Death cults, sex cults, Judgment Day cults, you name it, we got it! Dark Tourism is booming in the states, and there's no better way to explore America's twisted past than with a road trip. Here are a few of the sickest and most deranged cult locations that you can actually visit, if you're into that sorta thing...


So, skip the tourist traps and follow this depraved North American cross-country cult road trip:


The Manson Family Ranch

Charles Manson was your typical all-American boy, obsessed with girls and pop culture. He was also into group orgies, psychedelic drugs and feared an imminent apocalyptic race war. So, basically your typical California hippie.


Manson was hot shit in his day and convinced a group of followers to join his "Family" and murder over 27 people in the late 1960s, including the then-pregnant wife of Roman Polanski, massive 60s sex symbol, Sharon Tate. Today you can visit the former location of the Manson Family ranch here at the former Spahn Movie Ranch.


Heaven's Gate Suicide Site

This American UFO doomsday cult is responsible for the worst 90s branding of all time. But, more importantly, to some, it's also one of America's most notorious death cults. They practiced an extreme ascetic life, and several male members voluntarily castrated their...male member.


On March 26, 1997, thirty-nine bodies were discovered, in one of America's largest mass-suicides. These poor, lost souls believed they'd join an alien spacecraft that was following the Hale-Bopp comet and that earth was going to be recycled. Although the death house was torn down, you can still visit where it once stood. When you're done head over to Sea World to cheer up. It’s only a 30-minute drive away.


Branch Davidians Compound

The Branch Davidians were followers of David Koresh, another one of these charismatic Jesus freaks. They believed in the imminent apocalypse and Judgment Day. So, they did what any irrational, insane cult would do...they began stockpiling weapons, until one day the ATF came-a-knockin'.


In 1993, when the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms sieged the compound outside Waco, TX, 82 people died (including men, women, children and Koresh himself). ATF agents and Branch Davidians exchanged gunfire for 51 days, until a mysterious fire broke out and put an end to the standoff. Today, after a brief 20 minute drive from Waco, you can see a memorial and the farmland where the massacre/suicide happened.


Church of the Lamb of God

Ervil Morrell LeBaron was the nasty-ass leader of a polygamous Mormon fundamentalist group. He's gained notoreity for ordering the killings of his opponents. He justified the use of murder using religious doctrine that basically okay-ed killing in the name of blood atonement.


He was sentenced to prison for orchestrating the murder of an opponent, and died there. He was also quite the ladies man, with at least 13 wives, several of which were underage. Some of his more dutiful wives even took part in the murders.


Yahweh Ben Yahweh & The Temple of Love

This tiny Miami neighborhood, was home to the Temple of Love cult, established by Nation of Yahweh founder, Yahweh ben Yahweh (AKA Hulon Mitchell, Jr.). This cult was part of the black supremacist religious movement of the late 70s, which believed that whites and Jews were infidels, and God and biblical prophets were black. Harmless enough. His charity efforts even got the attention of Miami's mayor, who declared Oct. 7 1990 as "Yahweh ben Yahweh Day".


A month later Mitchell was convicted of conspiracy to murder white people as part of an initiation rite (dozens of murders were linked to the cult). Former NFL player and Yahweh follower, Robert Rozier admitted to several murders in exchange for a lighter sentence and entry into the Federal Witness Protection Program.


Order of the Solar Temple

This secret society believes in the existence of the Knights Templar, medieval chivalry, freaky Freemason rituals, and the belief that Jesus will come back to earth as a solar god-king. They've also been responsible for the murder and mass-suicide of dozens of men, women and children, including a member's infant son who was believed to be the anti-Christ.


Solar Temple lodges were headquartered in Zurich, but had sects worldwide, including Quebec, where in 1994, a 3-month old baby, thought to be the anti-Christ, was stabbed to death with a wooden stake. Days later, 12 members performed a Last Supper ritual, followed by mass suicides and murders around the world. Victims in Switzerland were discovered in a secret, subterranean chapel, dressed in robes. These guys were also major environmentalists. All the suicides and murders happened around annual equinoxes and solstices. They believed a massive ecological disaster would wipe out the human race after Order members moved on to Sirius. Okay, that part actually makes some sense.


BONUS: The Carpet Cleaning Cult

So no one's died in this cult...yet. But the Church of Bible Understanding is pretty insane and even the butt of a Seinfeld joke. Founded in the '70s, it's considered an active and destructive cult, operating in America and Haiti, preying on weak teenagers. Seinfeld made fun of it as the "Sunshine Carpet Cleaners" cult, because it ran a carpet cleaning business. Cult leader, Steward Traill, a former atheist/vacuum repairman from Allentown, PA, forces members to live a communal lifestyle and donate 90% of their income to him...er, I mean the cult. Traill has subsequently become a millionaire, owning four planes and a mansion.


Today you can own a piece of history! The cult's Philadelphia Headquarters is now on the market and could be yours for a cool $4.5mil. The 10-building, 50,000-square foot compound was raided in 1995 by police and is marketed as “an oasis in the heart of Philadelphia.”


BONUS: The "Hollow Earth" Cult

Did you know that Naples, FL was founded by a cult? Well, sorta. But not really. In 1894, the "Hollow Earth" cult of the Koreshan Unity Foundation settled near what's now Naples. The cult believed the Earth was hollow and humans lived inside it...and there's also a sun at its core, obviously.


Members would walk Naples' beaches and measure the ground's curvatures with a machine they built called the "rectilineator." Today, you can visit the cult's homestead, complete with Koreshan unity buildings, houses and a general store.


BONUS: Children of God

The Huntington Beach-based Children of God cult was stablished in 1968 by David Berg, it's one of America's ickiest sex cults. The cult developed a rather liberal outlook on sex and all things sex-related, based on a racy interpretation of Christian teachings. These included, adult-child sexual relationships and a practice called "flirty fishing", in which female members were used as evangelical prostitutes.


Any cults we left out? Leave your suggestions in the comments and I'll add them to the road trip.