Rose is a good girl who follows in the Lords work. But after seeing things and witnessing a gruesome death things are definitely not as they seem in her little God worshiping community that is best know for Camp Damascus, the best gay conversion camp in the country.

I’ve read Tingle’s more humorous books so, I jumped on the opportunity to read something a but more serious from him. This was a wild ride, thrilling with bits of gruesome depictions. This story really drew me in. I couldn’t put it down. ‘Detective’ Rose was interesting to follow as she regained gaps in her memory. And the ending was exactly as it ought to have been. This was an enjoyable horror novel.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author, & publisher for an eARC.

I enjoyed this book, as a powerful depiction of conversion therapy which nevertheless remained hopeful about the potential for queer people to find solace in religion. I didn't feel that the book was quite as good as I wanted it to be (I found the prose a little weak), but I'd still highly recommend it to any teen or young adult grappling with religiously motivated homophobia.

I’ve always said the most effective horror stories are the ones that see the horrors of real life for exactly what they are and take them to a very literal place, take them to another level by subverting metaphor and abstraction, and quantifying them into very real, very tangible forces and experiences—and that’s exactly what “Camp Damascus” does. It’s intense, it’s surprising, it’s disarming, and ultimately I think it’s about how love is always going to be stronger than fear and hatred.

Structrually, the story can feel a bit disjointed at times, jumping between one scene and the next without much connective tissue. And there are also moments when the messaging is a bit too on the nose for my taste. But still really enjoyed this horror story and would love to read more from Chuck in the future!

‘Camp Damascus’
Dr. Chuck Tingle is beloved for many reasons, not the least of which is his unapologetic, boundless support for all types of people — especially those who go against the grain. While his self-published stories have become viral memes dozens of times over the years, now Dr. Tingle trots into traditional publishing with a masterpiece that is sure to prove love to thousands of new fans.

Rose is a small-town high school student and a member of a church that’s well known to host the most “successful” gay-conversion camp in the country. Her perfect life gets complicated, however, when Rose glimpses something in the woods. Soon a pervasive, chilling sense of dread starts to grow for both the reader and Rose until the explosive twist at the end upends everything.

This book feels like an out-of-control roller coaster in the best way. As I was flung through joy and nausea and fear, I simply could not stop reading; I was hooked. This is the best kind of horror story — very current in its themes yet also classically terrifying. I loved it so much. As Dr. Tingle taught me, love is real — even when it’s scary. ♦

Out of left field. Balls to the wall. Could not get enough of Chuck! I loved the representation. The struggle. and the Metal. A great tale of literally battling your demons and not letting anyone stand in the way of you being YOU

Read if you like: queer horror, zealots getting what's coming to them, religious horror

If you're familiar with the name Chuck Tingle and the kinds of things he writes, go into Camp Damascus knowing this is not those. You won't find anthropomorphic (insert any animal/object/thing you can think of) who likes to (insert sexual act, usually involving pounding) in this one. You will, however, find a queer horror story involving conversion camps and some opinions on the religions that still have these places and ideas active to force upon those who are part of the queer community. The subject is uncomfortable at times, but it is horror and that's what you should feel, and the payoff at the end was really well done. The main character also is someone who starts off just wanting to be a good person who is good for her family and friends, but gradually starts trying to figure out why there's moments where she seems almost 'other' in her life.

The she starts seeing the camp counselors...

I have never read his other stuff, so I'm not sure if this is just how he writes, but the way it was written was something that I had to get used to. I'm not even sure if I could explain it well or pinpoint what it was. I do think it's just how he is and wasn't done specifically for the book; if you need to know, I suggest listening to interviews he's done for this book tour. I think that's something that could turn readers off, but if you don't mind it, you're in for a really great ride.

Absolutely shows the breadth of talent and capability of polishing and honing by the ever fabulous Chuck Tingle. Definitely an eye-opening and memorable thriller that cannot be forgotten.

I love Chuck Tingle. Everyone loves Chuck Tingle (well, maybe not some conservatives), and I'm so happy he is writing beyond erotica. As someone who has read "The Haunted Vagina," this is a large leap away from the genre.

Rose, the protagonist, lives near a gay conversion camp with a 100% success rate. Rose is very Christian, but weird things are happening to her...supernatural things. And as a Christian, this is leading to doubts in her faith. She has to find out what's going on, and how/if it's connected to Camp Damascus.

