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Scopophilia
When Gareth Kelmendi inherits a small hotel in northern Albania, he believes he has found an escape - distance, silence, a chance to rebuild.
What he inherits is a system.
Hidden within the building's infrastructure is a surveillance network that has recorded guests for their intimacy, their violence, their secrets, and the moments they believe no one is watching. The system is precise, methodical, and embedded in the hotel's operations.
Gareth begins by watching out of necessity. Soon, watching becomes routine. Eventually, it becomes the only thing that keeps him functioning.
As the novel unfolds, the hotel reveals itself not as a setting but as a mechanism - one where observation generates power, documentation replaces responsibility, and moral boundaries erode through repetition rather than rupture. What begins as voyeurism becomes infrastructure. What appears to be personal deviance proves to be a component of a larger system of discretion and control.
SCOPOPHILIA is a psychologically rigorous work of transgressive fiction set in contemporary Europe. It explores surveillance, desire, and moral exhaustion, asking what remains of ethical agency when seeing becomes effortless and accountability dissolves into mere record-keeping.
Unsentimental and uncompromising, this novel offers no catharsis and no redemption - only a steady descent into a system that functions because no one looks away.
This is not a story about desire. It is a story about what happens when observation becomes enough.
Content This novel contains graphic violence, explicit sexual content, and deeply transgressive themes. Intended for mature adult readers (18+) familiar with transgressive literary fiction.
What he inherits is a system.
Hidden within the building's infrastructure is a surveillance network that has recorded guests for their intimacy, their violence, their secrets, and the moments they believe no one is watching. The system is precise, methodical, and embedded in the hotel's operations.
Gareth begins by watching out of necessity. Soon, watching becomes routine. Eventually, it becomes the only thing that keeps him functioning.
As the novel unfolds, the hotel reveals itself not as a setting but as a mechanism - one where observation generates power, documentation replaces responsibility, and moral boundaries erode through repetition rather than rupture. What begins as voyeurism becomes infrastructure. What appears to be personal deviance proves to be a component of a larger system of discretion and control.
SCOPOPHILIA is a psychologically rigorous work of transgressive fiction set in contemporary Europe. It explores surveillance, desire, and moral exhaustion, asking what remains of ethical agency when seeing becomes effortless and accountability dissolves into mere record-keeping.
Unsentimental and uncompromising, this novel offers no catharsis and no redemption - only a steady descent into a system that functions because no one looks away.
This is not a story about desire. It is a story about what happens when observation becomes enough.
Content This novel contains graphic violence, explicit sexual content, and deeply transgressive themes. Intended for mature adult readers (18+) familiar with transgressive literary fiction.
175 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 11, 2026
About the author
Ellis De Keyzer
9 books1 followerEllis De Keyser writes fiction that examines power, complicity, and the quiet mechanics of institutional violence.
The work is grounded in real geopolitical and historical contexts and resists sentiment in favor of moral precision.
Rather than centering heroes, the writing focuses on systems and the human cost embedded in their everyday operations.
The work is grounded in real geopolitical and historical contexts and resists sentiment in favor of moral precision.
Rather than centering heroes, the writing focuses on systems and the human cost embedded in their everyday operations.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 12, 2026
Disclosure: I received a free e-book copy in exchange for an honest review.
De Keyzer’s “Scopophilia” was a genuinely interesting horror experiment. Complicity through observation, hammered with repetition, helped capture the absolute degeneration of Gareth and his surroundings. And we the reader, too, are complicit for being unable to away as these shocking acts of horror continue to occur with every turn of the page.
The repetition did begin to feel excessive, particularly in the last third of the book. And some character motivations fell a bit flat for me, which detracted a bit from the horror that was unfolding. However, I ultimately enjoyed this book. It is a very twisted read, one that I will be thinking about for some time to come.
De Keyzer’s “Scopophilia” was a genuinely interesting horror experiment. Complicity through observation, hammered with repetition, helped capture the absolute degeneration of Gareth and his surroundings. And we the reader, too, are complicit for being unable to away as these shocking acts of horror continue to occur with every turn of the page.
The repetition did begin to feel excessive, particularly in the last third of the book. And some character motivations fell a bit flat for me, which detracted a bit from the horror that was unfolding. However, I ultimately enjoyed this book. It is a very twisted read, one that I will be thinking about for some time to come.
January 11, 2026
Scopophilia commits fully to its premise and never retreats into irony, metaphor, or psychological alibi.
Observation is treated not as a theme but as a total condition, where recording replaces presence and morality erodes through repetition rather than escalation.
De Keyzer refuses the familiar gestures of transgressive fiction; there is no shock management, no aesthetic cushioning, only accumulation and consequence.
The novel’s discipline is its strength, forcing the reader into complicity through sustained attention rather than provocation.
It is exhausting, exacting, and deliberately unrelenting.
Observation is treated not as a theme but as a total condition, where recording replaces presence and morality erodes through repetition rather than escalation.
De Keyzer refuses the familiar gestures of transgressive fiction; there is no shock management, no aesthetic cushioning, only accumulation and consequence.
The novel’s discipline is its strength, forcing the reader into complicity through sustained attention rather than provocation.
It is exhausting, exacting, and deliberately unrelenting.
March 17, 2026
After reading the first 50 pages, I was wondering where the story was going, but unfortunately it just continued in the same vein. Very repetitious, and there was no flow to the writing. Yes, it's about voyeurism in the extreme, but way too much. The author does caution about the contents, so I was warned before hand, but I just couldn't finish it. Sorry. I read 100 of 410 pages.
March 15, 2026
Disclosure: I received this as a free e-book for an honest review.
I was not prepared for the eroticism that played out in this voyeuristic horror but the story, though an uncomfortable subject matter, was a captivating read. Truly horrifying.
I was not prepared for the eroticism that played out in this voyeuristic horror but the story, though an uncomfortable subject matter, was a captivating read. Truly horrifying.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews