Non-Fiction

Useless News

Autumn '99

Page Count: 8p
  • “The Koontz Family’s New Daughter Has Four Legs and Fur!
  • Busy Dean (column, written by staff)
  • “Trixie and Friends” (reprint)
  • “Watchers” (reprint of the Forward to the Signature Series Edition)
  • “Phantoms” (reprint of the Forward to the Signature Series Edition)
  • “Ms. Trixie: Angel Dog” (original)

Spring 2000

Page Count: 12p
  • Interview (reprint of an interview of The Book Report, AOL)
  • Busy Dean (column)
  • “Darkfall” (reprint of the Forward to the Signature Series Edition)
  • “These Boots Are Made For Writin’” (reprint of the essay in Dystopia by Richard Christian Matheson)
  • “Daniel Silva: Person of Mystery” (reprint of the introduction to Through Shattered Glass by Daniel Silva)

Christmas 2000

Page Count: 8p
  • “An Accident At The Pole” (original poem)
  • “The Scariest Thing I Know” (Reprint of a story originally published in Martha Stewart Living)
  • Busy Dean (column)
  • “The Fox in the Chicken Suit” (Reprint of the introduction to Fiends by Richard Laymon)
  • “Trixie News” (news)
Image of this issue is from a photocopy as I do not own an original.

Holidays 2001

Page Count: 8p
  • Interview (reprint of an interview for Barnes & Noble Digital)
  • Busy Dean (column)
  • “Writing Strangers” (reprint of the Forward to the Signature Series Edition)
  • Interview (reprint of an interview for Zooba.com

Holidays 2002

Page Count: 8p
  • “Men of Steel, Feathers of Fury” (reprint of the introduction to The Science of Superheroes by Lois Gersh & Robert E. Weinberg)
  • Busy Dean (column)
  • “How I Spent My Summer” (original essay by Trixie Koontz)
  • “Holidays on Other Planets” (original poem from the forthcoming Every Day’s a Holiday, HarperCollins 2003)
  • Interview (reprint of an interview for Bookspan)

Spring 2003

Page Count: 8p
  • “Lightning” (original essay to be reprinted in the September 2003 Berkley edition of Lightning)
  • “The Origin of Audio Books” (reprint of an essay for audiobookstoday.com)
  • “The Book of Counted Sorrows: A Further Explanation from Uncle Dean” (original)

Holidays 2003

Page Count: 12p
  • “Trixie Brings You the Big News” (column)
  • Afterword to Midnight (to be published in the February 2004 Berkley mass market edition)
  • “Dog Days” (Photos of Trixie w/ captions)
  • Afterword to The Bad Place (to be published in the August 2004 Berkley mass market edition)
  • “Christmas Eve” (poem)
  • “Trixie’s Christmas Wish List” (numbered list of what Trixie wants for Christmas)

Spring 2004

Page Count: 12p
  • “Trixie Koontz Sniffs Out The News” (column)
  • “Ask Dean Koontz” (two questions and their answers from the ABCNews.com Q&A)
  • “Dog Days” (photos of Trixie w/ captions)
  • Pictures and brief descriptions of Life Expectancy, Robot Santa, and Love Heels
  • Afterword to The Door to December (reprint of the afterword for the Berkley paperback edition)
  • “The Hard Job Of Being a Dog” (photos of Trixie w/ captions)
  • “Dinner With Jilly” (excerpt from The Paper Doorway)
  • Full-page advertisement for the Charnel House editions of The Taking
  • “Trixie’s List of Things To Do This Summer” (list of 25 items)
  • Small advertisement for the numbered Charnel House edition of The Book of Counted Sorrows

Holidays 2005

Page Count: 12p
  • Trixie Writes Second Book! (Christmas is Good)
  • Afterword to Dragon Tears (essay)
  • Trixie Says You Know You Have the Right Christmas Spirit If… (list)
  • Updates on the first two Frankenstein books, The Husband, Christmas is Good, “The Rip-off Movie” (Haute Tension), & Ride the Storm
  • “My Favorite Moments from Christmas Past” (Excerpts from Christmas is Good)
  • “Dog Wisdom”
  • Advertisement for the Charnel House editions of Frankenstein Screenplay & Forever Odd
  • “Werewolves and Red Socks” (essay)

