"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.

I watched with anticipation to see Genre Fiction’s Hero edited and published traditionally. When wholesome interpersonal relationships are on display, the book GLOWS. Bright like the emissions of a flamethrower. I really appreciate that the book doesn’t take the easy path that paints all Christians with the same brush. I appreciate the nuance of faith being portrayed in a number of different fashions, and that the acts of the individuals are treated individually. Shorthand would have been easy to take, but we receive complexity and nuance instead.

Ultimately, this book is true to the vision of the Chuck Tingle we get to see on social media. It shows that the way to defeat the Devilman is to prove that Love Is Real. Keep trotting, Buckaroos.

My most anticipated book and it did not let me down. Creepy, campy, engaging. After conquering the self-published short format market, I'm excited for Tingle's mainstream success!

"This is my parents' worst nightmare. Their gay daughter and her lesbian girlfriend in a spooky old farmhouse doing drugs with a metalhead." Camp Damascus is my first Chuck Tingle book and it won't be my last!

Rose is just a normal Christian girl, living out the typical teen lifestyle in Neverton, famous for Camp Damascus, a gay conversion therapy camp. Or at least she was normal until those nasty flies started spilling out of her body, she can't stop seeing a strange woman wearing the nametag "Pachid", and the funny feelings she gets around a girl she sees taking photos at the park. This was such a unique concept for an LGBTQIA+ horror novel! There were some great comical elements meshed with terror, and all wrapped around a very relevant message. With censorship and book bans gaining traction in 2023 mainly due to so-called religious values, this book took something that is actually happening to kids (conversion camps) and discussed it.

Rose's father, Luke Darling, had this particular diatribe to say about Rose's penchant for being curious about everything in life: "It's good to be thoughtful, but when the desire for more knowledge takes over your life, what you're really saying is even in the presence of God's light, I am not full. It's a sin, hon. That feeling you call curiosity is fine in small does, but when you turn it into a habit, it becomes gluttony. A hunger for knowledge is still hunger." Statements like this lead to the rise of ignorance and fake news being shared on social media everyday. Rose struggles with her evangelical upbringing in conceptualizing who she is as a queer person, however it's a privilege that she is able to have that opportunity of self-realization because there are many people who are not able to approach that place of self-awareness (or respect for themselves) for a myriad of reasons, and this is something important I think the book really drives home.

I couldn't stop reading the book and enjoyed the journey throughout! Thanks, NetGalley and Publisher for the ARC!

When I first heard about this book I honestly thought it was going to be like a summer camp slasher style horror story. Boy was I wrong, and not in a bad way. The book is focused on the POV of a 20 year old named Rose. She is about to graduate from high school because in her community the church is a very important thing and they take 2 years off during school to focus their learning on church teachings. Their church is a Christian church however, it's got a little bit more up it's sleeve than your typical American Christian church, at least in my experience. I grew up in the Lutheran church but I am no longer religious today (more agnostic at this point). Anyways, back to the point. As you have read in the summary, this town is also home to Camp Damascus which is considered to be one of the most effective gay conversion camps in the US. Well there is definitely a reason for that as you come to read. At first Rose is very conservative in her thoughts and actions. Always putting God at the forefront of her mind. And because of my experiences with church, it was a little off putting for me personally but I wanted to hang in there to see what was going to happen and I'm really glad that I did. Not long into the book, Rose sees what she thinks is a woman with strange blank eyes in the forest while at the local swimming hole with her friends. But the woman disappears into the trees before she can ask if anyone else saw her. The next time Rose sees this woman, she sees that she is not actually a human being. I don't want to give a lot of the plot away because I think going into this as blind as possible but things very quickly go downhill and get downright creepy. Despite my initial struggle in the first few pages, I ended up really enjoying this book. It is geared towards adults but at times it did feel a little more on the young adult side but overall I think any adult horror fan would enjoy this book if they gave it a chance.

I’d heard of Chuck Tingle, but Camp Damascus was the first novel I’ve read by him, and wow, it was a disgusting yet empowering journey. While rife with abuse, homophobia, and supernatural elements to make your stomach churn, this was a powerful reclamation of queer power and agency in the face of corrupt institutions.

Conversion camps are a tricky topic for me, and supernatural elements aside, that is what Camp Damascus deals with. This novel is earnest and straightforward in its messaging, and while that may not work for some, it worked for me. Protagonist Rose is both lesbian and autistic, and though she suffers (it is a horror novel), there’s more than despair to be found in Camp Damascus’ pages. Mind the content warnings, especially around religious trauma and homophobia if those are topics you’re sensitive to.

The on-point satire, disgusting imagery, and earnest emotions were worth sticking with. Overall, I enjoyed Camp Damascus a great deal and will be on the lookout for Tingle’s next foray into horror, Bury Your Gays.

