Dinner For Vampires by Bethany Joy Lenz

If you know us well you know that we are HUGE One Tree Hill fans, so it was to our delight that we received an ARC copy through @netgalley and @simonandschuster. Thank you!!

We finished this last night, just in time for her Pub Day release yesterday! Joy writes about her experience in a high demand religious group (aka religious cult). Since we finished it we have been in a deep dive of research trying to put faces to the pseudonyms used for confidentiality. We’ve made some progress in our search but expect to more Reddit threads and fandom research to emerge! If you have any insights please DM us, we will be sure to continue down this rabbit hole.

If you are hoping for a book about inside info relating to the OTH show, I would say you can learn all you need to through @enews or the recent @callherdaddy podcast. This is mostly Joy’s experience being groomed into The Big House Family Cult and how to help others recognize and avoid extreme instances of group think.

Reading her experience was very sad. Someone we grew up watching weekly, who was so vibrant in her role, experienced significant uncertainty and loneliness in her personal life. Joy was at the peak of her career, surrounded by many talented people her own age and was feeling more isolated than ever. We are also SO sad to hear on the @callherdaddy podcast that she and Hilarie do seem to have “bizarre misunderstandings” between one another. We hope that they can work through them and come back together, as the young women in particular on the show have come such a long way in reclaiming that period of their life.

Overall, Dinner For Vampires is an absorbing and fast-paced read. We found some parts choppy, and the nicknames hard to follow but when it comes to a memoir and someone’s real life experience, who are we to judge?

Like many other, I know Lenz from One Tree Hill and was very curious to see what life was like when she pulled back the curtain. Her honesty of what she went through while also being on an extremely successful TV show showed her strength and grit to eventually leave it all behind. A courageous story filtered through the lens of reflection and hope.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC!

I'm a huge OTH fan so when I saw this book, I had to get my hands on it!! I'm not a huge memoir fan and especially not one about cults, but I have loved Bethany Joy Lenz in everything she has been in and was saddened to hear about her cult life and how it had such control over her and all her relationships. What they took from her financially and emotionally was absolutely outrageous and unbelievable at times. It's hard to picture how one gets enticed into joining a cult unless it has happened to you, but this book showed how subtle and quick it can happen. It was sickening how this cult operated under the guise of religion. I did wish she wrote more about her time on OTH and how being in a cult affected certain relationships that she had but overall I enjoyed this book.

Thank you so much to Simon & Schuster for the ARC for Dinner for Vampires in exchange for an honest review! Part Hollywood memoir, part cautionary tale, Dinner for Vampires follows Lenz throughout her career and personal life, shedding light not only on her time on One Tree Hill but the tumultuous behind-the-scenes lifestyle she mostly kept hidden while a part of a nameless cult.

Like many, I first added this book to my “to-read” because of my devotion to teenage years spent watching One Tree Hill. Lenz played one of my favorite characters, Haley James Scott, and was a part of everyone’s favorite OTH couple dubbed “Naley” who ended up being the series longest running couple, spanning all nine years. But Dinner for Vampires is not really about One Tree Hill. It’s about everything Lenz was managing while on One Tree Hill, which included pressure from her “Family” and a doomed marriage with a controlling and emotionally abusive man. It’s about the path that led to her giving up years of her life, most of her bank account, and relationships with blood family for religious hysteria. You can sense the unsettling metamorphosis from the start, even if a young naïve Lenz cannot. Reading Dinner for Vampires feels familiar, disheartening, and important all in the same bite.

I’m glad that Lenz is doing better now and hope that she was able to process her experience through writing Dinner for Vampires. I hope it was healing. I enjoyed this bit of insight into her life and her past.

Although I didn't watch "One Tree Hill" back in the day and wasn't very familiar with the author, this seemed like a memoir I would devour. Ultimately, it ended up taking me quite a while to get through and I didn't love the pacing but her story is an important one. Thanks to Simon & Schuster for emailing me an advanced copy - pub day is today, 10/22/24!

