Dinner for Vampires (Unabridged)
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
*NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER*
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 counseling 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 superfan), she finally managed to escape the family’s grip and begin to heal from the deep trauma that forever altered her relationship with God and her understanding of faith.
Written with powerful honesty and dark humor, Dinner for Vampires is an inspiring story about the importance of identity and understanding what you believe.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Actress Bethany Joy Lenz tells the strange, startling true story of how she rose to stardom while her life was being torn apart by a religious cult in this one-of-a-kind celebrity memoir. An only child raised by deeply religious parents, Lenz was just 20 when she landed her big break playing Haley on the hit TV series One Tree Hill. While adjusting to life in Los Angeles, she began attending a Bible study that gave her a sense of family and acceptance. That changed as she was pulled into the Big House Family, who controlled her life, forced her into an arranged marriage, derailed her career, and stole her money. Lenz pulls no punches in her depiction of life in a cult, but the horrors are buffered by her often witty tales of her time acting and her determination to win her sense of agency back. Lenz’s reading is superb, giving life to the many remarkable characters she met along the way. This will grab you even if you never watched One Tree Hill.
Customer Reviews
I binged it.
Riveting. I couldn’t stop listening.
Great Book!
I finished listening to the audio book in less than 2 days! Joy’s voice is so calming and the way she read this book was very captivating. It’s so interesting how you’re in a cult for so long but you think everything is normal. And watching OTH you’d never know anything was off in her normal life. So crazy. It’s a great read and well written. Highly recommended!
Just wow!
Amazed by the depth and intensity. 🔥