Cults Uncovered: True Stories of Mind Control and Murder

by Emily G. Thompson

FANATICISM BREEDING ACTS OF SAVAGERY.

How did Charles Manson inspire his Family's campaign of murder?

What twisted ideologies lay behind the Waco Siege, and the mass suicides of Jonestown?

Why did the suicidal followers of Heaven's Gate believe doomsday was nigh?

Uncover the secrets of the world's cruellest criminal cults

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Cults, History, Crime, Religion, Audiobook

235 pages, Paperback

Published February 6, 2020

About the author

Emily G. Thompson is an author and freelance writer based in Northern Ireland.

Her first book, Unsolved Child Murders, was published by McFarland in 2017, followed by three more books published by Dorling Kindersley: Unsolved Murders: True Crime Cases Uncovered, in 2019, Cults Uncovered: True Stories of Mind Control and Murder, in 2020, and Mysteries Uncovered: True Stories of the Paranormal and Unexplained, in 2020.

Thompson is also the founder of the true crime website and award-winning podcast, Morbidology, which won the "Best International" podcast at the iHeartRadio Podcast Awards in January 2022. The weekly true crime show takes a look at cases from all across the world, and highlights systemic failures in various systems.

In addition to writing for her own website and podcast, Thompson is a freelance writer for Crime + Investigation, Law & Crime, A&E Network and other true crime podcasts.

Reviews

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cults, religious fanaticism, terrorism, brainwashing, mass murder, and gross scale manipulation of the vulnerable and at-risk are all scary and confronting elements explored in delicately balanced morsels of madness ripped from straight from newspaper and social medial headlines worldwide.

Non-fiction, and in particular, true crime can be difficult to read. For one, unlike fiction, the murder, horror, and heartache is real. In Cults Uncovered, many followers and bystanders alike suffered in the most inhumane conditions and were exploited by virtue of their ignorance and manipulated by their (at times, misguided) beliefs.

In short, sharp chapters sticking to facts and telling the hard truths, author Emily G. Thompson's recounting of these horrific happenings is a beginners guide to uncovering what lay beneath the glossy magazine spreads and prime time coverage of some of the most memorable and disturbing acts of human depravity in the last century.

Cults Uncovered serves well to introduce those with a casual curiosity of the atrocities taken place in these cults and provides plenty of reference points to dig deeper.

[Kayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the October book choice for my book club, and I loved it! The author gave so much info in so few pages, but I was never overwhelmed and ultimately learned a lot. I've since been engaging with the group chat by sharing articles and further discussing the Party Hearst case and the Waco disaster.
I loved how the book opened with a lesser-known cult that blurred lines, then went into the well-known Manson Family, and continued an engaging flow of known and unknown, unnerving to cruel, unsettling to outrageous. As a librarian, my favorite part was the endnotes at the end of each section! A great resource for further learning about each cult/leader. I'm now interested in Thompson's other books for sure.

[Lenaasty · Rating 5 out of 5]

straight to the point writing, relevant pictures, geographically varied cults. what more can one ask for

PS : shout-out to that one cult member who accidentally beheaded his cousin bc he didn't bother checking who it was he was attacking

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes you just need to listen to an audiobook at cults when you're working remotely. This is a great introduction to a bunch of both well, and lesser known cults. It's read in a beautiful Irish accent. Very nice indeed.

[_sapphosangel_ · Rating 4 out of 5]

a lot of these cults were incredibly disturbing and also the fact that many of these cults are still active today is even more worrying.
also wtf was up with the justice system back then???

[Thomas Edmund · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cults Uncovered is the sort of book you want to grab if you want to know about the particularly famous and wellknown and most salacious of Cults.

The books covers about a dozen Cults, Sects and Familys generally covering a short background on their leader(s) a summary of how the Cult developed and then a rundown of the most concerning crimes.

There isn't really any analysis on how Cults work, commonalities or reflection for each group - which if you just want to focus on a few facts across several groups then all g, but I wouldn't grab this book if you're looking to understand things better.

Also as a final note can be quite gruelling reading, many of the crimes these groups committed are serious violent and disturbing, rea with caution.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

An intriguing look at cults, authored by a true crime podcast host, that delves into the backgrounds and origins of cult mentality and the resulting groups that formed for one reason or another. Each chapter covers a different genre of cult, although anyone with an interest in the genre will notice the strings that are woven throughout them. An enjoyable, not-too-taxing read for any hardcore true crime fan.

[Philomena Callan Cheekypee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve read quite a few fiction stories with cults in it so of course when I saw this I just had to read it. The author tells us about eighteen cults, quite a few I’ve never heard of.

If you’ve seen any programmes about the cults then I don’t think there’s much more in this book. However there was quite a lot I didn’t know about in this book.

A very interesting read.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

It has short chapters describing the cults. This is a good book if you want a short overview of cults.

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not the best book to read at midnight during a pandemic, but well researched and interesting.

[Carly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about a lot of well known & some lesser known cults that committed heinous acts, terrorism, trial runs of mass murder, incestuous, sexual molestation & child abuse of their own child which also included premeditated ritualistic murder & ritualistic mass suicide.
So trigger warning for: child molestation, physical and sexual abuse of children, murder of babies, children, murder, suicide, terrorism, this book isn't for everyone.
I'm surprised Scientology wasn't included in this book, there are still other cults that were included in this book, but there are various books about different types of cults
Unfortunately it's not really that surprising that Christian cults are the type of cult to groom, coerce, manipulate, physically, emotionally & sexually abuse their own children & also commit adultery, murder etc.. Mormon cults aren't any better.
The more niche the cult is in terms of their spiritual or occult related their beliefs are the more likely it is that unsavoury, questionable, dark, disturbing things are happening within the cults, away from preying eyes, especially if it is in a remote location, but sometimes cults exist in your neighbourhood, right under your nose the whole time.
In my opinion the most dangerous, influential cults are Charles Manson's "Family" Aum Shinrikyo is very dangerous and the fact that it was quite popular in Russia is very worrying.
I can't believe people from England, Australia & Israel left their countries to join the Branch Davidians and that it was a Christian cult.
What some of the cult leaders & cult members did to babies & children (either their own children or cult members children) is absolutely disgusting.
This book is worth reading for educational purposes to understand how cults love bomb, coerce, gaslighting, manipulate, brainwash, control people with coercive control & other manipulative tactics to get vulnerable, naive, innocent people to join a cult, if you like true crime books I also recommend this book.

[Natasha · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you're looking for brief and boring summaries of different cults, this is for you. Each chapter reads like a Wikipedia page, which felt like a massive waste of time.

It felt poorly written, badly researched and it skimmed over the interesting bits.

The title made it seem like lesser know information might be "uncovered", but unfortunately it was the same old stuff that you can find elsewhere which really gave meaning to the phrase "flogging the dead horse", there are many books on the same subject which offer much more in terms of both quantity and quality.

In short, if you're interested in cults, I wouldn't waste your time with this unoriginal text that is essentially a glorified Wikipedia page.

[Brea Rogers · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this book is a really good overview for getting into cults. One thing I always appreciate about Thompson's books is how good she is about framing the setting of the story - we always know when and where with some details about the town/city the cult exists in. I also really liked that she covered cults from multiple countries and continents.

[Bookmarkthatuk · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are 18 cults mentioned in this books, with pictures to accompany. I would’ve really liked analysis or opinion from the author, as it was just an account of each cult.

Of course there are ones you’d recognise, but many more that are shocking and highly disturbing/gruesome. Some images are a bit heavy, too.

If you’re just looking for a book which highlights different cults from pre to post, look no further.

I would just say that it’s a Wikipedia page (book in this instance) of 18 cults. Facts, and that’s it.

[Allie Wertman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this book is great for exactly what it was intended to be. I wanted some more details and information about each cult, but if you are just starting to get into this realm, it’s a really great book to learn the basics about numerous cults with some photos to help understand some of the main members and goals.

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good overview of a bunch of different cults. If you are looking for in depth debrief on a certain cult you probably want to get a book dedicated to that specific cult. Good read overall!

[Claire Kellen · Rating 1 out of 5]

So poorly written - typos, errors, sentences that are unclear. To echo what others have said - it reads like a Wikipedia page but much worse.

[Jjean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well researched stories (18) of the different cults around the world & U.S. - Explains the abusive & mind control of the leaders - some insight of the followers, which I have always wondered how people could be talked into some of the actions.......

[Rosie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a hard read. Some readers may want to fast forward through some of this. This is an important book for parents to read so they can pass on this information to their children. Young adults just figuring out what they want to do with their lives make good targets for these evil cults. Glad to see these groups exposed to what they really are.

[Kristin Fuller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed learning about these cults. Wish there was some more information, but a great introduction to the topic!

[maddie patterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've followed the author on Tumblr for several years, so when I found this book on a pre-quarantine run to Target, I knew I had to get it!!

I've read several books about cults and such in the past, and while this book does hit on some of the biggest and most notorious ones, it also provides looks into cults I've never even heard about. I also loved the fact that the author put her sources at the end of each section so that anyone could check them directly after finishing. In all, 10/10 and I honestly cannot wait to read whatever comes next!!

[Tess [at-tessshelf] · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a good introduction/starting point for people looking for information about strange cults around the world. Having no prior background about a few of these cults it was a bizarre starting point that will lead me to seek out more information about them.
Other cults I knew about and had already seen documentaries or listened to podcasts about this was a nice summary of those cults events and main points.
It was a nice, concise book about some bizarre behaviour that humans do either being a leader or a follower of these cults.

[Jesse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It takes a look at some of the world’s most disturbing cults. I enjoy that there’s cults that aren’t really mainstream and there’s a few I had never even heard of. Well written and avoids sensationalism.

[Annie Booker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fascinating.

[Jules · Rating 2 out of 5]

I expected a little more than basically Wikipedia-length articles for the cults. Also, there are typos in this. Yikes

[Mrs. DL · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so disheartening and disturbing to read, as expected. But also incredibly interesting. How can someone get so warped into these heinous communities?

[Tessa Patiño · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pros: If you're a fan of more true crime type books & stories, this will be more up your ally. Thompson provides digestible snippets of high control groups and the group's nefarious acts in a journalistic/reporter style. I appreciate the diversity in stories, groups, & time eras. The groups discussed were not limited to Christian fringe groups which was a nice change of pace for a book about extreme beliefs. Even though I had a lot of prior knowledge about many of the groups discussed, I still learned new information.

Cons: Often, the writing had a strange flow that made it a bit confusing & I regularly found myself flipping back a few pages to "reset" the story in my brain. This book also lacked an introduction or conclusion section and therefore also lacked a clear theme/argument. An introduction would have also served to help define key terms such as "cult." This word in particular felt thrown around without a clear explanation of how it is being used, making the book feel more fantastical & less informational. Thompson attempts to discuss both the basic beliefs as well as heinous crimes of these groups but the heinous crimes took more of the focus. While interesting, this style of approach watered down how ordinary people could become involved in groups such as these, which feels like a missed opportunity. This may not have been the intended focus of the book, but again, without an introduction/conclusion, the focus is left unclear.

[Alonzo Kescoli · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a great book. This book goes over many famous cults. I think, for me personally, a con of this book was it was too many Famous cults. I emphasize famous because I knew about almost all of these cults. There were a few cults I haven't heard of that I want to read and research about. I feel like this is a book for a newbie or someone with a slight interest. This book felt very episodic, each cult equals a true crime episode, so it's very digestible. You can dip in and out of this book. It's also very easy to grasp, it isn't too psychological or not very court-based. That being said, for me it was too broad and too general. I could also see this as a pro too because it gives you the opportunity to do your own research and reading.

In the end, I enjoyed this book. I feel that this book accomplished what it set out to do. I would recommend this book.

[Haley Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliantly detailed and featured a lot of cults which aren't usually spoken about.. Thompson really did her research for this book!!

Generally with books about cults, it tends to be the same information repeated over and over again or suspicions of what may have happened inside the cult. This book was different in the fact that Thompson included information from cult members and evidence they gave after either leaving said cult or being detained by police.

I suppose it's weird as I was quite shocked at some of the things they did. The level of sexual abuse of children inside these cults was mind blowing!! The fact that so many of their parents joined and then let their 'leaders' violate their children sickened me to my core!! What I also couldn't fathom is how so many extremely intelligent people joined these cults of their own free will!!!

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a massive fan of all things crime and cults, and the world that surrounds these people. I can't quite fathom rationally how people get hooked into cults but this book allowed me to delve deeper into the people that created the cults. I read through this book so quickly and loved every minute of it. Each chapter goes into just enough depth that it you get a great background on the cult leaders and then you are brought into the world of their horrific doings. Some of the things these cult leaders have made/ influenced people to do is simply insane and it was jaw dropping reading about it. I loved everything about this book, the only reason I've not given this book a five star is because I wish it had more cults explained in this book. It was short and sweet, I just enjoyed it so much that I wish it was longer.