Chuck Tingle, two-time Hugo nominated author and Billings, MT native, will be releasing his first novel with a major publisher this July. The novel, Camp Damascus, will be published through Nightfire, Tor Publishing’s horror imprint. The book’s description reads:
“Welcome to Neverton, Montana: home to a God-fearing community with a heart of gold. Nestled high up in the mountains is Camp Damascus, the self-proclaimed “most effective” gay conversion camp in the country. Here, a life free from sin awaits. But the secret behind that success is anything but holy. And they’ll scare you straight to hell.”
We had a chance to ask Chuck a few questions about the book, its themes, and how living in Montana influenced the book. Chuck’s answers were published as received to maintain his signature writing style.
Some of your previous self-published work has dealt with horror and horror-adjacent themes, cosmic horror and “The Void” being the most common. How do you think Camp Damascus builds upon, or strays away from, those previous works?
thank you for noticing this way that is the sign of a TRUE BUCKAROO interview great question. you are absolutely correct there is undercurrent of horror that has always been bubbling under surface of romance tingleverse but also in PARATEXT to the romance tingleverse. the void is something i am constantly wrestling with in my real trot.
the void is the endless nothing that exists outside every possible timeline. the tingleverse is infinite timelines in a long stack, just like the various timelines of this universe, so you have to ask yourself ‘well what is outside of that stack? and thats when you run into the endless cosmic void. what is that NOTHINGNESS? it can be an overwhelming thought and there is certainly a lot of existential horror to mine from this way.
but to get to heart of your question, even though the horror tingleverse and romance tingleverse are separate worlds they are still connected by a few strings of THEME. obviously both deal with queer issues and both have social commentary way, and i think both of these universes are full of stories that are ultimately about the same thing: the power of love.
in practical sense i will say that ‘STRAIGHT’, chucks first horror novella, is directly related to the void in pretty straightforward way. in that story there is a tear in the sky, and by reading between the lines and being familiar with my work it is pretty easy to connect this anomaly to the kind of VOID TEAR thats sometimes in romance tingleverse works.
CAMP DAMASCUS has connections as well but id rather not go TOO DEEP into the dang lore because it might give a few things away, but yes there are definite TINGLEVERSE LORE references in camp damascus that connect it to broader catalog even though the mood is eliciting something much different, which is fear and unease.
Horror is a genre the varies wildly from work to work. Five Nights at Freddy’s is much different than Hereditary, which is also much different than American Horror Story. What sort of school or genre of horror do you think Camp Damascus falls under?
yes this is true horror genre is pretty DANG expansive. chuck tends to look at at horror in terms GOAL of the piece, and in this way i think there is CATHARTIC HORROR and GRUELING HORROR and the tension of the genre is that you do not know which one you are going to get.
GRUELING HORROR is similar to eating hot sauce on your dang spaghetti or going on the biggest roller coaster in the park. it is putting yourself through a difficult experience and finding joy in the trauma of this. lots of these films or books are very violent and are TRYING to disturb the reader as a part of the art. there are lots of very good and very important pieces that fall into this category but i think audience for this way is also very specific. you could look at this category is ‘the bad ending stories’
CATHARTIC HORROR is when you are not sure where the story will go and you strap in sayin ‘oh dang this is gonna be a HARD TIME’ and you get a taste of this grueling journey but NOT the whole trot. at a certain point, usually halfway, or at start of THIRD ACT, all that tension gets to break and the hero escapes or turns the tables and you get to say ‘WOW this is what i NEEDED’. this is catharsis.
so i really think horror as a genre is a balance between these two, and it is a little game we get to pay where we dont know which one we are gonna get. for the sake of camp damascus i dont think i should say which one chuck likes to write, because thats kinda PART OF THE GAME, but i think buckaroos can probably guess.
