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Enter the Peerless
Elpenor, a newly minted private investigator, finds his first case on twenty-nine people have entered an abandoned trailer in rural Indiana, and none of them have left. Unable to open the trailer’s doors or windows, Elpenor enlists two local accomplices, a knife grinder (Don the Knife) and a janitor (Hugh Gardener). When they finally gain access, they fall into a pocket universe ruled by a godlike being called Fiascoal.
Refugees of this world—a depopulated and exact copy of our world—congregate around a web of communities in St. Louis. Elpenor attempts to find the missing people but is instead forced to become the new host of Fiascoal as a communal ritual. His search for the missing in the netherworld and the needs of the hungry, petulant god conflict as Don the Knife raises a cult of personality, community leaders abuse their authority, and Elpenor must decide whether to save the few over the many. That is, if he can find a way out of the metaphysical prison he’s broken into. Told in a charged high-rhetorical, hard-boiled style, Enter the Peerless is a detective novel for the paranoiacs and heartsick rejects who know an angel in the dirt when they see one.
Refugees of this world—a depopulated and exact copy of our world—congregate around a web of communities in St. Louis. Elpenor attempts to find the missing people but is instead forced to become the new host of Fiascoal as a communal ritual. His search for the missing in the netherworld and the needs of the hungry, petulant god conflict as Don the Knife raises a cult of personality, community leaders abuse their authority, and Elpenor must decide whether to save the few over the many. That is, if he can find a way out of the metaphysical prison he’s broken into. Told in a charged high-rhetorical, hard-boiled style, Enter the Peerless is a detective novel for the paranoiacs and heartsick rejects who know an angel in the dirt when they see one.
- GenresHorror
300 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 10, 2025
3 people are currently reading
96 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 5, 2025
I purchased a copy of this book, directly from the publisher. All views and opinions are my own.
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"There is no running away in the midwest. Just growing smaller or bigger in the rearview."
- Kyle Winkler, Enter The Peerless, pg.39 paperback edition.
The above quote, when I first read it, gave me pause. I spent my adolescent and teenage years in a series of smalltowns in Iowa. I promised myself I would never return to the midwest, once I was able to leave. Now years later, I find myself living in Wisconsin. As I work to process and reconcile my feelings about this swath of the USA, Kyle's prose give me more to consider and digest.
In the Town of Strawberry Point, Iowa, I remember there sat a mobile home, I never saw anyone ever enter or leave. It sometimes had lights on, dimly perceived through windows in the evening. Yet, I never saw anyone go through its door. Someone later told me that there grandfather lived there. Yet, here I am decades later, and I still recall a trailer that, to me, never had a living occupant.
To paraphrase the author, and build off of said paraphrase, the quite that is accepted to exist in the those locals with minimum human presence is a fallacy. Breeze, insects, birds etc, the quiet of the country is noisy, full of a hum. Yet its a noise, a natural static that one can get lost in, disappear into, but only for a moment.
There were a few other quotes from the book that I felt the need to throw in, but despite my best efforts I cannot find them at present, they've slipped away. Seems to be how this book operates.
Part One is pulsing with a thickening air of mystery and confusion. Philip K Dick and Edwin Callahan by way of Rod Serling. Every breath, each new step in Elpenor's journey seems to curve in new direction, leading to more questions. Building to a boil of high weirdness, menace and unreality.
All this is before they Enter The Peerless... From there all is scattered, like a pack of Tarot Cards tossed in a Stochastic fashion. But is it all random probability or chance? Are patterns just perceived or are there indeed wheels in motion, unseen forces?
Enter The Peerless is Fractal Sequences, photo copies of photo copies, Detournement on an Ultra-Cosmic Existential scale. It's a book grand in scope, but one that comes to you as intimate as an embrace from a loved one. Finishing this book guarantees you will be going back over the path to the Peerless, beyond and back again. Are those connections and patterns revealed later in the story. Or are we the readers making our own new cosmology, mentally as we are left to ponder what we have read?
To say anymore, I feel, would be to spoil what lies beyond that trailer door. I'll leave it up to you to let Kyle Winkler guide you deer reader as you ENTER THE PEERLESS.
-
"There is no running away in the midwest. Just growing smaller or bigger in the rearview."
- Kyle Winkler, Enter The Peerless, pg.39 paperback edition.
The above quote, when I first read it, gave me pause. I spent my adolescent and teenage years in a series of smalltowns in Iowa. I promised myself I would never return to the midwest, once I was able to leave. Now years later, I find myself living in Wisconsin. As I work to process and reconcile my feelings about this swath of the USA, Kyle's prose give me more to consider and digest.
In the Town of Strawberry Point, Iowa, I remember there sat a mobile home, I never saw anyone ever enter or leave. It sometimes had lights on, dimly perceived through windows in the evening. Yet, I never saw anyone go through its door. Someone later told me that there grandfather lived there. Yet, here I am decades later, and I still recall a trailer that, to me, never had a living occupant.
To paraphrase the author, and build off of said paraphrase, the quite that is accepted to exist in the those locals with minimum human presence is a fallacy. Breeze, insects, birds etc, the quiet of the country is noisy, full of a hum. Yet its a noise, a natural static that one can get lost in, disappear into, but only for a moment.
There were a few other quotes from the book that I felt the need to throw in, but despite my best efforts I cannot find them at present, they've slipped away. Seems to be how this book operates.
Part One is pulsing with a thickening air of mystery and confusion. Philip K Dick and Edwin Callahan by way of Rod Serling. Every breath, each new step in Elpenor's journey seems to curve in new direction, leading to more questions. Building to a boil of high weirdness, menace and unreality.
All this is before they Enter The Peerless... From there all is scattered, like a pack of Tarot Cards tossed in a Stochastic fashion. But is it all random probability or chance? Are patterns just perceived or are there indeed wheels in motion, unseen forces?
Enter The Peerless is Fractal Sequences, photo copies of photo copies, Detournement on an Ultra-Cosmic Existential scale. It's a book grand in scope, but one that comes to you as intimate as an embrace from a loved one. Finishing this book guarantees you will be going back over the path to the Peerless, beyond and back again. Are those connections and patterns revealed later in the story. Or are we the readers making our own new cosmology, mentally as we are left to ponder what we have read?
To say anymore, I feel, would be to spoil what lies beyond that trailer door. I'll leave it up to you to let Kyle Winkler guide you deer reader as you ENTER THE PEERLESS.
October 19, 2025
BWAF Score: 8/10
Kyle Winkler, an Associate Professor of English at Kent State University Tuscarawas and MFA faculty at Ashland University, is a weirdo in the literary horror scene with his cerebral yet visceral storytelling. Living in Ohio with his family, Winkler’s earlier works include the cosmic horror novella The Nothing That Is, the weird fiction collection OH PAIN (2021), and novels Boris Says the Words and Tone-Bone (2024). His stories blend existential dread with gritty realism, earning him a cult following among readers who crave horror that’s as philosophical as it is unsettling. Online as @bleakhousing, Winkler engages fans with a sardonic wit that mirrors his prose. His academic background informs his knack for weaving complex themes into genre fiction, making him a standout in contemporary horror.
Enter the Peerless follows Elpenor, a down-on-his-luck private investigator in rural Indiana, hired by widow Linda Crisp to probe the mysterious Peerless trailer, where people enter but never exit. What starts as a hard-boiled detective gig spirals into a cosmic horror odyssey when Elpenor is sucked into a parallel universe called The Cavity. There, he grapples with a malevolent entity, Fiascoal, and a cast of desperate survivors, including a knife-obsessed loner and a college kid with too much optimism. As Elpenor searches for a missing mother and child, he navigates a world of bizarre creatures and oppressive rituals, fighting to retain his humanity. Winkler’s genre-blending tale is a gritty, surreal descent into a pocket universe where hope is scarce and answers are scarcer.
Winkler’s Enter the Peerless is a beast that chews on big ideas with jagged teeth, spitting out a narrative that’s equal parts noir and cosmic horror. The central theme is identity under siege, Elpenor’s struggle to remain himself while possessed by Fiascoal mirrors humanity’s broader wrestle with forces beyond control, whether divine or societal. The sycamore tree, repeatedly carved with names, stands as a potent symbol of anchoring one’s existence against oblivion, a nod to the human need to leave a mark in a universe that doesn’t care. Sacrifice, another core theme, is dissected through The Cavity’s rituals, questioning whether submission to a higher power is freedom or enslavement. Philosophically, the novel probes the absurdity of seeking meaning in a chaotic cosmos, echoing Camus but with a bloodier edge. It critiques the allure of cults and charismatic leaders, reflecting our own world’s obsession with surrendering to larger-than-life figures.
