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A review by justinkhchen
Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle
4.0
3.75
The intimate examination on religion and faith wins me over, Camp Damascus is like an R-rated episode of Goosebumps, served with an in-depth look at weaponizing religion for nefarious intents. While the eventual turn of events doesn't quite line up with my personal preference for horror, I can still appreciate the novel's intent at using this genre's trope to tell a deeply personal story about identity, societal norm, and romance.
*Slight spoiler ahead*
I was very invested in the first half of Camp Damascus, with its too-well-articulated scenes of grotesque (would not recommend eating while reading this), and a very uniquely constructed protagonist, whose personality really humanized the analysis of her religious upbringing, which could've easily been delivered in a dry, essay-like fashion. The novel took a turn at precisely its halfway point, where it essentially became Ghostbusters. While there are still elements in the novel's more adventurous second half that I find deeply fascinating, horror story tends to lose its edge for me when the cause is revealed to be definitively man-made — it just conjures up wave of logistical questions I would like answered, when the story simply doesn't have the length nor scope to satisfy (How does the technology actually work? How was it funded? If it is this powerful, why hasn't it been used more widely by others?...)
I would be more than happy if Camp Damascus remains as an intimate, eerie story about the protagonist's re-discovery of self, rather than evolving into an action-y spectacle about portal to other worlds and fighting the evil corporation. Even though as a whole Camp Damascus doesn't quite live up to my expectation, I can still acknowledge Chuck Tingle is quite a writer with wild imagination (should I try his erotica work?) and strength in creating non-cookie cutter characters. Will be keeping an eye out on whatever he writes next!
The intimate examination on religion and faith wins me over, Camp Damascus is like an R-rated episode of Goosebumps, served with an in-depth look at weaponizing religion for nefarious intents. While the eventual turn of events doesn't quite line up with my personal preference for horror, I can still appreciate the novel's intent at using this genre's trope to tell a deeply personal story about identity, societal norm, and romance.
*Slight spoiler ahead*
I was very invested in the first half of Camp Damascus, with its too-well-articulated scenes of grotesque (would not recommend eating while reading this), and a very uniquely constructed protagonist, whose personality really humanized the analysis of her religious upbringing, which could've easily been delivered in a dry, essay-like fashion. The novel took a turn at precisely its halfway point, where it essentially became Ghostbusters. While there are still elements in the novel's more adventurous second half that I find deeply fascinating, horror story tends to lose its edge for me when the cause is revealed to be definitively man-made — it just conjures up wave of logistical questions I would like answered, when the story simply doesn't have the length nor scope to satisfy (How does the technology actually work? How was it funded? If it is this powerful, why hasn't it been used more widely by others?...)
I would be more than happy if Camp Damascus remains as an intimate, eerie story about the protagonist's re-discovery of self, rather than evolving into an action-y spectacle about portal to other worlds and fighting the evil corporation. Even though as a whole Camp Damascus doesn't quite live up to my expectation, I can still acknowledge Chuck Tingle is quite a writer with wild imagination (should I try his erotica work?) and strength in creating non-cookie cutter characters. Will be keeping an eye out on whatever he writes next!