Dinner for Vampires: Life on a Cult TV Show (While also in an Actual Cult!)

Bethany Joy Lenz is an actor, musician, podcast host, and the author of Dinner for Vampires. She is best known for playing Haley James Scott on the WB/CW show One Tree Hill for seven seasons. In 2021, she launched a One Tree Hill rewatch podcast called Drama Queens with her former costars Sophia Bush and Hilarie Burton Morgan.

The memoir traces Joy’s life from her childhood onward with a particular focus on her time in a cult she calls the Family as well as her experiences filming One Tree Hill. Joy is raised in a Christian household immersed in an evangelical culture. Growing up, her life features “dinnertime prayers; frequent references to the moral guidance offered by Proverbs, Psalms, and the parables; and daily conversations about God” (10). Although Joy changes as a person over time, her faith remains central to her life, underscoring The Role of Faith in Personal Development as a central theme in the memoir. She looks to her Christian faith for moral guidance and community. It is this natural inclination that leads her to join the Family after attending their weekly Bible studies in LA.

As a child, Joy has trouble keeping and making friends due to her family’s frequent moves, catalyzing her lifelong Search for Community and Belonging.