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On this edition of Parallax Views, we begin our annual "Spooky Season" Halloween countdown with a chilling true crime story that shows how online conspiracy theories can spiral into dangerous cults — and even death. Journalist Tony Russo joins us to discuss his book Dragged into the Light: Truthers, Reptilians, Super Soldiers & Death Inside an Online Cult. Before QAnon captured headlines, there was Sherry Shriner, a self-styled online prophet whose bizarre mix of Bible prophecy, reptilian shapeshifter & super soldier conspiracies, and “orgone energy”— a mystical life force Shriner promoted as being able to fight demons, UFOs, clones, and "synthetic robotoids" — built a digital following with deadly consequences.

Russo — also featured in Season 2 of VICE’s The Devil You Know — unravels the disturbing saga of how Shriner manipulated followers through online talk radio, social media, and her infamous website, The Watcher Files. At the heart of this story are two tragedies: the 2017 killing of Steven Mineo, which left his girlfriend Barbara Rogers facing a murder charge, and the earlier 2012 death of 22-year-old Kelly Pingilley, a devoted Shriner follower who was found dead while wearing one of the cult’s “orgone” pendants. These cases reveal how apocalyptic paranoia and online manipulation can lead not only to broken lives but to fatal consequences.

Music by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio - Track: "Exorcism"