Dean R. Koontz (1945–) Biography

(David Axton, Brian Coffey, Deanna Dwyer, K.R. Dwyer, John Hill, Leigh Nichols, Anthony North, Richard Paige, Owen West)

Personal

Born 1945, in Everett, PA; married Gerda Ann Cerra, October 15, 1966.

Addresses

Agent—Robert Gottlieb, Trident Media Group, 488 Madison Ave., 17th Fl., New York, NY 10022.

Career

Teacher-counselor with Appalachian Poverty Program, 1966–67; high school English teacher, 1967–69; writer, 1969–.

Honors Awards

Atlantic Monthly college creative writing award, 1966, for story "The Kittens"; Hugo Award nomination, World Science Fiction Convention, 1971, for novella Beastchild; Litt.D., Shippensburg State College, 1989.

Writings

FOR CHILDREN

Oddkins: A Fable for All Ages, illustrated by Phil Parks, Warner (New York, NY), 1988.

Santa's Twin, illustrated by Phil Parks, HarperPrism (New York, NY), 1996.

The Paper Doorway: Funny Verse and Nothing Worse, illustrated by Phil Parks, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2001.

Dean R. Koontz

Every Day's a Holiday, illustrated by Phil Parks, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2003.

Robot Santa: The Further Adventures of Santa's Twin, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2004.

NOVELS

Star Quest, Ace Books (New York, NY), 1968.

The Fall of the Dream Machine, Ace Books (New York, NY), 1969.

Fear That Man, Ace Books (New York, NY), 1969.

Anti-Man, Paperback Library (New York, NY), 1970.

Beastchild, Lancer Books (New York, NY), 1970.

Dark of the Woods, Ace Books (New York, NY), 1970.

The Dark Symphony, Lancer Books (New York, NY), 1970.

Hell's Gate, Lancer Books (New York, NY), 1970.

The Crimson Witch, Curtis Books (New York, NY), 1971.

A Darkness in My Soul, DAW Books (New York, NY), 1972.

The Flesh in the Furnace, Bantam (New York, NY), 1972.

Starblood, Lancer Books (New York, NY), 1972.

Time Thieves, Ace Books (New York, NY), 1972.

Warlock, Lancer Books (New York, NY), 1972.

A Werewolf among Us, Ballantine (New York, NY), 1973.

Hanging On, M. Evans (New York, NY), 1973.

The Haunted Earth, Lancer Books (New York, NY), 1973.

Demon Seed, Bantam (New York, NY), 1973.

(Under pseudonym Anthony North) Strike Deep, Dial (New York, NY), 1974.

After the Last Race, Atheneum (New York, NY), 1974.

Nightmare Journey, Putnam (New York, NY), 1975.

(Under pseudonym John Hill) The Long Sleep, Popular Library (New York, NY), 1975.

Night Chills, Atheneum (New York, NY), 1976.

(Under pseudonym David Axton) Prison of Ice, Lippincott (Philadelphia), 1976, revised edition under name Dean R. Koontz published as Icebound (also see below), Ballantine (New York, NY), 1995.

The Vision (also see below), Putnam (New York, NY), 1977.

Whispers (also see below), Putnam (New York, NY), 1980.

Phantoms (also see below), Putnam (New York, NY), 1983.

Darkfall (also see below), Berkley (New York, NY), 1984, published as Darkness Comes, W. H. Allen (London, England), 1984.

Twilight Eyes, Land of Enchantment (Westland, MI), 1985.

(Under pseudonym Richard Paige) The Door to December, New American Library (New York, NY), 1985.

Strangers (also see below), Putnam (New York, NY), 1986.

Watchers (also see below), Putnam (New York, NY), 1987, reprinted, Berkley Books (New York, NY), 2003.

Lightning (also see below), Putnam (New York, NY), 1988, reprinted, Berkley Books (New York, NY), 2003.

Midnight, Putnam (New York, NY), 1989, reprinted, Berkley Books (New York, NY), 2004.

The Bad Place (also see below), Putnam (New York, NY), 1990, with a new afterword, 2004.

Cold Fire (also see below), Putnam (New York, NY), 1991, with a new afterword, 2004.

Three Complete Novels: Dean R. Koontz: The Servants of Twilight; Darkfall; Phantoms, Wings Books (New York, NY), 1991.

Hideaway (also see below), Putnam (New York, NY), 1992.

Dragon Tears (also see below), Berkley (New York, NY), 1992, published in a limited edition, Putnam (New York, NY), 1993.

Dean R. Koontz: A New Collection (contains Watchers, Whispers, and Shattered [originally published under pseudonym K.R. Dwyer; also see below]), Wings Books (New York, NY), 1992.

