Mystery Cults

In the early Roman Empire, as Christianity struggled to gain a foothold and survive in the polytheistic pool of Roman theology, its greatest rivals weren't the Caesars or the Roman aristocracy but rather the faith and devotion of the common Roman legionary. The faith of these men was centered on the god Mithras, who, they believed, led them to victory upon the field of battle and had done so for nearly four centuries.

The galaxy is vast, and worship of the God-Emperor by His faithful takes many forms. The Spiral Dawn is one of the countless sanctioned sects of the Imperial Cult. As a gathering of Spiralytes make their holy pilgrimage to Redemption, the sect's world of origin and a shrine world of the Imperium, they find not a haven of enlightenment and introspection, but a soot-choked hellhole where their order's founders and an unorthodox regiment of Astra Militarum maintain an uneasy coexistence.

In this exhilarating and terrifying new book, Emma Kenny explores the bewildering world of cults, looking into the magnetic pull of cult leaders who find, ensnare and indoctrinate followers, transforming them from normal people into devoted acolytes, and, in the most extreme cases, into killers. From Jim Jones and The Peoples Temple to David Koresh and the Branch Davidians; Marshall Applewhite's Heaven's Gate to Order of the Solar Temple, Emma unpicks the interplay between power, manipulation and faith that makes cults work.

Mystery. Manipulation. Murder. Cults are associated with all of these. But what really goes on inside them? More specifically, what goes on inside the minds of cult leaders and the people who join them? Based on the hit podcast Cults, this is essential reading for any true crime fan. Cults prey...

The strange and sinister world of cults is a source of endless fascination. Their secrets, rituals and shadowy hierarchies make for some of the most disturbing and shocking revelations in history. Most chilling of all is the fact that many of their followers forfeit all independence in order to carry out the often sadistic bidding of a mysterious master manipulator - and continue to defend their leader to this day.

Learn about the history of Doomsday Cults with iMinds insightful knowledge series. A doomsday cult is a quasi-religious group that believe the end of the world is imminent. Doomsday cults are typically led by charismatic messiah-figures, who teach that their cult holds the secret to surviving the apocalypse. More recently the term has come to include cults who carry out acts of violence or terrorism in an attempt to bring about revolutionary change.

The worst thing about a man being led to his execution—aside from the whole impending death bit—was that he immediately tried to figure out what choice had brought him there. Which Dannen thought was ridiculous. The one possible comfort a man could have, when faced with his own death, was that things simply could not get any worse. The problem, of course, was that things could always get worse.

In Cult Following, Ocker sheds light on the terrifying attraction of cults, demonstrating the elasticity of belief, the desperateness of belonging, and the tragedy of trust.

The Cult Next Door: Britain’s Quietest Nightmare is a chilling blend of true crime realism and psychological thriller, set in the deceptively peaceful suburbs of Berkshire. When seven residents vanish without a trace from Lavender Close, an ordinary cul-de-sac in Reading, the nation is stunned. But behind the disappearance lies a sinister truth: a cult has been operating in plain sight, its rituals masked as community meetings, its leader cloaked in charm and manipulation.

This is a story based on a true story, with an added twist. A woman goes missing in a small rural town in the mountains. As she awaits her fate unraveling the truth of her life's mysteries. She is mentally ill, desperately trying to take control by seizing the opportunity to figure out what, or who has been following her. She advances her studies trying to plant her feet, but is unsuccessful. She must go through a windy, troubling path, to move on, and find peace. Uncovering the truth she would never would have known what was making her sick, all along.

When Arkham Advertiser reporter Andy van Nortwick receives a mysterious film reel in the mail, with a simple note: "Maude Brion is very much alive!", he steps onto a path which will lead him to the brink of madness. Brion, the famous actress and film director, vanished a year ago on an ill-fated expedition into the Amazon rainforest, delving into the legend of the Spider Queen. Thrilled by the prospect of his big break, Nortwick swings the funds to launch a rescue mission. He gathers a team of explorers and a keen folklorist to bring back Brion and cement his reputation.

Historians Cameron Thorne and Amanda Spencer-Gunn discover a fourteenth-century journal which confirms a long-rumored historical heresy: The medieval Church outlawed the Knights Templar because the warrior monks were secretly worshiping the ancient Goddess. The journal also sucks Cam and Amanda into the orbit of a ruthless cabal of modern-day pagans intent on pushing America into the loving arms of the Goddess—whether America wants succor there or not.

Ghost hunter and retired Marine, Shane Ryan, is on a mission. One by one, he has faced the ringleaders of the Endless Night. Now, the trail of carnage has led to Devil Rock… A hidden vault, buried deep within the bowels of the earth. A terrible secret lurks within the dark shadows of this abandoned facility. But to reveal the depth of the cult’s evil machinations, Shane must face an army of deadly spirits, each more powerful than the last. And to fight these diabolical wraiths, even Shane Ryan will need a little help.

When Toru Narazaki's girlfriend, Ryoko, disappears, he tries to track her down, despite the warnings of a private detective he's hired to find her. Ryoko's past is shrouded in mystery, but the one concrete clue leads him to a compound in the heart of Tokyo, with a group that seems to be a cult led by a charismatic guru. Narazaki plunges into the secretive world of the cult, ready to expose himself to any of the guru's brainwashing tactics if it means he can learn the truth about Ryoko. But the cult isn't what he expected, and he has no idea of the bubbling violence beneath its surface.

"He pushed me." Three words turn a suspected suicide into an unsettling murder, pointing to a killer whose methods and motives threaten to expose buried memories of Seong-Jae's past. Yet neither Malcolm nor Seong-Jae are ready for the shadowed secrets that could shatter their tenuous new relationship, when a haunting presence seems to stalk them around every corner, watching their smallest move, baiting them and flirting just out of reach. Is it the killer, always staying one step ahead?

Retired marine and Ghost hunter, Shane Ryan, is no stranger to betrayal. A lifetime of battling supernatural evil has left him bitter and scarred. But when a former ally, Connor Loughlin, reveals the true depths of his depravity, Shane is determined to put him down once and for all... Tracking the conniving businessman to a shadowy medical clinic, Shane is shocked to discover the true purpose of this blood-drenched laboratory—the harvesting of tormented souls, for profit and power. Forced to battle a horde of wrathful spirits, Shane barely manages to escape with his life.

Africa may have given rise to the first human beings, and Egypt probably gave rise to the first great civilizations, which continue to fascinate modern societies across the globe nearly 5,000 years later. From the Library and Lighthouse of Alexandria to the Great Pyramid at Giza, the Ancient Egyptians produced several wonders of the world, revolutionized architecture and construction, created some of the world’s first systems of mathematics and medicine, and established language and art that spread across the known world.

Hidden Jihad opens at mid-century, in 2050, two years after the election of Jefferson Rhodes. At a lavish extravaganza at the Western White House, President Rhodes asks his old college friend Mark Forster to join his administration as head of a Commission on Religious Unity, his disingenuous attempt to appear inclusive toward religion. A significant encounter takes place between Heather Marshall and journalist Todd Stewart, who, unlikely opposites, hit it off and fall in love as the story progresses. Mike Bardolf is at President Rhodes' s side, working toward Palladium' s secret agenda.

In the explosive series finale, the fire sign capital, Fiamma, takes center stage. Paragons retain strongholds here and in the earth territories. In this volatile and corrupt atmosphere, Nina Solaris enters to shake things up. Initiating a project to change Paragon purity by introducing pheromones from other signs, Nina uses her talents as a chemist and perfume designer to turn the orderly world of Astrogea upside down and shatter its illusions of purity forever.

A religious cult, militia conspirators, and an FBI standoff. Can a nine-year-old girl survive them all? Sophia’s mom has been promised Zion after meeting and marrying a fanatic religious cult member. Sophia is left to protect her younger sister while facing severe punishments, strange rules, and meetings meant to indoctrinate them.