Cults: A True Crime Collection
Cults: A True Crime Collection

Author: Wendy Biddlecombe Agsar

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2024-03-26

Total Pages: 232

ISBN-13: 164604620X

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Discover the truth of what happens when true believers go too far with the shocking stories of the world’s most known and horrific cults like The Order of the Solar Temple and the NXIVM Cult. Cults have been around for centuries, and many have been dubbed as satanic and murderous due to their heinous crimes. In Cults: A True Crime Collection, you will get to study the most notorious ones and what they did to achieve that notoriety. Get to know the story behind the scariest cults in history, including: Charles Manson and the Manson Family Heaven’s Gate and their mass suicide attempts Blood-consuming cults like the Vampire Clan Jim Jones and the Jonestown Massacre The People’s Temple and their cyanide-laced drinks And more! From gruesome suicides to clan murders, Cults: A True Crime Collection will tell you the real story behind the crimes and the leaders who orchestrated them. This book also studies the rise and fall of said clans and what led them to commit such terrible crimes like mass murders and human sacrifices.

Things Bright and Beautiful
Things Bright and Beautiful

Author: Anbara Salam

Publisher: Penguin UK

Published: 2018-04-05

Total Pages: 282

ISBN-13: 0241982243

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'A claustrophobic compelling read that'll suck you into its heart of darkness' Independent Advent Island in the South Pacific, with its coconut palms and thick green jungle, should be Eden for missionary Max and his young wife Bea. But plagues of insects and rats, sweltering heat and local 'devil chasers' soon turn paradise into hell on earth. Just as Bea begins to adapt to island life, an unexpected guest arrives and Advent Island turns against its would-be saviors. Trapped in the jungle with her increasingly unhinged husband, Bea must fight tooth-and-nail for her freedom, and for her life. 'Lyrical, suspenseful, darkly comic' Observer 'Excellent, blackly funny. A novel whose growing environmental and psychological horrors you can feel crawling across your skin' Daily Mail 'Phenomenally disturbing' Spectator 'Oozing with vivid descriptions and a deeply claustrophobic atmosphere . . . quite unlike anything else you'll read this year' Heat

Cults
Cults

Author: Max Cutler

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2022-07-12

Total Pages: 416

ISBN-13: 1982133562

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Mystery. Manipulation. Murder. Cults are associated with all of these. But what really goes on inside them? More specifically, what goes on inside the minds of cult leaders and the people who join them? Based on the hit podcast Cults, this is essential reading for any true crime fan. Cults prey on the very attributes that make us human: our desire to belong, to find a deeper meaning in life, to live everyday with divine purpose. Their existence creates a sense that any one of us, at any time, could step off the cliff’s edge and fall into that daunting abyss of manipulation and unhinged dedication to a misplaced cause. Perhaps it’s this mindset that keeps us so utterly obsessed and desperate to learn more, or it’s that the stories are so bizarre and unsettling that we are simply in awe of the mechanics that make these infamous groups tick. The premier storytelling podcast studio Parcast has been focusing on unearthing these mechanics—the cult leaders and followers, and the world and culture that gave birth to both. Parcast’s work in analyzing dozens of case studies has revealed patterns: distinct ways that cult leaders from different generations resemble one another. What links the ten notorious figures profiled in Cults are as disturbing as they are stunning—from Manson to Applewhite, Koresh to Raël, the stories woven here are both spellbinding and disturbing. Cults is more than just a compilation of grisly biographies, however. In these pages, Parcast’s founder Max Cutler and national bestselling author Kevin Conley look closely at the lives of some of the most disreputable cult figures and tell the stories of their rise to power and fall from grace, sanity, and decency. Beyond that, it is a study of humanity, an unflinching look at what happens when the most vulnerable recesses of the mind are manipulated and how the things we hold most sacred can be twisted into the lowest form of malevolence.

Those Who Prey
Those Who Prey

Author: Jennifer Moffett

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2021-11-02

Total Pages: 416

ISBN-13: 1534450971

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"College freshman Emily is seduced into joining a cult with deadly results"--

Cults Uncovered
Cults Uncovered

Author: Emily G. Thompson

Publisher: Dorling Kindersley Ltd

Published: 2020-02-06

Total Pages: 211

ISBN-13: 0241449561

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The shocking truth about some of the most disturbing, criminal cults that have ever existed. How did Charles Manson inspire his "family" to launch a campaign of murder? What twisted ideology lay behind horrific events like the Waco Siege, the Aum Shinrikyo's poison-gas attack on the Tokyo metro, and the mass suicides and murders of Jonestown? Why did the suicidal adherents of Heaven's Gate believe doomsday was at hand? How did the idealistic commune of Rajneeshpuram collapse into shocking controversies, involving biological terrorism and attempted murder? Cults Uncovered explores these and many more strange and disturbing factions and sects from all over the world to expose terrifying stories of manipulation, coercion, abuse, and murder.

