We've got a lead who is having visions of things that can't be real, suspects that she's forgotten things about herself, and whose parents may be hiding something from her. It's unabashedly queer and also features an autistic main character (neither of which is a shock coming from Tingle), and is also unabashedly horror. That said, man is this a really good story. So beware of both of those things if you can't handle them.

And, as anyone who's read the description knows, it revolves around gay conversion camps, the vile torture colonies set up by the sort of folks intent on telling you that JK Rowling is subject to a 'witch hunt' (spoiler alert: She's not, and she should go away). What this is is a very solid short horror book, arguably YA in tone, albeit with a lot more body horror than most YA books (we're talking people throwing up live flies in chapter 1). If you want more of those books, look elsewhere (Chuck produces plenty of them). My difficulty with this title is that I'm going to give it to the people who need it, and they'll want more just like it, and Tingle hasn't published them yet.įirst, the heads up for folks coming in who are familiar with Chuck's other work: This is NOT a book I'd put in the same category as any of them. This is much easier to find and buy now that Tingle's being published by TOR Nightfire (and that is a brilliant move for both of them). It is absolutely terrifying, but the social horror implications are mostly dyed into the fabric of the book, highlighting the plight of one girl and her found family against very real demons. This is an excellent, wholesome, and big-hearted read about young queer people facing down their personal demons. As with Tingle's previous horror novella Straight, this title's content is appropriate for YA horror readers and up. Supernatural horror elements are handled head-on, but cleverly, and the execution of this high-concept story is straightforward and effective.

It's a story of hope, as a young woman recovers from damage suffered at the hands of an extremist cult, both over the course of her lifetime and as a result of her enforced stay at the cult's outwardly 'successful' conversion therapy camp. The eponymous camp is as much of a nightmare as this book is a joy.

Camp damascus chuck tingle