{"title":"Books by Grady Hendrix","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9780762489480","title":"These Fists Break Bricks (Revised and Expanded Edition)","description":"\u003cb\u003eFrom \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003ebestselling author Grady Hendrix and film historian Chris Poggiali comes the full story of how kung fu movies came to—and conquered—America in this revised and expanded edition\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e When a Hollywood studio released \u003ci\u003eFive Fingers of Death\u003c\/i\u003e to thrill-seeking Times Square moviegoers in 1973, only a handful of Black and Asian audience members knew the difference between an Iron Fist and an Eagle’s Claw. That changed overnight as \u003ci\u003eFive Fingers\u003c\/i\u003e kicked off a kung fu craze that would earn millions at the box office, send TV ratings soaring, influence the birth of hip hop, reshape the style of action we see in movies today, and introduce America to some of the biggest Asian stars to ever hit motion picture screens.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThese Fists Break Bricks\u003c\/i\u003e offers a lavishly illustrated exploration of how these high-kicking, brick-breaking movies came to America and raised hell until greed, infomercials, and racist fearmongering shut them down. For the first time, the full—and wild—story is told, including how CIA agents secretly funded karate movies and how \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times \u003c\/i\u003efabricated a fear campaign about Black “karate gangs,” as well as the history of Black martial arts in America and the onslaught of Bruce Lee imitators after his death.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e With a foreword by RZA of the Wu Tang Clan and brand new material on superstars like Jackie Chan, Michelle Yeoh, and Donnie Yen, plus spotlights on unsung performers, film poster artists, and money-laundering film distributors, this revised and expanded edition is a master class in kung fu cinema history.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56294846136693,"sku":"9780762489480","price":35.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780762489480_e4773ee8-8eed-4bd2-a769-9790884726d1.jpg?v=1786016084"},{"product_id":"9781035030873","title":"Witchcraft for Wayward Girls","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eTHE INSTANT \u003ci\u003eSUNDAY TIMES\u003c\/i\u003e BESTSELLER\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘Chillingly addictive’ – \u003ci\u003eCosmopolitan\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘A perfect horror for our imperfect age’ – \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e‘I did an evil thing to be put in here, and I’m going to have to do an evil thing to get out.’\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eIn this twisted, unforgettable horror novel, a group of young girls turn to a dark, ancient magic. From Grady Hendrix, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eHow to Sell a Haunted House\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Final Girl Support Group.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThey call them wayward girls. Loose girls. Girls who grew up too fast. And they’re sent to the Wellwood House in St. Augustine, Florida, where unwed mothers are hidden by their families to have their babies in secret, give them up for adoption, and most important of all, to forget any of it ever happened.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd where every moment of their waking day is strictly controlled by adults who claim they know what’s best for them.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFifteen-year-old Fern arrives at the home in the sweltering summer of 1970, pregnant, terrified and alone. There, she meets a dozen other girls in the same predicament.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThere's Rose, a hippie who insists she’s going to keep her baby and escape to a commune. Zinnia, a budding musician who plans to marry her baby’s father. And Holly, barely fourteen, mute and pregnant by no-one-knows-who.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThen Fern meets a librarian who gives her an occult book about witchcraft, and power is in the hands of the girls for the first time in their lives. But power can destroy as easily as it creates, and it’s never given freely.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThere’s always a price to be paid . . . and it’s usually paid in blood.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eREADERS LOVE \u003ci\u003eWITCHCRAFT FOR WAYWARD GIRLS\u003c\/i\u003e . . .\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘I was drawn in from the very first page’\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘Gave me chills’\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘Tackles female rage brilliantly’\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘Disturbing but brilliant’\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eWitchcraft for Wayward Girls\u003c\/i\u003e was a No. 5 Sunday Times bestseller the w\/e 18th January 2025.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":57685935391093,"sku":"9781035030897","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":56296199553397,"sku":"9781035030873","price":22.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781035030897.jpg?v=1792599183"},{"product_id":"9781594749766","title":"My Best Friend's Exorcism","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003eSoon to be a major motion picture.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e best-selling author of \u003ci\u003eThe Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires\u003c\/i\u003e, this unholy hybrid of \u003ci\u003eBeaches\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Exorcist\u003c\/i\u003e blends teen angst and unspeakable horrors into a pulse-pounding supernatural thriller.