Without a Prayer
Without a Prayer

Author: Susan Ashline

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2019-08-06

Total Pages: 329

ISBN-13: 1643131869

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The horrifying true story of a fatal encounter inside the secluded Word of Life Christian Church, a parish-turned-cult in upstate New York. Teenager Lucas Leonard made shocking admissions in front of the altar—he’d practiced witchcraft and conspired to murder his parents, among other horrific crimes. The confessions earned him a brutal beating by a gang of angry church members, including his parents and sister. Lucas arrived at the hospital dead, awakening the sleepy community of Chadwicks, New York, to the horror that had been lurking next door. Nine members of Lucas’ church would eventually find themselves facing murder-related charges. But how did they get to that point? And what made Lucas confess? The full story has never been told—until now. Emmy-nominated journalist Susan Ashline delves deep into the Leonard family history, the darkness within the Word of Life Christian Church, and what led Lucas, his family, and his community to that fateful night.

Evil Harvest
Evil Harvest

Author: Rod Colvin

Publisher: Addicus Books

Published: 2012-02-01

Total Pages: 381

ISBN-13: 1936374609

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On a peaceful August morning in 1985, grim-face FBI agents led a dawn raid on an eighty-acre farm outside Rulo, Nebraska, said to be occupied by a gorup of religious survivalists led by the charismatic Mike Ryan. What they found on the farm shocked even experience investigators. For months Ryan's Nebraska neighbors spoke in whispers of gunfire in the night, the disappearance of women and children, neo-Nazis and white supremacists. But little did the locals know what was happening to those Mike Ryan decided to punish for their &“sins.&” In Evil Harvest, Rod Colvin re-creates a chilling story of torture, hate, and perversion, and how good, ordinary people could be pulled into a destructive, religious cult—a cult that committed unthinkable acts in the name of God.

Deadly Cults
Deadly Cults

Author: Robert L. Snow

Publisher: Praeger

Published: 2003-11-30

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13:

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How do seemingly "normal" or "ordinary" citizens suddenly find themselves committed to a group whose leader promotes criminal activities and isolation from families and friends? What should you do if a loved one becomes indoctrinated by a potentially dangerous cult? By providing specific accounts of dangerous cults and their destructive acts, Snow illustrates how seemingly innocent groups can turn pernicious when under the sway of a charismatic leader with an agenda, or when members take things too far. He offers advice on how to identify cults, how to protect yourself and your family, and what to do if a loved one is ensnared by such a group. Annotation. Snow, a veteran Indianapolis police officer in the homicide branch, does not bother with groups that are demonized as cults merely because they diverge from someone else's idea of truth or proper deportment, but focuses on those that are responsible for major crimes such as murder and torture. They include religious, occult, millennial, new-age, UFO, doomsday, and suicide cults. He also discusses their danger, appeal, recruitment, and indoctrination and how to combat them.

Cold Blooded
Cold Blooded

Author: Frank Stanfield

Publisher: WildBlue Press

Published: 2021-05-25

Total Pages: 448

ISBN-13: 1952225590

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The disturbing Central Florida cult murder case is revealed in full shocking detail in this true crime by the reporter who covered the case for decades. Central Florida residents were horrified when sixteen-year-old vampire cult leader Rod Ferrell was arrested for bludgeoning a cult member's parents to death. When investigators realized the couple's fifteen-year-old daughter was missing, they feared she was another victim. Detectives and journalists across three states soon uncovered a web of blood-drinking occult rituals, illicit sex, dysfunctional families, and spiritual warfare. And when police officers captured the teens, they discovered that the murdered couple's daughter was among them. But was she a victim or a participant? Ferrell faced the death penalty, sparking Constitutional battles over capital punishment and juveniles in the court system. Psychologists working to save him were locked in opposition with prosecutors who wanted him dead. Decades later, the court battles continue. Is Ferrell a changed man deserving freedom? Or is he still gaming the system?

Manhattan Cult Story
Manhattan Cult Story

Author: Spencer Schneider

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2022-07-05

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 1950994570

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“We were invisible. We had to be. We took an oath of absolute secrecy. We never even told our immediate families who we were. We went about our lives in New York City. Just like you. We were your accountants, money managers, lawyers, executive recruiters, doctors. We owned your child’s private school and sold you your brownstone. But you’d never guess our secret lives, how we lived in a kind of silent terror and fervor. There were hundreds of us.” Right under the noses of neighbors, clients, spouses, children, and friends, a secret society, simply called School—a cult of snared Manhattan professionals—has been led by the charismatic, sociopathic and dangerous leader Sharon Gans for decades. Spencer Schneider was recruited in the eighties and he stayed for more than twenty-three years as his life disintegrated, his self-esteem eroded, and he lined the pockets of Gans and her cult. Cult members met twice weekly, though they never acknowledged one another outside of meetings or gatherings. In the name of inner development, they endured the horrors of mental, sexual, and physical abuse, forced labor, arranged marriages, swindled inheritances and savings, and systematic terrorizing. Some of them broke the law. All for Gans. “During those years,” Schneider writes, “my world was School. That’s what it’s like when you’re in a cult, even one that preys on and caters to New York’s educated elite. This is my story of how I got entangled in School and how I got out.” At its core, Manhattan Cult Story is a cautionary tale of how hundreds of well-educated, savvy, and prosperous New Yorkers became fervent followers of a brilliant but demented cult leader who posed as a teacher of ancient knowledge. It’s about double-lives, the power of group psychology, and how easy it is to be radicalized—all too relevant in today's atmosphere of conspiracy and ideologue worship.