Mr. Murder (also see below), Putnam (New York, NY), 1993.

Winter Moon, Ballantine (New York, NY), 1993.

Three Complete Novels: Lightning; The Face of Fear; The Vision (The Face of Fear originally published under pseudonym Brian Coffey), Putnam (New York, NY), 1993.

Three Complete Novels: Dean Koontz: Strangers; The Voice of the Night; The Mask (The Voice of the Night originally published under pseudonym Brian Coffey; The Mask originally published under pseudonym Owen West), Putnam (New York, NY), 1994.

Dark Rivers of the Heart (also see below), Knopf (New York, NY), 1994.

Strange Highways (also see below), Warner Books (New York, NY), 1995.

Intensity (also see below), Knopf (New York, NY), 1995.

TickTock, Ballantine (New York, NY), 1996.

Three Complete Novels (contains The House of Thunder, Shadowfires, and Midnight), Putnam (New York, NY), 1996.

Sole Survivor, Ballantine (New York, NY), 1997.

Fear Nothing, Bantam (New York, NY), 1998.

Seize the Night (sequel to Fear Nothing), Bantam Doubleday Dell (New York, NY), 1999.

False Memory, Bantam (New York, NY), 2000.

From the Corner of His Eye, Bantam (New York, NY), 2000.

The Book of Counted Sorrows (e-book), bn.com, 2001.

One Door away from Heaven, Bantam (New York, NY), 2002.

By the Light of the Moon, Bantam (New York, NY), 2003.

The Face, Bantam (New York, NY), 2003.

Odd Thomas, Bantam (New York, NY), 2004.

The Taking, Bantam (New York, NY), 2004.

Life Expectancy, Bantam (New York, NY), 2004.

Velocity, Bantam (New York, NY), 2005.

(With Kevin J. Anderson) Dean Koontz's Frankenstein: Prodigal Son, Bantam (New York, NY), 2005.

UNDER PSEUDONYM BRIAN COFFEY

Blood Risk, Bobbs-Merrill (Indianapolis, IN), 1973.

Surrounded, Bobbs-Merrill (Indianapolis, IN), 1974.

The Wall of Masks, Bobbs-Merrill Indianapolis, IN), 1975.

The Face of Fear, Bobbs-Merrill (Indianapolis, IN), 1977.

The Voice of the Night, Doubleday (New York, NY), 1981.

Also author of script for CHiPS television series, 1978.

UNDER PSEUDONYM DEANNA DWYER

The Demon Child, Lancer Books (New York, NY), 1971.

Legacy of Terror, Lancer Books (New York, NY), 1971.

Children of the Storm, Lancer Books (New York, NY), 1972.

The Dark of Summer, Lancer Books (New York, NY), 1972.

Dance with the Devil, Lancer Books (New York, NY), 1973.

UNDER PSEUDONYM K.R. DWYER

Chase (also see below), Random House (New York, NY), 1972.

Shattered (also see below), Random House (New York, NY), 1973.

Dragonfly, Random House (New York, NY), 1975.

UNDER PSEUDONYM LEIGH NICHOLS

The Key to Midnight, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1979.

The Eyes of Darkness, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1981.

The House of Thunder, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1982.

Twilight, Pocket Books, 1984, revised edition published under name Dean R. Koontz as The Servants of Twilight, Berkley (New York, NY), 1990.

Shadowfires, Avon (New York, NY), 1987.

UNDER PSEUDONYM OWEN WEST

(With wife, Gerda Koontz) The Pig Society (nonfiction), Aware Press (Granada Hills, CA), 1970.

(With Gerda Koontz) The Underground Lifestyles Handbook, Aware Press (Granada Hills, CA), 1970.

Soft Come the Dragons (story collection), Ace Books (New York, NY), 1970.

Writing Popular Fiction, Writer's Digest (Cincinnati, OH), 1973.

The Funhouse (novelization of screenplay), Jove (New York, NY), 1980.

The Mask, Jove (New York, NY), 1981.

How to Write Best-selling Fiction, Writer's Digest (Cincinnati, OH), 1981.

OTHER

(Author of text) David Robinson, Beautiful Death: Art of the Cemetery, Penguin Studio (New York, NY), 1996.

("Editor") Life Is Good!: Lessons in Joyful Living, by Trixie Koontz, Dog, Yorkville Press (New York, NY), 2004.

