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Strangers TV series coming to Fox?

October 30, 2018

All these articles say pretty much the same thing so which ones you read are up to you.

Travis McBee reviews Hell’s Gate

October 30, 2018

Originally published on Oct 22, 2018

What’s New & Updated October 29, 2018

October 29, 2018

Not much this week, but definitely an interesting item or two.

The Catholic literary vision of Dean Koontz

October 24, 2018

A Masterpiece of Creation

This brings us to one of the most wildly successful novelists in the world: Dean Koontz. His books have sold over 450 million copies in dozens of languages, and many of his novels have been at the top of the The New York Times bestseller list. They are found in every bookstore, and several have been made into movies (with mixed results, as he is the first to note). This spring, when PBS launched its Great American Read campaign, his 1987 novel Watchers was on the campaign’s list of “America’s 100 most-loved books.” Yet he is rarely mentioned in the recent debate on the decline of Catholic literary culture. One exception is Jon Sweeney, who called him in America (7/4/16)“the best-selling writer of fiction in the world today who happens to be Catholic” (emphasis added).

Two questions arise about Dean Koontz: First, is he to be listed among serious novelists at all? Second, what makes him a Catholic novelist?
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Hiding in plain sight, indeed. For decades a religious vision has suffused Koontz’s work, making him the most popular explicitly Catholic novelist in the world. But two questions arise: First, is Dean Koontz to be listed among serious novelists at all? Second, what makes him a Catholic novelist?

Some will answer the first question in the negative because they have consigned him to that lucrative but frowned-upon category called “genre fiction.” But to exclude such fiction from the purview of Christian literature would lose us the fantasies of J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis, the ghost stories of Russell Kirk and the detective novels of P. D. James, Dorothy Sayers and G. K. Chesterton, to name just a few.

In fact, it is hard to pinpoint exactly to what genre Dean Koontz’s works belong. Bookstores may carry his works under mystery, suspense, horror, fantasy or science fiction. Because his plots often involve individuals struggling against vast conspiracies, The Newark Star-Ledger has called him a master of the “paranoid thriller.” The Richmond Times-Dispatch has said he “almost occupies a genre of his own.”

Read the full article @ AmericaMagazine.org

Syfy Wire: 40 Thoughts We Had While Watching Hideaway

October 24, 2018

It’s national treasure Jeffrey Lynn Goldblum’s birthday on October 22, and thus we at SYFY FANGRRLS have dedicated the entire month to the celebration of our favorite moments, movies, outfits and noises from this absolute zaddy of a man. (And if you don’t know what “zaddy” means, Google it, because Jeff Goldblum already knows.)

In celebration of our latest favorite monthly observance, 31 Days of Jeff Goldblum, we’re taking a walk down Memory Lane into the long and storied past of his legendary acting career. Some of these films are worth revisiting. Some, as is the case for our latest Deja View, are most definitely not. Still, for Jeff Goldblum, we boldly trek into the good, the bad, and the just plain terrible.

1. Any movie that starts off with a church choir singing in the background is a cue that we’re going to get into some heavy psychological sh*t here.

2. Hideaway!Jeremy Sisto doesn’t listen to the wimpy-soft Cranberries here like he does in Clueless. Nah, you know his character (also named Jeremy, not confusing at all) is really a bad boy because it’s ALL HARD ROCK ALL THE TIME, DUDE.

Read the full article @ Syfy.com

What’s new & updated October 21, 2018

October 21, 2018

The first pass is done! Now come the hard bits of the collections, the Frankenstein series, and the Odd Thomas series. Why did I put these off? Because the cross-references are going to be a serious pain.

What’s New & Updated October 15, 2018

October 15, 2018

I’m literally just a few entries short of completing the first past. The next update should it that completed.

Random Review Videos

October 15, 2018

I haven’t done this in a while so here you go in no particular order…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?a=&feature=youtu.be&v=hl9gTFmcbqw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?a=&feature=youtu.be&v=pNXXfPlZOnU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?a=&feature=youtu.be&v=PdAfA2o13g8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysW-sltOj3Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=OedyDqf8fM4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?a=&feature=youtu.be&v=CfjHKLA5SpM

Megadeth on Godzilla

October 15, 2018

Megadeth posted this on their Twitter feed this week. I’ve reached out to see if I can get them to say any more. Check out the Godzilla vs. Megadeth entry if you’re not already aware of this obscure little gem.

Great American Read Stickers

October 15, 2018

Looks like some bookstores are putting Great American Read stickers on their copies of Watchers. I can’t seem to find one here in Lincoln. Has your bookstore done this? If so, please message me as I’d love to have you send me one. (Of course I’ll pay the related expenses.)

What’s New & Updated October 8, 2018

October 8, 2018

I’m getting close to completing the first pass as there are less than 15 entries left. (Maybe I’ll get that done this week…) Then I’ll start focusing on all the titles that start with “Dean Koontz,” The Odd Thomas series, and the Frankenstein books.

Wil Wheaton, lifelong fan of PBS and libraries, has one book he can’t recommend

October 7, 2018

So when you look at it, what does the list tell you about our thoughts on literature and the way we value literature in these times?

People choose books that matter to them for one reason or another. There’s a Dean Koontz book on the list that I loved when I was like 13. I was already a really voracious reader, but if I hadn’t been, if that was the book that got me into the library — and got me into a place where I could find other people who liked to read, and got me in the same room with a librarian who could say, ‘Oh if you’re reading that, maybe you’ll like this!’ — I think that’s great.

Read the full interview @ Salon.com

The Intensity of High Tension: A Look at Plagiarism in Horror

October 7, 2018

In a time of remakes, reboots, re-imaginings and so forth, the genre fan has a narrowed selection in terms of originality. This debatable lack of creativity divides audiences on a regular basis. Whether or not one is a fan of the remake, the idea of proper acknowledgment and credit should never be in question. Intensity is a novel written by Dean Koontz in 1995. A two-part miniseries was produced in 1997 that aired on the Fox network. High Tension is a 2003 French film directed by Alexandre Aja. The first half of all three works have virtually the same plot. Even the titles have a similar ring to them. The problem is that Aja’s film gives zero credit to Koontz’s original work.

Read the full article @ Wicked Horror

What’s New & Updates October 1, 2018

October 1, 2018

Life gets complicated when in one weekend I had a Keb’ Mo’ concert in Wichita, a Henry Rollins show in Lincoln in my personal life, and monthly statistics, and a quarterly report for me day job to compile. Then there’s a manuscript to proof for the umpteenth time, and a book chapter due too. I’m surprised I got this much done.

Don Brautigam Artist Portfolio news

September 29, 2018

It looks like Centipede Press is going to be publishing six, yes, just six, more autographed copies of their Don Brautigam Artist Portfolio. Here’s what the publisher had to say in his September 23, 2018 newsletter:

“Wow! We found six signature pages for our special Don Brautigam art book. They are numbered and signed by Don Brautigam and Dean Koontz. These would be a special run of the book. This is an extremely costly book to make, and the price will likely be well over $1,500, so let me know if you might be interested. As always, thank you for your support and have a great week!”

That’s a pretty penny for one of the six new copies which will bring the total up to 36. No word yet on whether this will be bound the same, or something more creative. Check out the details regarding the first 30 copies over on the Don Brautigam Artist Portfolio entry.

Oh, and you know I put my name on the list for a copy. Now to figure out how I’m going to pay for it.

What’s New & Updates September 24, 2018

September 24, 2018

Yep, three-day weekend, but circumstances ended up keeping me away from the site for most of it. But i do have one update for you.

Whats new & updated September 16, 2018

September 16, 2018

Due to work-related schedule needs I have just a one-day weekend this week so there’s not much to announce. However, in exchange I get a three-day weekend next week so hopefully next week’s update list will be much longer.

The Transcendent Dean Koontz

September 15, 2018

To take a wider view, Koontz is presenting in the series a large-scale defense of the ability to choose meaning and virtue. One of his recurring characters is an anxiety-prone latter-day Puritan, while another is an intellectually and physically domineering hulkstraight out of a Max Weber tract. Koontz fairly and logically shows the necessary consequences of these characters’ thoughts and actions by creating storylines of such accessibility that the general reader can see how their ideologies contradict any coherent notion of the good life. The modern Puritan, for instance, moves nervously from scene to scene, constantly seeking perfection and never finding it, unjustly critiquing others while placating his own ego. The ideologies Koontz critiques inevitably lead to disaster — not just for the characters, but for the societies built on such chimeras.

Hawk, on the other hand, embraces the natural religion to which Koontz’s wide fan base responds with awe. She finds solace in the wonder of creation while calling out evil for its supernatural maliciousness, ever uniting reason with hope against secular hedonism. Koontz does “diversity” the right way, too: He features an autistic character in this series who is a compelling hero because he faces down his particular suffering by accepting grace. And as Flannery O’Connor and Léon Bloy before her have shockingly reminded us, the reception of grace usually hurts — badly.

Read the full article online @ NationalReview.com

The Night Window now available for pre-order

September 13, 2018

Amazon.com has The Night Window (Jane Hawk #5) up for pre-order with a release date of May 14, 2019.

Groundbreaking, wholly involving, eerily prescient and terrifyingly topical, Dean Koontz’s Jane Hawk series sets a new standard for contemporary thrillers. Since her sensational debut in The Silent Corner, readers have been riveted by Jane Hawk’s resolute quest to take down the influential architects of an accelerating operation to control every level of society via an army of mind-altered citizens. At first, only Jane stood against the “Arcadian” conspirators, but slowly others have emerged to stand with her, even as there are troubling signs that the “adjusted” people are beginning to spin viciously out of control. Now, in the thrilling, climactic showdown that will decide America’s future, Jane will require all her resources–and more–as she confronts those at the malevolent, impregnable center of power.

The Forbidden Door has hit the streets

September 12, 2018

The Forbidden Door was released yesterday and it’s page is as up to date as it can be. As soon as my Books-a-Million & Barnes & Noble pre-signed editions arrive they’ll be added quickly. Otherwise, here’s a few odds & ends from round the Web.