Thanks to films and docuseries like Going Clear, The Vow, Seduced, and Wild, Wild Country, among many others, cults have become a hot-button cultural topic in recent years. More and more cult survivors and defectors have gone public with their stories of coercive control, manipulation, brainwashing, and even physical abuse, giving the world a frightening glimpse into these often dangerous groups.
People are gripped by tales of the weirdest and most extreme things that happen in cults, but for me, the most fascinating aspect of these groups isn’t always the salacious stuff. What interests me most is exploring why people join cults in the first place, and learning how manipulation over time can lead to extremism. While we might think we’re “safe” from influence, cult survivor stories—and even fictional cult stories—show us just how vulnerable we all are to coercion when it’s disguised as something positive, whether that be religious salvation, self-improvement, or an alternative lifestyle. These five books will satisfy your cult curiosity, make you think, and remind you that we’re all human.
Broken Faith: Inside the Word of Faith Fellowship, One of America’s Most Dangerous Cults
By Mitch Weiss and Holbrook Mohr
The first of three nonfiction books on this list, Broken Faith is a harrowing account of the horrors of the Word of Faith Fellowship and its leader, Jane Whaley. The book mainly follows one family’s story of their time inside the cult and eventual escape, but it also paints a terrifying portrait of Whaley, who controlled nearly every aspect of members’ lives. Preying on people’s desire to be closer to God and live a life of religious service, Whaley and her inner circle decided where her followers could live, who they could marry, where they could work, and what they could study in school—all while bleeding their bank accounts dry. Many members suffered intense physical and psychological abuse at the hands of church leaders, something they had come to believe was part of their path to salvation. Perhaps one of the scariest things about the Word of Faith Fellowship is the power it came to wield on the local level, allowing them the freedom to operate as they wished while law enforcement turned a blind eye to power abuses, financial crimes, and outright assault.
The Girls
By Emma Cline
We covered The Girls on the podcast back in 2017. Cline’s debut novel is a fictionalized re-imagining of the summer leading up to the Tate-LaBianca murders (committed in real life by the Manson Family cult) told through the voice of teenager Evie Boyd. Evie is mesmerized by a group of older girls led by the enigmatic Suzanne. As Evie grows more obsessed with Suzanne, she also becomes enmeshed in a cult led by Russell, a charismatic man the group of women seem to worship. Cline’s writing style is beautiful, marked by sentences that punch you in the gut and atmospheric descriptions that plant you in sun-soaked northern California in 1969. If you’re interested in cults, true crime, and coming-of-age stories, this novel will have something in it for you. And when you’re finished, don’t forget to check out our episode!
Scarred: The True Story of How I Escaped NXIVM, the Cult That Bound My Life
By Sarah Edmondson
I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Sarah Edmondson about her memoir of the 12 years she spent in the “self-help” cult NXIVM, a group that is still making headlines for its inner circle’s charges of sex trafficking, forced labor, and other crimes. Sarah was one of the first members of the cult to go on the record about the abuses she suffered when she was part of DOS, a secret sorority within NXIVM where women were put in master-slave relationships and forced to be branded with NXIVM leader Keith Raniere’s initials. In Scarred, Sarah recounts her traumatic branding “ceremony,” but she also gives readers a full picture of how she and other members were psychologically manipulated over time, demonstrating how Raniere and his inner circle were able to create an environment wherein followers were blackmailed, abused, and terrorized—all under the guise of self-improvement.
Be on the lookout for Sarah’s interview on our upcoming April 5th Othersode, and be sure to check out her new podcast A Little Bit Culty for more cult-related content.
The Project
By Courtney Summers
Speaking of our next Othersode, we’ll also be discussing The Project, a YA novel by Courtney Summers (author of the popular novel Sadie). The Project is a story about Lo Denham and her sister, Bea, who is a member of The Unity Project, a culty group based in upstate New York (NXIVM vibes, anyone?). Lo sets out to expose the group and reunite with her estranged sister, but her investigation makes her question everything. I am reading this one right now, so I can’t give a review on how much I enjoyed it, but I can say I’m excited to finish it. Tune in on April 5th to hear what the whole Book Squad thinks.
Unfollow: A Journey From Hatred to Hope
By Megan Phelps-Roper
Megan Phelps-Roper’s memoir Unfollow has been on my TBR list for a while now. Megan Phelps-Roper is the granddaughter of Fred Phelps, the late founder of the zealous breakaway “religious” sect, Westboro Baptist Church. The group is vehemently anti-LGBTQ+, and they’ve spoken hatefully about Jews, Muslims, the military, and a long list of other “sinners.” If you haven’t seen Louis Theroux’s documentary The Most Hated Family in America, I highly recommend it (it’s available on HBOMax right now). Megan was once one of Westboro’s most outspoken loyalists and the voice of their Twitter feed, but after a conversation with a stranger on the Internet (an orthodox Jew from Jerusalem), she began questioning her church’s teachings. Megan eventually left the church (check out her 2017 TED Talk about her experience) and wrote this book. While Westboro is usually referred to as a “church,” but make no mistake—it’s a cult.
Do you have any other culty books you’d add to this list? Tell me about them in the comments!