especially in towns like this one.
Overall, i found it a really engaging and clever book. I would be interested in reading a prequel / seeing more from this world if it existed.
Having grown up in the South, I really appreciated and enjoyed all the “southern-isms” throughout the book. Hendrix perfectly captures the essence of the upper middle class southern white lady (who has a classy drawl not a tacky twang, of course). Grace and Slick especially were written so on the nose. I found all the passive aggressiveness between the ladies and the general southern behavior extremely witty. Of course vampires would love the south-everyone is always invited in!
I don’t read a lot of horror, so this book was SHOCKING to me at some points. I physically recoiled at some of the gore and violence. But it was worth it because I love vampire stories. What a great allegory for sexual abuse and how these housewives are gaslit by their husbands into thinking the violence is normal and that everything is all alright.
I’ve seen a little bit of criticism regarding how Mrs. Greene was treated by the characters and how her arc was written. I would agree with the general criticism that race relations are not really Hendrix’s commentary to make. However, i do think it’s unfortunately an accurate depiction of southern small towns and the pervasive racism that still lurks there. Mrs. Greene is right—the police *dont* care that children were dying in 6 mile. The men treat that area of town as their real estate playground. The white ladies turn their backs as soon as helping Mrs Greene becomes an inconvenience. They even refuse to take part in the eventual “slaying” and make her do the actual cutting and slicing. It probably wasn’t Hendrix’s place to write from Mrs. Greene’s point of view, but the socioeconomic context certainly matters, especially in towns like this one.
Overall, i found it a really engaging and clever book. I would be interested in reading a prequel / seeing more from this world if it existed.