A culty cosmic queer coming of age horror story. Dig it! ( )

Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle is somewhere between a horror and science fiction, where the horror part is nil. The plot had a steady start with some added pieces of horror. But after a few pages it was all blurry. Characters were just not up to the mark. The plot goes back and forth in time and the basic idea of the book was just not right. It was horror mixed with science.

It was so difficult getting into the book. The LGBTQ angle was nice but there were inconsistencies in the plot. But, you need to read first to find those. I know the book is a bit famous among the horror readers and I had high expectations from it also. I read the book as a part of #52booksin52Weeks Challenge. I would give the book only 3 stars. ( )

I was so excited for this book when I heard about it – a horror story about a gay conversion camp written by a person named Chuck Tingle, I mean what more do you need in life? – but I was disappointed with the actual thing. The premise is so promising: the fundamentalist a-holes who run the camp are both metaphorically and literally evil, using demons to keep the kids from gaying it up via Pavlovian torture. But Chuck doesn’t seem to be able to deliver the goods. The actual story he writes around that premise is weirdly unimaginative; for example, the solution to getting rid of the demons seems too simple and too easily executed, and the explanation for their existence involves poorly explained Science and Latin (?) thrown in for good-intentioned purpose. Also, there’s just no palpable tension. I wasn’t ever all that nervous or scared for the characters. And then there’s the writing itself, which is…not great. Not every single noun needs an adjective, and you don’t always have to go for the $20 word when the buck-fifty word is perfectly fine and in fact the better option. So, in the end, I did need more and that’s sad. ( )

When I read stories like this, I gather that my personal feelings build a vendetta bigger than the wronged afflicted. I suppose I wear my heart on my sleeve and when it's broken I pull out the brick walls and teeth. That being said, I felt the afflicted in this novel were very kind to their antagonists. I mean, the other stuff that just happen to take place in the end was warranted and maybe that was a sort of egg shell line the writer decided was best.
I was positively surprised that my subgenera was flirted with a bit in this novel, because who doesn't love a good possession. The idea behind that really drove me forward along with the intellect of the main character. This book did not go the way I thought it would, and that was quite enjoyable. I just wanted those teeth. ( )

Camp Damascus was a decent horror debut with a great love is love message.

Despite that this book is marketed for adults, it's very much a slow-burn YA novel. The book went in a completely different direction from what I was expecting. From the description, I thought this was going to be a super dark and disturbing tale that takes place at a conversion camp, but the conversion camp just gets talked about a lot and we don't actually get to see it until near the end.

I really liked the world-building, Neverton felt real and the Kingdom of the Pine church gave me the ick. The characters were well-written and I loved all of the lame dad jokes.

I'd recommend checking this one out if you're looking for a YA horror story with a happy ending and a positive message. ( )