One Tree Hill alum Bethany Joy Lenz is revealing more information about the cult she was in for 10 years. The actress previously shared on the Drama Queens podcast with co-hosts and co-stars Hilarie Burton-Morgan and Sophia Bush that she was in a cult for a decade and had hopes to write about it in a book. That time has come, as she is detailing it all in her upcoming debut memoir, Dinner for Vampires, which will be released later this year.
In the memoir, Lenz details her experience on The CW’s hit teen drama One Tree Hill while, at the same time, living her “secret double life in a cult,” the synopsis from Simon and Schuster reads. “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,” the synopsis continues. “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 to keep her loyal.”
It sounds like Lenz will get down to the nitty-gritty of the cult in her memoir and what it was like being on One Tree Hill and in the cult at the same time, as well as what her co-stars thought. Lenz only started being open about the cult not even a year ago, but she seems to be as ready as ever to air it all out and move on from that long chapter of her life. Dinner for Vampires is set to release on Oct. 22, 2024, and is available for pre-order now. It’s possible more details about those years in the cult will be released in the coming months ahead of the release, but fans will want to order the book to get all of the information.