Literature & Fiction
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Camp Damascus
An Indie Next Pick • A Most Anticipated Book by GoodReads, LitHub, Paste, CrimeReads, Electric Lit, BookPage and more!
"A joyful, furious romp through dark places, Tingle proves he's as good at fear as he is at love." ―T. Kingfisher, bestselling author of What Moves the Dead
From beloved internet icon Chuck Tingle, Camp Damascus is 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.
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.
And they'll scare you straight to hell.
"A joyful, furious romp through dark places, Tingle proves he's as good at fear as he is at love." ―T. Kingfisher, bestselling author of What Moves the Dead
From beloved internet icon Chuck Tingle, Camp Damascus is 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.
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.
And they'll scare you straight to hell.
Editorial Reviews
"Fantastic. Camp Damascus is seriously good." ―Jenny Lawson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Furiously Happy
"A genuinely terrifying nightmare – but it ain't the monsters you gotta be afraid of. Chuck Tingle is absolutely the best guide through this level of Hell." ―N.K. Jemisin, New York Times bestselling author
"This book is highly entertaining, cinematic, and filled with monsters, both human and supernatural, all of which will lure horror fans to its pages, but what holds it all together is the immense love at the heart of the novel." ―Library Journal (STARRED review)
"A timely, authentically chilling story." ―Booklist (STARRED review)
"Chuck Tingle continues to surprise and thrill. Camp Damascus is terrifying, darkly funny, and engagingly humane." ―John Scalzi, New York Times bestselling author
"Camp Damascus is a queer horror novel that unpacks the cruelty of conversion camps and that particular brand of religious fervor that actively harms people who are different under the guise of godliness....It is genuinely horrifying.... It is also beautiful and affirming." ―Tor.com
"Camp Damascus feels like a fantastic debut, and a subtle reinvention, and a proper evolution, all at once....a genuinely great horror story." ―BoingBoing
"This chilling page-turner should win Tingle a slew of new fans." ―Publishers Weekly
"A joyful, furious romp through dark places, Tingle proves he's as good at fear as he is at love." ―T. Kingfisher, bestselling author of What Moves the Dead
"Camp Damascus is a hell of a ride. Tingle is right at home in the horror genre - he delivers all the thrills of a slasher while exploring the deep wounds that can be inflicted by broken systems. T...
"A genuinely terrifying nightmare – but it ain't the monsters you gotta be afraid of. Chuck Tingle is absolutely the best guide through this level of Hell." ―N.K. Jemisin, New York Times bestselling author
"This book is highly entertaining, cinematic, and filled with monsters, both human and supernatural, all of which will lure horror fans to its pages, but what holds it all together is the immense love at the heart of the novel." ―Library Journal (STARRED review)
"A timely, authentically chilling story." ―Booklist (STARRED review)
"Chuck Tingle continues to surprise and thrill. Camp Damascus is terrifying, darkly funny, and engagingly humane." ―John Scalzi, New York Times bestselling author
"Camp Damascus is a queer horror novel that unpacks the cruelty of conversion camps and that particular brand of religious fervor that actively harms people who are different under the guise of godliness....It is genuinely horrifying.... It is also beautiful and affirming." ―Tor.com
"Camp Damascus feels like a fantastic debut, and a subtle reinvention, and a proper evolution, all at once....a genuinely great horror story." ―BoingBoing
"This chilling page-turner should win Tingle a slew of new fans." ―Publishers Weekly
"A joyful, furious romp through dark places, Tingle proves he's as good at fear as he is at love." ―T. Kingfisher, bestselling author of What Moves the Dead
"Camp Damascus is a hell of a ride. Tingle is right at home in the horror genre - he delivers all the thrills of a slasher while exploring the deep wounds that can be inflicted by broken systems. T...
Readers Top Reviews
MEEEEEEEEEZekeEri
Chuck Tingle is the best buckaroo! Books rarely scare me, but this one scared the poop out of me! Not literally, of course, but I was definitely freaked out by shadows for awhile. I highly recommend this book and all others by Man named Chuck. LOVE IS REAL.
LuckBeALadyMEEEEE
No people are a monolith - but there is strength and comfort in shared experience. I don’t think I’ve read the work of someone who understands that as well as Chuck Tingle. Camp Damascus begins in dread and hopelessness. That dread never goes away, but the hopelessness does. The possibility for a better future grows and grows on every page of this book. The wrongness that haunts the lead character and the other “troubled” members or former members of her original home cult is like an itch under the skin in more ways than one. This work is dark and beautiful and powerful and I feel better for having read it.
Ryan CooperLuckBe
I am not the reader I was in my younger days, but I devoured this book in just a couple of sessions. The story is terrifyingly simple to understand and follow - after all, it's playing out every day, though perhaps without the supernatural elements. I see so much of myself in Rose, and I adore that the trio of protagonists have different belief systems, but still unite for the greater good, without judgement. Dr. Tingle is an individual to be cherished for trotting his trot and proving love. Thank you, Chuck. You mean so much to me and others like me. Love is real.
ChelsRyan CooperL
This is a well written story, truly horrifying in its moments and thoughtfully done. The story picks up quickly and I found it hard to put down. The structure of the story made sense, and I really enjoyed the patterns of the story elements. The main character is autistic, and Chuck wove this in with the theme nicely. Rose feels real, and her presentation feels authentic. I loved her stims and how they played into the story. My upbringing was very similar to that of the main character, so I found myself in an unexpectedly therapeutic read. Queer adults making their peace with an extremely religious upbringing may find themselves seen in this book. At times, that is deeply uncomfortable (it Is horror), but by the end I was smiling and crying and hugging my wife. Love is real, and this book is an act of love.
Stephanie HallChe
Everything Chuck Tingle writes is suffused with sincerity. At the core of his work is celebrating love in all its forms, and embracing personal truth despite all the forces that seek to silence it. Perhaps unusual in the horror genre, Camp Damascus is no exception. The novel starts in a place of fear, uncertainty, and terror. But through the eyes of 20-year-old Rose Darling, it becomes a place of breaking free. An autistic heroine, her autism is a source of her strength that helps her escape her bad circumstances. And while her differences, from her queerness to her neurodiverseness, are rejected by her family and her community, beyond those barriers she finds genuine love and acceptance that embraces her for who she is. And beside those people, she stands tall and strives to overcome. With its snappy, engaging writing, Camp Damascus will keep you turning pages from one to the next, and it will leave you imagining what the world could look like if we all embraced acceptance and love.
