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A review by skylarkblue1
Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Representations: https://trello.com/c/4qXpzK8F/92-camp-damascus-by-chuck-tingle
Ooooo I loved this so much. This reminded me a lot of The Honeys by Ryan La Sala but they're both very different books in their own ways - just similarities of summer camp kinda, body horror and queer horror. If you loved this, you probably will enjoy The Honeys and vice versa.
This book is a wild ride. It's one of the few times a book description is actually very good with not spoiling basically anything, even the description on the back of the book! If you enjoy the concept the blurb shows, read it and don't try and find more information except for the content warnings. Topics do get quite heavy here, but they're all conversations that are very relevent today still - somehow - and conversations that really don't happen often enough.
Religious abuse and conversion therapy are very real problems in the world to this day. Cults still exist and kids are still growing up being brainwashed by horrible people. One bit of this book that's really stuck with me is it explicitly acknowledged how religion can be used for both good and evil with the exact same texts. I loved that conversation that ran through the book because all too often does religion get demonised for a specific sect - this happens more often with Islam for example. The actions of a few do not represent the actions of everyone.
The representation I really loved, especially the autistic rep. The stimming, the self-conciousness about stimming and how you navigate social situations and more it's just... You can tell it's lived experience over just some research, it's so well portrayed imo.
And yes now I will acknowledge the author. How in the actual fuck is this from *the* Chuck Tingle?? I don't remember even a single butt joke??? Chuck you're a wonderful author, I've not read any of your satirical erotica but I know of your previous works for sure - this book though handles it's topics so incredibly well for how heavy it all is and I'm just astonished. Please, I'd love lots more queer horror. I cannot wait for Bury Your Gays!!!
Ooooo I loved this so much. This reminded me a lot of The Honeys by Ryan La Sala but they're both very different books in their own ways - just similarities of summer camp kinda, body horror and queer horror. If you loved this, you probably will enjoy The Honeys and vice versa.
This book is a wild ride. It's one of the few times a book description is actually very good with not spoiling basically anything, even the description on the back of the book! If you enjoy the concept the blurb shows, read it and don't try and find more information except for the content warnings. Topics do get quite heavy here, but they're all conversations that are very relevent today still - somehow - and conversations that really don't happen often enough.
Religious abuse and conversion therapy are very real problems in the world to this day. Cults still exist and kids are still growing up being brainwashed by horrible people. One bit of this book that's really stuck with me is it explicitly acknowledged how religion can be used for both good and evil with the exact same texts. I loved that conversation that ran through the book because all too often does religion get demonised for a specific sect - this happens more often with Islam for example. The actions of a few do not represent the actions of everyone.
The representation I really loved, especially the autistic rep. The stimming, the self-conciousness about stimming and how you navigate social situations and more it's just... You can tell it's lived experience over just some research, it's so well portrayed imo.
And yes now I will acknowledge the author. How in the actual fuck is this from *the* Chuck Tingle?? I don't remember even a single butt joke??? Chuck you're a wonderful author, I've not read any of your satirical erotica but I know of your previous works for sure - this book though handles it's topics so incredibly well for how heavy it all is and I'm just astonished. Please, I'd love lots more queer horror. I cannot wait for Bury Your Gays!!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Homophobia, Medical content, Religious bigotry, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Car accident and Fire/Fire injury