Dean Ray Koontz, born July 9, 1945 in Everett, Pennsylvania, is a prolific and best-selling fiction author.

Biography

He grew up in desperate poverty under the tyranny of a violent alcoholic father (Koontz's father served time in prison for trying to murder him). Despite his childhood, he put himself through Shippensburg University (then known as Shippensburg State College), and in 1967 went to work as an English teacher at Mechanicsburg High School. In his spare time he wrote his first novel, Star Quest , which was published in 1968. From there he went on to write over a dozen more science fiction novels.

In the 1970s, he began publishing mainstream suspense and horror fiction, under his own name as well as under several pseudonyms; Koontz has stated he used pen names after several editors convinced him that authors who switched genre fell victim to "negative crossover": alienating established fans, while simultaneously not picking up any new fans. Known pseudonyms include Deanne Dwyer, K. R. Dwyer, Aaron Wolfe, David Axton, Brian Coffey, John Hill, Leigh Nichols, Owen West, and Richard Paige. Currently some of those novels are sold under Koontz's real name.

Koontz's breakthrough novel was Whispers (1980). Several of his books have reached #1 on the New York Times bestseller list.

He is renowned for his skill at writing suspenseful page-turners. His strengths also include memorable characters, original ideas, and ability to blend horror, fantasy and humour. Koontz has been criticized for his tendency to include too many similes and therefore to drag out descriptions, his frequent use of similar plotting structures, and a tendency to moralize heavily.

Arguably, most of Koontz' work can still be classified science fiction, as he tries to create plausible, consistent explanations for the unusual, fantastic events featured in most of his novels.

Koontz also has a very interesting way of adding his own little quirks to his novels, such as adding simple quotes from a book by the name of The Book of Counted Sorrows. Counted Sorrows was originally a hoax, like the nonexistent Keener's Manual Richard Condon cited for epigraphs he wrote himself. Eventually Koontz put together a poetry collection of that name, using all the epigraphs; it was printed as a limited edition in 2003. His two most recent novels, though, The Taking and Life Expectancy, have no verse by Koontz; rather, they have quotes by other authors (in particular, The Taking uses quotes from T. S. Eliot, whose works figure in the plot of the novel.

Koontz has long been a fan of Art Bell's radio program. He appeared as a guest after a fan reported to Bell that one of Koontz' novels featured a character describing a paranormal event as an "Art Bell moment."

Koontz currently resides in Southern California (where most of his novels are set) with his wife Gerda and their dog Trixie Koontz.

Partial bibliography

• Velocity (May 2005)
• Life Expectancy (December 2004)
• The Taking (2004)
• Odd Thomas (US 2003/UK 2004)
• The Face (2003)
• By the Light of the Moon (2002)
• One Door Away from Heaven (US 2001/UK 2002)
• From the Corner of His Eye (2000)
• False Memory (1999)
• Seize the Night (1999)
• Fear Nothing (1998)
• Sole Survivor (1997)
• Tick-Tock (1997)
• Intensity (1996)
• Strange Highways (1994, short story collection)
• Dark Rivers of the Heart (1994)
• The Door to December (1994)
• Dragon Tears (1993)
• Mr. Murder (1993)
• Trapped (1993, with Ed Gorman)
• The Funhouse (1992)
• Hideaway (1992)
• Cold Fire (1991)
• The Bad Place (1990)
• Shadowfires (1990)
• The Eyes of Darkness (1989)
• Midnight (1989)
• Lightning (1988)
• Oddkins: A Fable for All Ages (1988)
• The Servants of Twilight (1988, as Leigh Nichols)
• The Shadow Sea (1988)
• The Voice of the Night (1988)
• Shadowfires (1987, as Leigh Nichols)
• Watchers (1987)
• Strangers (1986)
• The Door to December (1985, as Richard Paige)
• Twilight Eyes (1985)
• Darkfall (1984)
• Twilight (1984, as Leigh Nichols)
• Phantoms (1983)
• The House of Thunder (1982, as Leigh Nichols)
• The Eyes of Darkness (1981, as Leigh Nichols)
• The Mask (1981, as Owen West)
• The Funhouse (1980, as Owen West)
• The Voice of Night (1980, as Brian Coffey)
• Whispers (1980)
• The Key to Midnight (1979, as Leigh Nichols)
• The Face of Fear (1977, as Brian Coffey)
• The Vision (1977)
• Night Chills (1976)
• Prison of Ice (1976, as David Axton), reissued as Icebound (1995)
• Dragonfly (1975, as K. R. Dwyer)
• Invasion (1975, as Aaron Wolfe), reissued as Winter Moon (1994)
• The Long Sleep (1975, as John Hill)
• Nightmare Journey (1975)
• Wall of Masks (1975, as Brian Coffey)
• After the Last Race (1974)
• Surrounded (1974, as Brian Coffey)
• Blood Risk (1973, as Brian Coffey)
• Dance with the Devil (1973, as Deanne Dwyer)
• Demon Seed (1973)
• Hanging On (1973)
• The Haunted Earth (1973)
• Shattered (1973, as K. R. Dwyer)
• A Werewolf Among Us (1973)
• Chase (1972, as K. R. Dwyer)
• Children of the Storm (1972, as Deanne Dwyer)
• Dance With The Devil (1972)
• The Dark of Summer (1972, as Deanne Dwyer)
• A Darkness in My Soul (1972)
• Demon Child (1972, as Deanne Dwyer)
• The Flesh in the Furnace (1972)
• Starblood (1972)
• Time Thieves (1972)
• Warlock! (1972)
• The Crimson Witch (1971)
• Legacy of Terror (1971, as Deanne Dwyer)
• Anti-Man (1970)
• Beastchild (1970)
• Dark of the Woods (1970)
• Dark Symphony (1970)
• Hell's Gate (1970)
• The Fall of the Dream Machine (1969)
• Fear That Man (1969)
• Star Quest (1968)

External links

• Official website hosted by Random House
• Bibliography on SciFan