The word "cults" evokes images of people who are subjugated to a charismatic leader, who gains their obedience through lies and threats, as well as the revelation of prophecies, sexual harassment, and mass suicide.

From the Celtic druids, whose ritual sacrifices inspired the horror film The Wicker Man, to the Peoples Temple and Heaven’s Gate, The Penguin Book of Cults maps the history of our fear of the religious Other.

Revealing lesser-known sources, such as the “death film” from Jonestown’s last hour, when Jim Jones led more than 900 followers to drink poison, as well as a detailed diary of the FBI’s final assault on the Branch Davidian headquarters, it also includes accounts of blood consumption of sacrificed cats, theories that we live inside a hollow earth, and reports of space brothers from Venus coming to save us from the threat of nuclear war.

This volume opens an exciting window into cults and why some of them ended with spectacular violence.