Dean Koontz
Do you enjoy reading books that make you cringe with fear? Books that make you wonder if your neighbor's up to something sneaky and might be using his gift of telepathy to influence and entire town to commit mass suicide? Or what about the postman? Maybe in his spare time he's really trying to develop a new kind of technology that could throw the world into chaos. If so, then a book by Dean Koontz is a must read for you. He's an author who has the uncanny ability to turn safe and comfortable world into one of pure horror.
Biography of Dean Koontz
When he was a senior in college, Dean Koontz won an Atlantic Monthly fiction competition and has been writing ever since. His books are published in 37 languages; worldwide sales total more than 150 million copies, and that figure currently increases at the rate of more than 18 million copies a year. Five of his novels have risen to number one on the New York Time's hardcover best-seller list, and he has had eleven books at the number one position in paperback. He has written the screenplay for the film adaptation of his novel, Midnight, and he wrote and executive produced The Face of Fear for Warner Brothers-CBS Television. Phantoms is scheduled for production at Miramax, based on the author's own screenplay. Putnam published his Mr. Murder in October of '93, and film rights have been sold to Savoy Pictures. In November, 1994, he published Dark Rivers Of The Heart, his first novel under the Knopf imprint: in October 1995 Knopf will issue Intensity. Dark Rivers will be a CBS Television miniseries. The New York Times has called his writing "psychologically complex, masterly and satisfying." The New Orleans Times-Picayune said Koontz is, "at times lyrical without ever being naive or romantic. [He creates] a grotesque world, much like that of Flannery O'Conner or Walker Percy...scary, worthwhile reading." Of Cold Fire, a worldwide #1 bestseller, the United Press International said, "An extraordinary piece of fiction. It will be a classic." Dean Koontz was born and raised in Pennsylvania. He graduated from Shippensburg State College (now Shippensburg University), and his first job after graduation was in the Appalachian Poverty Program, where he was expected to counsel and tutor underprivileged children on a one-to-one basis. His first day at work, he discovered that the previous occupier of his position had been beaten up by the very kids he'd been trying to help and had landed in the hospital for several weeks. The following year was filled with challenge but also tension, and Koontz was more highly motivated than ever to build a career as a writer. He wrote nights and weekends, which he continued to do after leaving the poverty program and going to work as an English teacher in a suburban school district outside of Harrisburg, After he had been a year and a half in that position, his wife, Gerda, made him an offer he couldn't refuse: "I'll support you for five years," she said, "and if you can't make it as a writer in that time, you'll never make it." By the end of those five years, Gerda had quit her job to run the business end of her husband's writing career. Dean and Gerda Koontz live in southern California, which they have called home since 1976.
Works of Dean Koontz
Fiction
After The Last Race. New York: Atheneum,1974 Anti-Man. New York: Paperback Library, 1970 The Bad Place. New York: Putnam, 1990 Beastchild. New York: Lancer, 1970 Blood Risk. As "by Brian Coffey." New York: Bobbs-Merrill, 1973 Chase. As "by K.R. Dwyer." New York: Random House, 1972 Children Of The Storm. As "by Deanna Dwyer." New York: Lancer, 1972 Cold Fire. New York: Putnam, 1991 The Crimson Witch. New York: Curtis Books, 1971 Dance With The Devil. As "by Deanna Dwyer." New York: Lancer, 1973 The Dark Of Summer. As "by Deanna Dwyer." New York: Lancer, 1972 Dark Of The Woods. New York: Ace, 1970 The Ark Symphony. New York: Lancer, 1970 Darkfall. New York: Berkley, 1984 A Darkness In My Soul. New York: Daw Books, 1972 Demon Child. As "by Deanna Dwyer." New York: Lancer, 1971 Demon Seed. New York: Bantam, 1973 The Door To December. As "by Richard Paige." New York: New American Library, 1985 Dragon Tears. New York: Putnam, 1993 Dragonfly. As "by K.R. Dwyer." New York: Random House, 1975 The Eyes Of Darkness. As "by Leigh Nichols." New York: Pocket Books, 1981. The Face Of Fear. As "by Brian Coffey." New York: Bobbs-Merrill, 1977 The Fall Of The Dream Machine. New York: Ace Books, 1969 Fear That Man. New York: Ace Books, 1969 The Flesh In The Furnace. New York: Bantam, 1972 The Funhouse. As "by Owen West." New York: Jove Books, 1980 Hanging On. New York: M. Evans, 1973 The Haunted Earth. New York: Lancer Books, 1970 Hell's Gate. New York: Lancer Books, 1970 Hideaway. New York: Putnam, 1992 The House Of Thunder. As "by Leigh Nichols." New York: Pocket Books, 1982. Invasion. As "by Aaron Wolfe." Ontario, Canada: Laser Books, 1975 The Key To