Camp Damascus
Chuck Tingle
Hardcover / eBook
ISBN: 9781250874627
Tor Nightfire, July 2023, 256 pages

Greetings, readers, and welcome back to another review! This month we’re going to get pounded—ahem, we’re going to read a brand new offering from internet phenomenon Chuck Tingle, friend to buckaroos and ladybucks who look for love all over the world, only this time Mr. Tingle has something devilishly different up his sleeve: his debut horror novel, Camp Damascus.

Set amidst the sprawling splendor of Montana, Camp Damascus immediately presents us with the first-person perspective of our protagonist, Rose, a devoutly religious twenty-year old who seems to live a heavenly life in the town of Neverton. Surrounded by loving friends and family, avoiding anything more dangerous than root beer and punny Jesus t-shirts, and set to be set-up with a heart-throb boyfriend, Rose has everything she could ever want, both spiritually and physically.

Obviously, since this is a horror novel, Rose might have to deal with some problems.

The first thing I really enjoyed about Camp Damascus is that while there are plenty of elements of bodily horror (someone throws up a bellyful of flies, necks are snapped, flesh is flayed, et cetera) throughout the book, Tingle does an excellent job weaving in a layer of deeper, more insidious psychological horror beneath the pulpy violence. Camp Damascus, at its core, derives its true terror from what can best be described as “the banality of evil;” that all of the violence and depravity Rose faces isn’t due to any sort of devious mastermind or ancient monster, it’s just average people convinced that what they’re doing is right, no matter the cost to those who are suffering.

The second thing I thought was particularly well executed was Tingle’s balance between faith and skepticism. It would have been very easy to turn a story like Camp Damascus into an edgelord rant against organized religion simply because it’s an easy (and in many cases, well-deserved) target. And don’t get me wrong, Tingle doesn’t pull any punches, but there’s also a humble spirituality suffusing the second half of the book that I felt really balanced things nicely. While I don’t think any of the major churches are going to be approving this book anytime soon, it definitely carves out a space for those who truly believe but are still willing to question themselves.

Another part of Camp Damascus I have to mention, and this won’t surprise anyone who has read any of Tingle’s previous works, is that it is unabashedly and unashamedly queer. Without giving away any spoilers, the entire premise of the novel is an examination of the real-life evils (one in particular) modern-day religion has perpetuated against the queer community, and while some elements may be fantastical, the darkly beating heart of the matter is laid bare over and over again. Through Rose’s eyes we see the damage that families, communities, and individuals are willing to inflict in the name of “goodness,” whether it be as an active participant, or a bystander willing to look away. However, we also get to see the resilience of those who find a way to keep moving forward with their lives, and the new families they create, which I thought was beautifully done.

All in all, I felt Camp Damascus is one of those rare reads that accomplishes what it sets out to do on multiple levels. Tingle nails the outward trappings of the horror genre, gradually spiraling things out of control until it feels perfectly natural that the world is now upside down, but like all good horror, he also nails the social commentary he was aiming for without it feeling preachy or hamfisted. The characterization is deftly plotted, both for Rose and all the other people in the book, and maybe the scariest part of it all is that if you met one of the members of Neverton on the street, you wouldn’t even look twice. In fact, they’re probably out walking around in your town as you read this.

Read if: You have an innately curious mind; you’ve ever wanted to flamethrower a personal demon; you know love is real.