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Dean Koontz

post #1 of 23
3/26/03 at 1:05am
Thread Starter 
I don't get much time to sit down and read books. But my horror author of choice would be Koontz (among a few others, though I've never read a Stephen King).

Anyone else a fan? Favorite titles? Mine would be Phantoms... Damn good read. If only the film was better.

Haven't read much of his recent stuff i.e. 1998 and on... any good stuff in there?
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post #2 of 23
3/26/03 at 1:09am
Yes and No. Yes, because there are a few good reads, but No because even the good reads are highly derivative of his previous work. That said, I enjoyed the two Christopher Snow books: "Seize the Night," and "Fear Nothing."
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post #3 of 23
3/26/03 at 1:21am
I love Koontz. Second favorite horror author behind the King.

But his books will never make good movies. His writing is so internal that you can't show what makes his stories scary on the big screen.
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post #4 of 23
3/26/03 at 1:48am
Blofeld perfect word describing Koontz, derivitive. The guy cranks out what 2 or 3 books a year and everyother one is the same and uninspiring to me.

Gotta read King but not so much his last half-dozen.

Clive Barker is an incredible writer as well!
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post #5 of 23
3/26/03 at 1:53am
Whether or not he's derivative I can't say, having only read one of his books--Intensity, whihc I did enjoy very much. However, impressions count as well, and as a King and Barker fan I have always gotten that impression from Koontz. But, and I guess it does really apply here, you can't judge a book by its cover.
But yeah, loved Intensity. Anyone suggest another by him after that that would change my mind?
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post #6 of 23
3/26/03 at 1:58am
Strangers
One Door Away From Heaven
Dark Rivers of the Heart
Midnight
Lightning
Tick Tock
Strangers

Just some outstanding titles from the guy. Indeed, some have similar ideas but I enjoy his books. Tick Tock is a strange one though - it doesn't really take itself seriously but it's one funny book.
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post #7 of 23
3/26/03 at 4:12am
I echo Blofeld's sentiments I loved the Snow books.
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post #8 of 23
3/26/03 at 5:30am
Is Christopher Snow a John Constantine/Harry D'Amour type character or something else? Are those two books stand alone or a series?
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post #9 of 23
3/26/03 at 10:45am
Love me some Koontz. "The Bad Place" is tops for me.
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post #10 of 23
3/26/03 at 11:17am
I've enjoyed several Koontz novels, but his pattern tends to get annoying at times.

You know going in that there will be main characters with an extreme love for life and their friends/family. You'll know this because you have to read about it for the first 5 chapters. (Which, much like having to listen to Kathy Lee Gifford prattle on about her kids, begins to gnaw away at your brain.)

You know there will be severely deranged people with zero redeeming qualities, who exist to torment the main characters and then die horribly.

I'd personally like more shadings in his characters rather than the stark good and evil, but still his books (after the first 50-100 pages) are usually great stories.

The one book of his that I felt was really different and perfect was Ticktock. He broke a lot of his own self-enforced cliches with it, and turned out a great comedy horror adventure.

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post #11 of 23
3/26/03 at 11:19am
Quote:
Dr. Vitus Werdegast:
Is Christopher Snow a John Constantine/Harry D'Amour type character or something else? Are those two books stand alone or a series?
The Snow books are supposed to be a trilogy (started back in, well, 98?, around there). He released the first two back to back, but seems to be slacking off on the last one.

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post #12 of 23
3/26/03 at 1:11pm
My theory on Koontz, if you've read on, you've read them all and I have read most of them.
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post #13 of 23
3/26/03 at 2:27pm
Nothing to see here, move along

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post #14 of 23
3/26/03 at 2:29pm
Dean Koontz is the Brett Ratner of horror literature.
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post #15 of 23
3/26/03 at 2:46pm
Phantoms, Intensity, Tick-tock and the Snow books were kind of fun. But the guy writes some of the worst, most wooden and false ringing dialogue in contempary American publishing. Oh, and he looks stupid with that roadkill he found in his driveway one morning wig he wears in the huge picture he insists on having in the back of each and every one of his books.
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post #16 of 23
3/26/03 at 2:54pm
Thread Starter 
I don't care about dialogue so much. I like his stuff because it's tense and creepy, and he knows how to write a good nutcase.
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post #17 of 23
3/26/03 at 2:56pm
I don't get too much time to read anymore (despite lacking a job..), but my stepfather got me the book Demon Seed a while back. I wonder if he was subtly trying to hint at something.. I seem to creep him out.

Anyway, I thought it was.. alright. It certainly wasn't the best book I've ever read, but good for passing the time while I baked cookies and stuff. Maybe I should hunt down some of the more well-known Koontz books.
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post #18 of 23
3/26/03 at 4:07pm
Watchers is good early Koontz.
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post #19 of 23
3/26/03 at 5:43pm
Thanks to school I haven't read a good horror novel in a few years, but I really like Robert McCammon. He reminds me of Koontz and he's from Alabama, so a lot of the details and locations he mentions are familiar to me.
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post #20 of 23
3/26/03 at 10:32pm
Good point about the dialogue, one of the reasons I can't read his stuff anymore. Dialogue and character development in novels is of the utmost importance to me!
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post #21 of 23
3/27/03 at 2:43am
I like the Christopher Snow books, but we're all missing the big picture here.

What about his obvious toupee? Eh? Eh?

Doesn't that bother anybody?
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post #22 of 23
3/27/03 at 2:51pm
Quote:
D. B. Cooper:
I like the Christopher Snow books, but we're all missing the big picture here.

What about his obvious toupee? Eh? Eh?

Doesn't that bother anybody?
Like I said, it's roadkill he found in his driveway one morning. Looks like he stapled the pitiful looking thing to his scalp.
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post #23 of 23
3/27/03 at 7:52pm
I've read a few Koontz books, and they have all been about the same to me. I feel his books start out strong, but then kind of fizzle towards the end. I feel the same way about some of the Mike Chriten (sp?) books that I have read, The Andromeda Strain being the one I hated the most with that crappy ending after such a great beginning.

For my horror, I go straight to Barker. He's the best to me, I like his work even better than King (gasp!). I've also read a few McCammon books that I've liked.

I like shorts more than full novels mostly. Nice little works of bite-sized fiction.
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