Amazon Developing Grady Hendrix’s THE SOUTHERN BOOK CLUB’S GUIDE TO SLAYING VAMPIRES

Mike Sprague |

Feb 4, 2020

My Best Friend’s Exorcism author Grady Hendrix’s upcoming novel The Southern Book Club’s Guide To Slaying Vampires looks to be a major hit. In fact, Patrick Moran’s recently launched PKM Productions nabbed the book after a ten-buyer bidding war in a massive sale ahead of the novel’s release this spring.

The character-driven, supernatural thriller is set in Charleston in the ‘90s and revolves around a women’s book club that must protect its suburban community from a mysterious and handsome stranger who turns out to be a real monster. You can read a detailed description below.

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Hendrix tells Deadline: “[It] is a spiritual sequel to My Best Friend’s Exorcism. None of the same characters recur, but it takes place in the same neighborhood where I grew up, only a few years later and this time, instead of being about the kids, it’s about their parents. It’s a power ballad ode to the moms I grew up around, who seemed like wine-drinking, book-reading powder puffs but who dealt with the kind of darkness on a regular basis that would make Jack Reacher cry.”

Producer Patrick Moran added: “Amazon Studios is known for their exceptional taste and appetite for risk-taking, and that’s exactly what I love about [this book]. Southern Book Club [presents a story] that is both provocative and raw, entertaining but also cut through the noise. [it features] characters I’m not seeing anywhere else on television, and it excites me to bring [this bold project] to a streamer that can claim the most curated slate in the competitive landscape.”

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Hendrix will be an executive producer on the adaptation along with President and Publisher of Quirk Books, Brett Cohen who says: “Quirk is proud to publish The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires as a fun and unique entry into the horror category. And, we’re excited to partner with Patrick and the Amazon team to interpret Grady’s vision for a streaming television audience.”

The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires centers on housewife Patricia Campbell whose life has never felt smaller. The one thing she has to look forward to is her book club, a close-knit group of Charleston women united by their love of true crime and paperback fiction. At these meetings, they’re as likely to talk about the Manson family murders as they are to discuss marriage, motherhood, and neighborhood gossip. This predictable pattern is upended when Patricia meets James Harris, a handsome stranger who moves into the neighborhood to take care of his elderly aunt and ends up joining the book club. James is sensitive and well-read, and he makes Patricia feel things she hasn’t felt in twenty years. But there’s something off about him. When local children go missing, Patricia and the book club members start to suspect James is more of a Bundy than a Beatnik—but no one outside of the book club believes them. Have they read too many true crime books, or have they invited a monster into their homes?

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Will you be reading Grady Hendrix’s new novel The Southern Book Club’s Guide To Slaying Vampires? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram!

The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires will be released on April 7, 2020.