Our collective fascination with cults certainly isn’t new, but it does feel like it’s at some kind of high point. Social media and the age of streaming have a lot to do with that: one viral video is all it takes to spread the word on culty activity far and wide, and streaming platforms are all in a race to bang out documentaries about cults just as quickly. That content almost always performs, driven by a general voraciousness for true crime. And though I feel a way about it given my own complicated feelings around the ethics of true crime, I’d be lying if I said I’m not in the camp of folks who gleefully settle in for a good cult doc watch.
The reasons we’re drawn to media about cults are certainly varied and layered, but I think a lot of us can’t look away because we’re convinced, perhaps naively, that it couldn’t happen to us. Or maybe we suspect it could, but can’t clearly imagine what it would take for us to fall prey to ideologies that, from the safe remove of our living rooms, feel so obviously toxic and exploitative. The books on this list, both fiction and nonfiction, expose and explore the inner workings of cult and cult influence, and how we’re all probably more vulnerable to falling for one than we think.
Whether you’re in the mood for a fictional take on a real cult, a memoir of a cult survivor, or an analysis of the language fo fanaticism, there’s something here to satisfy your cultish interests. And if you’re participating in Book Riot’s Read Harder Challenge this year, these titles will all satisfy task #17: Read a book about a cult or cults.
Content warning: some of these books and their descriptions involve mentions of physical and sexual abuse.
Sex Cult Nun: Breaking Away from the Children of God, a Wild, Radical Religious Cult by Faith Jones
The Children of God was an extremist religious group formed in the 1960s, infamous for engaging in the physical and sexual abuse of children. Author Faith Jones was raised in the cult and coached in its exploitative brand of spiritual warfare, but escaped its clutches at the age of 23 to begin a new life. This memoir is her story of survival and escape from one of the most notorious cults in history, and a deeply personal one: the cult’s founder, David Berg, was her grandfather.
The Scammer by Tiffany D. Jackson
This fictional cult story is a YA thriller by Tiffany D. Jackson, who does not miss but decided to really show off with this one. Inspired by the events surrounding the Sarah Lawrence cult, Jackson sets her story on an HBCU campus and delivers an ending I truly did not see coming. If you like suspenseful books set on college campuses, explorations of high-control groups, and stories ripped from the headlines, this book is calling your name.
All Access members read on for more culty reads!
Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell
Amanda Montell is the host of the Sounds like a Cult podcast, a show about modern-day cults that was born from the research she did for this book. It examines the language of “cultish” groups across a wide culty spectrum, from companies and online personas with cult followings to Capital-C cults and high-control groups. It’s a fascinating look at the ubiquitous nature of fanatical language and cult influence, especially if you’re a big ol’ word nerd like me.
American Woman by Susan Choi
In New York State, a 25-year-old Japanese-American woman on the run for violence against the U.S. government agrees to watch over three other, younger fugitives, a task assigned to her by a former activist, a shady figure from her former radical life. One of those fugitives is the granddaughter of a wealthy Californian newspaper magnate whose kidnapping is front-page news, and she’s begun to embrace her captor’s ideology. This novel by the author of Trust Exercise and Flashlight is another fictionalization of real events, inspired by the 1974 kidnapping of heiress Patty Hearst.
Little Eve by Catriona Ward
Little Eve follows its eponymous heroine as she prepares for a ritual that will usher in the apocalypse. The Adder will only spare the faithful, and Eve intends to receive the god’s powerful blessing. Meanwhile, an investigator journeys to a remote island off the coast of Scotland…only to find the settlement drenched in blood. —K.W. Colyard
The Project by Courtney Summers
When Lo Denham’s parents died in a tragic car accident, Lo didn’t just lose her mother and father. She also lost her sister Bea to The Unity Project. The Unity Project is an organization that’s won over many people through its extensive charitable work and community outreach. But Lo knows there’s something more sinister going on beneath the surface. And she will stop at nothing to prove it. —Emily Martin
The Incendiaries by R.O. Kwon
After meeting in their first month at Edwards University, Will is in love with Phoebe. When she joins a religious group, Jejah, led by an alumnus named John Leal, Will is stuck on the outside. He had just left his old college, lost his belief in God, and couldn’t face that environment again. When Phoebe is involved in a bombing that kills five people, she disappears, leaving Will desperate to find her. Will he be able to get to her before the violence continues, or is Phoebe another person who has left Will alone? —Addison Rizer
For even more culty reading, try these fascinating books about cults, these thrillers about cults, and an essay on the weird optimism of novels about doomsday cults.
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