For instance, when the Heaven's Gate suicides made news in San Diego, articles pointed out that the leaders of that group had once recruited members in Waldport, on the Oregon Coast, and that Joshua Creffield had also been in that area around the turn of the 20th century. The Creffield story has been written about a lot in articles, and a lot of it has taken sort of a smirky tone, as if it was rather amusing how all these men in Corvallis lost control over their wives and daughters. I wanted to look at it from the female point of view. First, of course, I had to find out as much as possible about what actually happened and the details of the lives of the real people involved. Beyond that, I read lots of books about cults and how they operate to control people.
Cults often rely on certain principles to keep members in line.
An important one is separation from other family members and anyone not involved in the cult. Later, she is threatened if she tries to break away. To keep people from thinking straight, they are often not allowed to get proper sleep or food, and chanting is used to numb their minds and make them space out. Although Creffield wouldn't have had access to a lot of books dissecting the elements of successful cult recruiting, it's amazing how many of these techniques he used. I also did a lot of research on insane asylums at the turn of the century and just how easy it was for men to have their wives and daughters committed.