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Cults That Kill: Probing the Underworld of Occult Crime
Reveals the alarming frequency with which murders and other violent crimes are being traced to groups of devil-worshipping men, women, and children and explores the threat posed by satanic followers
280 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1988
21 people are currently reading
306 people want to read
About the author
Larry Kahaner
16 books38 followersThis is my bio. If you're in a hurry, read about me on Wikipedia.
If you've got time, read on.
I am what some people might call a successful author. I've had published more than 15 non-fiction books under my name, pseudonyms and as a ghost writer. I'm also a journalist and writer.
Several of my books have won awards and made me semi-famous. I've been on NPR, C-SPAN, CNN, USA Today, CBS, Evening News, Fox TV News, Bloomberg Business News, Voice of America, and my articles have been published by the Washington Post, LA Times and others.
I don't like to brag (well, a little maybe) but beat out all my cousins for the domain name Kahaner.com and I'm pretty proud of that.
For many years, I also was a licensed Private Investigator which is very much like being a reporter except you get to show people your cool ID issued by the state government.
After making my living as a non-fiction writer and author for many decades, I've turned to fiction, taking what I've learned about writing real stories to writing fake stories. (No snickers, please) I write a blog (you're already here) and it's designed to help non-fiction writers (like me) to become novelists. It's a different ball game for sure but many of the same habits, thought processes and lessons are transferable.
My first thriller "USA, Inc." has just been published by Bay City Publishers.
Here's the cutline: "If the U.S. were for sale, would you buy it?" Pretty provocative, right? I highly recommend it.
Through the years, many people have asked me what it's like to be a writer. For me, it's been a great job and career. I wouldn't want to do anything else.
Unfortunately, I also tell them what they don't want to hear. It's hard work, and unless you have luck and perseverance, it's difficult to make a living at it.
Talent? Yes, that helps, but good writing can be learned if you're willing to make the effort, have a thick skin about criticism and take it seriously as your life's work.
If you just want to write as a hobby or for fun, that's cool, too, but too many folks tell me how frustrating it is for them, how they'd rather do anything else than write and I always respond: "Maybe you got something there."
If you've got time, read on.
I am what some people might call a successful author. I've had published more than 15 non-fiction books under my name, pseudonyms and as a ghost writer. I'm also a journalist and writer.
Several of my books have won awards and made me semi-famous. I've been on NPR, C-SPAN, CNN, USA Today, CBS, Evening News, Fox TV News, Bloomberg Business News, Voice of America, and my articles have been published by the Washington Post, LA Times and others.
I don't like to brag (well, a little maybe) but beat out all my cousins for the domain name Kahaner.com and I'm pretty proud of that.
For many years, I also was a licensed Private Investigator which is very much like being a reporter except you get to show people your cool ID issued by the state government.
After making my living as a non-fiction writer and author for many decades, I've turned to fiction, taking what I've learned about writing real stories to writing fake stories. (No snickers, please) I write a blog (you're already here) and it's designed to help non-fiction writers (like me) to become novelists. It's a different ball game for sure but many of the same habits, thought processes and lessons are transferable.
My first thriller "USA, Inc." has just been published by Bay City Publishers.
Here's the cutline: "If the U.S. were for sale, would you buy it?" Pretty provocative, right? I highly recommend it.
Through the years, many people have asked me what it's like to be a writer. For me, it's been a great job and career. I wouldn't want to do anything else.
Unfortunately, I also tell them what they don't want to hear. It's hard work, and unless you have luck and perseverance, it's difficult to make a living at it.
Talent? Yes, that helps, but good writing can be learned if you're willing to make the effort, have a thick skin about criticism and take it seriously as your life's work.
If you just want to write as a hobby or for fun, that's cool, too, but too many folks tell me how frustrating it is for them, how they'd rather do anything else than write and I always respond: "Maybe you got something there."
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
January 1, 2019
The satanic panic has always interested me and this gave a pretty good insight into the issue
August 2, 2014
As a child of the 80s, I grew up in the midst of the "Satanic Panic" that had many parents convinced that there were satanists waiting around every corner, looking for the chance to pervert their innocent little boys and girls. I was there, in the thick of it, for things like 'Michelle Remembers' and Geraldo Rivera's special on Satanism. My best friend in junior high school owned a Satanic Bible and was an official member of the Temple of Set.
So for me, a book like this is a bit like a trip down memory lane. What was surprising is that this trip down memory lane wasn't quite as hysterical as I was expecting it to be.
Most of the people who wrote about the Satanic Panic at the time (and this is definitely a book of the time) had a tendency to inflate the seriousness of the problem. It wasn't just one kid acting out. He was part of some organized cult of dozens or maybe even hundreds of people who were systematically raping children and murdering babies, all as part of their satanic cult. The fact that there was little, if any, evidence of these massive cults wasn't relevant. Every spray-painted pentagram was the result of one of these massive cults.
This book takes things a bit more realistically, at least at the start. The first half of the book is a very interesting look at the struggles of law enforcement trying to wrap their heads around a whole new kind of crime, and the challenges that came with their attempts to make some sense of it.
Unfortunately the back half of the book falls into the same hysterical kind of outlook that characterized a lot of the books of this era. And while it proves a nice reminder of how so many people were jumping at shadows back then, as a historical document, it's a bit pale when compared to the earlier chapters.
So for me, a book like this is a bit like a trip down memory lane. What was surprising is that this trip down memory lane wasn't quite as hysterical as I was expecting it to be.
Most of the people who wrote about the Satanic Panic at the time (and this is definitely a book of the time) had a tendency to inflate the seriousness of the problem. It wasn't just one kid acting out. He was part of some organized cult of dozens or maybe even hundreds of people who were systematically raping children and murdering babies, all as part of their satanic cult. The fact that there was little, if any, evidence of these massive cults wasn't relevant. Every spray-painted pentagram was the result of one of these massive cults.
This book takes things a bit more realistically, at least at the start. The first half of the book is a very interesting look at the struggles of law enforcement trying to wrap their heads around a whole new kind of crime, and the challenges that came with their attempts to make some sense of it.
Unfortunately the back half of the book falls into the same hysterical kind of outlook that characterized a lot of the books of this era. And while it proves a nice reminder of how so many people were jumping at shadows back then, as a historical document, it's a bit pale when compared to the earlier chapters.
October 11, 2017
I was so excited to read this that I loaded it up onto kindle as a beach read (strange, I know)
I was expecting some stories about cults that go out and kill people, or cults in general.
this book was mainly about Satanism, with a bit of Santeria thrown in. so disappointing. there were so many mentions of baby murder/eating and animal sacrifice, and child abuse. it got repetitive.
plus the formatting on my kindle was terrible and there were typos on every page.
plus it was just not that well written... or interesting.
I was expecting some stories about cults that go out and kill people, or cults in general.
this book was mainly about Satanism, with a bit of Santeria thrown in. so disappointing. there were so many mentions of baby murder/eating and animal sacrifice, and child abuse. it got repetitive.
plus the formatting on my kindle was terrible and there were typos on every page.
plus it was just not that well written... or interesting.
April 15, 2020
This book is an amalgamation of verbatim interviews with cops who admittedly don't know much about the occult. I wouldn't rely on it for facts or true stories. I got a few laughs from it but wouldn't recommend it.
November 19, 2020
Gripping. This book is a compilation of interviews with Police Officers, Detectives, Private Detectives, Medical Doctors, Psychologists, Occult Members, and Religious Practitioners. The book was written in the '80s when Heavy Metal was blamed for just about everything that kids did that didn't live up to what people thought was good to do. It was refreshing to know that it wasn't really the music to blame for the atrocious acts written about in these pages. The book covers a lot of what is being exposed today with ritual based sex crimes, robberies, assaults, animal mutilations, murders, and more. I believe this would be a good book for law enforcement officers, or people interested in occult activity. Be warned, the scenes in this book are graphic and may be hard to read for people sensitive to pain, tragedy, violence, death, and more.
April 27, 2021
Gripping and eye opening
October 18, 2024
I was expecting so much more. It was extremely boring and the writing wasn't very gripping either.
July 29, 2025
Amazing research
Very well researched book, couldn't put it down. Thank you for writing such a book as this one. This is stunning stuff.
Very well researched book, couldn't put it down. Thank you for writing such a book as this one. This is stunning stuff.
September 9, 2025
Extremely brutal but unfortunately very true!
April 29, 2025
What do tigers dreams of?
When they take a little tiger snooze
Do they dream of mauling zebras
Or Hallie Barry in her Catwoman suit
Don't you worry your pretty striped head
Were gonna get you back to Tyson and your cozy tiger bed
And then were gonna find our best friend Doug
And then were gonna give him a best friend hug
Doug Doug Oh Doug Doug Dougie Doug Doug
But if he's been murdered by crystal meth tweekers, well then we're s*** outta luck.
