Stuff I Read: The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

Lynnette Tarkington is not okay.  As a teenager, she was the sole survivor of a brutal and traumatic killing spree, earning her the title of Final Girl.  Withdrawn, paranoid, and agoraphobic, she only leaves home to attend regular sessions with The Final Girl Support Group, an AA-styled therapy group specifically for women who were the only survivors of violent crime sprees.  But when one group member dies mysteriously and another gets shot right in front of her, Lynette is convinced her worries have been vindicated and someone is out to get them.  Paranoid doesn’t always mean incorrect in Grady Hendrix’s 2021 novel, The Final Girl Support Group.

The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

The Final Girl Support Group asks “What if your favorite slasher movie franchises were based on true stories?” and follows the victims of those events decades later.  The final girls themselves, now adult women with varying degrees of success, are analogues of the main characters from multiple iconic franchises like Scream, Friday the 13th, Halloween, and A Nightmare on Elm Street.  Hendrix paints these survivors as trying to move on from their highly publicized and commercialized trauma, but since all of their worst moments have been turned into big-budget movies, they’re unable to do so.  And when they’re targeted by someone resentful of their final girl status—Lynnette especially—they’re forced to relive and cope with the events that have followed them since they were teenagers.

The story is told through Lynnette’s eyes, and despite being paranoid, occasionally selfish, lonely, and carrying a mountain of understandable trust issues, she’s a likeable enough person that you can follow her through the book.  The story itself is tightly plotted and goes by quickly.  Most importantly as a thriller, none of its twists or turns are unearned or telegraphed.  The story is clever, nerve-wracking, funny, and incredibly readable.

 My one issue is a minor one.  It’s implied throughout the book that one of the final girls’ traumatic event had supernatural origins.  Given that we see all of the other women in the group go through at least part of their event, the omission of this potentially supernatural thing feels noticeable, at least, to me.  I would have loved to see that, but its absence doesn’t harm the story or its vibe.

So, if you’re in the mood for a tense thriller that pays homage to multiple beloved slasher movies, look no further than The Final Girl Support Group.

Pros: Tightly plotted; fun homage to classic slasher films; quick, addictive read

Cons: One character has her trauma implied as supernatural, but we don’t get to see it.

Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars.