Book Review: Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle

 I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.

Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle

Mogsy’s Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Genre: Horror

Series: Stand Alone

Publisher: Nightfire (July 18, 2023)

Length: 256 pages

Author Information: Website

Suffice it to say, the kind of stories and books Chuck Tingle is known for aren’t the kind you’d find in a conventional big box bookstore or featured on traditional book lists. While Camp Damascus is proclaimed as a horror debut, it is perhaps more accurate to say it is his first mainstream novel and as such I am probably a bit more critical than I would be with an author completely new to publishing.

High in the mountains of Montana is a small town named Neverton. It’s a picturesque community and a peaceful place to live, though its main claim to fame is Camp Damascus, touted as the most successful gay conversion camp in the country. Some of Neverton’s residents are part of the organization that runs it, the cultish Evangelical Christian organization known as the Kingdom of the Pine, which includes our protagonist Rose Darling and her family. All her life, Rose has been raised under the Kingdom’s strict beliefs, completely devoted to their teachings and to God. It’s a comfortable, harmonious existence, one that Rose knows will guide her to the perfect future where she will live in accordance with the teachings of her church, which she loves.

But then one day at the dinner table, Rose starts vomiting up mayflies. Understandably, this causes her much distress, though her parents seem to brush it off. She then notices that her bedroom lacks a door, but her father insists that this has always been the case. Next, she starts seeing a mysterious woman seemingly stalking—haunting?—her, and the stranger’s terrifying decayed appearance both rouses and frightens Rose, not least because visions of this demonic presence only seem to manifest when she is having impure thoughts. And admittedly, she has been having more of those lately, especially about a pretty girl in her social circle. As more cracks begin to develop in her happy, idyllic life and Rose realizes there are gaps in her memory, she takes it upon herself to investigate, starting with breaking into the office of her therapist who helps her with her autism. In his files, she finds out the shocking truth—that her name is on the list of those who have attended Camp Damascus—leading her on a mission to dig deeper to discover what other secrets the Kingdom and Neverton have kept from her.

More than this I will not reveal, because that would be giving away some of the best parts of the book. What I will say though, is that the plot does a good job setting up plenty of questions to be answered. Many of the story’s details, both minor and pivotal—such as Rose’s memory loss, her visions of the demonic figure, the effectiveness of Camp Damascus and the very methods they practice to achieve such a high success rate—will come into play at some point to form the full picture. I’m also genuinely impressed by some of the ideas in here, among them the unique angle used to illustrate the struggles of queer youth as well as the power behind the metaphors used to take on these themes.

But when analyzing Camp Damascus as a horror novel, I am somewhat more conflicted. While Chuck Tingle may have quite a stunning bibliography, that experience does not necessarily translate to stellar writing—or at least, stellar horror writing. Don’t get me wrong, the writing is certainly not bad here, but it’s also noticeably more tell than show, robbing a lot of the terror and anxiety from what should be legitimately scary scenes. Much of the gruesome violence, brutality, and sheer disgustingness that goes on in this book are in-your-face, and while there’s nothing wrong with thrills of that nature (like, especially if you are a fan of body horror), personally I just prefer a little more finesse and atmosphere.

Then there were the characters. To the book’s credit, Rose herself was an excellent protagonist and superbly written, though unfortunately, almost nobody else was. Sure, there were a few standout supporting characters, such as Rose’s dad or her metalhead friend, but the rest of the cast was rather forgettable. Still, I suppose that’s better than the caricature villains who were as nuanced as a wrecking ball, but maybe that just comes with the territory when writing about cults.

Now, looking back at what I’ve written, I realize I may sound a little harsh, but the truth is, I did enjoy this book. Even though the horror aspects may not have worked for me, the overall premise of Camp Damascus was intriguing and thought-provoking. Chuck Tingle tackles some tough subjects but handles them with great care and tact, demonstrating life’s many complexities where there are no simple answers and not everything is cut and dried. Here I will reiterate once more what a great character Rose is, as the author manages to translate the essence of all this through her experiences.

All told, Camp Damascus is a good story, and is an important story. Despite some aspects of it falling flat for me, I liked it overall, and I can see it working for a lot of others for whom the novel’s themes might resonate.