 The chapters are structured by the types of groups, such as "Religious Cults", "Occult Cults", "Millennial Cults", "New Age Cults", "UFO Cults", "Doomsday Cults", and "Suicide Cults".Snow primarily relies on published material for references as opposed to first-hand reporting.The majority of the book's references are secondary sources including magazines and newspaper articles, though Snow does also include quotes from experts and witnesses.