I would like to thank Titan for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review

Publisher – Titan

Published – Out Now

Price – £8.99 paperback £4.68 Kindle eBook

Love is real. Demons are real. Kill the demons.

A chilling and heartfelt supernatural horror about a young woman searching for love and the secrets of a demonic gay conversion camp, perfect for readers of Stephen Graham Jones, Hailey Piper and Lucy A. Snyder

Camp Damascus is the world’s most effective gay conversion camp. Nestled in the Montana wilderness, parents send their children from around the world to experience the program’s 100% success rate.

But, this story isn’t about that. This story is about Rose Darling, a God-fearing young lady who can’t stop puking up flies. It’s about her parents who ignore her visions of an eerie woman with sagging, pale skin who watches from the woods. It’s about the desires deep inside Rose that don’t seem to make any sense, and her waking nightmares that are beginning to feel more like memories. And maybe, just maybe, it’s a little bit about Camp Damascus after all.

In horror a common question is who is the monster? That’s why so many people get confused over the name of the creature in Frankenstein. It’s a genre that has a long and proud history of exploring those on the edges of society who are often dismissed and can turn a mirror on the majority who are less making a point and more a screaming mob wanting blood. In Chuck Tingle’s great new horror novel Camp Damascus we have a very good entry into this genre with this tale exploring individuals versus a controlling society.

Twenty-year-old Rose loves her days in the town of Neverton. She has a great life with her parents, finishing college and like so many in her community loves her church group. The conservative Kingdom of the Pine church has a majority presence in the town. It even has a prominent Camp Damascus that supports those who dare to have homosexual urges. Rose just wants her life to continue as normal, but she starts to be haunted by a strange ghost that starts appearing around her. One that soon brings death to her door and Rose starts to think her life is not quite what she thought it was.

This is an extremely effective horror story that explores the horrific idea of gay conversion camps and how they make the people who attend them believe they are the monsters and Tingle powerfully dismantles the idea. This could have been told in linear approach but what makes this story work so well is that the Rose we first meet is a result of the camp’s practises and we therefore have witness a woman who has been programmed and the damage that can do. A whole life changed and as we explore the town, we find more people under its influence. To find your parents, your counsellor and even your friends are not on your side but controlling your life behind your back is a terrifying prospect.

Tingle also has a fine line in creating horror- the monster haunting Rose is deliciously creepy, and we soon find is not simply a haunting ghost but can itself cause harm and that adds a frisson of fear whenever this presence (or others) appears. Its also adds a mystery as to what exactly this has to do with what seems a very conservative church group who you’d expect to be wary of the occult. It’s a fine mystery and has a lot to say about people who preach one thing and yet actively seem to be the true monsters they say other people are.

It is not all darkness though I really liked how Tingle adds to the plot Rose’s former lover Willow who also has no memory of her past. Tingle is able to show us people being happy for who they are and giving them a chance to actually fix things not just for themselves, but all the other people trapped in the system. There is also a really interesting religious character who doesn’t follow the strict doctrine that the Pine group does to remind us that these are all choices and those who make an active decision to outlaw and persecute LGBT+ groups are not the sole voice of religion in this area. It very much tackles those groups (not just religions) who decide to control the rights of others and my only reservation with the tale is the final acts are very fast paced and slightly feel rushed. But the finale is immensely satisfying!

Camp Damascus is a very intelligent and powerful horror story reminding us that monsters are not always outsiders but those who wish to inflict their will on everyone else and control their lives. It works as a horror story and an exploration of practises that are amazingly allowed in societies and cause immense harm. Highly recommended to those seeking some spooky tales for October!