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe year is 1988. High school sophomores Abby and Gretchen have been best friends since fourth grade. But after an evening of skinny-dipping goes disastrously wrong, Gretchen begins to act…different. She’s moody. She’s irritable. And bizarre incidents keep happening whenever she’s nearby. Abby’s investigation leads her to some startling discoveries—and by the time their story reaches its terrifying conclusion, the fate of Abby and Gretchen will be determined by a single question: Is their friendship powerful enough to beat the devil?","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56303795929461,"sku":"9781594749766","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781594749766_4ef5d7fe-af54-4902-8777-352a86262637.jpg?v=1786023178"},{"product_id":"9781594749810","title":"Paperbacks from Hell","description":"\u003cb\u003eFrom the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e best-selling author of \u003ci\u003eThe Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires\u003c\/i\u003e comes a nostalgic and unflinchingly funny celebration of the horror fiction boom of the 1970s and ’80s.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Take a tour through the horror paperback novels of two iconic decades . . . if you dare. Page through dozens and dozens of amazing book covers featuring well-dressed skeletons, evil dolls, and knife-wielding killer crabs! Read shocking plot summaries that invoke devil worship, satanic children, and haunted real estate! \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHorror author and vintage paperback book collector Grady Hendrix offers killer commentary and witty insight on these trashy thrillers that tried so hard to be the next \u003ci\u003eExorcist \u003c\/i\u003eor \u003ci\u003eRosemary’s Baby\u003c\/i\u003e. Complete with story summaries and artist and author profiles, this unforgettable volume dishes on familiar authors like \u003cb\u003eV. C. Andrews\u003c\/b\u003e and \u003cb\u003eR. L. Stine\u003c\/b\u003e, plus many more who’ve faded into obscurity. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAlso included are recommendations for which of these forgotten treasures are well worth your reading time and which should stay buried.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56305058906485,"sku":"9781594749810","price":25.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781594749810_c3c224f3-5e84-431c-a02e-c07047269909.jpg?v=1786023180"},{"product_id":"9781789097467","title":"The Final Girl Support Group","description":"In horror movies, the final girl is the one who’s left standing when the credits roll. The one who fought back, defeated the killer, and avenged her friends. The one who emerges bloodied but victorious. But after the sirens fade and the audience moves on, what happens to her?Lynnette Tarkington survived a massacre twenty-two years ago, and it has defined every day of her life since. And she’s not alone. For more than a decade she’s been meeting with five other final girls and their therapist in a support group for those who survived the unthinkable, putting their lives back together, piece by piece. That is until one of the women misses a meeting and Lynnette’s worst fears are realized—someone knows about the group and is determined to take their lives apart again, piece by piece.   But the thing about these final girls is that they have each other now, and no matter how bad the odds, how dark the night, how sharp the knife, they will never, ever give up.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56305589027189,"sku":"9781789097467","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781789097467_366ad22a-f21d-4845-923b-dc72588742f7.jpg?v=1786027165"},{"product_id":"9781803360539","title":"How to Sell a Haunted House","description":"A fast-paced, thrilling horror novel with heartfelt themes from the brilliant New York Times bestselling author of The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires and The Final Girl Support GroupEvery childhood home is haunted, and each of us are possessed by our parents.   When their parents are both killed in a car accident, Louise and Mark Joyner are devastated but nothing can prepare them for how bad things are about to get. The two siblings are almost totally estranged, and couldn't be more different. Now, however, both with equally empty bank accounts, they don't have a choice but to get along. Their one asset? Their childhood home. They need to get it on the market as soon as possible because they need the money. Yet the house has morphed into a hoarder's paradise, and before they died their parents nailed shut the attic door...   Sometimes we feel like puppets, controlled by our upbringing and our genes. Sometimes we feel like our parents treat us like toys, or playthings, or even dolls. The past can ground us, teach us, and keep us safe. It can also trap us, and bind us, and suffocate the life out of us. As disturbing events stack up in the house, Louise and Mark have to learn that sometimes the only way to break away from the past, sometimes the only way to sell a haunted house, is to burn it all down.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":57685724922229,"sku":"9781803360553","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":56307321569653,"sku":"9781803360539","price":19.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781803360553.jpg?v=1792598889"},{"product_id":"9781917792073","title":"Unquiet Guests","description":"A house is more than just a place to lay your head at night. Sometimes, the walls remember. Gathering ten modern masters of the strange and unsettling, Unquiet Guests sets fire to the blueprints and reimagines the haunted house from the foundations up. From dreamlike visions of an abandoned future mansion to a sentient building grown tired of its owners, these rooms echo with whispers of the disenfranchised and the lost. Featuring stories by: Chuck Palahniuk, Grady Hendrix, Kirsty Logan, Will Maclean, Irenosen Okojie, Alison Moore, Matthew Holness, Claire Fuller, Clay Macleod Chapman and Ally Wilkes.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56309460697461,"sku":"9781917792073","price":20.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781917792073_c337ea86-dc21-4927-8ae9-2b00525ece1c.jpg?v=1786030582"},{"product_id":"9781683692515","title":"The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e“This funny and fresh take on a classic tale manages to comment on gender roles, racial disparities, and white privilege all while creeping me all the way out. So good.”—Zakiya Dalila Harris, author of The Other Black Girl\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNow in paperback,\u003ci\u003e Steel Magnolias\u003c\/i\u003e meets \u003ci\u003eDracula\u003c\/i\u003e in this \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e best-selling horror novel about a women's book club that must do battle with a mysterious newcomer to their small Southern town.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBonus features:\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eReading group guide for book clubs \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eHand-drawn map of Mt. Pleasant \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAnnotated true-crime reading list by Grady Hendrix \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAnd more! \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/b\u003ePatricia Campbell’s life has never felt smaller. Her husband is a workaholic, her teenage kids have their own lives, her senile mother-in-law needs constant care, and she’s always a step behind on her endless to-do list. The only thing keeping her sane is her book club, a close-knit group of Charleston women united by their love of true crime. At these meetings they’re as likely to talk about the Manson family as they are about their own families.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOne evening after book club, Patricia is viciously attacked by an elderly neighbor, bringing the neighbor's handsome nephew, James Harris, into her life. James is well traveled and well read, and he makes Patricia feel things she hasn’t felt in years. But when children on the other side of town go missing, their deaths written off by local police, Patricia has reason to believe James Harris is more of a Bundy than a Brad Pitt. The real problem? James is a monster of a different kind—and Patricia has already invited him in. \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eLittle by little, James will insinuate himself into Patricia’s life and try to take everything she took for granted—including the book club—but she won’t surrender without a fight in this blood-soaked tale of neighborly kindness gone wrong.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56312753553781,"sku":"9781683692515","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781683692515_54a36c01-c0af-4a44-be5c-9c7554658d87.jpg?v=1786024737"},{"product_id":"grady-hendrix-slipcase","title":"Grady Hendrix Slipcase","description":"Collected together for the first time, two of Goodreads Choice award winning author Grady Hendrix's most beloved novels: The Final Girl Support Group and How to Sell a Haunted HouseTwo of Grady Hendrix's most beloved horror novels, collected together for the first time: The Final Girl Support Group and How to Sell a Haunted House. Ever wonder what happens to those Final Girls? After the cops eliminate them as suspects, after the press releases their brace-faced, bad-hair-day photos. For Lynette Tarkington, it's been a support group with five other final girls. Close to twenty years. Today's the last day for group, and maybe the final day for all of them, because someone's been planning a nasty surprise for a long time.   When their parents both die in a car accident, Louise and Mark Joyner are devastated but nothing can prepare them for how bad things are about to get. The two siblings are almost totally estranged:. now, however, they don't have a choice but to get along. They need to get their childhood home on the market as soon as possible, yet the house has morphed into a hoarder's paradise, and before they died their parents nailed shut the attic door...","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57490333827445,"sku":"9781835411964","price":19.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781835411964.jpg?v=1786442222"},{"product_id":"badasstronauts","title":"BadAsstronauts","description":"\u003cb\u003eFrom \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eMy Best Friend's Exorcism, The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eThe Final Girl Support Group\u003c\/i\u003e, Grady Hendrix takes a break from horror and goes all-in on sci-fi in this novella about backyard rocket jockeys trying to get into low earth orbit.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMelville, South Carolina was out of money, it was out of jobs, it was out of hope, and today it was out of astronauts. There were only two to begin with, and now one is stuck on the abandoned International Space Station after his mission went south. With NASA’s budget cut to the bone, there’s no one to bring him back home, so everyone is only too happy to ignore this embarrassing sign of American Failure and just let him die. But his cousin, Walter Reddie, isn’t going to let that happen.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTanked on vodka, living on a “farm” whose only crop is cars on cinderblocks, Walter's a wash-out from the Shuttle Program and he’ll be damned if he’s going to let his cousin die in the sky like a dog. And so he begins to build a rocket. If America won’t rescue its astronauts, he’ll do it himself.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eViolating numerous laws, good taste, common sense, logic, and reason, Walter becomes a lightning rod for people who aren’t ready to give up. His farm is transformed into the promised land for misfits, drifters, rocket junkies, pyromaniacs, dreamers, science nerds, and astro-hippies who believe that space shouldn’t just be for billionaires. But it won’t be easy. Chances are good they’ll blow themselves up, get arrested, or kill each other before they ever get into orbit.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57495262691701,"sku":"9781625675583","price":11.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781625675583.jpg?v=1786617952"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-grady-hendrix.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}