Welcome back to Books With Cause. Let’s dive straight into my latest review.
It feels like it’s been a little while since I’ve reviewed a Horror Aficionados book, so the next few posts will make some attempt to put that right. Quot libros, quam breve tempus. So many books, so little time. And I can only read one book at a time. There are also so many books recommended by Goodreads’ Horror Aficionados, and I can’t get to them all. But I’m dedicating the next few reviews to putting a dent in that.
This time, it’s the turn of Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle. I’ve read a Tingle book before (now there’s a sentence). I read Bury Your Gays before I started this website. Tingle is a mysterious and elusive author. I would presume that he is almost definitely writing under a pen name. In all of the few pictures I’ve seen of him, he’s always wearing a pink pillowcase for a mask. I would think this is to protect his real identity. Of the two Tingle books I’ve read, both have queer themes at the heart of them and echo the same three words that Tingle wears on his pillowcase mask: Love Is Real.
Rose Darling is our protagonist in this book. The young-adult and only daughter of the Darling family. They live in a community where everybody is a God-fearing Christian – seemingly nobody more so than Rose herself. She is banned from reading books like Peter Pan because it promotes things like magic. She knows bible verses off by heart. Her parents are urging her to start dating a local boy who has shown an interest in her, but Rose doesn’t feel any attraction towards him. And she also can’t work out why her bedroom door is missing or why she seems to be throwing up flies on a daily basis.
Nearby, there is Camp Damascus, which boasts a 100% success rate with gay conversion therapy. Rose sees the adverts on the Christian television channel her mother watches. But she can’t work out why the advert would need to use actors if the camp does in fact have a 100% success rate.
Meanwhile, Rose finds herself inexplicably attracted to another girl. She does everything she can to fight her feelings because everything she’s ever been taught tells her that the feelings that she has are wrong.
If there’s one thing I will say about this book, I found a lot of it to be predictable. I don’t say that as criticism or with the intention to insult. I know I enjoy reading a lot, and maybe through that, I’ve subconsciously I’ve developed a skillset of recognising certain beats and traits in a story. But on top of that, this was a story that didn’t grab me in the way I hoped. I don’t know why, but I found myself only half paying attention.
The thing that I will say is that what’s at the heart of this book is the important issue here. Yes, this is a book that uses techniques like body horror, but the themes of identity and sexuality are what we should be focusing on. I felt strongly for Rose throughout this book as she is the victim of a cult who have spent her whole life telling her she is not allowed to be who she is. The fact is that still communities in today’s society that believe that heterosexuality is a sin because of an old, outdated book. That is the real horror.
My Goodreads Rating: ★★★☆☆(3 stars)
