As I embark on this journey, I’m trying to decide what is most important and/or most common aspects of cults I want to explore in fiction over the next year. For serial killers, finding those points was fairly easy because there were a few strong, well-known literary critiques that focused on the genre. While there are some literary critiques of cult fiction available, I haven’t found one that has risen to the surface as the be-all, end-all in cult fiction. At the same time, a particular method other people have used hasn’t grabbed me. Again, it’s out there. But there’s almost too much. I feel overwhelmed by choice.

The Portrayal of Cult in Different Genres

Cults In Sci Fi

One of my friends pointed out that in the 70s and 80s there were hundreds of science fiction books that featured cults. It stretches back before that. Dune (1965) and Stranger In a Strange Land (1961), to name some of the most famous. Heinlein is one of my favorite authors, and if I’m going down this rabbit hole, I probably have to devote a few months to sci fi and dystopia/utopia. However, there are a few reasons I’m resisting it.

1. The cult as a rejection of the majority. In speculative fiction, society has usually grown or morphed from what it is today. Often, it has been taken to its extremes. Sometimes it has been replaced altogether. This gives space for the cult to be philosophically “right” while the majority is morally corrupt and spiritually misguided. Sci fi tends (imo) place the cult as the underdog that takes down the big bad society. I can see that as an important part of literature and philosophy, but I’m still hesitant to think of the cults that have existed in reality as something positive.
2. The leader with actual superpowers. In speculative fiction, the cult members do not have to trust and believe their leader has special powers. At some point, the book will show those powers, and they will be very real. One of the key aspects of cults in modern America is the weight and expectation of faith. Anything that eases that requirement takes away some of the fascination of cults. It isn’t just “How could you do that?” it is… “How did they make you believe those things?” In science fiction, that faith is rarely challenged in the long-term.
3. The rise of the leader. A lot of spec fic focuses on the rise of the chosen one. Since the belief system is “real” and provable in these worlds, the key point of friction is not in the belief of the followers, but in the leader’s acceptance. How do they wield their power? While this is an interesting question, I am more interested in how a leader wields power that is not backed by magic or a new world order. How do they move and act in our contemporary society?

Cults in Weird and Cosmic Horror

If I’m not so into the “easy” magical answers given to spiritual power in sci fi and fantasy, why am I obsessed with it in weird and cosmic horror? Probably because weird is one of my favorite genres. But more likely because, for me, all weird and most cosmic horror has an aspect of madness to it: you need to let go and free yourself into the abyss of the author’s darkest mind. This might give shape to spiritual power, but it doesn’t make it “believable” in the same way fantasy and sci fi are able to construct entire worlds that have that magic system embedded in their reality. Weird and cosmic horror are rooted in the darkness of our own world. To me, they are the most symbolic of the speculative. I’d think that’s my own preferance, but then you learn about cultist groups following the writings of Lovecraft as if they are real or taking them as spiritual aids while knowing they are not real. This will most likely be my favorite genre to explore.

Cults in Thrillers, Procedurals, Mysteries, and Romance

It’s a lot to lump together, and I’m guessing this is where I’ll find a slew of modern cult books. Stories of people trying to flee cults. Of family members hunting down their loved ones. Of law enforcement bringing down abusive leaders. This is the meat and potatoes of the cultic imagination. These play on a few main ideas:

• The leader of the cult is evil/bad/to blame. Either they are a con-man or are insane. If they are insane, it is not the type of insanity deserving of sympathy. They deserve death, or at least, to be locked behind bars for years.
• Cults are always hierarchical. The leader knows everything going on. They are to blame. There MAY be an inner circle that also knows most of what is going on and who benefit from the victimization of the cult. They are also to blame.
• The members of the cult are victims and are never to blame. Even as adults, the members are mostly weak people who need help (very often women) and so they are not to be blamed for getting involved in the cult, any of the abuse they perpetrate in the cult, or their own decisions they made as part of the cult.
• Trusting in “the right” authority. The Government is always looking out for the people. They have no ulterior motives and are always the good guys. Trust the police/FBI, they will save you. Similarly, the “right” religions will not ask you to do unspeakable things.

