A young woman rediscovers her past and strikes out against her community's secrets in Camp Damascus, a gripping horror novel from Chuck Tingle (Straight; Just Kind of Ignoring This Sad Lonesome T-Rex Who Is Screaming "Debate Me" from His Folding Chair). Rose is part of Neverton, Montana's Kingdom of the Pine community, a strict Christian sect that eschews fantasy fiction, alcohol, and caffeine, in addition to running a "gay conversion" program at Camp Damascus outside of town. Rose always thought there was something funny about the camp's commercials: the locals in the crowd shots mostly claim they have never been there, and the few who say they have can't describe it. But as she approaches the end of high school, she begins to experience mysterious and sometimes violent apparitions whenever she comes close to acknowledging her attraction to women. She realizes that something was done to her at Camp Damascus that she must remember and, with the help of two other survivors, keep from happening to anyone else. Rose, like Tingle, is autistic, and her neurodivergence might just mean she's able to overcome the camp's brainwashing.
Tingle is best known as a writer of short surrealist erotica, but in this, his first traditionally published novel, he proves that he is equally skilled at social horror in the vein of The Stepford Wives or Get Out. Sharp allegory and an appealing narrator will make Tingle's fans and new readers eager for more in any genre he pursues. --Kristen Allen-Vogel, information services librarian at Dayton Metro Library