This is your first novel with a major publisher, how has the process differed from writing your self-published works?
well most obvious difference is the SPEED. when you are self publishing this timeline is just whippin past you events are happening and i can write and publish the next day and comment on the dang news. with traditional publisher it is gonna trot around a year or two to say what you gotta say, so i think thematically when you are picking what to write about you have to consider that a little bit. book after CAMP DAMASCUS that nightfire is also putting out is called BURY YOUR GAYS and when i wrote it i was worried it was too unbelieveable and that it would not make sense in certain ways, but in the time leading to release of book the parts i was worried about are just part of our culture on this timeline now. it was originally a story with some science fiction elements but now it will just seem current and modern.
but as far as the DAY TO DAY work i could not be happier with NIGHTFIRE they are just incredible to work with and are constantly proving love is real. i can picture other buckaroo authors or fans offering all kinds of warnings about signing deal with major publisher, sayin they do not care about the art, but in case of nightfire that could not be father from the truth. they really truly care about art and message and TRUTH behind what they are putting out. feels like i won the dang lottery ending up with such good partners in this journey.
You’ve written books that have taken place in Montana before, like Escape From The Billings Mall. What led you to set Camp Damascus in the fictional town of Neverton, Montana? Is there anything specific about Montana that made it an ideal choice for a horror novel?
my history in billings means i like to set things in montana whenever i can. chuck lives in CITY OF DEVILS now (also known as los angeles on this timeline) but was in billings for long long time and will always think of it as home. also i go back to visit a whole dang lot.
for horror tingleverse kind of had thought that i would set the stories in a lot of different places but find ways to tie them together through IN UNIVERSE companies or tv shows or characters, so first horror novella ‘straight’ takes place in joshua tree california, and ‘bury your gays’ will take place in los angeles, so i thought ‘lets do one for the dang HOME TEAM and make sure camp damascus is in montana.
fictional city name of neverton has to do with theme of the book, about how we can take the same story and interpret it in various different ways to suit our trot. so camp damascus has three layers: a literal layer, a biblical layer, and a fairytale layer, with all three allegories happening at the same time. neverton is a reference to the fairytale allegory. in book there is also a fictional town next door called ‘lebka rock’ and if you can figure that one out you can probably figure out why it is called neverton.
The book deals with the struggles queer Americans face today. It’s being released a few months after Montana became a flashpoint in that struggle with the ban of state Rep. Zooey Zephyr from the Montana House and the state ban of gender-affirming care for minors. Obviously, the book was finished before these events occurred. But as someone from Billings, what has it been like promoting your book while this has been happening?
these events trying to silence trans voices are sad and disgraceful, but also from queer perspective i think most buckaroos are not shocked because the patterns these anti-trans, anti-queer scoundrels fall into is so predictable. it is the same low-vibration empty-skull hate happening in a loop over and over again, only with a worse cover story every time. it is just so obvious what they are doing.
so i suppose that is the thing that keeps my work relevant is the fact that i am speaking on SYSTEMATIC social issues. it only seems like im connecting to a current event on this timeline because devils have made a HABIT out of being devilish. it is all they know how to do.
fortunately, all that CHUCK knows how to do is stand up to devils and tell them to heck off, so i am happy to use my voice for that fight
What are you most excited for folks to experience when they are able to read the novel?
well as i said before there are a LOT of layers to camp damascus and i have done a pretty good job about holding my tongue in this way. so i am very excited to talk about all the little clues and metaphors and things that are hidden between the lines. there are so many little secrets tucked away in the book if you know where to look, so i am excited for buckaroos to get digging around for those and to start discussing these hidden layers
Is there anything else you’d like people to know about the novel?
i have just talked a LOT about the novel (very good questions bud thank you) so as far as that goes i would say if you are interested you should pick up a copy and read it, i think you will enjoy. HOWEVER there IS something i would like everyone reading to know about THEMSELVES.
there are so many infinite things that had to happen in just the right way for you to be here and that makes you unfathomably important and special. there is nobody better at being you than you are, and there also never WILL be. you are infinitely unique and that is something to celebrate and be proud of and find joy in.
so i will say THANK YOU for being here on this timeline. do not forget that YOU can make this reality a better place just by being yourself. YOU have the power to prove love is real, so use that power well
Camp Damascus will be released on July 18th, 2023 and is available to pre-order at your local book store and anywhere else you buy your books.