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Is Dean R. Koontz still writing horror?

post #1 of 28
10/19/03 at 7:38am
Thread Starter 
It's been many years since I last read a book by this guy but I used to enjoy his stuff. But everytime something new by him would come out it'd be some psychological thriller. I haven't followed Kootz's output for the last few years so I'm wondering if he ever returned to the genre? Has anyone here been keeping up?
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post #2 of 28
10/19/03 at 12:03pm
Koontz is still writing horribly.

He doesn't even write thrillers anymore. He writes a Koontz tale, which usually involves a boy and his pet against some top-secret, hidden government agency that just happens to have discovered: the secret of invisibility/ technology from a downed UFO/ a voodoo doll.

His last, "The Face," is simply unreadable.
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post #3 of 28
10/19/03 at 12:30pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the warning! The reason I asked was because I'm currently considering giving the horror writers I used to be into as a kid another go. I've just bought two Stephen King novels, WIZARD AND GLASS and DESPERATION. I stopped reading the King after the unbelievably bad INSOMNIA.

I would have liked to give Koontz another go but I guess I won't now. The last of his books I read was WINTER MOON which was uneven but had a pretty kick-ass third act.

In regards to THE FACE, on his official website Koontz brags about how he's currently having more creative energy than usual - which is why he's putting out two books this year instead of just one. Draw your own conclusions ...
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post #4 of 28
10/19/03 at 12:38pm
I hope you've read the Dark Tower books that come before Wizard and Glass... if not, I highly recommend doing that.
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post #5 of 28
10/19/03 at 12:38pm
As far as later Koontz goes, give "Fear Nothing" and "Seize the Night" a try. These two are linked by the same main character, and it's the best character Koontz has created in a long while.

As far as later King goes, give "Bag of Bones" and "Hearts in Atlantis" a try. That's the best work he's done since "The Dark Half" and "The Drawing of the Three."
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post #6 of 28
10/19/03 at 12:58pm
I used to LOVE Koontz when I was younger. Cold Fire and Voice of the Night were some favorites.

Most of the later stuff I can't stand. I didnt't even finish Fear Nothing. Cool main character, yes, but the storyline was pure Koontz formula.
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post #7 of 28
10/19/03 at 1:53pm
One person one time recommended me Koontz and after much trepidation, I read a couple of his books even though I'd heard he was awful.

Naturally, since he turned out to be the paperback equivalent of a Dimension straight-to-video franchise, I never picked up another one.

The guy is such a joke, but because he pumped them out quickly and the publishing company wanted to "create another King," he got the call. No style, poor writing, recycled plots.
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post #8 of 28
10/19/03 at 2:23pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
El Gray:
I hope you've read the Dark Tower books that come before Wizard and Glass... if not, I highly recommend doing that.
Yeah, I read the 3 previous Dark Tower novels - 10 years ago. I didn't care all that much about DRAWING OF THE THREE (not enough supernatural stuff going on) but I absolutely loved THE WASTE LANDS. The main reason I picked up WIZARD AND GLASS is because I want to get into that world again in time for the next couple of books in the saga, which should come out shortly, if King is to be trusted.
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post #9 of 28
10/19/03 at 2:27pm
Wolves of the Calla -- 11/4
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post #10 of 28
10/19/03 at 2:31pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Kyle Reese:
I used to LOVE Koontz when I was younger.
Same here. The first novel by him that I ever read was TWILIGHT EYES and I liked it a lot, apart from the sci-fi-ish revelation at the end, which felt like such a cop-out.

There was also one about a crazy voodoo priest or something that was entertaining. And another one about a ufo and a mad general that was hella long and boring. Can't remember the titles of those two ... And then WINTER MOON which was pretty damn cool. At least my 12 year old self thought so at the time. I stopped after that, because that was when I got my hands on a little book called IMAGJICA by some dude named Clive Barker. That kinda changed my priorities.
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post #11 of 28
10/19/03 at 3:10pm
/me stands in front of firing squad

I kinda liked Phantoms

Ben was the bawmb
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post #12 of 28
10/19/03 at 3:14pm
***i read koontz and king both around the same times,first starting with king in 5th grade,with misery (which to this day is still one of my favorite books)

koontz's books now suck,however,he had a run of some decent stories

-mr murder
-intensity(probably my favorite koontz book and a good miniseries on Fox starring john c mcginley as the psycho)
-dragon tears
-night chills
-whispers
-shadowfires
-shattered

*spoiler*

dragon tears has stuck with me because of a particular part of the book where the villian manages to freeze everyone within an immediate area in place,except for the two main characters,while people are frozen around them, they prevent a mugging in a very cool way
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post #13 of 28
10/19/03 at 4:09pm
If you ask Koontz, he's never written horror.

Honestly, I loved his early stuff. Whispers, Phantoms, Twilight Eyes rocked. His later stuff, when he was first catching on, was very good. Watchers, Lightning, Hideaway, particularly. After Mr. Murder, though, I quit reading. All of it had the same feel to it, and it got downright tedious.

I have since read Fear Nothing and Seize the Night and would recommend those over every other book he's ever written.

If I didn't mention it above, discretion is advised.
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post #14 of 28
10/19/03 at 4:31pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Wetbones:
There was also one about a crazy voodoo priest or something that was entertaining. And another one about a ufo and a mad general that was hella long and boring.
Anyone know which two books I'm talking about? As I wrote above I've forgotten the titles. I read them in German anyway but without the German title I can't backtrack to the original English title the way I did with TWILIGHT EYES, which was published as "ZWIELICHT" (literal translation: TWILIGHT) in German speaking countries. It's not of collosal importance but it would be nice to know what those books were called. I hate it when I forget the title of a book. That's almost as annoying as when you remember part of some song and can't place it ...

