Leanne Olson

by Chuck Tingle

released July 18, 2023 from Tor Nightfire

Camp Damascus is some of the most fun I’ve had reading a horror novel in a while.

The titular camp is a conversion camp for queer kids, run by the church/cult that our protagonist, Rose, is part of. Rose hasn’t been very curious about the secret behind the camp’s effectiveness, until the day she starts vomiting mayflies.

I haven’t actually read any of Chuck Tingle’s work before, but am familliar with his name and the hilarious titles of many of his gay erotica stories, so I was very curious to hear he was writing horror. And then I saw it was blurbed by N.K. Jemisin and T. Kingfisher, two of my favourite authors? I had to get a copy.

I figured it would be cheesy fun, but I was blown away by how good it was. I’m not a religious person, but Tingle completely put me in Rose’s head and had me understand her faith and her growing doubt and suspicion. The horror aspects and action were also well done and had me cringing and holding my breath in places.

We’ve got body horror, a lesbian love story, wonderful friendships, and a big “fuck you” to homophobic churches. I loved it.

🌟🌟🌟🌟