These are all set deeply in me. Of course, that’s how cults work! Of course, all alternative societies or belief systems risk turning into a cult. But even reading dictionary or encyclopedia definitions, it is clear that “cult” is a word that has shifted meanings over the years and many people use it to mean simply a non-dominant religious/spiritual movement, while others hold the implication of dominance and coercion. In my research, I’ve stumbled across the terms New Religious Movement (NRM) and high-control group (HCG) to differentiate the two ideas. It feels like in literature and movies that “cult” is shorthand for HCG, partly because NRMs threaten the status quo of government and religion.

*nervous laugh* Even writing this, I feel insane. Cults are controlling and dangerous, aren’t they? I feel like all thrillers, procedurals, mysteries, and romances will support this necessary cultural imagination of the word cult.

Cults in Contemporary and Literary

I am not sure what I will find in these genres. In contemporary, I’m guessing heart-wrenching stories that play on the same themes of the above genre-stories. But now that I’m giving it more thought, maybe not. Perhaps I’ve get more complicated, nuanced views of what it feels like to be in a cult. Perhaps I’d find those in the memoir section instead, which I’m purposely avoiding as I want cultural imagination rather than reality.

Literary, just like with serial killers, will probably be where I get most of the idea-heavy work that challenges our ideas of cults or solidifies/shows our current imagination. Thankfully, “literary” can be found in so many other genres these days 😉

Entry Points to My Readings

Point of View

The most fascinating thing about reading and writing cults is how many people are involved. You have the potential for every book to feature an ensemble cast. Choosing a single POV or even multiple POVs can be the most difficult part of getting started. I’ll admit, that’s my issue when writing cults. We’re on the lookout for:

• cult leader
• cult inner circle
• cult members by choice
• cult members by birth
• people who have left the cult
• family members of cult members
• legal/government representatives
• people outside the cult

The list goes on and on. How do you focus in on a single story when so many truths are tendriling around each other?

Are you a good cult or a bad cult?

As opposed to the “all cults are bad” narrative, I’d love to see more of the nuance of cults. How the community can provide positive support for their members and the moment that derails.

Moment of Development

In my singular cultural memory, cults spring up as full-fledged machines of evil. But a lot of them start as something smaller. Are their origins ideas in a basement or a revelation in church? And where are they in the process of development? I hope to find some books that are about the rise of a cult as opposed to focusing on its destruction.

Type of Cult

When I think of cults, I tend to think of religious offshoots. But when we are talking about HCGs, I can remember to expand my search to other groups.

• christian-religious
• non-christian religious
• spiritual
• end-of-days/preppers/apocalypse
• science
• education
• alternative community

The list goes on.

I’m sure I missed a lot. I am just getting started, after all.
If you have any aspects I should look for or genre-tropes I should know, shoot me a message. Additionally, if you’ve got some good articles about cults in literature, send them my way. (Bonus points if they’re available on jstor because, free articles are good articles 😉

1/2/2025

• Welliver, Hilary. “The Cult Phenomenon as Portrayed in Adolescent Literature.” The High School Journal 68, no. 2 (1984): 87–90. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40365428.
• Hutchinson, Colin. “Cult Fiction: ‘Good’ and ‘Bad’ Communities in the Contemporary American Novel.” Journal of American Studies 42, no. 1 (2008): 35–50. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40464238.
• Engle, John. “Cults of Lovecraft: The Impact of H.P. Lovecraft’s Fiction on Contemporary Occult Practices.” Mythlore 33, no. 1 (125) (2014): 85–98. http://www.jstor.org/stable/26815942.
• Neal, Lynn S. “Suicide and CultUral Memory in Fictional Television.” Journal of Religion and Violence 1, no. 3 (2013): 322–42. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26671410.