Contributor to books, including Infinity 3, edited by Robert Haskins, Lancer Books, 1972; Again, Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison, Doubleday, 1972; Final Stage, edited by Edward L. Ferman and Barry N. Malzberg, Charterhouse, 1974; Night Visions IV, Dark Harvest, 1987; Stalkers: All New Tales of Terror and Suspense, edited by Ed Gorman and Martin H. Greenberg, illustrated by Paul Sonju, Dark Harvest, 1989; and Night Visions VI: The Bone Yard, Berkley, 1991.

Adaptations

Demon Seed was filmed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/Warner Bros., 1977; Shattered was filmed by Warner Bros., 1977; Watchers was filmed by Universal, 1988; Hideaway was filmed by Tri-Star, starring Jeff Goldblum, 1994; Mr. Murder was filmed by Patchett Kaufman Entertainment/Elephant Walk Entertainment, 1999. Many of Koontz's works were recorded unabridged on audiocassette, including Cold Fire, Hideaway, and The Bad Place, Reader's Chair (Hollister, CA), 1991; Mr. Murder and Dragon Tears, Simon and Schuster Audio; Dark Rivers of the Heart, Icebound, and Intensity, Random House Audio; and Strange Highways and Chase, Warner Audio.

Work in Progress

More novels in the "Frankenstein" series.

Sidelights

Popular among both adult and teen readers, Dean R. Koontz is an acknowledged master of a hybrid class of books that combine suspense, horror, romance, and science fiction. His more than seventy books have sold in the millions and have been adapted for such successful movies as Demon Seed, Watchers, and Shattered. Though often dubbed a horror novelist, Koontz himself rejects such labels and views his own work as basically optimistic, showing hard-fought battles between good and evil. A favorite Koontz theme is the conflict between emotion and reason, and the emotional level of his books—a step beyond the usual plot-heavy nature of much of the genre—has gained him the respect of many critics. According to Charles de Lint, writing in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Koontz consistently succeeds at "telling a harrowing, highly suspenseful story featuring quick-witted protagonists who face the world with a positive attitude and exchange rapid-fire dialogue." "I have attempted, book by book, to speak to the reader's intellect and emotions as well as to his desire for a 'good read'," the author himself once stated. "I believe the best fiction does three things well: tells an involving story, makes the reader think, and makes the reader feel."

An only child, Koontz grew up in Pennsylvania. "I began writing when I was a child," he once explained, noting that "reading and writing provided much needed escape from the poverty in which we lived and from my father's frequent fits of alcohol-induced violence." While still in college, he started publishing his short stories and won an Atlantic Monthly fiction contest. Marrying his fiancée, Gerda, and graduating from Shippensburg State College in 1966, Koontz taught for a while in the Appalachian Poverty Program and in Pennsylvania schools, while also continuing to write and sell stories. In 1968 his first novel, Star Quest, was published, and Koontz quickly followed it with a second science-fiction novel.

In the early 1970s, determined to make a try at full-time writing, Koontz was aided by his wife, who agreed to support the family for five years while her husband followed his dream. He adopted an assortment of pseudonyms and tackled various genres, including science fiction, mystery, and thrillers. "The curse lies in the fact that much of the early work is of lower quality that what came after," Koontz remarked, "both because I was so young and unself-critical and because the low earnings from each book forced me to write a lot of them in order to keep financially afloat." Koontz marks Chase, a suspense novel written under the pseudonym K.R. Dwyer about the after-effects of Vietnam on a veteran, as "the beginning of my real career as a writer." He moved from science fiction to suspense with that book, and never looked back.

Writing in several genres aided Koontz in developing his own unique form of dark suspense, and his addition of humor, romance, and occult elements have created a distinctive body of work. Considered his breakthrough novel, 1980's Whispers is a dark and violent story of childhood cruelty, rape, and murder. Hilary Thomas is a survivor of abusive alcoholic parents who has become a successful screenwriter; she is attacked by millionaire Bruno Frye, whom she subsequently stabs to death. When Bruno returns from the grave to stalk her, it is left to Hilary's police officer boyfriend to help her unravel the twisted tale of Bruno's childhood and reveal the powers at work in this "slick tale of horror," as Rex E. Klett described the book in Library Journal. A Publishers Weekly reviewer noted that the "psychological portrait of the sick, sick Bruno makes skin crawl."

Koontz considers the horror novels Phantoms and Darkfall "sidesteps in my career." 1986's Strangers adheres to what would become characteristic Koontz form: it tells the story of a group of people connected only by a weekend each spent at a motel in Nevada two years prior—a weekend none of them remember. Soon the characters begin to experience nightmares, intense fears, and even supernormal powers that drive each toward uncovering the mystery and conspiracy that binds them. Deborah Kirk, writing in the New York Times Book Review, found some characters unconvincing but concluded that Strangers is "an engaging, often chilling, book," while Library Journal critic Eric W. Johnson dubbed the novel an "almost unbearably suspenseful page-turner." A Booklist reviewer deemed Koontz a "true master," and found Strangers to be "a rich brew of gothic horror and science fiction, filled with delectable turns of the imagination."

