Camp Damascus is a horror novel by Chuck Tingle.
A searing and earnest horror debut about the demons the queer community faces in America, the price of keeping secrets, and finding the courage to burn it all down.
They’ll scare you straight to hell.
Welcome to Neverton, Montana: home to a God-fearing community with a heart of gold.
Nestled high up in the mountains is Camp Damascus, the self-proclaimed “most effective” gay conversion camp in the country. Here, a life free from sin awaits. But the secret behind that success is anything but holy.
I was not planning to get a review out this week because life is peak hectic, but I have got to get my thoughts out about Camp Damascus.
Camp Damascus was not at all what I was expecting. Based on the synopsis and the cover and what I thought I knew about Chuck Tingle's work, I expected something entirely different. I expected the pain I felt in James Newman's Odd Man Out but amplified in this book about a gay conversion camp. I expected it to be violent and gory and it wasn't any of these things.
Camp Damascus subverted a lot of things for me, and I absolutely loved it. I loved the main character. I loved the representation. I loved the way religion was handled. There was humor and it was scary and the pacing was perfect.
I hope we are gifted with more Chuck Tingle horror in the future because I will be first in line to read it.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
5/5 stars
Ooh..five stars! Sounds like a book to check out.
ReplyDeleteYaaaay, so glad you loved this! I can't wait to start it.
ReplyDeleteI think his writing could be a bit more polished, but I enjoyed his first "mainstream" entry into horror as well. Definitely would read more.
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