Might as well keep the horror trend going with my reads this month so I read Camp Damascus! It follows Rose, a devout follower in a weird church in Montana. All things change when she starts seeing a ghostly woman. What follows is a horrifying mystery that seems to all lead back to the church’s mysterious gay conversion camp- Camp Damascus. Phew, that is one hell of a plot, quite literally. This book had very ambitious goals especially in a short amount of time and I think it somewhat succeeded, it is a shorter book but man it was quite spooky and strange terrifying.
Full review to come on YouTube

For those of you who are familiar with author Chuck Tingle and his 'tingers' (aka monster erotica short stories/novellas), I have some really fun news: Tingle has written a new more mainstream horror novel called CAMP DAMASCUS, with themes that center on self acceptance, religious trauma, bigotry, and some good old fashioned demons. I didn't really know what to expect from this book, as, like many terminally online people, I was more aware of Tingle's work that include titles like 'Space Raptor Butt Invasion'. But I really enjoyed CAMP DAMASCUS as a horror novel, because 1) Tingle really brings out some deeply scary and unsettling moments, and 2) protagonist Rose is so enjoyable because of how Tingle has presented her as a neurodivergent queer person that is starting to realize her deeply conservative and religious community is hiding something truly horrible behind a veneer of piousness. The tension builds at a good pace, the horror imagery really set me on edge a number of times, and I loved that there is the familiar undercurrent of hope that Tingle is known for that courses through this story. Yes there are horrible things that happen in this book, but there is always a flicker of hope that won't be extinguished as Rose starts to right back against her community and the mysterious and duplicitous conversion camp Camp Damascus.

Chuck Tingle has hit the horror mainstream and it's a really fun mainstream debut. Horror fans should give CAMP DAMASCUS a try!

I received and ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.

Cassandra Khaw continues to demonstrate an amazing ability to create amazingly dark yet believable landscapes. The Salt Grows Heavy is a prime example of how to create an entire world in a short amount of time, then populate it with amazing character which the reader cares about no matter what they do.

Khaw presents us with a mermaid and a monster traveling together, adds in a cannibalistic cult of deathless people, and sprinkles in a healthy dose of squirm inducing gore. While there are some brutal scenes, the bloodshed is never gratuitous.

Brilliant world, brilliant characters, brilliant writing. Highest recommendations.

Chuck Tingle. Hey. I just want to sit you down and chat for a bit.

This book was impossible to stop reading once I started. It was the kind of accident you can't look away from. It wrapped everything I want in a horror novel - especially one tackling conversion camps - in a neat little book and handed me it on a shiny silver platter.

This book was not interested in shying away from gore or religious extremism or cultish brainwashing. This book was raw and beautiful, but also at times absolutely disgusting and I love it for that. I don't want to delve into the plot too much because spoilers abound, but trust me when I say you need to hold on tight.

I do want to put in a warning and emphasize that this book is riddled with triggers (body horror, homophobia both external and internal, religious trauma and indoctrination, just to name a few). Please do not take them lightly and check before you read.

That said, thank you so much to NewGalley, Tor, and Chuck Tingle for giving me an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review. Excuse me while I go pre-order a physical copy.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance review copy.

This was a wild ride. I was hesitant about Camp Damascus at first because of the conversion camp that looms large in this book. However, it is handled well through the lens of horror. It's a terrifying and engaging book that makes me root for Rose the entire time.

4/5

“Don’t worry. It’s just a demon from the depths of hell here to keep you from being too gay.”

I received an eARC of Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle from Tor Nightfire in exchange for an honest review. Here are my thoughts!

⛺️ Something sinister lurks within Neverton, Montana, though the God fearing community would tell you otherwise. Rose leads a particularly sheltered life, with her parents determined to keep her on the path of righteousness. Even so, dark and troubling things keep happening to Rose, and they seem to point toward the nearby Camp Damascus - a conversion camp for queer teens. But Rose has never been to Camp Damascus…has she? ⛺️

Y’all — Chuck Tingle has given us a messed up, dark, and beautiful gift in this book. Camp Damascus is an exploration of religious trauma and queer resilience. It’s a look at how community can hurt and how it can heal. It was creepy and engaging and I def recommend it for my folks looking for a good and grisly (but also funny?) read! This one is out July 18th and if you’re in to YA horror you should give it a shot and tell me what you think!

The very first thing you need to know about Camp Damascus is that it is not standard Chuck Tingle fare.  