Thank you to Tor Nightfire and NetGalley for an advance review copy. All opinions are my own.

This book turns the despair and rejection of gay conversion into a satisfying revenge tale. We meet Rose, who is happy with the strictures of her upbringing, until weird things start happening that don’t make sense to her orderly, logical mind. As she uncovers what is going on, and what happened to her, she’s forced to confront buried parts of herself that she didn’t even remember were there. Recommended for anyone who isn’t squeamish and is currently deconstructing the faith they were raised in.

A horror novel about a gay conversion camp run by a sort of Christion/sort of cult organization. Um... yes please.

We start off getting to know Rose, a fervently devout Christian, who loves her friends, her family, her community and of course the good works her church does, especially saving sinners from themselves up at Camp Damascus the only gay conversion camp with a 100% success rate.
I honestly found Rose a bit irritating at first. She was so very... well.. I guess brainwashed into perfection.... and I guess that was the point. But as the story got moving, and it was revealed how Kingdom the Pines operated and what their secrets were, it made sense.
I also wouldn't call this strictly a hardcore horror novel- it was definitely creepy, but more YA/action/fun/a little scary, which I preferred, as I'm not a fan of ten pages of detailed disembowelments.

This book was a joy, even through the pain. I loved the horror of it, and the hope. It was so nice to see a queer, autistic protagonist too! Definitely a favorite of 2023.

Not so much a review as we were sent this book to prep for our Scarred for Life Podcast interview with Chuck Tingle. Loved the book and loved getting to chat with Chuck.

This is a story about our inner (and outer) demons.

It’s taken me forever to review this book because I honestly don’t know what to say. I like weird books, but this was on another level & I’m still not fully sure that I “get” it. The writing style was offputting for me personally, but that’s just a personal preference issue. I think if you enjoy religious horror & don’t need to understand the logistics behind things, this will work for you!

Thank you so much @netgalley & @tornightfire

Thank you so much @netgalley & @tornightfire for the eArc!

I really wanted to get to this one, as it seemed interesting. I have put this on my Christmas list in hopes that I will be able to check this out! This was requested when I first found out about NetGalley and I had requested so many ARCs that I could not get to all of them before they were archived. If I can find this somewhere for a reasonable price, I will try to get it if I don't receive this for Christmas!

This book is alot of telling instead of showing. It makes Rose's story bland and ininteresting. It felt like a gay reimagining of a clock work orange .

“Jesus would want me to be cool.”

Camp Damascus is a whirlwind of emotions. It starts off with a tone Grady Hendrix fans would love as we follow Rose, a religious teenager navigating her last year of high school.

But soon it takes a dark turn. The one thing that brings in a lot of money into her small town is a conversion camp boasting a 100% success rate.

I loved how this was written. It has a Twilight Zone feel to it where you know something is off but you don’t know what. Its initial cheery vibe felt immediately interrupted when you start to figure out exactly what’s going on and dismantle certain aspects as arose does. There’s no words for the heartbreak that comes with it.

The horror aspects were on point. The what behind it all was a unique addition supported by arguments that we unfortunately still hear today.

Fair warning- you don’t want to eat while reading certain parts of the book. But you do want to add it to you spooky season tbr.

I am familiar with Chuck Tingle as the author of parody erotica with hilarious titles, but I've never read anything by him before. I was intrigued with this crossover into the mainstream with a traditionally-published horror novel, but unfortunately the results as a whole were disappointing.

This social horror book deals with gay conversion therapy and religious fundamentalism, but after a promising start of intriguing body horror and a convincing setup of small-town religiosity, the book became too explanatory for my tastes. Mr. Tingle's book is a prime example of telling, not showing, and when it comes to horror and suspense I prefer more mystery and dread.

However, I was still entertained and can see how appealing this kind of story would be to many people (myself included). I appreciated how Mr. Tingle explored faith deconstruction by showing multiple angles (protagonists both losing faith entirely and retaining belief while letting go of harmful practices), and some of the imagery was gruesome and disturbing, which is always good for a quick thrill.

Thank you to Tor Publishing Group, Tor Nightfire, and NetGalley for an Advance Reader Copy (ARC) of this book in exchange for my honest review!

3.5 stars. Commentary is very good--I especially appreciate how the narrator had to uncover her queer feelings throughout the story. It went places I wasn't anticipating!

However, some of the narrative was very simplified. I'm not sure how any of the magic/demons/fantasy really works? And I'm not sure Tingle does either.

Overall, I'm glad I read it.

You can tell this is a Tingle book, but it was way scarier than I had prepared for! I read through about forty percent of the novel before it was too much for me to complete. I liked what I did read though. I can see patrons enjoying those who like horror and weird and I know it has circulated well at the library already. I hope that this is the start of a line of Tingle that we could purchase for fans as his Amazon hits are wild and have a cult following. I appreciate the change to something more mainstream from Tingle.