Patricia is a house wife. Her days are spent cleaning house and taking care of her two kids and husband. The only excitement she has going for her is her monthly book club, where she and 4 of her closest friends discuss True Crime. Patricia dreams of something more, and one day her wish is granted in the form of a handsome stranger. James Harris is quite peculiar. He is very adamant about being invited into a home, has a reaction to sun light, and his van with its tinted windows might as well be a coffin on wheels. When children from a nearby neighborhood start dying, Patricia is determined to prove to everyone around her that James is to blame. But what's a housewife to do when everyone thinks she's gone crazy?
I just want to put a disclaimer that this book touches on some pretty heavy stuff; suicide, murder, rape, and child molestation, I will not go into any of the heavy here in my review but wanted everyone to be aware should you decide to pick up your own copy.
I read the author's note...I don't usually read the author's note. I prefer going into a book semi-blind. It was a poor decision on my part to deviate from my norm. The 80's. Quite possibly my least favorite decade. That announcement alone had me bemoaning the remaining 400 pages, but I read them.
There were so many relatable moments for me in the first few chapters of the book. Moments I felt that just about any mother, child, friend, or reader could relate to. The way Patricia talks about reading in the beginning how she is constantly distracted and uninterested in a book she is being forced to read. The way she speaks about her ailing mother-in-law. Trashy grocery store paperbacks. I know we've all met at least one Marjorie in our lives. After that, the book starts to fall short. I have to push myself through to the ending. Paragraphs are being glanced over because they really just say a lot about nothing. One of my least favorite things in books is filler, and I feel like that's exactly what 20% of this book was.
"...She'd learned two things: They were all in this together and if their husbands ever took out a life insurance policy on them, they were in trouble." - Patricia Campbell
This was only my second foray into the horror genre. While House of Hollow is a mixture of horror and fairytales, making it more unrealistic, Grady Hendrix goes into vivid graphic details letting me know I will have nightmares for ages. While the beginning and end were fairly fast paced, the middle felt stilted and drawn out. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes horror and gore and is okay skimming some of the lesser needed pages. I wouldn't suggest it to anyone who may be triggered by the things discussed in my disclaimer or who would rather not finish a book than push through to find out the ending.
⭐⭐⭐ 3 Gory stars for The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires.
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