What really goes on inside cults? More specifically, what goes on inside the minds of cult leaders and the people who join them? Cutler and Conley examine the lives of some of the most disreputable cult figures and tell the stories of their rise to power-- and fall from grace, sanity, and decency. The result is an unflinching look at what happens when the most vulnerable recesses of the mind are manipulated and how the things we hold most sacred can...

Vern escapes the religious compound where she was raised and gives birth to twins in the forest, raising them away from the influence of the outside world. Her community won't let her go that easily, however, and as they pursue, she breaks the boundaries of humanity, changing her body in uncanny ways in order to protect her family.

Based on the Turner Classic Movies series, TCM Underground is the movie-lover's guide to 50 of the most campy, kitschy, shocking, and weirdly wonderful cult films you need to see. In the pages of this book, you'll explore this unique order of films--primarily from the 1960s, '70s, and '80s--with insightful reviews, behind-the-scenes stories, subgenre sidebars, and full-color and black-and-white photography throughout. Go along for the ride with new...

"At the turn of the 20th century, minstrel shows transform into vaudeville, which slides into moving pictures. Hunkering together in dark theatres, diverse audiences marvel at flickering images. Redwood, an African American woman, and Aidan, a Seminole Irish man, journey from Georgia to Chicago, from haunted swampland to a "city of the future." They are gifted performers and hoodoo conjurors, struggling to call up the wondrous world they imagine,...

"A painter of fiery, nightmarish visions throws herself into the sea--but she'll leave some of her secrets behind...Seattle gallery owner Virginia Troy has spent years battling the demons that stem from her childhood time in a cult and the night a fire burned through the compound, killing her mother. And now one of her artists has taken her own life, but not before sending Virginia a last picture: a painting that makes Virginia doubt everything about...

Amanda Sinclair fled from the cult that left her brother dead at her mother's hand, and now works a quiet job in quality control for a small cosmetics company. She learns that her mother has committed suicide in the mental ward where she's been locked away for the past ten years, and receives her mother's personal belongings. When Amanda finds a connection to the upcoming parole hearing for cult leader Patrick Collier, troubling things begin happening....

"As an adult, Lauren Hough has had many identities: an airman in the U.S. Air Force, a cable guy, a bouncer at a gay club. As a child, however, she had none. Growing up as a member of the infamous cult The Children of God, Hough had her own self robbed from her. The cult took her all over the globe--to Germany, Japan, Texas, Chile--but it wasn't until she finally left for good that Lauren understood she could have a life beyond "The Family." Along...