Love thy neighbour

This story is set in Mt. Pleasant, Charleston, South Carolina, in the early 1990s, in a quiet residential neighborhood where the men hold important jobs and the women stay at home to care for the children and manage the household. Every so often, the housewives gather to discuss the true crime books they are reading in their small book club. But the peace of Mt. Pleasant is threatened when a new resident moves into the house of one of the women, Ann Savage. Shortly thereafter, a deranged Ann Savage attacks Patricia Campbell in her own home. Patricia also meets Ann’s cousin, James Harris, who has moved in as well. This enigmatic but charming man works his way into Patricia’s life and the book club, and he has some unusual habits: during the day, he looks pale and sickly, but at night he radiates health.

Patricia quickly realizes that something is off about James, but no one believes her, attributing her concerns to her love of thrillers and true crime books. They claim her imagination is running wild. However, when her live-in, ailing mother-in-law Miss Mary reveals that she knows James Harris, Patricia becomes even more determined to uncover the truth about the new resident—who has already managed to charm the men and convince them of his goodness. Her investigation leads to a shocking discovery that endangers not only her own life but also that of her family and friends. According to Patricia, James Harris is a vampire preying on children’s blood. Will she be able to convince the other housewives of her story?

I had been looking forward to reading this book for some time, as Grady Hendrix’s work has long been on my reading list. He has a unique talent for blending nostalgia with horror while keeping the humor flowing. The book is packed with 1990s references, and each chapter is named after a true crime or thriller that the book club is reading at the time. Often, these titles also reflect events unfolding in the story itself (In Cold Blood, The Stranger Beside Me, etc.). While the story leans more toward humor than outright terror, it’s a delight to immerse yourself in this southern town, where a group of women unexpectedly has to confront a potential murderer—who may also be a supernatural being. How do you stop someone who has already convinced their husbands that he’s just an ordinary man with a promising investment opportunity?

Hendrix also addresses an important theme: the role of women in the family. Men work, women tend the home—but by putting these women front and center and showing the battles they fight behind the scenes, Hendrix flips the traditional roles and gives these women a voice that carries real weight. I love this subversion of the prescribed gender roles.

At the back of the book, there’s a map of Mt. Pleasant and some fun extras, like a recommended reading list of true crime books. The Stranger Beside Me has been on my shelf for a while (it’s Ann Rule’s story—she was a friend of serial killer Ted Bundy and began writing a book about the murders of young women, not realizing the killer was closer than she suspected). I’d definitely like to move it higher on my TBR.

The cover calls the book “Desperate Housewives meets Dracula,” but I’d personally replace Dracula with Fright Night, the ’80s film about a young man who suspects his neighbor might be a vampire. I think that’s a much more accurate comparison.