A review by faeriekit
Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

This read took me about...an hour? I thought the main character was written a little stilted at first, and she was, because she was autistic. Once I knew what she was meant to be she was very familiar. Overall, it was a fun horror story about breaking free of conversion camp, coming into your own, and included a lot of gross stuff I'm grateful to say that I can't visualize correctly, thank heavens. It wasn't the most horrifying thing I've read, it was a fast-paced read, and considering the author's more usual works, I'm glad to see that he's expanding into longer narratives that by their nature hold more in them. I would consider this more of an adventure story than horror. 

SpoilerBut maybe I've spent too long studying cults for this to seem all that weird, haha. Some religious elements just don't work on me anymore.


Overall, I liked it; I would read it again! I kind of wish there was more follow-through after the ending just to wrap, but eh. You know. A lot of people think the movie ends after the monster is killed, and I'm just left wondering who swept up the broken glass from the fight scene. Try it out for yourself, and get into Tingleverse! (Or whatever it's called!) 

*If you are sensitive to body horror, especially
Spoilerbugs and insects in humans
, I would put this one down. It's very prevalent as a plotline throughout the narrative.
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