In 2023, Jon Ronson, the journalist and filmmaker, woke up to a barrage of texts from his son, Joel. He read the final message first: “We left. Completely f***ed. All good now.” Joel had gone to a party in Connecticut, held in a faux-gothic castle. The owner of this sub-Disney monstrosity was Chris Mark, the great-grandson of a Gilded Age steel tycoon. There was, it turned out, no party. Instead, Mark asked his guests if they wanted to take part in a “reality show” which involved the women putting on princess dresses and competing for his affection.
In his quest to find out more, Ronson gets pulled into the mad life of the castle’s owner. He is bombarded by messages, some threatening lawsuits and one even promising a visit from “some friends of mine that were in prison for killing somebody” if he keeps writing about the castle.
