Cults have left dark marks on human history, manipulating followers and often ending in tragedy.
These groups, led by charismatic figures claiming special knowledge or divine connection, exploit vulnerable people seeking meaning.
Their dangerous practices range from mass suicide to violence against others, leaving behind painful legacies that continue to fascinate and horrify us today.
1. Aum Shinrikyo’s Deadly Subway Attack
Founded in 1984 by Shoko Asahara in Japan, Aum Shinrikyo blended Buddhist teachings with apocalyptic prophecies to create a lethal ideology. The group gained international notoriety in 1995 when members released sarin gas in Tokyo’s subway system, killing 13 people and injuring thousands.
Behind closed doors, the cult operated like a shadow government with departments dedicated to developing chemical weapons. Many followers were highly educated scientists who helped create deadly substances in secret laboratories.
Asahara preached that killing was sometimes necessary to save souls, convincing members that victims would be liberated from bad karma. Japanese authorities executed Asahara and several leaders in 2018 for their roles in the attack.
2. Jonestown’s Tragic Mass Suicide
The Peoples Temple, led by Jim Jones, began as a progressive church promoting racial integration and social justice. After relocating to Guyana in 1977 to establish “Jonestown,” Jones’ paranoia intensified, leading to increasingly strict control over his followers.
When U.S. Congressman Leo Ryan visited in 1978 to investigate allegations of abuse, Jones ordered his murder. Fearing consequences, Jones then orchestrated what he called a “revolutionary suicide,” resulting in 918 deaths including 304 children.
Audio recordings captured Jones urging followers to drink cyanide-laced punch, creating the tragic origin of the phrase “drinking the Kool-Aid.” Many victims were injected or forced to drink at gunpoint, making it both mass murder and suicide.
3. The Manson Family’s Killing Spree
Charles Manson never personally killed anyone, yet he orchestrated some of America’s most notorious murders. During the summer of 1969, his followers brutally murdered pregnant actress Sharon Tate and six others in Los Angeles.
Manson convinced his primarily female followers that an apocalyptic race war called “Helter Skelter” (named after the Beatles song) was coming. The killings were meant to trigger this war by framing Black Americans.
Raised in juvenile facilities and prisons, Manson developed manipulation techniques that allowed him to control his “family” through sex, drugs, and isolation. His ability to transform middle-class young people into killers remains a disturbing example of cult mind control.
4. Branch Davidians’ Fiery Standoff
Vernon Howell, who renamed himself David Koresh, claimed to be the final prophet chosen to interpret the Seven Seals from the Book of Revelation. From his compound near Waco, Texas, he amassed weapons while preparing followers for the apocalypse.
The 51-day standoff with federal authorities in 1993 began as an ATF raid investigating illegal firearms. When FBI agents finally moved in with tear gas, fires erupted throughout the compound. Seventy-six people perished in the inferno, including Koresh and many children.
Debate continues about whether the Davidians started the fires as a mass suicide or if they resulted from FBI tactics. The tragedy fueled anti-government sentiment and inspired Timothy McVeigh’s Oklahoma City bombing.
5. Heaven’s Gate’s Extraterrestrial Delusion
Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles founded Heaven’s Gate in the 1970s, teaching that Earth would be “recycled” and the only escape was to evolve beyond human form. Members lived under strict rules, including celibacy and identical clothing and haircuts.
In March 1997, Applewhite convinced 38 followers that a spacecraft trailing the Hale-Bopp comet would transport their souls to the “Next Level.” Each member methodically packed a bag, put on new Nike sneakers, and consumed a lethal mixture of phenobarbital and vodka.
Police discovered their bodies in a San Diego mansion, all wearing matching clothes with purple shrouds. Their website remains online today, maintained by former members who didn’t participate in the suicide but still believe in the group’s teachings.
6. Order of the Solar Temple’s Ritual Killings
Combining elements of Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism, and Knights Templar mythology, the Order of the Solar Temple attracted wealthy Europeans seeking spiritual enlightenment.
Leaders Joseph Di Mambro and Luc Jouret convinced members they were knights from medieval times reincarnated for a special mission. Between 1994 and 1997, ritual murders and suicides claimed 74 lives across Switzerland, France, and Canada. Many victims were arranged in a circle, feet pointing outward, in ceremonial robes.
Di Mambro claimed these “transit” ceremonies would transport members to a planet orbiting Sirius. Evidence suggests many members were murdered rather than willing participants. The group’s wealth disappeared after the deaths, with millions of dollars never recovered.
7. Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments
This Ugandan doomsday cult emerged in the 1980s, led by Credonia Mwerinde who claimed to have visions of the Virgin Mary. Members followed strict vows of silence, communicating primarily through sign language to avoid sinful speech.
When the world didn’t end on December 31, 1999, as predicted, leaders faced growing dissent. They scheduled a massive feast for March 17, 2000, but instead sealed hundreds of followers inside a church and set it ablaze. Subsequent investigations discovered mass graves at other compounds, bringing the death toll to over 700 people.
Many victims had been poisoned before the fire. This stands as one of the largest cult mass murders in history, yet receives less attention than similar tragedies in Western countries.
8. Children of God’s Systematic Abuse
Founded by David Berg in 1968, Children of God (later renamed Family International) mixed apocalyptic Christianity with sexual liberation in disturbing ways.
Berg introduced “Flirty Fishing,” encouraging female members to use sex to attract converts. The group’s most sinister practices involved children. Berg’s writings endorsed sexual contact with minors, leading to widespread abuse within the cult. Famous survivors include actors Rose McGowan and Joaquin Phoenix, whose families escaped when they were young.
Operating in over 100 countries at its peak, the group created isolated communes where children had little contact with the outside world. While the organization still exists in modified form, numerous investigations, lawsuits, and testimonies from former members have documented decades of systematic child abuse.
9. Rajneeshpuram’s Bioterror Attack
Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (later called Osho) established a 64,000-acre commune in rural Oregon in 1981. What began as a spiritual movement promoting meditation and free love evolved into something more sinister under the influence of his secretary, Ma Anand Sheela.
In 1984, seeking to influence local elections, cult members contaminated salad bars in nearby restaurants with Salmonella bacteria. This first bioterror attack on U.S. soil sickened 751 people but miraculously killed none. The group also attempted to murder government officials, engaged in immigration fraud, and amassed a collection of Rolls-Royces for their leader.
Federal investigations eventually led to Sheela’s imprisonment and Rajneesh’s deportation, while the massive commune was abandoned and later converted into a Christian youth camp.
10. Ant Hill Kids’ Brutal Torture Regime
Quebec cult leader Roch Thériault, who called himself Moses, subjected his followers to unimaginable torture in the wilderness of Canada’s Burnt River region. Beginning in the late 1970s, Thériault convinced about 40 people he could lead them through the apocalypse.
Under his rule, members endured horrific punishments including having teeth removed without anesthesia, being nailed to trees, and having limbs amputated. Thériault performed crude surgeries on followers, once removing a woman’s intestines and forcing others to consume human waste.
The cult disbanded after Thériault killed his wife by disemboweling her during an amateur surgery in 1989. Survivors suffered severe psychological trauma, with many unable to function in society afterward. Thériault died in prison in 2011 after being stabbed by another inmate.
