He was known to his followers as “Moses.” His actual name was Roch Theriault, and he led one of the most infamous cults in Canadian history: The Ant Hill Kids. Theriault fooled many into thinking he was nice—but beneath his affable persona lurked a sadistic monster with horrific plans.

Although it went through many name changes over the years, one thing remained the same for David Berg’s apocalyptic Christian cult, “The Children of God”... End Times were inevitable.

He was born as Chizuo Matsumoto, and later known as Shoko Asahara—leader of the Japanese Buddhism-inspired cult, Aum Shinrikyo. Asahara and his followers didn’t just foretell the end of days, but rather took it upon themselves to wipe humankind off the face of the earth.

His authoritarian, new-age religious organization was called the Fountain of the World. Leader Krishna Venta built a community cooperative and told his followers that the Apocalypse was coming. But only his chosen followers would survive.

Credonia Mwerinde told her followers that the world would end in the year 2000. When it didn’t, the followers had questions.

In 1981, 50-year-old Valentina De Andrade convinced her neighbors that God was non-existent. Then she told them that Jesus was an extraterrestrial who would be arriving soon in an alien craft to save them from the end of days.

In 1989, Wayne Bent formed the Lord Our Righteousness Church. He convinced his followers that the end of the world was coming. And by 2007, the members of his church were prepared to die.

They alleged that a close encounter with an undiscovered 10th planet would lead to catastrophic natural disasters and the destruction of humankind. Today’s episode features self-proclaimed prophet Yuko Chino and her Pana-Wave religious cult.

In the fall of 2008, pastor Ronald Weinland announced that the final seventh seal referenced in the Book of Revelation had been opened, signaling the start of a countdown to end times.

She founded the Church Universal and Triumphant and encouraged her followers to dig fallout shelters to prepare for nuclear war in the late-1980s. Discover the peculiar beliefs—and visions—of Elizabeth Clare Prophet.

In 1984, Luc Jouret founded the Order of the Solar Temple with Joseph Di Mambro. A decade later, the two men would convince their followers that it was necessary to ascend to a higher spiritual plane to avoid the apocalypse.

Founded by Jim Jones in 1955, The Peoples Temple culminated in the deaths of 913 people—one of the biggest mass murder-suicides in history.

She says she developed a sixth sense after traumatic brain injury. This led Erika Bertschinger to change her name to Uriella and start Fiat Lux, a UFO cult that believed the end of the world was coming...in 1998.

You might remember the 51-day standoff with authorities in 1993, but there’s plenty of details you might not remember about David Koresh and the Branch Davidians.

He required his members to cut all ties with outside influences. And then in 1997, he convinced them to do the unthinkable in order to enter a higher existence.

Founded in 1967, thousands of followers of the Nuwaubian Nation believed themselves to be descendants of aliens, waiting to be beamed up before the apocalypse. Dwight York’s control was so strong, many people still support him now, despite 100+ years remaining on his prison sentence.

As a sophomore in high school, Rod Ferrell bonded with a group of goth outcasts through their shared love of a roleplaying game called Vampire: The Masquerade.

She drew both criticism and adulation after announcing that she would be giving birth to the “child of god” in 1864. As it turned out, Joanna Southcott’s prophecies would become the stuff of legend, and outlive her by more than a century.

Self-proclaimed Christian prophet Joanna Southcott led an ordinary life in England as a domestic servant for years.

In 1995, Hon-Ming Chen founded a UFO cult in Taiwan. His followers clung to him because they believed he could save them from an imminent nuclear apocalypse.

Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh felt discomfort with his own mortality from a young age. Over time, his spiritual studies and beliefs about capitalism and sexuality led Rajneesh to become a charismatic cult leader.

He consolidated his power over an offshoot of the white supremacist group, Posse Comitatus.

In the early 1980s, Michael Wayne Ryan went from a frustrated, directionless slacker to the leader of a violent cult composed of down-on-their-luck farmers.

Under the backdrop of the Great Depression, Guy and Edna Ballard successfully milked over a million people out of their valuables, life insurance, and savings.

In 2011, Teal Swan began making YouTube videos claiming she was an extrasensory alien tasked with healing the world of its miseries.