**PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A VIRTUAL PROGRAM THAT WILL TAKE PLACE VIA ZOOM. Registrants will receive a link to access the Zoom Webinar via email.**  

This one is for horror fans everywhere! We're so pleased to be chatting with author J.W. Ocker about his book Cult Following: The Extreme Sects That Capture Our Imaginations--And Take Over Our Lives and any other odd thing he'd like to discuss! For anyone interested in the mentality around cults, we invite you to join us for a discussion on "30 most infamous, audacious, and dangerous cults in history". Maybe a cautionary tale? We hope you can join us!

Register directly on Zoom HERE.

Stay tuned for info on a virtual booksale/signing!

RECORDING NOTE: This program will be recorded. All registrants will receive the recording via email within 48 hours of the program

About the book:

Have you ever wondered how ordinary people end up enmeshed in extreme cults? Everything you've ever wanted to know about history's most notorious cults--and the psychology of the people who join them--is packed into this accessible, engaging volume. Walk in the footsteps of those who were lured into such sinister groups as:

1. Branch Davidians This cult was waiting out the apocalypse when the FBI infamously raided their compound in Waco, Texas.
2. Los Narcosatánicos This group of drug traffickers in 1980s Mexico committed human sacrifice and believed their leader had magic powers.
3. Breatharianism Breatharians believe that humans can live on air alone, and their founder claimed to have gone without food for seventeen years.
4. NXIVM This twenty-first-century cult attracted Hollywood actresses and engaged in sex trafficking, forced labor, and racketeering under the guise of personal development seminars.
5. Heaven's Gate The Heaven's Gate UFO cult ended in the suicide of thirty-nine members who believed they would ascent to a spaceship after death.

In this fascinating collection, weird history expert J. W. Ocker sheds light on the terrifying attraction of cults, demonstrating the elasticity of belief, the desperateness of belonging, and the tragedy of trust.

About J.W:

J.W. Ocker is a national-bestselling, award-winning author of macabre travelogues, spooky kid’s books, and horror novels. His nonfictions books include The New England Grimpendium and The New York Grimpendium (both Lowell Thomas Award winners), Poe-Land: The Hallowed Haunts of Edgar Allan Poe (Edgar Award winner), A Season with the Witch: The Magic and Mayhem of Halloween in Salem, Massachusetts, and Cursed Objects: Strange But True Stories of the World's Most Infamous Items. His novels for kids include Death and Douglas, The Smashed Man of Dread End, and The Black Slide.

Ocker is also the creator of OTIS: Odd Things I've Seen (oddthingsiveseen.com), where he chronicles his visits to thousands of oddities of culture, art, nature, and history across the country and world with photos, articles, and through Odd Things I've Seen: The Podcast. His work has appeared on or in CNN.com, The Atlantic, Rue Morgue, the Boston Globe, The Guardian, TIME, and other places people stick writing. Ocker is from Maryland but has lived in New Hampshire for more than a decade.

Please register for this event and you'll receive the link in the confirmation and reminder emails - make sure to check your spam folder for them, the email will be coming from Zoom.

This program is brought to you in collaboration with the Chelmsford, Groton, and Tewksbury Libraries. We're also thrilled to be partnering with a multitude of additional MA & NH Libraries to bring this program to our communities.