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Last night’s American Horror Story began with one of the most unsettling bedtime stories of all time — Kai’s (Evan Peters) renditions of Heaven’s Gate and the Jonestown massacre. Complete with a flashlight ominously pointed at his face, Kai tells his loyal all-male followers about two of the cult leaders he mostadmires. Those are already incredibly disturbing stories, but Kai’s awe-filled commentary makes the scene even more unsettling.
Well before this season started, we knew that AHS: Cult was going to tackle both Heaven’s Gate and Jonestown in some form or fashion. How did they do it, and what did they leave out? Here’s your guide to how Ryan Murphy‘s most disturbing show handled two of the best known mass suicides of the modern age.
Heaven’s Gate and Marshall Applewhite
On March 26, 1997, police found the bodies of 39 members of the Heaven’s Gate cult. These members had committed suicide by ingesting a mixture of pudding, peanut butter, phenobarbital, and vodka. Both the cult and the organized mass suicide were led by Marshall Applewhite, an infectious religious leader who believed that human bodies were just vessels for followers to achieve the “Next Level.” He and his followers believed that God was actually an extraterrestrial being and that Comet Hale-Bopp, which was passing over Earth around this time, had a spaceship attached to its tail. Applewhite and his followers killed themselves in what the religion called a “dignified manner” so that they could ascend into the spaceship and travel to Heaven Gate’s version of heaven.
American Horror Story got almost everything about Heaven’s Gate right, though it focused more on the mythology of the cult than its aftermath. Celibacy was encouraged, and Applewhite, or Do, did think his sperm was from God. However, only eight male members were voluntarily castrated in Mexico.
The Heaven’s Gate mass suicide was widely covered by the media, partially because one of the cult’s members, Rio DiAngelo aka Richard Ford, did not kill himself. Instead, he recorded the entire thing, but the tape wasn’t shown to police until 2002. However, there are two details that Kai overlooked in his explanation — the role of the internet and Bonnie Nettles. Heaven’s Gate heavily relied on the internet to both recruit and organize its members. The group became so popular in pockets of the web, it became known as as “cyberculture” branch of religious thought reform. This came after Nettles’ death from liver cancer in 1985. Nettles was the co-founder of Heaven’s Gate, so it would make since why the egocentric Kai would skip over her involvement.
The Jonestown Massacre and Jim Jones
Jonestown was a remote settlement that was established by the People’s Temple in Guyana. Once again, AHS explains all of the big points of Jonestown well. Established by Jim Jones, another influential speaker, the settlement was constructed as a sort of haven for his cult. Jones’ goal was to create a utopia that didn’t see race, class, or color. However, before any congressman arrived, there were already signs that things were off at Jonestown. Jones would hold rallies where he would claim that the CIA and other “capitalist pigs” were conspiring to bring down the settlement. During at least two of these “White Nights,” Jones gave his followers what he claimed to be poison. After everyone drank the vials and no one died, Jones claimed his followers had passed his loyalty test. There were also concerns that Jones was suffering from failing physical and mental health.
The more volatile nature of the cult came to a head after the appearance of Congressman Leo Ryan. Ryan and a delegation of 18 people came to inspect the settlement. Despite Jones’ best efforts to prove to Ryan that his followers were happy, Ryan immediately say through the facade. He sent most of his delegation back to the United States and stayed behind to inspect a couple more things. That’s when he was murdered on an airstrip.
Following Ryan’s death, Jones pressured his followers to drink the cyanide-laced juice. Altogether 909 people died in the mass suicide, though many call it a mass murder as 304 were minors. It was the greatest loss of American life until the September 11 attacks.
Why Is Kai Interested In These Leaders?
Kai isn’t just telling these stories to get attention. He’s clearly reverent of the men he’s talking about. While talking about the 39 people who killed themselves on Applewhite’s orders he says, “Isn’t that cool?” and he refers to Jones as the “Kanye of leaders.” This short scary story shows us what Kai really values — unrelenting loyalty. These stories also reveal it’s possible for him to get what he wants. It’s just another way AHS: Cult shows how disturbingly rational cults can be for certain people. That’s the real source of horror in all of this.
New episodes of American Horror Story: Cult premiere on FX Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET
