One thing I’ve long believed is that truly powerful stories, the ones that stay with you, are the ones that are truly about something meaningful to the author. As a general rule, no great stories are purely “entertainment,” even though they might appear to be so at first. A great example of this is the collection of Conan stories by Robert E. Howard, which really set the standard for pulp fantasy adventure. I recall reading an intro to a Conan collection once that referred to the stories as “pure entertainment,” but that isn’t true: Howard’s noble barbarian stories were a reaction to the organized crime and corruption he saw living in oil boom Texas in the 1920s. Howard developed a very negative opinion of “civilization” in general, which he saw as bringing more harm on a massive scale than it did benefits, and it is impossible to miss this view reading the stories once you’re made aware of it. I personally think that Howard’s views, whether you ascribe to them or not, contribute greatly to their power.

I was thinking of this while reading the excellent and moving Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle, published earlier this year.

Camp Damascus is Tingle’s debut horror novel, and it is a fun, compelling, and moving story about a Christian gay conversion camp that is far more — and worse — than it seems.

Chuck Tingle is a pseudonymous author with a fascinating history. He first became known for his self-published erotic fiction whose titles always suggest a sense of humor, and often cross into satire, such as My Billionaire Triceratops Craves Gay Ass and Billionaire Elons Mugg Takes the Handsome Planet Mars in his Butt. In 2016, Tingle was nominated for a science fiction Hugo Award by a radical right “Rabid Puppies” campaign to discredit the awards. They underestimated Tingle, however, who disavowed the campaign and announced that if he were to win, the anti-harassment activist Zoe Quinn would accept the award on his behalf. Tingle became even more beloved after this (including by me), and his positive messages of love and inclusiveness make him a constant source of joy on the internet.

Camp Damascus is Tingle’s first non-erotic novel, and it is a fantastic debut. The story follows Rose Darling, a young conservative Christian woman, as she is finishing her final year of high school. Rose has been a member of the Kingdom of the Pine Church, which is famed for its gay conversion Camp Damascus, which has a 100 percent success rate. Rose doesn’t think much of this, even though she finds herself curiously drawn to her friend Martina with feelings she doesn’t fully understand.

The first time that Rose realizes that something is wrong is when she sees a figure in the distance, a strange woman wearing a red polo shirt with a white name tag pinned to it, who seems somehow… off. The unsettling vision sends Rose down a path of investigation and discovery that will eventually lead to Camp Damascus and the dark secrets that lie within.

I don’t want to say much more about the book than this, because it surprised me in the direction it went and I wouldn’t want to spoil the joy of its revelations to others. I will note that, though I got the book when it first came out in July, I was slow to get around to reading it because I wasn’t sure what I was getting into. The term “conversion camp” suggests some pretty unpleasant situations, and I was a little worried that the book might have some Saw or Hostel-like torture scenes in it. I am happy to say that it does not, and though it is definitely a horror novel with some horrific situations, it carries a sense of adventure in it throughout.

As I hinted in my introduction, the book definitely has a point to it, and a meaning, and it leads to some powerful and moving revelations that one would expect from Chuck Tingle’s philosophy. I anticipated one or two developments as I read, but I didn’t mind at all because of the sheer joy I found in watching the story unfold.

I’ve never read Tingle’s earlier erotica, so this was my first experience with his writing. I am happy to say that he is an excellent writer and I look forward to seeing what he imagines next.