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.
