Trust Me: Cults, Extreme Belief, and Manipulation

Tory Hess - From Second Life to Wilderness Commune


Listen Later

Today our guest is Tory Hess, former member of a small rural group in upstate New York she calls Crazyland. She tells us about how she always loved reading and fantasy growing up, never went to public school, and didn’t connect easily with folks in real life when she was young, and how she found connection in the online gaming community Second Life, where she acted out her dream of having a family of her own... until it began to consume her life. She’ll tell us how some of the friends she made on there convinced her that she was spending too much time on the game, and that she should come live with them in upstate New York... in Crazyland. We’ll talk about how 13 people were living in one trailer, extremely uncomfortable living conditions, but how it fulfilled her desire for a family to take care of (at first). We’ll get into who the leader Ron was, the financial and sexual abuse he was committing, how he isolated her from her parents, and how she finally got out.

Email Tory to learn more about her story! [email protected]

BUY OUR MERCH!! bit.ly/trustmemerch 

Got your own story about cults, extreme belief, or abuse of power? Leave a voicemail or text us at 347-86-TRUST (347-868-7878) OR shoot us an email at [email protected]

INSTAGRAM:

@TrustMePodcast

@oohlalola

@meaganelizabeth11

TWITTER:

@TrustMeCultPod

@ohlalola

@baberahamhicks

TIKTOK:

@TrustMeCultPodcast

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Trust Me: Cults, Extreme Belief, and ManipulationBy Exactly Right and iHeartPodcasts

  • 4.4
  • 4.4
  • 4.4
  • 4.4
  • 4.4

4.4

1,803 ratings


More shows like Trust Me: Cults, Extreme Belief, and Manipulation

View all
PRETEND by Creative Babble

PRETEND

2,413 Listeners

Let's Talk About Sects by Sarah Steel

Let's Talk About Sects

466 Listeners

Cults by Spotify Studios

Cults

12,667 Listeners

IndoctriNation by IndoctriNation

IndoctriNation

536 Listeners

Something Was Wrong by Broken Cycle Media | Wondery

Something Was Wrong

25,272 Listeners

Leaving Eden Podcast by Leaving Eden LLC

Leaving Eden Podcast

709 Listeners

The Opportunist by PodcastOne

The Opportunist

10,308 Listeners

A Little Bit Culty by Sarah Edmondson & Anthony “Nippy” Ames

A Little Bit Culty

2,813 Listeners

Life After MLM by Roberta Blevins

Life After MLM

41 Listeners

Sounds Like A Cult by Studio71

Sounds Like A Cult

3,899 Listeners

Was I In A Cult? by PodcastOne

Was I In A Cult?

105 Listeners

Nobody Should Believe Me by True Story Media

Nobody Should Believe Me

2,595 Listeners

Scamfluencers by Wondery

Scamfluencers

7,073 Listeners

Cults to Consciousness by Shelise Ann Sola

Cults to Consciousness

439 Listeners

The Cult Next Door by The Cult Next Door

The Cult Next Door

244 Listeners