When they take a little tiger snooze
Do they dream of mauling zebras
Or Hallie Barry in her Catwoman suit
Don't you worry your pretty striped head
Were gonna get you back to Tyson and your cozy tiger bed
And then were gonna find our best friend Doug
And then were gonna give him a best friend hug
Doug Doug Oh Doug Doug Dougie Doug Doug
But if he's been murdered by crystal meth tweekers, well then we're s*** outta luck.
November 9, 2011
This non fiction book os full of real police reports and peolpe who once or are in cults. The book really let's you know what goes on around in the worlds religions. I even read of cults that,are near my home. This book helps you understand about the diffrent types of cult, they're rituals, beliefs, and more. This book is very grafic and should not be read by an immature audiance. Yet it is a good book that I recremend to those who are intrested in learning about the cult and acctivitys.
It's good for those who are intrested in crimes and or the diffrent types of cults and how to distinquish them. It is also good for those who are intrested in law inforcment to understand what is legal and what could hold up in court for coult activities, becouse they do have coult crimes that could prosicuted in court.
The story line is more of multiple biograghys and autobiographys from cops and lawyers who delt with coult crimes and even a few biograghys and autobiographys from cult members or preachers. They all talk about theyre experinces and what they've done. I enjoyed learning from it and i hope others will to, even if you do dislike it, it's something that is useful to know.
It's good for those who are intrested in crimes and or the diffrent types of cults and how to distinquish them. It is also good for those who are intrested in law inforcment to understand what is legal and what could hold up in court for coult activities, becouse they do have coult crimes that could prosicuted in court.
The story line is more of multiple biograghys and autobiographys from cops and lawyers who delt with coult crimes and even a few biograghys and autobiographys from cult members or preachers. They all talk about theyre experinces and what they've done. I enjoyed learning from it and i hope others will to, even if you do dislike it, it's something that is useful to know.
April 17, 2009
I'll finish this one very soon, it's highly unlikely my opinion will change in the next thirty pages, and there's no reason to keep anyone in suspense, so I'll go ahead and review it. The other day I got an impulse to go to the used bookstore and try trading some books. I ended up going to every used bookstore on Broadway between 1st and Cedar and trading all the books I brought. This book I found at the jumbled bookstore I think it's called the Denver Book Fair and one half is vintage porn magazines with a turnstile seperating it from the crowded shelves and narrow corridors between. I had seen Under The Volcano by Malcolm Lowery in this bookstore when last I'd been there, which would've been a better choice, but somehow couldn't call his name to memory on this occasion, "Who IS that guy?" so didn't know where to find it and just kept searching the shelves with no luck and ended up getting this book instead, which is notable especially for the cops' terrible grammar. Might serve as a pretty good basis for future "false document" fiction.
October 20, 2012
This book consists mostly of transcripts of interviews that Kahaner conducted with cops who specialized in Occult Crimes, which is why it reads like a horrible 80s cop show. And is also why it's AMAZING.
ex.:"People who have a lot of books are serious. It takes a lot of effort to study books." -Detective Cleo Wilson, p. 92
ex. 2: "I said to Cleo, 'This is evil. This is EXORCIST shit.' That movie scared the living piss out of me. Being a Catholic it scared me." -Detective Bill Wickersham, p. 9
Alarmist at times, Kahaner still manages to include a very basic overview of the different style of Satanism and the origins of the idea of Satan through the ages. Also interesting is an interview with the founder of the Temple of Set.
True crime at its trashiest best.
ex.:"People who have a lot of books are serious. It takes a lot of effort to study books." -Detective Cleo Wilson, p. 92
ex. 2: "I said to Cleo, 'This is evil. This is EXORCIST shit.' That movie scared the living piss out of me. Being a Catholic it scared me." -Detective Bill Wickersham, p. 9
Alarmist at times, Kahaner still manages to include a very basic overview of the different style of Satanism and the origins of the idea of Satan through the ages. Also interesting is an interview with the founder of the Temple of Set.
True crime at its trashiest best.
June 23, 2015
Do I sound like a horrible jaded person if I say this was all... kind of not interesting/horrifying as I expected it to be? I mean, there was nothing in this book scarier than a typical episode of Law and Order SVU. Very meh. Plus, I'm pretty sure most of the cult stuff discussed within has been debunked... so there is that.
August 5, 2009
Again, another 1980s Satanic Panic book. Thanks for giving me more things to read about.
June 9, 2012
While the information is dated, it is still a great read for anyone associated with law enforcement.
May 1, 2013
Dated and pretty nonspecific , don not recommend.
February 27, 2016
Very interesting read for all those diving into the world of the occult.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews