Culty Resources
If you know of any resources we should add to this page, or find any broken/incorrect links, please let us know at fugitivegiftregistry@gmail.com. Teamwork makes the dream work!
GENERAL INFO
Websites
• International Cultic Studies Association - icsahome.com
• Cult Education Institute - culteducation.com
• Freedom of Mind - Steven Hassan - freedomofmind.com
• www.igotout.org #igotout - a movement to spread public awareness and support cult survivors.
Books
• Beres, Derek, Remski, Matthew D., Walker, Julian. Conspirituality: how new age conspiracy theories became a health threat. PublicAffairs, 2023.
• della Subin, Anna. Accidental gods: on men unwittingly turned divine. Granta Books, 2022
• Chapman, Robyn, ed. American Cult: A Graphic History of Religious Cults in America from the Colonial Era to Today. Silver Sprocket, 2021.
• Montel, Amanda. Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism. Harper Wave, 2021.
• Burton, Tara Isabella. Strange rites: new religions for a godless world. Hatchette Book Group, 2020.
• Lifton, Robert Jay. Losing Reality: On Cults, Cultism, and the Mindset of Political and Religious Zealotry. The New Press, 2019.
• Morris, Adam. American Messiahs: False Prophets of a Damned Nation. Liveright Publishing, 2019.
• Hassan, Steven. Combating Cult Mind Control: The #1 Best-selling Guide to Protection, Rescue, and Recovery from Destructive Cults, Freedom of Mind Press, 2015.
• Manseau, Peter. One Nation, Under Gods: A New American History. Little, Brown and Company, 2015.
• Lifton, Robert Jay. Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism: A Study of Brainwashing in China. Martino Fine Books, 2014.
• Ross, Rick Alan. Cults Inside Out: How People Get In and Can Get Out. CreateSpace, 2014.
• Hassan, Steven. Freedom of Mind: Helping Loved Ones Leave Controlling People, Cults, and Beliefs. Freedom of Mind Press, 2012.
• Horowitz, Mitch. Occult America: White House Seances, Ouija Circles, Masons, and the Secret Mystic History of Our Nation. Bantam, 2010.
• Goldwag, Arthur. Cults, Conspiracies, and Secret Societies: The Straight Scoop on Freemasons, The Illuminati, Skull and Bones, Black Helicopters, The New World Order, and many, many more. Vintage Paperback, 2009.
• Lalich, Janja & Tobias, Madeleine. Take Back Your Life: Recovering from Cults and Abusive Relationships. Bay Tree Publishing, 2006.
• Lalich, Janja. Bounded Choice: True Believers and Charismatic Cults. University of California Press, 2004.
• Singer, Margaret Thaler. Cults in Our Midst: The Continuing Fight Against Their Hidden Menace. Jossey-Bass, 2003.
• Melton, J. Gordon. The Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America. Garland Publishing, 1986.
Documentaries
• How to Become a Cult Leader, Netflix, 2023
• In the Name of God: A Holy Betrayal, Netflix, 2023.
• Bad Vegan: Fame, Fraud, Fugitives, Netflix, 2022.
• My Daughter Joined a Cult, Max, 2022.
• Deadly Cults, Oxygen, 2019.
• People Magazine Investigates Cults, ID Discovery, 2018-2019.
• Cults and Extreme Beliefs, A&E, 2018.
• Deprogrammed, Donovan, Mia, 2016.
• For the Love of God, 2015.
• Waiting for John: The Story of the Last Cargo Cult, 2015.
• Deadly Devotion, Max, docuseries, 2013-
• American Commune, 2013.
• Kumare, Ghandi, Vikram, 2011.
• Cult Witness, 2010.
• God Willing, 2010.
• Join Us, 2007
• Marjoe, 1972.
Podcasts
• A Little Bit Culty, Sarah Edmonson and Nippy Ames, 2021-.
• Sounds Like A Cult, All Things Comedy, 2021-.
• Trust Me: Cults, Extreme Beliefs, and Manipulation, PodcastOne, 2021-.
• Was I In A Cult?, iHeartPodcasts, 2021-.
• Conspirituality, Derek Beres, Matthew Remski, Julian Walker, 2020-.
• The Cult Vault, Vault Productions, 2020-.
• Decoding the Gurus, Christopher Kavanagh and Matthew Browne, 2020-.
• Failed Utopia, Anna Roberts, 2020-2023.
• Cult or Just Weird, 2019-.
• Indoctrination, Rachel Bernstein, 2018-.
• Cults, Parcast, 2017-2022.
• Let’s Talk About Sects, Sarah Steel, 2017-.
• Oh No, Ross and Carrie, 2011-.
Alamo Christian Ministries
• Ministry of Evil: the Twisted Cult of Tony Alamo, documentary, 2019.
Aum Shinrikyo
• Murakami, Haruki. Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2001.
• AUM: The Cult at the End of the World, documentary, 2023.
• Mori, Tatsuya. A, documentary, 1998.
Bikram Yoga
• Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator, Netflix, documentary, 2019
• Bikram, 30 for 30 ESPN, podcast, 2018.
Branch Davidians, David Koresh
• Thibodeau, David, Whiteson, Leon and Layton Aviva. Waco: A Survivor’s Story. Hachette Books, 2018.
• Wright, Stuart A. (editor). Armageddon in Waco: Critical Perspectives on the Branch Davidian Conflict. The University of Chicago Press, 1995.
• Waco: The Aftermath, Showtime, TV series, 2023.
• Waco: American Apocalypse, Netflix, documentary, 2023.
• Waco, Showtime, TV series, 2018.
• Waco: Madman or Messiah, documentary, 2018.
• Witness to Waco, MSNBC, documentary, 2009.
• Waco: A New Revelation, documentary, 2000.
• Waco: The Rules of Engagement, documentary, 1997.
• Waco: The Inside Story, Frontline PBS, documentary, 1995.
• End of Days, BBC Radio, podcast, 2018.
Buddhafield
• Allen, Will, Holy Hell, 2016
Children of God/The Family
• Mestyanek Young, Daniella, Uncultured: A Memoir. St. Martin’s Press, 2022.
• Jones, Faith. Sex Cult Nun: Breaking Away from the Children of God, a Wild, Radical Religious Cult. William Morrow, 2021.
• Edwards, Flor. Apocalypse Child: A Life in End Times. Turner, 2018.
• Van Zandt, David E. Living in the Children of God. Princeton University Press, 2016.
• Children of the Cult, documentary, 2021.
• Children of God: Lost and Found, documentary, 2007.
• Smithson, John, Children of God, documentary, 1994.
Church of the Subgenius
• J.R. 'Bob' Dobbs and the Church of the SubGenius, YouTube, documentary, 2019.
Andrew Cohen
• How I Created A Cult, docuseries, 2016-2021.
Colonia Dignidad
• Los Sobrevivientes, Colonia Dignidad, docuseries, 2022.
• Sinister Sect: Colonia Dignidad, Netflix, docuseries, 2021.
Discordianism
• principiadiscordia.com
The Family
• Johnston, Chris and Jones, Rosie. The Family: The Shocking True Story of a Notorious Cult. Scribe, 2017.
• The Cult of the Family, documentary, 2019.
• The Cult That Stole Children: Inside the Family, documentary, 2016.
The Fellowship of Friends
• Revelations, Jennings Brown, podcast, 2021.
Fundamentalist Christianity
• Greczyn, Alice. Wayward: A Memoir of Spiritual Warfare and Sexual Purity. River Grove Books, 2021.
• Weiss, Mitch and Mohr, Holbrook, Broken Faith: Inside one of America’s Most Dangerous Cults. Hanover Square Press, 2020.
• Walker, Jerald. The World In Flames: A Black Boyhood In A White Supremacist Doomsday Cult. Beacon Press, 2016.
• God Forbid: The Sex Scandal That Brought Down A Dynasty, Hulu, docuseries, 2023.
• The Secrets of Hillsong, Hulu, docuseries, 2023.
• Hillsong: A Megachurch Exposed, Max, docuseries, 2022.
• Let Us Prey: A Ministry of Scandals, Max, docuseries, 2023.
• Savior Complex, Max, docuseries, 2023.
• Shiny, Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets, Amazon Prime, docuseries, 2023.
• Pray, Obey, Kill, Max, documentary, 2021.
• The Family, Netflix, docuseries, 2019.
• God Loves Uganda, documentary, 2013.
• Fall From Grace, 2007.
• Jesus Camp, 2006.
• Queen Havoc and her Murder Cult, iHeartPodcasts, podcast, 2023.
• The White Saviors, Canadaland, podcast, 2022.
• The Followers: House of Prayer, USG Audio, podcast, 2021.
• In God We Lust, Wondery, podcast, 2021.
• Heaven Bent, Frequency, podcast, 2020-.
Fundamentalist Mormonism
• Jeffs, Rachel. Breaking Free: How I Escaped Polygamy, The FLDS Cult, And My Father. Warren Jeffs. Harper, 2017.
• Musser, Rebecca. The Witness Wore Red: The 19th Wife Who Brought Polygamous Cult Leaders to Justice. Grand Central Publishing, 2014.
• Brower, Sam. Prophet’s Prey: My Seven-Year Investigation into Warren Jeffs and the Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints. Bloomsbury, 2012.
• Jessop, Carolyn, Escape: A Memoir. Crown, 2008.
• Krakauer, Jon, Under the Banner of Heaven. Random House, 2003.
• Daughters of the Cult, Hulu, docuseries, 2024.
• Prisoner of the Prophet, Max, documentary, 2023.
• Preaching Evil: A Wife on the Run With Warren Jeffs, Peacock, docuseries, 2023.
• Keep Sweet: Pray, Obey, Netflix, documentary, 2022.
• Keep Sweet, Discovery+, documentary, 2021.
• Warren Jeffs: Prophet of Evil, A&E, documentary, 2018.
• Prophet’s Prey, documentary, 2015.
• Escaping the Prophet, docuseries, 2014.
• I Escaped a Cult, documentary, 2012.
• Sons of Perdition, documentary, 2010.
• The Followers: Madness of Two, USG Audio, podcast, 2023.
• Deliver Us From Ervil, iHeartPodcasts, podcast, 2022.
Gabriel of Urantia
• Gabriel of Urantia: The So-Called Prophet from Pittsburgh, Joseph L. Flatley, podcast, 2020.
The Garden
• The Garden: Commune or Cult?, Max/Discovery +, docuseries, 2023.
Gwen Shamblin
• The Way Down: God, Greed and the Cult of Gwen Shamblin, Max, docuseries, 2021-2022.
Hare Krishna
• Krishnas: Gurus. Karma. Murder. Peacock, docuseries, 2023.
Hasidic Judaism
• One of Us, Netflix, documentary, 2017.
Heaven’s Gate
• heavensgate.com
• Heaven’s Gate: the Cult of Cults, Max, docuseries, 2020.
• Myers, Sergio, Heaven’s Gate: the Untold Story, documentary, 1999.
• Heaven’s Gate, Stitcher, Pineapple Street Media & Glynn Washington, podcast, 2017.
International Peace Mission Movement & Father Divine
• Father’s Kingdom, documentary, 2017.
Jehovah Witnesses
• The Witnesses, docuseries, 2020.
Jim Jones, The People’s Temple
• Reiterman, Tim. Raven: The Untold Story of the Rev. Jim Jones and His People. Tarcher Perigee, 2008.
• Layton, Deborah, Seductive Poison: A Jonestown Survivor’s Story of Life and Death in the Peoples Temple. Doubleday, 1999.
• Jonestown Massacre: As We Watched, documentary, 2018.
• Jonestown: Terror in the Jungle, documentary, 2018.
• Jonestown: The Women Behind the Massacre, documentary, 2018.
• Truth and Lies: Jonestown, Paradise Lost, documentary, 2018.
• Witness to Jonestown, documentary, 2008.
• Nelson, Stanley, The Life and Death of People’s Temple, PBS, documentary, 2006.
• Deceived: The Jonestown Tragedy, documentary, 1979.
• Transmissions From Jonestown, The Attention Span Recovery Project, podcast, 2017.
John of God
• John of God: The Crimes of a Spiritual Healer, Netflix, docuseries, 2021.
La Luz Del Mundo
• The Darkness within La Luz del Mundo, Netflix, docuseries, 2023.
• Unveiled: Surviving La Luz Del Mundo, Max, docuseries, 2023.
Love Has Won
• Love Has Won, Max, docuseries, 2023.
Mel Lyman
• Turner, Guinevere. When the World Didn’t End: A Memoir. Crown, 2023.
Charles Manson
• Helter Skelter: An American Myth, MGM+, docuseries, 2020.
• Charles Manson: The Final Words, documentary, 2017.
• Inside the Manson Gang, documentary, 2007.
• Manson, documentary, 1973.
• You Must Remember Manson, podcast, 2015.
MLMs
• Paulson, Emily Lynn. Hey Hun: Sales, Sisterhood, Supremacy, and the Other Lies Behind Multilevel Marketing. Row House Publishing, 2023.
• LulaRich, Amazon Prime, docuseries, 2021.
• The Rise and Fall of LulaRoe, Discovery+, podcast, 2022.
• Life After MLM, Roberta Blevins, podcast, 2021.
• The Dream, Jane Marie, Pushkin Industries and Little Everywhere, podcast, 2018-.
New Age
• Adler, Margot. Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers, and Other Pagans in America. Penguin Books, 1997.
• Schucman, Helen, A Course in Miracles. Foundation for Inner Peace, 1975.
• Dass, Ram. Be Here Now. Lama Foundation, 1971.
Nuwaubian Nation
• Chisholm, N. Jamiyla. The Community. Little A, 2022.
Nxivm
• Berman, Sarah. Don’t Call it a Cult: The Shocking Story of Keith Raniere and the Women of NXIVM. Steerforth, 2021.
• Edmonson, Sarah. Scarred: The True Story of How I Escaped NXIVM, the Cult That Bound My Life. Chronicle Prism, 2019.
• Natalie, Toni. The Program: Inside the Mind of Keith Raniere and the Rise and Fall of NXIVM. Grand Central Publishing, 2019.
• Seduced: Inside the Nxivm Cult, Starz, docuseries, 2020.
• The Vow, Max, docuseries, 2020.
• The Lost Women of NXIVM, Discovery ID, documentary, 2019.
• Escaping NXIVM, CBC Podcasts, podcast, 2018.
One Taste
• Orgasm Inc: The Story of One Taste, Netflix, documentary, 2022.
• The Orgasm Cult, BBC, podcast, 2020.
Our Lord Righteousness
• Inside a Cult: Messiah On Trial, documentary, 2009.
• Anthony, Ben, Strong City, the Cult at the End of the World, documentary, 2007.
Rajneeshpuram
• Guest, Tim. My Life in Orange: Growing Up with the Guru. Mariner Books, 2005.
• Searching for Sheela, Netflix, documentary, 2021.
• Wild, Wild Country, Netflix, docuseries, 2018.
• Building Utopia: Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, podcast, 2018-2022.
James Arthur Ray
• Enlighten Us: The Rise and Fall of James Arthur Ray, CNN, documentary, 2017.
• Guru: The Dark Side of Enlightenment, podcast, 2020.
Michael Wayne Ryan, Yahweh Cult
• Colvin, Rod. Evil Harvest: The Shocking True Story of Cult Murder In The American Heartland. Bantam Books, 1992.
Sarah Lawarence University Cult
• Barban Levin, Daniel, Slonim Woods 9: A Memoir. Crown, 2021.
• Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence, Hulu, docuseries, 2023.
• Sex, Lies and the College Cult, Peacock, documentary, 2022.
Scientology
• Rinder, Michael. A Billion Years: My Escape from a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology. Gallery Books, 2022.
• Remini, Leah. Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology. Ballantine Books, 2016.
• Wright, Lawrence. Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief. Alfred A. Knopf, 2013.
• Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath, TV Series, 2016-2019.
• Gibney, Alex, Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, Max, documentary, 2015.
• Theroux, Louie, My Scientology Movie, documentary, 2015.
The Source Family
• Willie, Jodi, The Source Family, documentary, 2012.
Spirituality, Wellness and Therapy Cults
• Schneider, Spencer L. Manhattan Cult Story: My Unbelievable True Story of Sex, Crimes, Chaos, and Survival. Arcade, 2022.
• Imperfect Paradise, LAist Studio, podcast, 2023.
• A Very British Cult, BBC, podcast, 2023.
• The Commune, Stuff Audio, podcast, 2022.
• Ghost Church, Jamie Loftus, iHeartPodcasts and Cool Zone Media, podcast, 2022.
• Good Cult, Kast, podcast, 2022
• The New Gurus, BBC, podcast, 2022.
• The Opportunist, Kast Media, podcast, 2021-.
• Chasing Enlightenment, podcast, 2021.
• What Comet Kohoutek Left Behind, podcast, London Homer-Wambeam, 2020.
• Dear Franklin Jones, Stitcher & Jonathan Hirsch, podcast, 2018.
The Sullivanians
• Stille, Alexander. The Sullivanians: Sex, Psychotherapy, and the Wild Life of an American Commune. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2023.
Teal Swan
• The Deep End, Hulu, docuseries, 2022.
• Open Shadow: The Story of Teal Swan, documentary, 2018.
• The Gateway: Teal Swan, Jennings Brown, podcast, 2018.
Synnanon
• Jollett, Mikel, Hollywood Park: A Memoir. Celadon Books, 2020.
• Born in Synanon, Paramount+, docuseries, 2023.
• The Sunshine Place, C13 Originals, Team Downey, podcast, 2022.
Theosophy
• Blavatsky, Helena P., Isis Unveiled: Volumes I & II, 1877.
Twin Flames
• Desperately Seeking Soulmate: Escaping Twin Flames Universe, Netflix, docuseries, 2023.
• Escaping Twin Flames, Amazon, docuseries, 2023.
• Twin Flames, Wondery, podcast, 2022.
The Unification Church (Moonies)
• Boucher, Marianne, Talking To Strangers: A Memoir of My Escape From A Cult. Doubleday, 2020.
• Hong, Nansook, In the Shadow of the Moons: My Life in the Reverend Sun Myung Moon’s Family. Little, Brown, 1998.
• Blessed Child, documentary, 2019.
• Falling Out, Elgen Strait, podcast, 2021.
White Supremacy, Hate Groups, Extremism
• Ronson, Jon. Them: Adventures with Extremists. Simon & Schuster. 2003.
• Q: Into the Storm, Max, docuseries, 2021.
• White Hot Hate, CBC, podcast, 2021-2023.
• Things Fell Apart, Jon Ronson and BBC Radio 4, podcast, 2022.
• No Compromise, NPR, podcast, 2020.
• QAnon Anonymous, Julian Feeld, Travis View & Jake Rockatansky, podcast, 2018-.
• Bundyville: The Remnant, Oregon Public Radio, podcast, 2018.
If you know of any resources we should add to this page, or find any broken/incorrect links, please let us know at fugitivegiftregistry@gmail.com. Teamwork makes the dream work!