In the town of Neverton, Montana a unique "church" claims that their camp has a 100% success rate with their gay conversion camp.  Gay kids go in, straight people come out. In this case, the camp doesn't scare the hell out of you, but rather into you.  Rose can't remember camp, but every time she starts to find herself attracted to the same gender, she sees a frightening creature. Oh, and that creature can touch her. It breaks her fingers, messes up her mind, and terrifies her. As her parents begin acting stranger and stranger, Rose realizes that the church she's been raised in has a terrible secret.  Working with other camp survivors, Rose needs to find their secrets and burn the place to the ground.

I'll spare you the name of Chuck Tingle's other titles, but if you've been on the internet for any particular amount of time you probably know what I'm talking about. Camp Damascus is first and foremost a horror novel, but monsters aside it highlights the horrors of conversion camps and the treatment of the LGBTQIA+ community. Reading this book made me anxious, especially as someone raised during 1990's Evangelicalism.  

Camp Damascus comes to stores July 18, 2023.

I don't know precisely what I expected when I heard the words "an original horror novel by Chuck Tingle." Tingle, for the non-online readers, is a self-published character - I say "character" because his idiosyncratic speech patterns form a sort of extended universe of references, ("the lonesome train," "buckaroos," "preferred pound,") that scan easily to those who are familiar with Tingle's online presence but absolutely incomprehensible to newcomers. Tingle first came up as an erotica author of increasingly bizarre and satirical titles ("Space Raptor Butt Invasion," "Pounded By The Pound: Turned Gay By The Socioeconomic Implications Of Britain Leaving The European Union") then found his way into the wider SFF community by way of a series of events too convoluted to explain here, and now is publishing his first "mainstream" horror book. I've read some of Tingle's erotica; despite the out-there titles, they're actually pretty decent smut. But I had no idea how those skills would translate to genre fiction.

As I read "Camp Damascus," I realized that the thing this book reminded me of, more than anything else, was the YA horror I read growing up in the pre-Twilight era - the Isobelle Carmodys and R.L. Stines. (That's Fear Street R.L. Stine, not Goosebumps R.L. Stine.) Tingle's style is fresh and straightforward, without any attempts at hiding things in rhetorical flourishes: he says what he means. His main character, Rose, is autistic, as is Tingle (and as am I) and his way of writing this was a breath of fresh air in a genre clogged with hamfisted attempts at neurodiversity by way of Sheldon Cooper. Tingle's writing is remarkably unselfconscious, unconcerned with playing to the audience or grasping for clout. He just lets Rose exist as a person, and my god, it's been a long time since I've read a character who feels this real. The scares come early and often, and while I don't want to spoil the inner workings of the plot (the cover blurb is sparse for a reason) you can feel a real love for the horror genre infused in every page. The book's politics are laid bare pretty quickly, but not in a way that ever feels preachy - Rose merely exists, and everything else follows naturally. There were a few word choices that felt "off" to me - but then again, in a first-person narrative like this, a lot of that could simply come down to the lead's way of talking. (Again, without spoilers, there are several reasons why Rose might have a slightly idiosyncratic vocabulary.) Overall, I'm very glad I read this book, and I'm very glad Chuck Tingle is a presence in the genre. For all he was born on book twitter, a place where everyone seems to have a knife up their sleeve, his writing is the most honest thing we've got going.

I've been struggling to capture in words what this book meant to me for days now. Chuck Tingle's internet presence and self-published novellas have long brought me an inordinate amount of joy, and I approached his first horror novel with curiosity. This story is...it's everything. It combines intensely effective supernatural horror with a sad and lovely queer coming of age narrative. It explores the ways in which religious fundamentalism distorts and exploits notions of love in order to control through fear, and the ways in which love-- real love-- can win anyway. Rose is a miracle of a character- unique in her perspective, intelligent and creative, and so, so lovable. Her journey to self-acceptance and the rejection of shame is beautiful-- and her unwavering commitment to accountability when she examines her own beliefs and actions INSPIRING. I will return to this one again and again. Thank you, Chuck, for proving love!

You may know Chuck Tingle from titles such as “Helicopter Man Pounds Dinosaur Billionaire Ass” (a personal favorite), or “The Space Rapture Butt Trilogy” or even “Harriet Porber and the Bad Boy Parasaurolophus”. These are all just a small few of his ginormous backlist of books in which he goes out of his way to show us love is real! Though the titles may seem ridiculous, and the book themselves are a hoot, Chuck always has social commentary to share along side his BRILLIANT humor!

