Cult of Thorn

The Cult of Thorn is a fictional cult featured in the Halloween film series. They served as the backbone of trilogy of sequels that comprise the fourth through sixth installments of the series.

Description
The Cult of Thorn dates back several millennia to ancient Druid traditions. It is named for the Celtic figure of Thorn - a being of great power. Members of the Cult are branded with the Mark of Thorn, which is a symbol depicting a vertical line with a sideways triangle attached to it. For each generation, there someone is selected to bear the Curse of Thorn, and becomes the vehicle for the entity's power. Those who inherit the curse are typically children. When one is under the curse, all preexisting sense of humanity disappears and they become nothing more than a murderous embodiment of evil. The cursed honors Thorn by offering up members of its own family bloodline as sacrifice. The notion was that by offering up a sacrifice, it would save the entire community.

History
In the modern era, the Cult of Thorn was led by a man named Terence Wynn, who was an administrator at Smith's Grove Sanitarium in Warren County, Illinois. The sanitarium secretly doubled as the headquarters for the cult.

In the 1960s, the Curse of Thorn was inherited by a boy from Haddonfield, Illinois named Michael Myers. On October 30th, 1963, when Michael was six-years-old, he followed the voices in his head, which instructed him to murder his older sister, Judith. When the crime was discovered, Michael was taken to Smith's Grove, where he spent the next fifteen years in therapy. His psychiatrist was a man named Doctor Sam Loomis, who had no knowledge or connection to the cult. After eight years of treatment, Loomis determined that there was no reaching Myers, and that he was nothing more than a vessel of pure evil.

In October, 1978, Michael Myers broke out of Smith's Grove, likely assisted by members of the cult, and returned to Haddonfield. He killed several people while trying to find his younger sister, Laurie Strode. Myers clashed with Laurie, but Laurie ultimately survived, and Loomis drove Myers off. Michael was persistent however, and went to Haddonfield Memorial Hospital where Laurie was receiving treatment, and continued with his plan to offer up a blood sacrifice. Loomis intervened again, and both Myers and he suffered severe injuries during a conflagration at the hospital.

In the ensuing years, Laurie Strode had died in a car accident, but before her passing, she had given birth to a child name Jamie Lloyd. Jamie had been adopted by the Carruthers family. In 1988, Michael Myers revived and returned to Haddonfield. It is suspected that the cult's intention was to pass the curse along from Michael into Jamie. Jamie shared a mysterious psychic bond with her uncle, and it appeared at first as if the curse had in fact been passed, when Jamie suffered a psychotic break on Halloween night and murdered her foster mother.

Jamie was remanded to the care of the Haddonfield Children's Clinic. The trauma of the incident rendered her mute, but she still maintained her psychic connection to Michael. Michael Myers continued to pursue Jamie Lloyd, but was ultimately captured and thrown in jail.

At this point, Terence Wynn felt the need to take action. Cloaked in a long black coat and a hat, he entered the Haddonfield police station and slaughtered all of the cops. He freed Michael, abducted Jamie, and brought them both back to Smith's Grove, where they remained in the clutches of the cult for the next several years.

When Jamie was older, the cult had her impregnated, and she gave birth to a male child named Stephen. Stephen was anointed with the Mark of Thorn and it was the cult's intent that the curse would be passed along to him. The identity of Stephen's father is unclear, though there is speculation that it may even be Michael Myers.

Jamie escaped from the cult in 1995 and took baby Stephen with her. The cult sent Michael after her. Jamie left the baby in a bus station, and by the time Michael caught up with her, she was in a corn field. He impaled his niece on a piece of motorized farming equipment, and then turned it on, finishing Jamie off once and for all.

The cult continued to look for Jamie's baby, who had been rescued by Tommy Doyle - a survivor of Myers' 1978 murder spree. They also took an interest in a young boy named Danny Strode, who lived in the original Myers residence. Like Michael before him, Danny heard "the voice", and the cult believed that the curse could equally be passed along to him. Cult members captured Danny, as well as his mother, Kara.

Tommy Doyle and Sam Loomis went to Smith's Grove to rescue them and embroiled in a final showdown with Michael and the cult. Myers, emboldened by an even more intense need to kill, sought to slaughter everyone who he came into contact with, including members of the cult.

Scientists from Smith's Grove, who were also cult members, were conducing scientific experiments involving genetics. Michael Myers stormed into the room and slaughtered everyone present, including Terence Wynn. Tommy, Kara, Danny and Doctor Loomis all scrambled to escape from the hospital with Michael in pursuit. The members of the Cult of Thorn however, for all intent and purposes, was destroyed.

Members

 * Terence Wynn
 * Michael Myers
 * Mrs. Blankenship
 * Doctor Bonham
 * Sam Loomis

Notes & Trivia

 * The Cult of Thorn exists in the continuity of the 4th-6th installments of the Halloween franchise. This continuity is ignored in later sequels.


 * Symbols of the Mark of Thorn are seen on bales of hay at the field where Michael kills Jamie. Presumably, Michael made these symbols himself.


 * It is never made perfectly clear what the cult sought to achieve through their genetic experiments.

Appearances

 * Halloween undefined
 * Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers undefined
 * Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers
 * Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers