Camp Carnage by Joshua Winning & Elliot Arthur Cross
Every now and again a book drops into my slot with perfect timing and I got this one for Halloween. Local boy Joshua Winning and his co-author Elliot Cross have conspired on this book based in a 1980s American summer camp where gay teens are sent to be straightened out but- as is the gore-norm for summer camps and teens- there’s also a crazed killer on the loose.
Winning & Cross are fans of the over-the-top horror genre and this book is a good homage to the blood dripping style and is tightly written, full of jumps and surprises right up to the end.
In the summer of 1986, Billy Collins is sent to his own personal Hell – summer camp. The remote Camp Genesis offers desperate parents a place to “straighten” out their gay teenagers with the help of the puritanical Katherine Creevey.
The prose is light and fun, full of frothy campery and some rather delightful bitchy comments too. These LGBT characters are likable, recognisable and not too bogged down in typical behaviours too, and when they are getting picked off and sliced, chopped or stabbed at the rate they are in this book you need to connect to them quickly, just in case they’re next.
If you like your camp on the dark side, and with a knowing wink towards modern horror genres like Friday 13th and Scream then you’ll enjoy this book a lot. The authors obviously love this genre and you can feel that in his deft weaving of various tropes in and out of the book, and plenty of 80’s references which are spot on. They keep the writing on the right side of cliché (which is more difficult than it sounds with so much slashing going down) while allowing the protagonists to be believable. Winning & Cross have the cute ability to keep the authors knowing nods to a minimum while relishing in our familiarity with this genre. Billy, the lead character is funny, sassy and more than a little pissed off with being dumped in a Christian summer camp, then things start to get strange. He teams up with new found friend Jem and together they start to unravel the secrets of Camp Genesis and the rather dreadful camp leader Katherine Creevey. She’s a well written horror of religious right wing righteousness and made me laugh quite a few times with depictions of Creevey’s small judgemental mind and power crazed attitude.
There’s more than a wink towards Thelma and Scooby and Nancy Drew, with a lot more gore. Cross & Winning keep the slasher count high in this book and also the narrative tension up to the last few pages with a surprise ending, or rather an in-your-face-obvious ending that you miss until it’s too late. I was left wondering quite why the murderer was killing people though, as I felt this wasn’t totally explained to my satisfaction, but perhaps exploring the motivations for such carnage is not the reasons for this book and it’s perfect for a late night shiver.
This book is silly, scary and with some intentionally funny moments keeps the thrills and smiles in equal measure; curl up on the sofa, safe while you listen to the sounds of the branches scratching on the windows, if, of course, it is the branches that are scratching…
Out now in a variety of formats
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