Midnight. As "by Leigh Nichols." New York: Pocket Books, 1979 Legacy Of Terror. As "by Deanna Dwyer." New York: Lancer, 1971 Lightning. New York: Putnam, 1988 The Long Sleep. As "by John Hill." New York: Popular Library, 1975 The Mask. As "by Owen Wet." New York: Jove Books, 1981 Midnight. New York: Putnam, 1989 Mr. Murder. New York: Putnam, 1993 Night Chills. New York: Atheneum, 1976 Nightmare Journey. New York: Berkley, 1975 Oddkins. New York: Warner Books, 1988 Phantoms. New York: Putnam, 1983 Prison Of Ice. As "by David Axton." New York: Lippincott, 1976 The Servants Of Twilight. (See Twilight) Shadowfires. As "by Leigh Nichols." New York: Avon, 1987 Shattered. As "by K.R. Dwyer." New York: Random House, 1973 Soft Come The Dragons. New York: Ace Books, 1970 Star Quest. New York: Ace Books, 1968 Starblood. New York: Lancer Books, 1972 Strangers. New York: Putnam, 1986 Strike Deep. As "by Anthony North." New York: Dial Press, 1974 Surrounded. As "by Brian Coffey." New York: Bobbs-Merrill, 1974 Time Thieves. New York: Ace Books, 1972 Twilight. As "by Leigh Nichols." New York: Pocket Books, 1984 Twilight Eyes. Plymouth, Michigan: The Land Of Enchantment, 1985. (Expanded Version: New York: Berkley Books, 1987) The Vision. New York: Putnam, 1977 The Voice Of The Night. As "by Brian Coffey." New York: Doubleday, 1980 The Wall Of Masks. As "by Brian Coffey." New York: Bobbs-Merrill, 1975 Warlock. New York: Lancer, 1972 Watchers. New York: Putnam, 1987 A Werewolf Among Us. New York: Ballantine, 1973 Whispers. New York: Putnam, 1980 Winter Moon. New York: Ballantine, 1994
Nonfiction
How To Write Best-selling Fiction. Cincinnati: Writer's Digest Books, 1981 The Pig Society and The Underground Lifestyles Handbook. Los Angeles: Aware Press, 1970 Writing Popular Fiction. Cincinnati: Writer's Digest Books, 1972
Short Fiction
Altarboy, in Infinity Three, edited by Robert Hoskins. New York: Lancer, 1972. Beastchild, Venture Science Fiction, August 1970. The Black Pumpkin, Twilight Zone, December 1986. Bruno, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, April 1971. Cosmic Sin, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, February 1972. The Crimson Witch, Fantastic Stories, October 1970. A Darkness in My Soul, Fantastic Stories, January 1968. Dreambird,If, September 1968. Down in the Darkness, The Horror Show, Summer 1986. A Dragon in the Land, Venture Science Fiction, August 1969. The Good Ship Lookoutworld, Fantastic Stories, February 1970. Graveyard Highway, in Tropical Chips, edited by Tim Sullivan. New York: Avon, 1988. Grayworld, in Infinity Five, edited by Robert Hoskins. New York: Lancer, 1973. Hardshell, in Night Visions 4, Arlington Heights, IL: Dark Harvest, 1987. In the Shield, If, January 1969. The Interrogation, The Horror Show, Summer 1987. Killerbot, Galaxy, May 1969. Kittens, Readers & Writers, Miss Attila the Hun, in Night Visions 4, Arlington Heights, IL: Dark Harvest, 1987. A Mouse in the Walls of the Global Village, in Again Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison. New York: Doubleday, 1972. Muse, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, September 1969. The Mystery of His Flesh, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, July 1970. Night of the Storm, in Continuum 1, edited by Roger Elwood. New York: Putnam, 1974. Nightmare Gang, in Infinity One, edited by Robert Hoskins. New York: Lancer, 1970. Ollie's Hands, in Infinity Four, edited by Robert Hoskins. New York: Lancer 1972. Revised for The Horror Show, Summer 1987. The Psychedelic Children, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, July 1968. Shambolain, If November-December 1970. The Sinless Child, Flame Tree Planet, edited by Roger Elwood, 1986. Snatcher, Night Cry, Fall 1986. Soft Come the Dragons, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, August 1967. Temple of Sorrow, Amazing Stories, January 1969. Terra Phobia, in Androids, Time Machines and Blue Giraffes, edited by Roger Elwood and Vic Ghidalia. Follett, 1973. A Third Hand, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, January 1970. To Behold the Sun, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, December 1967. Trapped, in Stalkers, edited by Ed Gorman and Martin H. Greenberg. Arlington Heights, IL: Dark Harvest Press, 1989. The Twelfth Bed, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, August 1968. Twilight of the Dawn, in Night Visions 4, Arlington Heights, IL: Dark Harvest, 1987. The Undercity, in Future City, edited by Roger Elwood. New York: Trident Press, 1973. Unseen Warriors, Worlds of Tomorrow, Winter 1970. Wake Up to Thunder, in Children of Infinity, edited by Roger Elwood. New York: Franklin Watts, 1973. We Three, in Final Stage, edited by Roger Elwood and Barry N. Malzberg. New York: Charterhouse, 1974. Weird World, The Horror Show, Summer 1986. Where the Beast Runs, If, July 1969.
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