Yes, they are bad. Dreams lost because of pious-sneering, opportunities lost because of the rules, vacations lost, missing holidays, and the dread of field circus are bad.
However, I have found information about a few even worse cults that are gaining traction. Now, these are not the "The world is going to end and you need to commit suicide to be saved" rubbish. In fact, they are not even true end-of-the-world cults. The first is the Boston Movement, or the International Church of Christ. An offshoot of the mainline Church of Christ, this cult believes that we must live exactly as Jesus would have and make the decisions Jesus would have, according to the leadership. You consult leadership with every decision. They want you to move, you move. At least with the jokehovians, you have the option of not moving or moving to your choice of several locations.
Yes, they have stupid rules. One is that music must be a capella, or without instruments. Another is that there be one church in each major population location, not several. You must seek permission from the leaders to date, and it has to be another member. No mere "marking", either, if you blow this one. Their threat is that you will burn in hell if you break the rules. And the pressure is even worse than the jokehovians--you need to bring in a certain number of people per time period. If they want everyone out on a given day, the Boston Movement insists that anyone not out is unfaithful. The jokehovians merely get shamed, if that.
One that really caught my attention is called "Twelve Tribes". In this, you live in a community where everything is communally owned. You thought the witlesses' resolution against entertainment in 2006 was bad? The jokehovians have yet to actually enforce it, though they do restrict it. There is no entertainment, aside their lame dancing and singing sessions, in the Twelve Tribes. You cannot read anything except church littera-trash (occasionally, however, people do read newspapers). You aren't allowed to listen to any music except what they come up with in church. TV is banned. In fact, you work for the leadership.
You thought those long boasting sessions of jokehovianism are bad? The Twelve Tribes have intentionally boring "teaching sessions", and if you are caught sleeping, you are forced to stand for the duration. These teaching sessions are 3 times longer than a cat lick sermon, which they bash liberally. Children as young as 2 are bound and forced to sit at attention.
The theology there is that their god will show up after observing the tribes perfectly obeying for 49 years. This includes small children, who are abused even worse than the jokehovians are. Like the jokehovians, they do not celebrate holidays or birthdays. Anyone that commits a "sin" is shamed into believing that they are responsible for their god delaying another 49 years. They also believe Jesus was a failure, and a Demon (Jesus was nothing more than a tool for Christi-SCAM-ity to enslave people). Aside that men and women are together in these tribes, the rules would look at home at a cat lick monastery--the Twelve Tribes is only slightly more sexually permissive, and they do not have church sessions in the middle of the night.
True, the jokehovian witlesses need to go. Also, the mor[m]ons, moonies, Seventh Day Adventists, and Scientologists--the major cults. But, every time a cult is destroyed, another (or several) come up to take its place. Bear in mind that these are not little tiny cults with double or triple digit membership. The Boston Movement has a stout 6-figure membership, and the Twelve Tribes is gaining traction in many countries. And both treat people even worse than the jokehovian witlesses do. I am not sure whether the Boston Movement celebrates holidays, but I am certain the Twelve Tribes does not.