Holidays 2004

Page Count: 12p
  • “Trixie Reviews Dad’s New Book—And Her Own” (Life is Good and reviews of Life Expectancy)
  • “False Memory as I Remember It” (reprint of essay originally published on Amazon.com)
  • “Trixie’s Top 8 Reasons Who Dogs Should Be Allowed to Drive Cars” (List excepted from Life is Good)
  • Third-page ad for Frankenstein Book One: Prodigal Son by Dean Koontz & Kevin J. Anderson
  • Third-page ad for Robot Santa
  • Third-page as for Life is Good
  • “Trixie Writes Book! Dad Edits!” (Cover of Life is Good and two photos of Dean and Trixie)
  • “How Me, Trixie, Who is Dog Worked With My Editor, Who is Dad” (Photos of Dean and Trixie)
  • Full-page ad for Charnel House editions of Life Expectancy
  • “Cold Fire” (Reprint of Berkley afterword)

Spring 2005

Page Count: 12p
  • “Trixie Gets Bath, Dad Publishes New Book”
  • “Amara” (Introduction to Richard Laymon’s Amara)
  • “This and That” (brief articles about Joe Stefko, book dedications, Frankenstein book two: City of Night, Forever Odd, and Life is Good.)
  • “Bubbles”
  • “Water is Restful. Swim in Water. Play in Water. Never Pee in Water.” (excerpts from Life is Good)
  • “Dog Wisdom”
  • “Velocity” (Essay)

Summer 2006

Page Count: 12p
  • “Summertime and the Livin’ is Easy”
  • “Origin’s: Mr. Murder”
  • “The Husband to be a Feature Film”
  • “Frankenstein”
  • “Odd Thomas Returns”
  • “The Rip-Off Movie”
  • Half-page ad for DeanKoontz.com
  • “From the Graveyard of Forgotten Interviews”
  • “Dog Wisdom for the Summer”
  • Full-page ad for the Charnel House editions of Frankenstein: The Original Screenplay and The Husband
  • “The Dog Days of Summer are June Through September”

Holidays 2006

Page Count: 12p
  • “Sleigh Bells Ring—Are you Listenin’?”
  • Half-page ad for Brother Odd
  • “Barnes & Noble Reading Group”
  • “Dog Wisdom for the Holidays”
  • Third-page ad for The Husband
  • Third-page ad for Frankenstein Book Three: Dead and Alive
  • Third-page ad for The Good Guy
  • “Trixie’s Mom”
  • Half-page ad for DeanKoontz.com
  • “Illusion, Truth, and the Whole Damn Thing”
  • “Things for Dogs to Do at Christmas”
  • Half-p[age ad for the Charnel House editions of Brother Odd
  • “The Dark Side of Christmas”
  • “Christmas Secrets Revealed”
  • “Santa’s 5 Worst Christmas Crises”

Spring 2007

Page Count: 12p
  • “Dog Hijacks Truck Full of Frankfurters”
  • Half-page ad for The Good Guy
  • “Twilight Eyes” Berkley afterword
  • Third-page ad for The Darkest Evening of the Year
  • Third-page ad for “Shoot-the-Good Guy Trailer Contest”
  • Third-page ad for Frankenstein Book Three: Dead and Alive
  • Third-page ad for DeanKoontz.com
  • Third-page ad for graphic novels and comic books
  • Third-page ad for “first time in audio” featuring Darkfall, Whispers, Winter Moon, Strangers, Twilight Eyes, Phantoms, The Voice of the Night, The House of Thunder, Lightning and Shadowfires
  • “Why We Are Reluctant to Leave Trixie and Her Aunt Linda at Home Along” (photographs)
  • Half-page ad for the Charnel House editions of The Good Guy
  • “Digestible Koontz”
  • “Share Your Heart, and Lonely Path Becomes Happy Parade”

Holidays 2007

Page Count: 12p
  • "Trixie Koontz” (photographs)
  • Full-page ad for The Darkest Evening of the Year
  • “TOTOS (Trixie On The Other Side)”
  • Third-page ad for Odd Hours
  • Third-page ad for In Odd We Trust
  • Third-page ad for Frankenstein Book Three: Dead and Alive
  • Third-page ad for the Web store on DeanKoontz.com
  • Third-page ad “First Time in Audio” featuring Whispers, Winter Moon, Phantoms, and Lightning
  • Third-page ad for Frankenstein comic books and graphic novels
  • “Trixie’s Shadow”
  • “Coming Soon: Book of Counted Sorrows”
  • Half-page ad for the Charnel House editions of The Darkest Evening of the Year
  • “From the Graveyard of Forgotten Interviews” (See: “An Interview with Dean Koontz” March 24, 1996 in Appendix A)

Spring 2008

Page Count: 12p
States:
  • “20 Reasons Why I Wrote Odd Hours”
  • Full-page ad for Odd Hours
  • “TOTOS (Trixie On The Other Side)”
  • Third-page ad for Your Heart Belongs to Me
  • Third-page ad for In Odd We Trust
  • Third-page ad for Frankenstein Book Three: Dead and Alive
  • Third-page ad for the Dogged Press edition of Book of Counted Sorrows
  • Third-page ad for the Web store on DeanKoontz.com
  • Third-page ad for Frankenstein comic books and graphic novels
  • Half-page ad “First Time in Audio” featuring Whispers, Winter Moon, Phantoms, The House of Thunder, and Lightning
  • Half-page ad for Bliss to You
  • Full-page ad for the Charnel House editions of Odd Hours
  • “Shadowfires: The Afterword to Berkley’s New Edition of the Book”
  • “Under Pressure”

Summer 2008

Page Count: 8p
  • Full-page ad for Bliss To You
  • “What My Book is About”
  • “Other Trixie News”
  • “Welcome Anna Koontz”
  • “All About Anna”
  • “Saving the Best for Last: The Big Trixie News”

Holidays 2008

Page Count: 8p
  • “20 Reasons Why Santa Claus Rates Your Heart Belongs to Me As the #1 Gift Choice for this Christmas”
  • Full-page ad for Your Heard Belongs to Me
  • “Flow State”
  • “The Eyes of Darkness: The Afterword to Berkley’s New Edition of the Book”
  • Half-page ad for The Darkest Evening of the Year
  • Quarter-page ad for The Other Side of the Woods
  • Quarter-page ad for the Charnel House editions of Your Heart Belongs to Me
  • Quarter-page ad for A Big Little Life
  • Quarter-page ad for Frankenstein: Prodigal Son graphic novel

Spring 2009

Page Count: 8p
  • “10 Reasons Why Reading Relentless Will Be Your Happiest Summer Experience”
  • Full-page ad for Relentless
  • Half-page ad for the first three Frankenstein books
  • Half-page ad for Good Dog: The Dog Bliss You Collection from PetSmart
  • “Demon Seed: The Afterword to Berkley’s New Edition of the Book”
  • Half-page ad for the Charnel House editions of Relentless
  • “A Few Questions from an Unpublished Interview for The Wittenburg Door”

Summer 2009

Page Count: 8p
  • “7 Reasons Why A Big Little Life Should Be Your August Reading Experience”
  • Full-page ad for A Big Little Life
  • “How to Tell a Scary Story Around a Campfire”
  • “Hostage Situation”

Holidays 2009

Page Count: 8p
  • “8 Reasons Why Breathless Should Be Your Holiday Reading Experience”
  • Full-page ad for Breathless
  • “These Immigrants Don’t Need of Stinkin’ Green Cards” An Introduction to They’re Here…Invasion of the Body Snatchers
  • “House of Thunder Afterword to the new Berkley Books Edition”
  • Two illustrations and poems from I, Trixie who is dog
  • Full-page ad for I, Trixie who is dog

Summer 2010

Page Count: 12p
  • “7 Reasons Why Frankenstein: Lost Souls Should Be Your First Choice for Summer Reading”
  • Full-page illustration of the cover art for the hardcover edition of Frankenstein: Lost Souls
  • “Dean Koontz on Frankenstein: Lost Souls”
  • Full-page advertisement for the Berkley Trade paperback releases of Strangers, Lightning, Mr. Murder, Shadowfires, and the premium paperback releases of The Taking, and The Key to Midnight
  • Full-page advertisement for Trixie & Jinx and I, Trixie who is dog
  • “Stuff” (list of 12 items)
  • Full-page advertisement for the Charnel House editions of Frankenstein: Lost Souls
  • Afterword to The Key to Midnight
  • “Feedback”

Holidays 2010

Page Count: 12p
  • “From the Earliest Advance Reviews” (Three quotes form advance reviews of What the Night Knows
  • Full-page image of the front hardcover dust jacket of What the Night Knows
  • “Let’s Call It ‘The Turn of the Phillips-Head Screw’”
  • “Lunch Lessons”
  • Illustration from Trixie & Jinx
  • Afterword to The Voice of the Night
  • Advertisement for the Charnel House editions of What the Night Knows / Darkness Under the Sun
  • “How to Make That Traffic Cop Your Friend”
  • “Why I Shout at the Computer”
  • “Photo of the Month” (two photos of Anna)

Spring 2011

Page Count: 8p
  • “From Our Mailbox: Readers’ Questions”
  • Mocked up poster for Odd Thomas film
  • “Odd News” mentioning the Odd Thomas film, Odd Apocalypse, and House of Odd
  • Forthcoming: Trixie’s books as eBooks, Twilight Eyes TV series, Nevermore comics, A Big Little Life in paperback, What the Night Knows in paperback, and 77 Shadow Street.
  • Afterword to Phantoms

Holidays 2011

Page Count: 8p
  • “77 Shadows Street: A Beautiful Place to Die”
  • Full page ad for 77 Shadow Street
  • Afterword to The Mask
  • Photos of Anna
  • Afterword to Watchers
  • News: Features 77shadowstreet.com, The Moonlit Mind, Odd Apocalypse, Deeply Odd, and Odd Thomas – The Film
  • Photo of Gerda, Dean & Anna

Summer 2012

Page Count: 12p
  • Odd Thomas – The Film
  • Ad for the premium paperback releases of the first four Odd Thomas books
  • Essay re: Odd Apocalypse
  • Afterword to The Servants of Twilight
  • Ad for the Charnel House editions of Odd Apocalypse
  • Afterword to The Vision
  • “Three Things You Don’t Know About Me” essay for Barnes & Noble
  • “News” featuring Odd Interlude, The Moonlit Mind, and Deeply Odd
  • Photo of Anna and Big Fish

Holidays 2012

Page Count: 8p
  • Odd Interlude – Questions about the book from readers with answers from Dean
  • “Things for Dogs To Do at Christmas”
  • Afterword to The Funhouse – Revised Edition
  • Advertisement for the Charnel House edition of The Moonlit Mind
  • “Christmas Secrets Revealed” (List)
  • “Santa’s 5 Worst Christmas Cards” (List)
  • News re: Deeply Odd, The Odd Thomas film, and an “Untitled Book”
  • Photo of Anna in front of the Christmas tree

Spring 2013

Page Count: 8p
  • Cover page ad for Deeply Odd
  • Questions & Answers
  • Afterword to the Berkley edition of The Face of Fear
  • Half-page advertisement for the Cemetery Dance editions of Odd Interlude
  • “Follow Dean Koontz on Twitter” (Here are the first 45 tweets he sent)
  • Innocence coming from Bantam books on January 8, 2014
  • Photo of Anna Koontz & Buddy Cerra

Holidays 2013

Page Count: 8p
  • Innocence advertisement
  • “Early Reviews for INNOCENCE”
  • “The Source of Inspiration”
  • “Fifteen Reasons Why INNOCENCE Is The Book You Should Give for Christmas”
  • News (Announces publication dates for The City and Saint Odd)
  • Charnel House editions of Innocence advertisement
  • “Follow Dean on Twitter @deankoontz Here are some recent tweets”

Summer 2014

Page Count: 8p
  • The City advertisement
  • “The Happy Spouse” – essay on The City
  • “The Source of Inspiration” – essay on The City
  • “Odd Thomas Movie”
  • Charnel House editions of The City advertisement
  • Introduction to Ask Anna: Advice for the Furry and Forlorn
  • “Follow Dean on Twitter @deankoontz Here are some recent tweets”
  • “A Moment with Anna”

Holidays 2014

Page Count: 8p
  • Full-page ad for Saint Odd
  • “A Long and Winding Road”
  • Photo of Anna by a Christmas tree
  • “A Brief History of Canine Advice”
  • Reprint of pages 53-54 from Ask Anna
  • Nine photos of Anna with captions

Summer 2015

Page Count: 8p
  • Full-page ad for Ashley Bell
  • “Big News, Little News”
  • Brief excerpt from Ashley Bell
  • “Post-Novel Confusion”
  • “My First Novel”
  • Photos of Anna and Dean as a child
  • “A Crisis of Extraordinary Proportions”
  • “Threats in the Arts and The Art of Threats”
  • Ad for Saint Odd paperback

Holidays 2015

Page Count: 8p
  • Advance Acclaim for Dean’s New Novel Ashley Bell
  • “Ashley Bell” The Sneaky Author’s Intentions”
  • “Disappointing Vacation Destinations”
  • Eight photos of Anna with captions
  • “So Much Glamour You Want to Puke”
  • “The Crow Shrieker”
  • “What People In Her Life are Saying About the Lead Character in Ashley Bell”

Summer 2017

Page Count: 8p
  • Jane Hawk in The Silent Corner the First Three Reviews
  • “Blame Jane Hawk”
  • Jane Hawk in Development for TV
  • “Jane Hawk: Origins”
  • “Anna and Elsa”
  • Afterword to The Vision

Autumn 2017

Page Count: 8p
  • Front page ad for The Whispering Room
  • “Jane Hawk in The Whispering Room The First Prepublication Review”
  • “Acclaim for Dean Koontz’s previous Jane Hawk Novel The Silent Corner”
  • “The Hunting Hawk”
  • Two-page spread containing ten humorously captions photos of Elsa
  • “Whsipers” (Berkley Books Afterword)
First issue printed in color.

Spring 2018

Page Count: 8
  • Ad for The Crooked Staircase
  • Jane Hawk review blurbs & book five title announcement
  • “Stranger On a Train”
  • “The Suspense Magazine Interview”
  • “Dogs Just Want to Have Fun" (photos & captions)

Autumn 2018

Page Count: 8p
  • Ad for The Forbidden Door
  • Blurbs for The Crooked Staircase
  • Ad for the Jane Hawk novels from Charnel House
  • “Hawk’s Way”
  • “Dogs Just Want to Have Fun” (photos)
  • “Illusion, Truth, and the Whole Damn Thing”
  • “Eight Things Elsa Wants You to Know about Dad’s New Book, THE FORBIDDEN DOOR”

Spring 2019

Page Count: 8
  • The Night Window cover
  • The Night Window: The First Review
  • The First Four Jane Hawk Novels are now available in paperback
  • Ad for Charnel House editions of the Jane Hawk Novels
  • Jane Hawk Interview
  • From Christmas 2018: Dogs Just Want to Have Fun (photos)
  • Big Announcement From Dean
  • Letter re: The Night Window from Tracy Devine, Executive Editor, Random House
  • Photo of Elsa & Chucky

Autumn 2020

Page Count: 8p
  • Elsewhere add
  • Elsewhere: From the Booklist Starred Review
  • Nameless series ad
  • "You Might Have Missed This: Our September Newsletter"
  • "News" (the selling of Amazing Grace)
  • Two page spread of photos of Dean, Gerda, Trixie, Anna, and Elsa
  • "Odds & Ends" list (Most, if not all, are reprints of social media posts.)
  • Photo: "Elsa Koontz: Watchdog"

Spring 2020

Release Date: Spring 2020
Page Count: 8
  • Devoted cover
  • Devoted: From the Booklist Starred Review
  • The Nameless series of Novelettes has been downloaded 2,000,000 times.
  • “To My Faithful Readers”
  • “Dogs Just Want to Have Fun” (photographs)
  • Odds and Ends (13 random bits of trivia about Dean’s life)
  • A Bog and His Dog (photograph)

Notes

Subtitled “…but you’re on our mailing list, and there’s nowhere to hide”, Useless News is the official Dean Koontz newsletter written and published by Dean and his staff. There is no regular publication schedule and typically contains news of current and forthcoming projects, photographs and original and reprinted writings. Here I have listed the complete contents of each issue.

Last updated on November 12th, 2022