The Cult Files: True Stories from the Extreme Edges of Religious Belief

by Chris Mikul

"The Cult Files" explores the history, features and beliefs of seventeen cults through the ages. Riveting, sometimes amusing, often horrifying stories show the inside workings of these groups, and trace their history - and often their demise. The book includes the Aum Shinrikyo followers, who killed twelve people in a poison gas attack on the Tokyo subway; and the Peoples Temple, in which Jim Jones convinced hundreds of followers to commit suicide en masse. Discover the unbelievable power and wealth held by cult leaders, and the physical and mental authority they wield over their followers. The full story of some of these cults is told for the first time in this book.

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

1000 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2008

Reviews

[Paul Bryant · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s not so surprising that most of these cults are broadly similar but it still surprises me that there seems to be such a limitless supply of idiots out there who willingly believe that this or that motormouth bozo has got a direct message from the Ancient Ones about the End Times to the point where it is necessary to live with the bozo in an old warehouse with a lot of other idiots and give at least 50% of your income to the great leader and please read the latest memo which says that the leader shall have access to all the females in the cult at all times from now on, of whatever age.
So you could say that a cult is just a skeezy scheme for some ugly guy to get his hands on a lot of women and money, and that’s what it boils down to.
Maybe we could check this out. This particular book is excellent (and also very stylish) but it has NO PHOTOS – what? We want to look at the mugshots!

YEAH, MUGSHOTS

Joseph di Mambro of the Order of the Solar Temple



Guilty of around 60 murders

Jeffrey Lundgren of the Kirtland Cult



Guilty of five murders and a real lot of other horrible stuff

Yahweh ben Yahweh

[image error]

Guilty of around 12 murders

Roch Theriot of the Ant Hill Kids



Guilty of one murder and many many tortures

Ervil le Baron of the Church of the Lamb of God



Guilty of at least 35 murders

(If Charlie Manson ever read up on these cults he must have laughed himself silly – all of them did just as gross stuff as his famous Family did and most did way more murders but Charlie got all the publicity and the fan letters. )


THEY EVENTUALLY ALL GO COMPLETELY MAD

The well-known mass suicide of the People’s Temple out there in Guyana is still the number one shocker, and it’s the poster for what happened to a lot of these cults. At some point the great leader succumbs to paranoia. Either there are plots against him from within, or there are evil forces to be resisted from the outside world. With remarkable swiftness a guy preaching cupcakes and warm baths for all humankind one moment will be dispatching death squads to his rivals’ houses in the next moment. These guys, they turn on a dime. (In England we say “turn on a sixpence” but the sixpenny coin hasn’t existed since the 1970s so we don’t say that anymore. It wasn’t replaced by “turn on a 5p” after decimalisation.)

You will be familiar with a handful of the cults in this book – Manson, Aum Shinrikyo, the Branch Davidians of Waco, the People’s Temple – but there are a whole lot of obscure crisply written horror stories here, plus simply strange stuff like Synanon (which started out as an early version of Narcotics Anonymous) and Heaven’s Gate (which was a UFO cult – they all calmly committed suicide too because it wasn’t suicide, it was transitioning to the Planet Zorgenblooch or whatever).

I can list this book on my True Crime and my Theology shelf – neat!

[Anita Dalton · Rating 5 out of 5]

You can read my entire discussion here.

Here's a snippet:

This book was in my to-be-discussed pile back in 2011 (yeah, I am still catching up) when Chris Mikul sent me copies of his excellent ‘zine, Biblio Curiosa. We began a friendly correspondence and he gave me some interesting information about this book. Evidently his publisher was concerned that some of the content in the book could lead to a lawsuit and demanded the book be radically edited. Mikul sent me the excised chapters but I am limiting myself to the content in the actual book because it seems unfair to discuss material that my readers won’t be able to read for themselves.

But even though he had to cut out some pretty interesting discussions, The Cult Files remains a very absorbing book. Though I am reasonably well-read on the subject of cults, I found information new to me in this cult anthology. There are some of the usual suspects, like the Branch Davidians and Jonestown, but every other chapter had something completely new to me. That Mikul discussed one of my “favorite” cults, the Ant Hill Kids, led by the repellent and vile Roch Thériault, just sealed the deal for me. Thériault didn’t get much play in the USA and is one of the most fascinating cult leaders, far more interesting than Charles Manson and, in my opinion, at least as toxic as David Koresh. So that was definitely a point in Mikul’s favor.

[Tiffany Morris · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting and well-researched overview of cults, both historical and contemporary. While the text left me craving a more in-depth analysis of how and why cults operate, each cult's individual profile was captivating.

I was a little leery about the inclusion of snake handlers within the text, as they strike me more as a New Religious Movement than a cult. There were also scattered editorial issues (typos, et al.) throughout the text that occasionally took me out of the narrative.

Still, an interesting read, and definitely worthwhile for those curious about the subject matter.

[Erin Woolard · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a first time introduction to cults, this would be good. But, as far as going 'in depth', this book falls quite short. In a few places it seems the author is either disgusted about having to write about certain subjects or just slacks off. And sometimes he would mention a name with no explanation as to who they were. Overall, interesting subject, meah book.

[Carla · Rating 2 out of 5]

I stopped reading at 65% because life's too short to waste on a book I'm not enjoying. It just didn't grip me, reading it constantly felt like a chore. There were lots of cults I'd never heard of and I learnt some facts about others that I'd heard of but didn't know a lot about. If you're after a brief overview of lots of different cults then this book would suit. If you want in-depth information, this book isn't the place to find it.

I thought it was a stretch to include Charles Manson and his posse as a cult. To me a cult has to have some sort of religious aspect, Charles Manson's group was just a bunch of people doing bad things.

[Brooklyn Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a wonderful book for providing a brief history on various cults around the world. I expected the book to only address a few cults, specifically the “famous” ones, but it discussed so many more than that. The book was also organized very well, it had the cults divided into different sections and included color photos as well. There were a few things that I didn’t like: There were many typos, incorrect punctuation and incorrect grammar. I also felt like some of the cults weren’t explained very well and left me confused. Overall, a good book to get a general knowledge and understanding of many cults around the world. I would also loved for them to discuss Scientology or the IBLP.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Because I am such a long time,serious student of this subject most of what the author write about I already knew.
However ,it did introduce me to one cult I am pleased to say I had never heard of at all.Another cult I had heard of but knew almost nothing about except they burned alive hundreds of their followers on ONE day and it would was discovered they had killed many more in the cults existence ,found in several shallow graves in the months after.So if you know little about cults,you will enjoy it,and if you know a whole lot like myself,you can still get something out of it too.

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite interesting. Information on cults I never heard of before. Also info on cults like the Manson Family, Jim Jones, Heavens Gate, and many others. Living in CA where many cults start made it even more interesting. I think everyone who has an interest in cults should check it out. Made me definitely realize I will never get involved in a cult!

[Keena · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a great mix of cults I was aware of and those I wasn't. Very interesting and a great pick for one of my Halloween reads.

[Claudia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick read and a good primer on various cults. The chapters on Heaven's Gate and Roch Thériault and the Anthill Kids were the most intriguing.

[Baal Of · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fascinating overview of a long list of cults, many of which centered around doomsday or end of the world prophecies. I find it astounding how the members of these cults submitted themselves to most horrendous of treatments from their leaders, and still claimed they had a moral high-ground. My only complaint about this book is that it wasn't longer. I wanted more detail and more information.

[Mariah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've read books like this before and they're okay for an overview. I hadn't heard of most of these cults so the information on them was interesting. With the Manson Family, however, I knew way more than the author divulged simply because of my own previous readings. So, if the reader is a novice to the world of cults and just wants to know the basics, this is a decent read.

[Brandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book and felt like it was a good intro into the different extremes of well known cults. It's one of those books that gives you an appetite to find out more. I'll definitely be reading more in this genre.
If this type of literature is your cup of tea, then you'll like this one! It answers so many questions about HOW, WHY, etc.

[Miz · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are a lot of crazy people in the world. And it is amazing that they can get other people to listen to them. If you are interested in this type of mindset, I suggest watching the German movie 'The Wave' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wave...) as how ideas can move into a movement.

[Melinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

a great little book that touches lightly on tons of different cults. from hale-bop, jim jones and manson all the way back to some crazy knights templar stuff - which reminded me of the movie "eyes wide shut"

[Jenn Cansler · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it because I could read it really fast and not seem to miss anything. Granted, that was because there was only just enough fact, with no filler. I read a lot of pages, but I do not feel like I got much from them.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well-presented book on a number of groups of people who committed ghastly crimes & blaming it on religious beliefs. It's certainly not a conclusive collection.
I think 'The Sect Files' would have been a more accurate title description

[A.M. Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book.
It was well written, I like that each cult had a chapter.
Not overly detailed, which is part of the reason I liked it, it gives the bare bones of some very sick cults, some I had heard of, others I had not.
I found that it was well worth the read.

[Anwyl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gives a strong overview of the beliefs and people involved in many different cults, and is a very interesting read. However, if you’re looking for a discussion on why cults become popular and the psychology of cult behaviour, you’ll need another book.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a fascinating introduction to some strange and bizarre religious cults of modern history.