The misuse of science is at the heart of Watchers, which was chosen one of the American Library Association's best books for young adults in 1987. Recombinant DNA experiments go wrong at a government lab, and suddenly two mutants—one with human intelligence to be used for spying and the other a killer—are on the loose in Southern California. The intelligent mutant, a golden retriever, is pursued by the killer mutant, a blend of ape and dog that is named Outsider. Soon two humans, Travis and Nora, become involved helping the dog, nicknamed Einstein, as well as themselves, escape the wrath of Outsider. While Audrey B. Eaglen described Watchers in a review for School Library Journal as "about as horrifying as warm milk toast," others disagreed; New York Times Book Review contributor Katherine Weber had special praise for Einstein, whom she described as "the most richly drawn character in the book."

Koontz's works reflect a vivid imagination when it comes to plot and setting, and also an affinity for creating likeable protagonists. In Intensity he introduces Chyna Shepherd, a psychology student who must combat Edgler Vess, a killer obsessed with intensity of sensation, be it pleasure or pain. A Publishers Weekly reviewer found Intensity "masterful, if ultimately predictable," and lauded Koontz's racing narrative, calling it a contender for the most "viscerally exciting thriller of the year." A companion novel, Velocity finds novelist/bartender Billy Wiles facing a brutal killer in a game where an innocent victim loses their life due to Billy's inaction and inability to play by the rules. Soon, the game extends beyond Billy's control and he may become its next victim in a novel that a Kirkus Reviews critic cited for its "brilliant plotting" and suspense. In Publishers Weekly a critic wrote that the "graphic, fastpaced action, well-developed characters and relentless, nail-biting scenes" in Velocity "show Koontz at the top of his game."

Taking place in the coastal town of Moonlight Bay, California, Fear Nothing and Seize the Night also share the same protagonist: poet-surfer Christopher Snow, a man possessing a genetic mutation that makes him sensitive to light. In Fear Nothing the body of Snow's recently deceased father has vanished and been replaced by that of a murdered hitchhiker. Along with his Labrador-mix dog Orson, surfer-friend Bobby, and local disc jockey Sasha, Snow attempts to recover his father's corpse. Seven children abducted from their homes serves as the central mystery in Seize the Night, and Snow follows the trail of the kidnappers, joined by Orson, Bobby, Sasha, a mind-reading cat, and a biker. The chase leads to a supposedly abandoned military base, Fort Wyvern, where genetic experiments are actually being conducted. Among the strange, mutated creatures Snow and his companions uncover are wormlike creatures that can devour almost anything; in addition, Snow becomes trapped by a malfunctioning "temporal locator" and goes on time-travel journeys into both the future and the past.

Commenting on Fear Nothing in the New York Times Book Review, Maggie Garb characterized the novel as an "overwrought narrative," maintaining that Koontz's detective trio "seem more like the stuff of adolescent fantasy than fully believable sleuths." Garb also criticized Koontz's "surfer lingo and literary pretension," as detrimental to the suspense of the book. Regarding Seize the Night, an Entertainment Weekly contributor dubbed the book "either an utterly zany thriller or the first really cool young-adult novel of 1999," and "Koontz without tears, sadism, or even much bloodshed." An Entertainment Weekly reviewer noted that Seize the Night is "that holy-cow kind of novel—park your brains, don't ask why, tighten your seat belt." In the New York Times Book Review, David Walton characterized the novel as "a bros-and-brew backslapper in which characters refer to Coleridge and T.S. Eliot as often as to genetic mutation."

Described by a Publishers Weekly critic as "less thematically ambitious but more viscerally exciting" than the "Snow" novels, False Memory focuses on a woman who suffers from the mental disorder autophobia, or fear of self. Marty Rhodes, successful at work and in her marriage, takes her agoraphobic friend Susan to therapy sessions with psychiatrist Mark Ahriman twice each week. Suddenly, Marty begins to develop a fear that she will inflict harm upon herself or her loved ones. Meanwhile, Marty's husband, Dusty, a painting contractor, courageously saves his half-brother Skeet from taking a suicidal leap off a rooftop. After Dusty places Skeet in rehab, he returns home to find that Marty has removed all the sharp objects from the house. Soon Dusty begins to develop signs of paranoia, a clue that the troubles of all four disturbed protagonists are somehow linked. Ray Olsen, writing in Booklist, called False Memory "remarkably engaging, despite having so many pages and so little plot." While noting that the book "could have been trimmed by 200 pages and not lost any impact," David Olsen wrote in Library Journal that Koontz's "characters are rich, and the main story compelling." A Publishers Weekly reviewer comments that with "the amazing fertility of its prose, the novel feels like one of Koontz's earlier tales, with a simple core plot, strong everyman heroes (plus one deliciously malevolent villain) and pacing that starts at a gallop and gets only faster."

