Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle

Happy Spooky Season Readers, 

The best horror stories have roots in reality and this is one of them books. Camp Damascus is about a fictional conversion therapy camp run by a cult like Christian group. What’s more concerning is the Camp has a 100% effectiveness rate…but why is that? Welcome to our horror show.

I will admit I haven’t read any of Chuck's previous books, but I had to read this book after I read the synopsis back in December last year. The writing was gripping and the very real horror of the reality that comes with living in a world were conversion camps are a real thing. That thought disturbs me more than any horror ever could. Imagine sending your child to camp that will “fix” them.

Rose is a young woman who is a Christian, we learn she’s autistic, and she's noticing weird feelings towards a female friend and without giving to much away she ends up at the conversion camp. Rose starts seeing strange figures wherever she goes, and the camp obviously has supernatural camp counsellors who appear whenever she has Bad Thoughts. I am so happy this isn’t a thing in real life I think the therapist would be in the bin. Rose is a brilliant and believable main character and I felt for all that she goes through in this story.

Chuck does a great job of creating atmosphere and there are definitely some scenes that really horrified me. The wilful blindness of the local residents was one thing that horrified me and how they all seemed okay letting children die for just being who they are. I cannot understand how people actually think like this.  I really felt for all of the campers, and what their families put them through. Slight spoiler dear Readers but when we come to the realisation that Rose's parents also tried to stifle the things that helped her with her autism as well, I was furious.

This was brilliant book, and I will be adding some of Chuck’s other books to my TBR pile.

L x

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