Winkler’s style is a jagged cocktail of hard-boiled cynicism and poetic surrealism. Sentences are sharp, fragmented like shattered glass, yet they weave vivid images. A diner’s coffee tastes of “toes” or a stormfront glows like a “bioluminescent undersea monster.” This blend keeps the reader off-balance, mirroring The Cavity’s disorienting reality. The prose demands you keep up or get lost. The novel’s irreverence, peppered with coarse humor and biting dialogue, is fresh and demands a smirk. Yet, it’s not just weird for weird’s sake; it’s a deliberate descent into a universe where logic frays, making it a true heir to weird fiction’s legacy.
Enter the Peerless is a triumph of originality, smashing noir and cosmic horror together like a drunk driver totaling two cars and somehow making art from the wreckage. Winkler doesn’t just borrow from Lovecraft or Chandler; he forges a new path, crafting a pocket universe that feels both alien and achingly human. The Cavity is a masterstroke. Its desolate cities, tooth-eating windsocks, and skeletal elephants create a horror that’s vivid yet elusive, burrowing into your psyche like a splinter. The pacing is relentless, propelling Elpenor from one gut-twisting revelation to another, though it occasionally stumbles in the second half, where repetitive confrontations with Fiascoal slow the momentum.
Elpenor is a standout protagonist, a flawed everyman whose sardonic wit and dogged persistence make him a compelling guide through hell. Supporting characters like Don the Knife, with his manic knife fetish, and Hugh, the doomed optimist, add depth, though some, like Mira, feel underdeveloped, their backstories hinted at but not fully explored. The horror hits hard. Fiascoal’s possession scenes are skin-crawling, blending psychological torment with visceral imagery (a demiurge sliding into pores like “malignant cake frosting” is nightmare fuel). Yet, the novel’s ambition sometimes outstrips its clarity; the rules of The Cavity and Fiascoal’s motivations remain murky, which can frustrate readers craving resolution (what can I say, I like rules!). Still, this ambiguity enhances the cosmic horror, emphasizing the unknowable over cheap answers. Winkler’s dialogue crackles, and his ability to make a trailer park feel as ominous as an eldritch void is fucking genius.
Winkler delivers a bold, genre-bending horror novel that’s as thought-provoking as it is unsettling, with a world and protagonist that linger like smoke in your lungs. The fusion of noir grit and cosmic dread is executed with audacious flair, and the prose’s raw edge keeps you hooked. The horror is potent, blending visceral and existential scares. For readers who crave horror that challenges and unnerves, this is a must-read. Its ambition and execution make it a standout for a slightly unhinged readership.
TL;DR: Enter the Peerless is a gritty, surreal horror novel blending noir and cosmic dread. Elpenor, a PI, investigates a trailer that’s a portal to The Cavity, a nightmarish universe ruled by the demiurge Fiascoal. Expect vivid prose, existential terror, and a wild ride.
Recommended for: Degenerates who fantasize about sprouting claws and howling at the moon while flipping off societal norms.
Not recommended for: Prudes who clutch their pearls at oozing wounds or whimper when stories don’t tie up with a cute little ribbon.
Kyle Winkler, an Associate Professor of English at Kent State University Tuscarawas and MFA faculty at Ashland University, is a weirdo in the literary horror scene with his cerebral yet visceral storytelling. Living in Ohio with his family, Winkler’s earlier works include the cosmic horror novella The Nothing That Is, the weird fiction collection OH PAIN (2021), and novels Boris Says the Words and Tone-Bone (2024). His stories blend existential dread with gritty realism, earning him a cult following among readers who crave horror that’s as philosophical as it is unsettling. Online as @bleakhousing, Winkler engages fans with a sardonic wit that mirrors his prose. His academic background informs his knack for weaving complex themes into genre fiction, making him a standout in contemporary horror.
Enter the Peerless follows Elpenor, a down-on-his-luck private investigator in rural Indiana, hired by widow Linda Crisp to probe the mysterious Peerless trailer, where people enter but never exit. What starts as a hard-boiled detective gig spirals into a cosmic horror odyssey when Elpenor is sucked into a parallel universe called The Cavity. There, he grapples with a malevolent entity, Fiascoal, and a cast of desperate survivors, including a knife-obsessed loner and a college kid with too much optimism. As Elpenor searches for a missing mother and child, he navigates a world of bizarre creatures and oppressive rituals, fighting to retain his humanity. Winkler’s genre-blending tale is a gritty, surreal descent into a pocket universe where hope is scarce and answers are scarcer.
Winkler’s Enter the Peerless is a beast that chews on big ideas with jagged teeth, spitting out a narrative that’s equal parts noir and cosmic horror. The central theme is identity under siege, Elpenor’s struggle to remain himself while possessed by Fiascoal mirrors humanity’s broader wrestle with forces beyond control, whether divine or societal. The sycamore tree, repeatedly carved with names, stands as a potent symbol of anchoring one’s existence against oblivion, a nod to the human need to leave a mark in a universe that doesn’t care. Sacrifice, another core theme, is dissected through The Cavity’s rituals, questioning whether submission to a higher power is freedom or enslavement. Philosophically, the novel probes the absurdity of seeking meaning in a chaotic cosmos, echoing Camus but with a bloodier edge. It critiques the allure of cults and charismatic leaders, reflecting our own world’s obsession with surrendering to larger-than-life figures.
Winkler’s style is a jagged cocktail of hard-boiled cynicism and poetic surrealism. Sentences are sharp, fragmented like shattered glass, yet they weave vivid images. A diner’s coffee tastes of “toes” or a stormfront glows like a “bioluminescent undersea monster.” This blend keeps the reader off-balance, mirroring The Cavity’s disorienting reality. The prose demands you keep up or get lost. The novel’s irreverence, peppered with coarse humor and biting dialogue, is fresh and demands a smirk. Yet, it’s not just weird for weird’s sake; it’s a deliberate descent into a universe where logic frays, making it a true heir to weird fiction’s legacy.
Enter the Peerless is a triumph of originality, smashing noir and cosmic horror together like a drunk driver totaling two cars and somehow making art from the wreckage. Winkler doesn’t just borrow from Lovecraft or Chandler; he forges a new path, crafting a pocket universe that feels both alien and achingly human. The Cavity is a masterstroke. Its desolate cities, tooth-eating windsocks, and skeletal elephants create a horror that’s vivid yet elusive, burrowing into your psyche like a splinter. The pacing is relentless, propelling Elpenor from one gut-twisting revelation to another, though it occasionally stumbles in the second half, where repetitive confrontations with Fiascoal slow the momentum.
Elpenor is a standout protagonist, a flawed everyman whose sardonic wit and dogged persistence make him a compelling guide through hell. Supporting characters like Don the Knife, with his manic knife fetish, and Hugh, the doomed optimist, add depth, though some, like Mira, feel underdeveloped, their backstories hinted at but not fully explored. The horror hits hard. Fiascoal’s possession scenes are skin-crawling, blending psychological torment with visceral imagery (a demiurge sliding into pores like “malignant cake frosting” is nightmare fuel). Yet, the novel’s ambition sometimes outstrips its clarity; the rules of The Cavity and Fiascoal’s motivations remain murky, which can frustrate readers craving resolution (what can I say, I like rules!). Still, this ambiguity enhances the cosmic horror, emphasizing the unknowable over cheap answers. Winkler’s dialogue crackles, and his ability to make a trailer park feel as ominous as an eldritch void is fucking genius.
Winkler delivers a bold, genre-bending horror novel that’s as thought-provoking as it is unsettling, with a world and protagonist that linger like smoke in your lungs. The fusion of noir grit and cosmic dread is executed with audacious flair, and the prose’s raw edge keeps you hooked. The horror is potent, blending visceral and existential scares. For readers who crave horror that challenges and unnerves, this is a must-read. Its ambition and execution make it a standout for a slightly unhinged readership.
TL;DR: Enter the Peerless is a gritty, surreal horror novel blending noir and cosmic dread. Elpenor, a PI, investigates a trailer that’s a portal to The Cavity, a nightmarish universe ruled by the demiurge Fiascoal. Expect vivid prose, existential terror, and a wild ride.
Recommended for: Degenerates who fantasize about sprouting claws and howling at the moon while flipping off societal norms.
Not recommended for: Prudes who clutch their pearls at oozing wounds or whimper when stories don’t tie up with a cute little ribbon.
July 18, 2025
I never know what to expect from a Kyle Winkler book, and I love that. I can count on inventiveness, empathy, imagination, fantasy and horror. I loved this crazy ride and will be thinking about it for a long time.
Read
June 22, 2025The Peerless is as if Laird Barron and Cormac McCarthy had a weird horror noir baby.
Great, great read. Up there with my favorites from Winkler.
Great, great read. Up there with my favorites from Winkler.
July 6, 2025
Like Stephen King snorted Cormac McCarthy’s funerary ash.
October 9, 2025
huh
improved my vocabulary though
improved my vocabulary though
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews