Chuck Tingle

[b:Camp Damascus|61884782|Camp Damascus|Chuck Tingle|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1664285565l/61884782._SY75_.jpg|97258162] is a YA horror novel set in deeply unsettling milieu of American evangelical Christianity. The protagonist Rose realises something is very wrong when she starts coughing up flies and seeing a ghostly apparition. Could this have something to do with nearby Camp Damascus, the world's most effective gay conversion camp? I found show more Rose's narration immediately involving and the plot suitably exciting. The supernatural elements are ingenious and deployed effectively, while the most frightening part is of course the homophobic religious community. Rose's parents' behaviour is chilling. Using parasitic flies to induce memory loss and demons to provide a terrifying distraction from gay thoughts are suitably grim. Rose's investigation into Camp Damascus and team-up with other survivors to take the place down are great. The final scenes are very satisfying. Overall a fun yet appreciably creepy read. show less

Screenwriter Misha Byrne is working on the queer kissing scene between Agent Lexa and Agent Naomi for the season finale of an X Files–like show he writes for, when he’s told by his producer in not so many words to “bury his gays,” that is, to kill off the gay characters. He has no intention of doing so, but he has no idea of the havoc this decision will unleash. At first he thinks the studio has hired actors to stalk him in the guise of the movie monsters he’s written to pressure show more him. Then people start actually dying.

This was a wild ride! Funny, tongue in cheek, plus page-turning horror and suspense, and full of heart at the core. There are jabs at the crass commercialism of Hollywood, at capitalism, at queer erasure, and at commercially motivated queer “allies.” Tingle’s “about the author” page says, “Tingle writes to prove love is real, because love is the most important tool we have when resisting the endless cosmic void.” This book is evidence of that. show less

This is a Hugo Award nominee and genre-founder, so I knew I HAD to read it sometime to be a well-rounded consumer of literature. Due to the short-story format, I'm treating the whole trilogy as a single anthology book.

In this trilogy, Tingle paints a desperate future portrait of humanity on the brink of extinction and searching for a new home. The cast is relatively small, and while the characters are simple given the short length, Lance grows and transforms though a complete and satisfying show more narrative arc. The twist of the setting - dinosaurs did not die out, but merely found a new planet to call home - isn't a particularly new twist in sci-fi, but it was appreciably different from other takes I've seen (e.g., West of Eden) that it felt fresh. The villain, Vam Dox, doesn't appear until the final part of the trilogy, but Tingle is able to effectively characterize him as a pathetic Jerry with delusions that he's a Rick; loathsome, yet sad, and ultimately forgotten. Lance's climatic showdown at the end is particularly satisfying. Tingle is the master of elegant language - conveying much by saying little, yet that little bit feeling very visceral. There were a handful of occasions in which I thought he relied too much on adverbs, or repeated language a bit too much, but overall the prose was forceful and evocative.

There were small factual errors that took me out of the story - specifically, raptors are from the Cretaceous period, not the Jurassic. But to be fair, this may have been intended as ironic. show less

Happy #bookbirthday to this brilliant bit of queer horror, BURY YOUR GAYS by @chucktingle from @tornightfire.

Misha, recently Oscar-nominated writer, is being forced to kill off the main characters of his hit TV series, ostensibly for the ratings, but really because they’re gay. When he refuses, monsters of his own creation from prior horror movies he’s written start stalking and attacking him. While he’s trying to figure out how to keep his fiancé and his best friend alive, he’s show more also trying to figure out the whole Hollywood thing and keep his job at the same time.

Tackling a large swath of subjects from queer joy and shame, to the treatment of gays in Hollywood, to the rise of AI and what that means for the entertainment industry, there’s also plenty of blood and chills to keep you awake at night. Tingle also offers probably the best description I’ve ever read of the importance of horror and why it can resonate with so many of us.

BURY YOUR GAYS is hella queer, hella creepy, and one helluva great book. Don’t miss out!

Thanks to @tornightfire and @netgalley for the free eARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. I picked up my physical copy at @a.novel.concept.

🏷️ #chucktingle #buryyourgays #tornightfire #netgalley #queer #queerbooks #queerbookstagram #queerlitread #queerhorror #queerallyear #horror #horrorbooks #booksbooksbooks #bookstagram #book #books #gaybooks #gayhorror #gay #bookreview #bookworm #bookdragon #🌈 show less