The Final Girl Support Group is a slasher horror story with a brilliant premise. The final girls are the ones who survived a psychotic killer’s rampage. They get their name by being the last ones alive. They now have post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) and meet in a therapy group to work through the trauma.
The story begins when yet another psychotic killer starts picking off the women in the support group, one at a time, and they must again fight for their lives.
The viewpoint character, Lynette Tarkington, is violently forced out of her apartment, where she has been isolating herself to stay safe. No longer safe, she begins pursuing the culprits who attacked her. Lynette thinks she knows who is killing the final girls and goes after them, but she’s wrong. Her next theory is wrong, also. It’s annoying that Hendrix never gives the reader any credible explanation of why Lynette suspects anyone she’s chasing. Of course, in Lynette’s final theory, she’s correct. But, again, the reader has no idea why she settled on that suspect.
When Lynette chases one suspect after another, there’s abundant blood and gore. The various serial killer scenarios should satisfy the carnage many slasher fans seek.
My preference is psychological horror. Slasher horror, such as this, is my least favorite horror type. I read this mostly because of Grady Hendrix’s reputation as a horror master. I’ve read Horrostor and My Best Friends Exorcism, so I knew the writing style I was getting into. I’m not sure why I chose to read another of his books. Perhaps I wanted to see why he has so much commercial success. Or maybe I subconsciously like his writing. If you see me reading another of his books, refer me back to this paragraph.