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Enter the nostalgia-laced world of CAMP 1985, a bogus new summer program where parents send their social-media-addicted teens to unplug and make face-to-face connections without the help of a screen. Ander expects a fun weekend getaway with other influencers but instead finds himself trapped in a radical landscape without wifi. Just when Ander gives in to camp life and starts crushing on a cute gamer boy, a little fun with a spirit board unleashes a vengeful spirit of a bygone era. Now, with danger lurking behind every tree, Ander and his fellow campers must navigate a twisted game of survival against a retro evil determined to off them individually. Who will survive?
This was a fairly enjoyable slasher book. The central setup on display, involving the kids arriving at the camp under false pretenses and being forced to surrender their social media experiences to participate in full-on recreation of a 1980s-era camp, sets this up quite nicely by offering an excuse for the retro taste of everything while also offering just enough modern vibes to be instantly recognizable. As well, there's also the fun amount of backstory given to the characters, with the psychic medium father responsible for instigating a series of online bullying against his son, a legacy of online stalking against another victim, and enough tidbits for the other characters that it all makes for a compelling group of characters. Some of this is a bit much, especially trying to connect the spirit medium backstory with the killer left behind at the disused portion of the camp or the forced head-butting that emerges once the killer arrives. Still, it's all handled well enough to not be much of an issue.
The horror antics, which arise at the midway point once they find the Ouija board left behind and manage to stumble upon the remnants of a church out in the middle of the woods, there are some fun times to emerge from this one. The inherent nature of the group at the camp who are renowned for their online personas making the story about something supernatural happening at the camp sets this up nicely that they're not going to believe a killer is on the loose, especially with the claims of dead bodies or others going missing which are par for the course with this particular genre. The arrival of the killer, with the unique mask and even more immersive backstory helps to make everything a more fitting slasher as the supernatural antics involving the constant appearance of bugs, worms, or other insects under his command and the ability to withstand normal punishment, gives this a solid old-school vibe.
This all comes to a head in the finale as the enhanced tone and more frantic elements in the storyline come together for a thrilling finish to everything. The frequently graphic deaths, explained in lurid detail to make sure everything's given a suitably gory touch, help move this one along at a perfect clip where it all means something when one of the kids gets knocked off. The use of sounds with enhanced whispers or movement through the woods is another great touch, adding a visceral quality to the scenes as if being there at the location during the experience. As there's a great overwash of queer influences with the influencers coming together at the camp to share their struggles with fame being a part of the community and how they're treated by the others there, the book is overall quite enjoyable.
There are some slight issues here in the book that hold it back. The biggest issue is the lack of time in the first half to establish anything about what's going on. With the amount of time focused on how the group gets tricked by their parents to get to the site, the initial outrage at being at the camp, and how they're supposed to function doing the traditional activities there, it sets up their mindset and personalities well enough to then make the later encounters somewhat more realistic. On the other hand, they also cause this to be a bit longer in getting to the supernatural slasher antics that take place in the second half which seems to come out of nowhere with the introduction of the Ouija board and the later discovery of the dead body that gets brought back to life. This is a slight issue here and doesn't hold it back too much thankfully.
4/5