I didn't LOVE this book. Something felt off - maybe the pacing? But overall, it's a good read, and I'm excited to read Bury Your Gays, Chuck's new book!

Camp Damascus is a horror novel set in a gay conversion camp run by a cult-y Christian sect that claims the camp has a 100% effectiveness rate. One of the main characters Rose is a deeply Christian and neurodivergent (autistic) young woman who begins to notice that she's having weird feelings for a female friend. This soon leads to her seeing a strange woman whom she suspects is a demon, as well as throwing up insects. As things continue to get stranger and stranger, her faith starts to crack under the pressure, and she begins to wonder about the true nature of this conversion camp.

There are definitely some pacing issues in this book, especially with Rose's revelations happening a little too soon in the narrative. The metaphors are also a little heavy-handed. However, the novel does include a great deal of nuance as well, and it's very successful in accomplishing its aims and in using the horror genre tropes to comment on religious fundamentalism, homophobia, and queer identity in our American society.

Overall, I do recommend this book for a great queer horror read - especially during spooky season!

Thank you to NetGalley, Tor, and Chuck Tingle for providing this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Camp Damascus: Curing your loved ones of all ungodly desires.

I am a sucker for religious trauma horror, and boy does this one deliver! Set in a small town within the state of Montana, Camp Damascus tells the tale of a young woman who has been raised within the strict confines of a religious community. Memorizing passages of the Bible and becoming versed on how to combat/cure any religious deviation in those around her, Rose begins to feel uneasy when she begins to see strange beings that seemingly show up at random times. These beings are frightening, and when Rose starts to feel that other aspects of her daily life are slightly off, she refuses to write them off and ignore them.

Soon she learns of Camp Damascus, a gay-conversion camp located nearby, that may be using some unorthodox methods to bring its campers back to the town’s idea of a Godly lifestyle. Through her journey of discovery, for herself and others, she finds out that love exists…and so do demons.

I found this book to be very entertaining with a tinge of heartbreak while maintaining a sense of hope. I absolutely adored the random bits of information that Rose would provide throughout the novel as a result of her coping mechanism! Is my enneagram 5 showing? My only complaint is the fact that Tingle would go back and forth between having Rose refer to her parents as “mother/mom” & “father/dad” and then their given names, Luke and Lisa”; it had me questioning if I missed something or was unaware of reasoning behind this back and forth (which is the only reason behind the void of a fifth star in my rating).

Overall, a story that had me hooked and definitely had the gears in my brain turning. I would 100% recommend this book to fans of religious horror.

Camp Damascus is about queer conversion and literal demons, but it's also about finding yourself, living with your inner demons, and stitching together a quirky family of misfits.

Chuck Tingle's narrative voice is both beautiful and approachable. Where many authors would get flowery, he strikes a welcome balance between descriptive and down-to-earth prose.

What I found most effective in Tingle's horror debut is the ingenuity he brought to the Christian mythos. His demonology and twist on the Bible's depictions of demons and Hell are wildly different, analytical, and thought-provoking.

I recommend this novel to anyone looking for an entry into queer horror.

I want to tell you that I loved this book. I want to tell you that I agree with whatever political statement it is trying to make.
But I can do neither of those things.
Where I wholeheartedly believe that conversion camps are horrible institutions that never should have existed, this book just wasn't for me in any way.

I have been following Chuck Tingle on socials for several years now and was absolutely thrilled when Chuck announced a trad pub debut!
Camp Damascus had everything I’m looking for in a horror novel: religious trauma, queerness, found family, memory weirdness and a mystery with heart.
I’m looking forward to reading everything Chuck publishes in the future with Tor.

I found this generally entertaining and liked the commentary on the evils of conversion therapy and the bigoted views of the Christian church, but the character development was a bit sparse, and the pacing, in general, felt rushed, especially in terms of Rose's journey with her faith. It felt like we skipped at least four stages of grief and reckoning as she reevaluated her worldview - a worldview she has held staunchly for all 20 years of her life, having been indoctrinated into the cult-like evangelical Christianity of her community. As someone who lost my faith around the same age (but came from a much more loving/relaxed branch of Christianity), it seemingly took me a lot longer to come to terms with that loss than it did Rose, and I found her rapid 180 a bit jarring.

While this is technically adult horror, this book has a very YA feel - except for the pockets of rather extreme body horror/gore - largely due to our protagonist feeling closer to 15 or 16 than 20, though, taking into account her sheltered upbringing and memory loss I suppose this can be explained. Still, the fact remains that our main character feels squarely in her teens in terms of maturity and development and that colours her thought process and interactions throughout the novel.

From what I can tell by reading reviews, it seems autistic readers have generally found Rose to be a good autism representation, which is fantastic! I could relate to some of her habits and tendencies as a fellow neurodivergent (of the ADHD variety), but occasionally found her thoughts/dialogue awkwardly written, from the excessively formal speech to vacillating between using her parents' first names and calling them mom/dad with no rhyme or reason. Generally, I liked her, though, and enjoyed her journey throughout the novel (even if it felt rather rushed). She is also a lesbian, and I found her sapphic romance with Willow quite tender and sweet.

I have a few more spoilery questions, so I'll share them here:

Why did Rose's parents go to the effort of removing her door and filling in the holes and/or replacing the entire doorframe and then gaslighting her by insisting she never had a door in the first place? While they're clearly not wonderful people or parents, this is so random and absolutely unhinged behaviour, with no other examples of similar action on their part before or after. Was this inserted just to make us wary of them? For them to appear creepy? Because I feel like there were other, much simpler ways they could have engaged in gaslighting that would have been more believable but just as insidious.

How did this rogue Christian denomination, however wealthy, arrive at demon-enslaving technology? How did they discover the rift? Who invented the machine? How did they bring the demons and larvae over? How did they learn about their lifecycle and memory-wiping effects? I don't need every tiny detail explained, but this was a lot to accept, on top of the idea that demons are, in fact, real and do, in fact, care about punishing sinners (seemingly).

Also, how have they handled demons going rogue in the past? Rose's demon viciously murdering her crush at a party packed with teens/young adults in a way that can't be explained is, well, difficult to explain away. This can't have been the first time this has happened, right? How often do people in this town die in incredibly brutal ways suddenly with no explanation? Is everyone in on it except those who have gone through the program at Camp Damascus? And if so, are they seriously willing to let their own child potentially be murdered by a demon because SOMEONE ELSE has a homosexual attraction to them?? Because that's fucking wild, I'm sorry. Possibly even more than the parents paying half a million dollars to have their own child tethered to a demon and infected with demon larvae to demonic possession the gay away.

Overall, this had an interesting concept with engaging themes, but the execution was lacking for me, which is becoming a throughline as I read more of Chuck Tingle's work. I always come away wishing I'd been able to connect to his characters more deeply, have more of the nuances explained or revealed, and generally have the story delivered at a slightly slower pace to allow it to develop/settle properly.


Representation: MC is autistic and a lesbian, WLW relationship on the page (PG), gay secondary character

Trigger/Content Warnings: conversion therapy, homophobia, insects, religious indoctrination, religious bigotry, body horror, torture, blood, gore, murder, confinement, gaslighting

I knew this was a Chuck Tingle book, so I expected campy and raunchy. I didn't expect the book to feel so much like self-published fiction. It seemed like it needed an editor. Given Tingle's reputation, perhaps that it part of the appeal, but it did not work for me, and I don't feel it meets the quality standards of my library.

This is my first Tingle novel and absolutely will not be my last. It grabbed me from the start and didn't let me go until the last page. We will definitely be purchasing for the collection!

"Camp Damascus" makes the horror and trauma of religious conversion camps very, very real. I'll forever read and support anything by Chuck Tingle.

The concept? Immaculate. The overall execution? Not as captivating. There was a hope to see more of the actual camp (being on the campgrounds) but the promise of more intriguing stories is there because Tingle did a great job with his characters and themes.

Wow! This book was a wild ride and a departure from this author's other works, which are also wild rides, but in a different way. And yet, this tense horror story about a cult hiding the nefarious reasons why their gay conversion camp has a 100% "success rate" still follows Tingle's mission to prove love is real.

The autistic perspective of our heroine was also authentic and relatable to anyone with any flavor of neurodivergent reader.

I don't want to say anymore because I don't want to spoil the crazy journey this story takes us on.

Incredible book with wonderful characters and really important themes. Truly horrifying in parts and tearjerking in others. Chuck Tingle is a masterful and empathetic storyteller I am excited to read more from.