People Magazine Investigates: Cults

Prophet David Berg attracts thousands of followers as the Children of God cult spreads through communes. But his free love message turns sinister, espousing prostitution, sexual abuse of children and violence in prison camps.

In the late '60s, Charles Manson entices dozens of young women to live with him in a California desert commune. The facade breaks when Manson orders his followers to commit a string of gruesome murders.

In 1997 Heaven's Gate leader Marshall Applewhite convinced 39 people to follow him to their graves. The world knows the event as the largest mass suicide on US soil, but for followers it was a strategy towards catching a UFO.

In 2014 a severed human leg draws attentions to The Work, an apocalyptic cult. Known as the Sinful Messiah, Julius Schacknow declares total devotion and terrible sacrifice as the only way to achieve eternal salvation.

Charismatic preacher Sam Fife inspires a worldwide network of Christian groups. To prepare for the apocalypse, members renounce everything to move to the wilderness where they're subjected to beatings, exorcisms and brainwashing.

Lost souls go to North Carolina, where they're promised deliverance from demons by Pastor Jane Whaley at the Word of Faith Fellowship. But deliverance comes at a price, including beatings, medical horrors and psychological abuse.