by Chet Hardin
First published 2026
Sydney Loofe vanished after meeting someone through Tinder in Wilber, Nebraska. The twenty-four-year-old's dismembered remains turned up in scattered fields days later. Her death exposed a twisted criminal operation led by Aubrey Trail, an aging con artist who claimed supernatural powers, and Bailey Boswell, who styled herself as his queen. Trail had assembled a group of women he called witches, manipulating them through sex, theft, and psychological control. Investigative journalist Chet Hardin traces how this modern cult operated and recruited victims. He conducted exclusive interviews and firsthand reporting to document Trail's methods of deception. The book examines the social conditions that allowed such manipulation to flourish. Hardin shows how charismatic predators exploit vulnerability in an age of digital connection and false personas. The Vampire's Cult offers readers a detailed account of how ordinary desperation becomes deadly obsession.
Genres: biography, psychology, sociology, true-crime, investigative-journalism, current-affairs
Vibes: dark, disturbing, gritty, suspenseful, thought-provoking, unsettling
Tropes: charismatic-villain, investigative-journalism, psychological-manipulation, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Wilber, Nebraska, Nebraska
Period: 21st-century, contemporary
336 pages · Paperback · Sourcebooks
Content warnings: abuse, death, murder