In The Taking Koontz draws on his science-fiction roots and weaves a "gripping, blood-curdling, thought-provoking parable," according to Ray Olson in Booklist. At the home of novelist Molly Sloan and her husband Neil in California's San Bernardino Mountains, it seems like everything is suddenly starting to come apart. In addition to a mysterious, glowing acid rain, the power appears to be off, but somehow appliances run and soon clocks start spinning out of control. Before long the couple realizes their true dilemma: the nation is under attack by a malevolent alien race. "Mixing a hair-raising plot with masterly story telling and a subtle network of well-placed literary allusions, this deservedly popular author has written a tour de force," stated Nancy McNicol in Library Journal, while a reviewer for Publishers Weekly commented that "Koontz remains one of the most fascinating of contemporary popular novelists."

Koontz based his novel Prodigal Son on Frankenstein, by eighteenth-century writer Mary Shelley. In Koontz's update—written with Kevin J. Anderson as part of a multi-volume series—two centuries have passed and the perennially forty-something Dr. Victor Frankenstein is now living under the assumed name of Helios in pre-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans. Continuing his macabre experiments, he is gradually letting pod-grown creatures, members of a "New Race" of perfect humans, live as humans within the city, his ultimate intention to eventually replace all actual humans. Meanwhile, Deucalion, the doctor's original "monster," is also still living in seclusion at a remote Tibetian monastery. When he learns of Helios's existence, and discovers that one of the doctor's perfect beings has become a serial murderer, the "monstrous" Deucalion becomes a force for good in Koontz's characteristic battle of good against evil. Noting the novel's "cliffhanger" ending, a Publishers Weekly reviewer wrote that Koontz's "odd juxtaposition of a police procedural with a neo-gothic, mad scientist plot gives the novel a wickedly unusual and intriguing feel."

In addition to his adult fiction, Koontz has also aimed several books specifically at the juvenile market. In Oddkins: A Fable for All Ages magical toys have been created for the many children who, for many reasons, need a special secret friend. Called Oddkins, these toys can come alive and possess the power of speech although they look and feel like ordinary stuffed toys; when the child no longer needs emotional support, the caretaking toy returns to its inanimate state. When evil toys created by an equally evil toymaker escape from the cellar of their toy factory, the Oddkins must stop them. Once again, Koontz sends an optimistic message in this clearly told battle of good against evil. A Publishers Weekly commentator noted that Oddkins has "enough excitement and humor to hold a child's attention" although it might not appeal as much to adult readers.

Koontz has produced several picture books for very young children, among them Every Day's a Holiday and two books about the Christmas season. Borrowing the "unbirthday" concept from Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, Koontz creates a host of humorous holidays, both real and imagined. Illustrations by Phil Parks bring to life "Lost-Tooth Day," "Cinco de Mayo," and "Up-Is-Down Day," among others, creating a book that Childhood Education reviewer Angela Pitamber called "funny, easy to read, and informative." Santa's Twin presents the story of Father Christmas as he tries to save the holiday season from his evil double. Also illustrated by artist Parks and containing Koontz's light-hearted verse, Robot Santa finds Santa's brother Bob caught up in even more problematic activities. Robot Santa was described by de Lint in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction as "light-hearted and fun."

From serial killers to out-of-control technology and social decay, Koontz often surveys the darker regions of life, but within his stories he "gives readers bright hope in a dark world," according to a Publishers Weekly critic. As Edward Bryant noted in Locus, "Koontz successfully does what most editors warn their writers not to do. He crosses genre boundaries with impunity…. He simply does pretty much what he wants, and the novels are then categorized as "Dean R. Koontz books.'" Koontz also admittedly peppers his books with upbeat messages. As he once remarked, he finds "the human species—and Western culture—to be primarily noble, honorable, and admirable. In an age when doom-sayers are to be heard in every corner of the land, I find great hope in our species and in the future we will surely make for ourselves…. I think we live in a time of marvels, not a time of disaster, and I believe we can solve every problem that confronts us if we keep our perspectives and our freedom."