Dinner for Vampires- Review

Book Review: Dinner for Vampires: Life on a Cult TV Show by Bethany Joy Lenz

Rating: ★★★★☆(4/5)

Introduction:

Released October 2024. Read January 2025.

As an OTH Stan I would have read this book if it had been the dictionary. I grew up watching One Tree Hill from the time I was in 5th grade (yes, I know, way too young) to missing out on the final two seasons because I went off to college and didn’t have video on demand. I still have not gotten through to those final two seasons. I somehow stop my rewatch after season 4 when they messed it all up for my girl Peyton. Haley James Scott was an icon for me. I remember watching her perform Feel This for the show and my sister pointing out that her actual husband was there playing on stage. Now with the rewatch podcast out and this book the show is a bit tainted for me. Knowing what the actresses were going through with the show’s creator was already one huge red flag but this book gave a new lens thanks to Ms. Lenz that will forever change how I see that time period of television.

Summary: A Brief Overview (Without Major Spoilers)

While the title suggests she is going to talk about her time on a cult TV show, it really deals with her time living with a group of people that she deems a cult. We get to learn about Joy’s (she goes by Joy over Bethany) younger years and see how she grew up leading to how she was a young promising actress in Los Angeles. She paints a picture of how her problematic home life led to being susceptible to wolves in sheeps clothing. The struggle to leave or even realize that she needed to leave was one of the most captivating aspects of this story. We see this juxtaposition of Joy the actress and Joy the woman wanting to be a good wife and mother. The world thought they knew who the real Joy was but her life behind the scenes was a much darker picture. It was only when she becomes a mother that she realizes she has to save herself and her child from the world she has surrounded herself in for over a decade.

What Worked for Me:

Joy’s vulnerability. This memoir is honest, raw, and open’s the reader’s eyes to a reality they never could have guessed was going on behind the scenes in Joy’s life. Showing the progression of how she started off in what seemed like an innocent situation that over time grew into her being in a cult like situation. A lot of readers are going to resonate with this. Using religion as a control mechanism is a common tactic for people seeking to control others and Joy found herself in a situation that many can relate to.

What Didn’t Work for Me: Trigger Warnings and Criticisms

There were a couple of spots where she claims Catholics aren’t Christians. As a former Baptist turned Catholic I had to roll my eyes here. Her Catholic friend seemed to do the same. Several times when she is relaying instances of how the main antagonists treated her were hard to stomach. How she describes her ex husband during their courting phase also had me irked. I could understand that she was being manipulated but it seemed sad to me that he was also being used as a pawn. It made for a very uncomfortable read at times.

Final Thoughts:

I read this book back in October 2024 when it was first released and it still has an impression on me now in January. I think fans of OTH will be able to connect easily with Joy in this book. I think survivors of religious organizations that were over-bearing will also resonate with the themes here. Overall I would recommend it to anyone who loves memoirs.