The project was previously in development at Amazon with Patrick Moran's PKM Productions but has now moved to the Warner Bros. Discovery network without Moran's involvement.
Hendrix, McBride and Patterson will executive produce, along with Brandon James for McBride’s Rough House Pictures. Quirk Books, which published the novel, will also serve as executive producer.
The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires follows a book club of women who must protect their suburban community from a mysterious and handsome stranger who may be a vampire killing their children.
Set in Charleston, the book, which was published in May 2021, is described as “Steel Magnolias meets Dracula.”
It follows Patricia Campbell, whose life has never felt smaller. Her husband is a workaholic, her teenage children have their own lives, her senile mother-in-law requires constant care, and she’s always one step behind on her endless to-do list. The only thing keeping her sane is her book club, a tight-knit group of Charleston women united by their love of true crime. At these gatherings, they talk about the Manson family as much as they do about their own.
One night after a club meeting, Patricia is attacked by an older neighbor, bringing the neighbor’s handsome nephew, James Harris, into her life. Well-traveled and well-read, James makes Patricia feel things she hasn’t felt in years. But when kids across town start going missing and their deaths are written off by local police, Patricia has reason to believe that James is more Bundy than Brad Pitt.
The real problem? James is a monster of a different kind—and Patricia has already let him in. Little by little, James worms his way into Patricia’s life and tries to take away everything she’s taken for granted—including the book club—but she won’t give in without a fight in this blood-soaked tale of neighborly kindness gone wrong.
Hendrix is the author of more than a dozen books, including My Best Friend’s Exorcism, which was adapted into a 2022 film by Prime Video, as well as Horrorstör, which was previously in the works as a series for Fox and is now in the works as a film with New Republic Pictures.
He also co-wrote the screenplay for the 2017 film Mohawk and Satanic Panic for Fangoria. Furthermore, he is behind How to Sell a Haunted House, which is set up at Legendary with Grady as editor, James Ashcroft as director, and Ghost House and Aperture as producers. Another project of his is the short story Ankle Snatcher, which is set up at Columbia with Escape Artist and Aperture as producers. His next book is Witchcraft For Wayward Witches, which will be published on January 14, 2025 by Berkley.
As for McBride and Patterson, they star in HBO’s The Righteous Gemstones as Jesse and Judy Gemstone. The series, which has been renewed for a fourth season, was created by McBride, who will executive produce alongside his Rough House co-founders David Gordon Green and Jody Hill.
McBride, who also created HBO comedy series Vice Principals and Eastbound & Down, has also written films including Halloween and its two recent spinoffs, and The Exorcist: Believer.
Patterson has also appeared in shows such as Resident Alien and The Last O.G., and has done extensive voice work on shows such as Teenage Euthanasia, Harley Quinn, The Great North and Knuckles. She has written episodes of The Righteous Gemstones, as well as Showtime sketch comedy The Underground and Cartoon Network's We Bare Bears.
