* New York Times bestseller* *One of TIME ' s 100 Must-Read Books of 2024* A
deliciously witty and inspiring memoir by One Tree Hill star Bethany Joy Lenz about her
decade in a cult and her quest to break free. In the early 2000s after years of hard work
and determination to breakthrough as an actor Bethany Joy Lenz was finally cast as one of the
leads on the hit drama One Tree Hill . Her career was about to take off but her personal life
was slowly beginning to unravel. What none of the show' s millions of fans knew hidden even
from her costars was her secret double life in a cult. An only child who often had to fend
for herself and always wanted a place to belong Lenz found the safe haven she' d been
searching for in a Bible study group with other Hollywood creatives. However the group soon
morphed into something more sinister - a slowly woven web of manipulation abuse and fear under
the guise of a church covenant called The Big House Family. Piece by piece Lenz began to give
away her autonomy ultimately relocating to the Family' s Pacific Northwest compound
overseen by a domineering minister who would convince Lenz to marry one of his sons and
steadily drained millions of her TV income without her knowledge. Family ' minders'
assigned to her on set ' Maoist struggle session' -inspired meetings in the basement of
a filthy house and regular counselling with ' Leadership' were just part of the tactics
used to keep her loyal. Only when she became a mother did Lenz find the courage to leave and
spare her child from a similar fate. After nearly a decade (and with the unlikely help of a
One Tree Hill super-fan) she finally managed to escape the family' s grip and begin to
heal from the deep trauma that forever altered the course of her life. Written with powerful
honesty and dark humour Dinner for Vampires is an inspiring story about the importance of
identity faith and independence.