Growing up, One Tree Hill was my safe space in a very unsafe world. I’d tune in once a week and let my problems dissolve for an hour as I watched these characters love and hate, lie and cheat, go through heartbreaks and loss. I grew up as they did, watching on the screen and never knowing what was happening behind the scenes.
Now, we hear in Joy’s own words the manipulation and horrors she was experiencing off screen and the incredible journey she embarks on to reclaim her life and start to heal.
Joy has given us such a raw recount of her life. It’s both heartbreaking and awe inspiring. The memoir flows seamlessly and easily transports you right into the narrative.

Thank you NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review

The subtitle of Lenz's Dinner for Vampires says it all: "Life on a Cult TV Show (While also in an Actual Cult!)"

Joy (as she refers to herself in the book) aspired to become an actor from a young age. She was encouraged by a theatrical grandmother, and her mother gamely took her to auditions. After her parents divorced and she moved to Hollywood, she sought friendship and camaraderie and joined a bible group. It was innocuous enough, until it wasn't.

This is her story of the bible group morphing into cult. Lenz was an avid journal keeper, and we get her perspective in recalled conversations and anecdotes. She's honestly recounts her years with the group, and her observations run the gamut from tragic to scary to very funny. The title refers to the way the group basically sucked everything from her, including her earnings from being on One Tree Hill for ten years (the cult TV show).

Yes, she got out. We see that in the harrowing prologue, and the arc takes us through her journey. The truth is indeed stranger than fiction.

My thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the digital ARC.

Just Wow!
Bethany Joy Lenz did not come into my life until I saw her in a Hallmark movie, so I didn't know she was in One Tree Hill. She became someone that I would watch whichever movie she was in, knowing it would have a bit of humor in it. Imagine my surprise, and maybe yours too, when I read that she had been in a cult. Like an actual cult. Cults and the people that are in them are a mystery to me, and that is why this book sounded like something I would want to read.

Most books, or tv shows, regarding cults don't give you what you really want like the who, where, what, how, and why? This book tells all! I came came away from reading this book realizing that anyone can be lured into a cult. I also, realized that it takes a strong person (woman in this case) to be able to get out of a cult. Dinner for Vampires captures your attention right away, gives you the nitty gritty details that you want to know, and is done beautifully.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

happy publication day, bethany joy lenz. 🧛‍♀️📚

thank you to net galley & Simon and Schuster for this arc & the opportunity to read the words of an actor i’ve loved since high school.

this memoir was a tough one for me to get through. i found myself taking frequent breaks because I was so disturbed by the events that took place and went joy (bethany) had to endure.

as a christian, i was disgusted by how the leaders of the big house family (aka the cult) perverted the words of God. to intentionally deceive anyone is obviously wrong, but to prey upon vulnerabilities & spiritually abuse someone is just evil.

if you haven’t gotten a chance to, i recommend listening/watching the authors interview with Alexandra Cooper on the Call Her Daddy podcast - either before or after reading, as she explains some of her experiences there as well.

please know if you or someone you know is being abused in any way, there is help for you. you are not alone.

i pray that bethany’s bravery in leaving & sharing her story would inspire others to do the same.

Wow… my heart breaks for her. As someone who is “obsessed” with true crime media and immediately hits play on any podcast that has to do with cults, I was very intrigued by this book. I am a OTH fan and never knew about any of this until now and am shocked and saddened by everything she dealt with due to her being involved with the Big House Family.

It is easy to read something like this and think to yourself “okay but why didn’t she just stop giving them money and leave?” but after reading about the manipulation and abuse, and just how tangled up in her life they were, I cannot imagine how difficult it was to walk away. Especially since there was so much more than just *her* freedom that she was risking by walking away. Her story is so inspiring and I am an even bigger fan now than I already was.

As for the writing, I thought it was a very approachable read and I loved how she mixed humor into the dark subject. I think this would be so good as an audiobook!


Thank you to the publisher for an advanced copy!

To start, I really appreciate how honestly and bluntly Lenz discussed her journey, specifically how she gradually she got pulled in and the bad decisions she made as a result. I can't imagine how hard it would be to relive all of this and give an honest depiction to such a large audience! That being said - I found this a little hard to get into at times, maybe because I'm not religious at all? It felt a bit slow moving as a book, but I really found the story of it to be powerful. So, ultimately - mixed reviews on this one, but I applaud the author for sharing her story!

An intensely moving and beautifully crafted narrative, this story delves into Joy’s decade-long journey within a religious cult. Through her meticulously kept journals, we are invited to accompany Joy as she navigates the complexities of her identity and her quest for belonging in a world that often feels alien.

Her reflections reveal the struggles, doubts, and triumphs she faces, shedding light on the resilience of the human spirit. Joy's experiences are filled with moments of profound insight and vulnerability, allowing us to witness her transformation from a life constrained by dogma to one filled with hope and self-discovery.

Despite the challenges she endures, Joy emerges as a beacon of light, radiating positivity and strength. Her journey serves as a testament to the power of introspection and the importance of forging one’s path, reminding us all of the beauty that can arise from even the darkest circumstances.

What an incredibly moving story. As someone who watched Lenz on One Tree Hill, I really had no idea all that went on behind the scenes. She is so incredibly strong and courageous throughout this story and everything she endured.

I am a One Tree Hill fan for life. So, I immediately applied to read this book the second it was available. Bethany Joy Lenz is a well-spoken, beautiful soul I could 100% see enjoying and befriending. She carries quite the story that dominated most of her adult life. One that made me cringe and want to hug her. But I would have preferred this in audiobook format or as an interview. There were so many details that, while they all contributed to her story, felt unnecessary and dragged on. I admire her strength and memory as this is an incredibly comprehensive account of her experience.

Quick recap without spoilers:
Bethany Joy Lenz, or Joy, an only child and a Christian, found herself at a crossroads when she was forced to find her way as an adult immediately following her high school graduation. She moved to NYC and found work acting for a year or two. At around 20 years old, Joy moved to LA and eventually joined a church group that met in a home, thriving on long talks about religion and how best to put God first and yourself last. Being isolated from her divorced parents and without many close friends, Joy lost herself in the comfort and love of this group, all under the new leadership of a man whom she later addresses as “Papa,” her spiritual father. For the next ten years of her life, through her entire tenure with One Tree Hill, every decision, including who she marries, is made by her spiritual family. They controlled (and stole) her money, her autonomy, and her life.

I’m going to be honest, I was never a One Tree Hill fan so I didn’t choose this book because of that. What interested me was the title and description. I find cults and the participation (and I use that word very lightly) in them very interesting. So this is initially the reason I chose this book. But after reading it, there are so many reasons I’m glad I did.

The craziness that Joy went through just blows my mind. I felt so sorry for her because you just knew this religious cult was going to take advantage of her. And everything she did for them was out of her love for them and God. I’m just happy that she got out and her and her daughter are safe.

I would recommend this book for anyone, it’s well written and very interesting to read. I’m glad I had the opportunity to read it!

***Thank you Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for an ARC copy in return for an honest review***

Dinner for Vampires by Bethany Joy Lenz

Why I Chose It: One Tree Hill was a show I binged during college.

If you go into this thinking OTH is going to be a big part of it, you’ll be disappointed. OTH was only really a reference point for what was going on in Lenz’s life at the time. However, if you’re looking for a well articulated, sometimes cringeworthy memoir about answering the question “how does one get into a cult,” this is your book.

Lenz bluntly and honestly walked the reader through how she found her people and that then spiraled into a cult. She was able to clearly illustrate how gradual this happened and how hard it was to get out once in there. Often times as this story progressed, I felt myself remembering a quote from Vercher’s Devil is Fine, “if I got to choose between your God and the devil, then the devil is fine.” I felt for younger Lenz as she explained how she backed out of her dreams because of the influences around her. Her ability to tell this story with empathy and grace really made it that much more powerful.

All in all, I was so glad to watch Lenz’s growth in this memoir. Check this one out if you are looking for a great memoir about being in and leaving a religious cult.

Many thanks to NetGalley for an e-book ARC of this one. In her memoir, Bethany Joy Lenz splits the attention or focus of the narrative between her career and time on One Tree Hill and her time in a small, religious cult. I think the concept for this memoir was really interesting - Joy revealed that she was in a cult on her shared podcast with former OTH co-stars and obviously, people wanted to hear more about it. She definitely accomplished that aim in this book; I learned so much about how she was indoctrinated into the cult, controlled by the leader Les, and how she slowly started to find her way out. I think it really could have been interesting to hear more about how cults work through the narrative as well (given the piece near the end about her dad's work to support her once she was out). That could have been a cool integration. I also know the book's main selling point was that she was in this cult, but I wish there was a *smidge* more about her time on One Tree Hill. What we got was great so if it would have been flushed out a bit more, that could have added some more depth to the narrative. Overall, this is a really vulnerable and solid memoir. I think the ARC I got had some editing errors in it so that made it hard to follow at times, but I got the gist. Power to Joy for getting out of that cult!

In the early 2000s, while she appeared on our television screens each week in one of TV’s most popular teen dramas, Bethany Joy Lenz’s life off camera was anything but glamorous. As a 20 year old working actor living in L.A., Lenz found herself searching for a place to belong, a group to join, a family. After a childhood bouncing from town to town and her parent’s divorce when she was a teenager, Lenz yearned for people with her same mindset and faith in God. She found it in a small home bible study hosted by another charismatic actor and his family. But this welcoming congregation slowly morphed into something much darker as an older, former pastor took control of the group’s leadership. Lenz was becoming famous for her wholesome, wise TV character, but behind the scenes her life was devoted to a high control group that ran every aspect of her life. They guided her career choices, controlled her finances, and even steered the decision on who she married. After almost a decade living in a cult, Lenz finally found the clarity and strength to leave. This is the story of her journey from naive teenager to loyal cult member to liberated woman.

Lenz’s memoir is riveting. She doesn’t sugarcoat the choices she made or paths she took that lead to her life in the cult. She lays everything bare with brutal honesty, detailing her every thought, emotion, and mistake. This honesty allows us as readers to understand the inner working of these high control groups or cults. How they draw in members, the methods they use to keep members ensnared and isolated, and their tactics for hiding the true nature of their groups from the world. Lenz rips open her personal life to show readers how anyone can become a victim to these predators, not just the young, lost, or down on their luck. Highly successful, driven, motivated people are often prime targets for these bloodsuckers. It’s a testament to Lenz’s faith and strength that she was finally able to untangle herself from this toxic nest of narcissists. A truly fascinating glimpse into Lenz’s life behind the cameras.

I was so excited to get my hands on this one! As a HIGE OTH fan I loved getting to read this. It was heart breaking seeing what Joy endured. But so inspiring she made it out on the other side.

Thank you to Netgalley, @simonbooks , and @simonandschuster for this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

It's no secret that I'm a huge One Tree Hill fan. I've been hooked since it first aired on The WB when I was in 8th grade, and here I am in my mid-30s, still as devoted as ever. So naturally, when any of the cast members write a book, I’m eager to read it. You can imagine my excitement when I was approved for this one!

That said, if you're expecting juicy One Tree Hill gossip, this isn't that kind of memoir. For behind-the-scenes tidbits, you’re better off listening to the Drama Queens podcast. This book is more of a personal journey—an eye-opening story of a young, impressionable woman who was manipulated by a group of people who preyed on her insecurities and loneliness. It's a chilling reminder of how abusers can isolate their victims, but in this case, it was an entire group doing that over the span of years.

As I read, I was stunned that all of this was happening during the production of a show I love so much. I even rewatched the pilot episode, feeling a mix of anger and sadness as I reached the parts about her toxic marriage. I used to love her performance of "Halo" on the show, but I never fully understood the lyrics until now. Realizing it coincided with her marriage, the song’s meaning is much clearer, and I’m so glad she found the strength to walk away.

Dinner for Vampires releases tomorrow, and I can’t wait to experience it again through the audiobook!