Now. Those books are not even close to what Camp Damascus is. Not even a little. Honestly, if you have read his book “Straight”, that gets worlds closer to Camp Damascus. What will you find in these pages?

A horror tale spun from religious cults, demons, and the true fear that comes with not being able to trust your own mind. Camp Damascus was everything I hoped for. I was a little surprised at the start at how very religious the book seemed to be, but as the story developed, everything started coming together. My favorite part (as is typical for all Chuck’s work) was the message of how beautiful and powerful LGBTQIA+ people are, ESPECIALLY when we stick together.

I loved this book from start to finish, and I can’t wait to hold my printed copies! AND to listen on audiobookkkk! 😍😍😍 MARK YOU CALENDAR! YOU NEED THIS BOOK!

Thank you to @tornightfire and @netgalley for the advanced copy! 🙌🏻

Chuck Tingle pulls no punches with his works, and Camp Damascus is no exception. It hits the floor running with hell-raising action and doesn't stop until the end. I loved the depictions of Hell and the demonic forces used by the conversion camp. It's a terrifying story, no doubt, but still accessible and not overtly horrifying.

First for me! Never read a gay horror/science fiction religious themed book before. Camp Damascus is great fun with unexpected twists and appealing characters. There is a hint of a possible further book in a series as there is
reference to some mystery source for the dimension bridging technology. If there is I would love to read it.

When I say religious, you say trauma! Religious! Trauma! Man does this book have that in spades. Camp Damascus follows Rose, a devout follower in an evangelical mega-church in Montana. Seemingly happy in her belief system but inherently curious and hyper-logical, things start to turn when she begins seeing a ghostly woman and suddenly coughing up flies. What follows is a horrifying mystery that seems to all lead back to the church’s mysterious gay conversion camp- Camp Damascus. Along the way it examines found family, coping with the loss of belief systems (and finding new ones), and what kinds of behavior is really evil. I adore this book. Mostly because my favorite books, especially horror novels, are character driven ones. And the main three characters that end up propelling this narrative- Saul, Rose, and Willow, I just love them so much. I think the most powerful part of this book is the way it examines the two ways people tend to react to religious trauma- abandoning religion altogether or finding a way to retain your faith in a way that doesn't invalidate your existence- the Rose v. Saul method. And I found this so incredibly thoughtful. There are a couple moments where the book tells things a little too bluntly to the reader, where we kind of got the gist from the narrative alone, but not enough that it took away from the book as a whole. I love this book so much!

Camp Damascus is about a young girl who starts to notice strange things happening around her town and its gay conversion camp. She soons begins seeing and feeling strange things as well, realizing that nothing is how it seems, not even herself.

This book had very ambitious goals and for the most part does not meet those goals. The plot is kind of slow, the main characters leaps of logic are shaky at best, and sometimes it's difficult to relate to the characters. There is so much time talking about how they feel and what they think that there's very little forward momentum. All of this talk though is centered for the protagonist, which makes sense, but it can leave other characters flat or simply unknowable. I'd rather have a well rounded cast then simply one somewhat deep character.

The scene that really saves this book from being a total flop was the ending. As mentioned several times, the villain is both cartoonishly evil and authentically evil--a balance that is difficult to pull off but the book manages to do it. With such a villain, it makes the ending resolution all the more satisfying. The villain really does get what they deserve and the main characters get an answer that is immensely satisfying for the readers. Really, it's a therapy ending, probably written more for the author than the actual characters, and honestly a therapy ending for me as well!

3 out of 5.

Thanks to Netgalley and Tor Nightfire for the eARC.

Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle starts in a completely innocuous way. A beautiful, sunny day. Kids hanging out at the water...

But there's something off. And Tingle does such a great job of making moments that should be wholesome something disturbing and anxiety-inducing.

It's some powerhouse writing that leads to genuine terror as the books progress with the story of Rose Darling, a devout 20 year old, realizing there's something mething going on in the small town of Neverton.

Okay, I’m on the fence with this book. The first 45% of the book was promising, but afterwards it fell short.

I’ll start with what I liked. I really like that the author made the main character autistic. It’s cool to see her thought process throughout the story. I also like that the MC is a lesbian. It’s always nice to see characters that others can relate to. I also liked the dynamic between Rose and Saul.

The plot of Camp Damascas seems promising. A story based upon a Christian Conversion Camp?? Yes please.

Anything to go against the radical Christian Church is for me. I do not believe in organized religion so it was nice to see the church deemed as morally wrong. I know some readers will feel offended by this book but it shows an accurate image of the absolute ridiculous, radical beliefs of the Christian church/ religion.

The author also threw in some creepy creatures that brought fun horror elements to the story.

Unfortunately those are the only shining points I can think of. Other characters in the story seem like they were placed there just to move the plot along.

I also found it odd that the first half of the story had a lot of details, plot building, creepiness etc, but the second half felt rushed. One example being the relationship between Rose and Willow. After Rose “comes to” her senses she meets with Willow in an old bookstore where they first met and all it takes is a simple conversation for Willow to embrace Rose and fall back in love with her despite a good span of time between their time at Camp Damascas and present day events. It doesn’t feel realistic.

Another key point where I felt like the story was rushed is when Rose has her spiritual awakening and decides to “denounce” her family’s Christian beliefs. There wasn’t much explanation or detail around her change of heart which is important considering Christianity was her entire life.

One other thing I want to point out are the grammatical issues. The author uses A LOT of adverbs. I checked my Kindle and the author uses “suddenly” 64 times. A lot of adverbs cause congestion a good story and can take the reader out of a good reading flow. The author also used other words often that were noticeable like “caustic” For me this came off as lazy writing.

I wouldn’t say this is a bad book, but it needs an edit.

Dr. Chuck Tingle pounds us buckaroos in the butt with religious trauma & homophobia... and I'm here for it!

I will say some of the metaphor is pretty on the nose in a way I'd expect more from YA than adult horror, but still, it was heart felt and effective. This is gross, poignant, and sadly, relevant for our current moment. And as someone who grew up in a fundie, I can tell you that the portrayal of that way of thinking is pretty spot on. All in all, exciting to see an author branch out successfully from their roots

I absolutely loved this one. I knew Chuck Tingle could write but I was completely blown away but his absurdist horror adventure quest. Sign me up for more.

Camp Damascus is a book I knew was going to be utterly terrifying from the moment I read the blurb and first sample chapter. The reason why? It's about a conversion camp for gay kids with a one hundred percent success rate. The silent screaming the first chapter induced was enough to make me hesitate to read it. This would be because it seemed Camp Damascus would be one of the rare horror works that I actually found scary instead of gross. (Spoiler: It was both! It was actually scary, and actually very gross!)

Our Protagonist is a young autistic woman named Rose Darling. (Spoiler: as a theme, there are some shout-outs and references to Peter Pan worked in. I may or may not have some ideas on what the underpinning reasoning was.) She lives with her parents and belongs to a conservative Protestant denomination that runs a conversion camp for gay and lesbian kids. Rose absolutely believes in the "mission" of her church up until an outing with a friend that turns out to have been a date. (No she did not realize it was a date. Most of my terror early on was based on, "Oh no she's asexual and her parents think she's a lesbian so they're going to send her to the camp and Bad Things Will Happen." It was so much worse than that. So much worse.) Which Rose finds out after the fact when her parents ask her how her "date" went. This leads to some awkward, earnest conversation on the importance of making a family and getting married, and then some increasingly bizarre behavior from both of her parents.

This leads to Rose questioning just about everything about her current reality and perception of the same. She ends up discovering a great deal about herself, and also about what lies behind the conversion camp's one hundred percent success rate. (It is something that's extremely horrifying! I suspected or was clued in on what was going on fairly early but this did not take away from the tension or the sense of horror. Tingle works in some twists I hadn't expected, and twists that just add to the sense of dread. The fridge horror was backed deep into that refrigerator. Lurking like soup you forgot about and is now a very strange color due to bacteria and mold.)

Camp Damascus has a lot of tension in the narrative. There were points where I very much had my teeth clenched from anxiety. There are some moments of unreality that mix in with the supernatural/fantasy/science fiction aspects of the plot, which heightened my dread at moments when Rose was being gaslit by her father and her therapist. (There is so much gaslighting. I had so much secondhand anxiety from the gaslighting. It was very effective from a narrative perspective, but there was just. So. Much. Gaslighting.) Chuck Tingle does a great job at building these tensions and increasing the moments of unreality as Rose discovers what's going on behind what she's experiencing.

And on top of that, he also manages to sneak in aspects of found family and acceptance into the work. This is occasionally strangely heartwarming. (I do love me some found family.) The mystery and thriller aspects of the story are interesting and engaging, and Rose's journey to get to the bottom of the conspiracy she's surrounded by is well-plotted with lots of interesting twists and turns.

I reviewed this book for Booklist magazine to be published in a future issue, so I cannot write about it here. But you will see my review when it is published there.