The book with the ufo stuff started with this guy who had a problem with sleepwalking. No matter what he'd do he'd always wake up in some closet curled into a fetal position. I don't remember much else, except that he meets a couple more people and this crazy general guy ...

The one with the voodoo stuff is even sketchier in my memory. I think it started with some kid and strange, tiny monsters coming into his house through the ventilation system. At the end there was this showdown at a pit that opened into hell or something. I think the story was set in New York but I could be wrong.

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post #15 of 28
10/19/03 at 4:35pm
I think you're looking at Watchers and Tick-Tock.

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post #16 of 28
10/19/03 at 4:45pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Blofeld:
I think you're looking at Watchers and Tick-Tock.
No, I just checked the summaries for those two and they don't match with what I remember.

But I figured out that the one with the ufo was STRANGERS!!! And now I even remember the German title which was, absurdly, SCHWARZER MOND (literal translation: BLACK MOON) ...

I'm off again to look for that voodoo book ...
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post #17 of 28
10/19/03 at 4:54pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks to the reviews at amazon, the mystery has been solved!

The voodoo novel is called DARKFALL. And the German title was WENN DIE DUNKELHEIT KOMMT (literal translation: WHEN DARKNESS FALLS).
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post #18 of 28
10/19/03 at 4:57pm
I'm 0 for 2 in knowing my Koontz? I'm so ashamed...
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post #19 of 28
10/19/03 at 5:56pm
Love me some Koontz. Though I haven't read any in years.

Phantoms was damn fine horror and deserved better movie treatment... The Intensity TV movie made up for it though.

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post #20 of 28
10/19/03 at 8:40pm
Quote:
Blofeld:
Koontz is still writing horribly.

He doesn't even write thrillers anymore. He writes a Koontz tale, which usually involves a boy and his pet against some top-secret, hidden government agency that just happens to have discovered: the secret of invisibility/ technology from a downed UFO/ a voodoo doll.

His last, "The Face," is simply unreadable.
Have to agree with that. You can ocassionally leave out the boy and his pet against... but it's always the government who is the bad guy.

And dammit! Now I'll never watch Phantoms again...Probably one of the few people that actually liked it but now that it's been pointed out that Affleck is in it....*runs shrieking into the closet* Please make it go away!!!!!!
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post #21 of 28
10/19/03 at 10:41pm
Okay, okay. So I forgot Darkfall. I realized after I posted and left that I forgot Midnight, too.

Weird. Of all the Koontz books I've ever read, these two would be the most kick-ass on screen.
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post #22 of 28
10/20/03 at 1:12am
I think his best book is Lightning.

Other than that, the only Koontz stories I could finish were Phantoms, Sieze the Night and Fear Nothing.

His toupee troubles me more than any of his stories ever could.

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post #23 of 28
10/20/03 at 11:41am
In the whole Koontz bibliography, where does "from the corner of his eye" come? Good relatively to the others, or bad? It had no government in it, and the psycho character in it was fun. It's the only book of his I've read, and I found it fun but not worth tracking all his other stuff.
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post #24 of 28
10/20/03 at 12:19pm
I read Darkfall and was sooooo underwhelmed. It seemed like the action/horror scenes, chases with the monsters pursuing the characters from the shadows, were very well done and tightly-written, good stuff all around...but the rest of the book almost seemed like it was written by Koontz's 10th grade kids or something. Some truly horrible writing there, and the flashes of competence weren't enough to save it for me.

I remember one line in particular where he was talking about the voodoo priest and his hideout--I can't quote it verbatim, but it was something to this effect:

"It was his secret place. His respite from the rest of the world. It was his hidey-hole. "

I'm not kidding. He chose that word. Not "sanctum sanctorium", not even "hideout" or "closet" or "storage shed."

"Hidey-hole." Urrrghgghggh... frown
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post #25 of 28
10/20/03 at 1:14pm
meh, I could see it being intentional, like some sort of childish sense of womb-like refuge. Stephen King also sometimes uses childish expressions to represent the innermost part of his characters. But I didn't read the book, so I might be talking outta my ass.
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post #26 of 28
10/20/03 at 1:38pm
Quote:
Astromarine saw a creepy VHS tape:
meh, I could see it being intentional, like some sort of childish sense of womb-like refuge. Stephen King also sometimes uses childish expressions to represent the innermost part of his characters. But I didn't read the book, so I might be talking outta my ass.
Since everything else in the character's inner monologues sounded like a James Earl Jones script reading (at least in my head), no, I don't think so. Of course he'll probably CLAIM that's what he meant... wink
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post #27 of 28
10/20/03 at 2:01pm
Quote:
Astromarine saw a creepy VHS tape:
In the whole Koontz bibliography, where does "from the corner of his eye" come? Good relatively to the others, or bad? It had no government in it, and the psycho character in it was fun. It's the only book of his I've read, and I found it fun but not worth tracking all his other stuff.
I'd say that was on his low side.

He's done several amazing books. My favorites would be Ticktock, Fear Nothing, Seize the Night, Lightning, Intensity. He does have the tendancy to paint all his characters in stark black and white. Either extremely goody two-shoes or absolute psychotic evil. That can get a bit annoying.

As far as his being a hack, that's a bit unfair. Most writers have their high and low points. King's done a lot of books I can't stand, but that doesn't mean I gave up on him.
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post #28 of 28
10/20/03 at 6:12pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Scott Standridge on Skull Island:
"It was his secret place. His respite from the rest of the world. It was his hidey-hole. "

"Hidey-hole." Urrrghgghggh...
God, that totally cracked me up! So maybe it was a good thing that I read the German translation ... I can't remember anything that silly in it.

BTW, "hidey-hole" makes me think of dirty things.

"Can I put it in your hidey-hole?", will be my pick up line next weekend!!!
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