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Ask Dean: What are you currently watching on television?

November 30, 2013

Dark Harvest gallery

November 24, 2013

Sarasota author John MacDonald's work on the verge of a renaissance

November 24, 2013

John D. MacDonaldSo many of John D. MacDonald’s books had gone out of print in recent years that fans often had to settle for dog-eared used copies, sometimes at collector prices. E-books were not available at all.
But now, nearly 30 years after his death, one of Sarasota’s most prominent and admired writers is experiencing a literary rebirth.
Random House, the world’s largest trade publishing house, is re-issuing its complete library of MacDonald’s output, ranging from crime thrillers such as “Cape Fear” (originally “The Executioners”) to more obscure works that even dipped into science fiction.
Of the 71 books, none have previously been available as e-books and more than 30 had been out of print since the 1990s. All of the works, including those that had remained in print, will have new covers and introductions.

Tavani said that best-selling contemporary writers, including Stephen King, a part-time Casey Key resident, have championed the revival. Lee Child, author of the Jack Reacher series, wrote a new introduction for the McGee series. Another writer, Dean Koontz, authored the introduction for MacDonald’s non-McGee books.

Read the full article @ HeraldTribune.com.

Two articles about Beautiful Old Dogs

November 24, 2013

Beautiful Old Dogs A Loving Tribute to Our Senior Best Friends10 Beautiful Old Dogs To Celebrate Senior Dog Month

While many people just naturally think of adopting a puppy, there are so many reasons to adopt an older dog. Now a new book pays tribute to this unique canine group and also shows us many reasons why senior dogs are special. Beautiful Old Dogs: A Loving Tribute to Our Senior Best Friends, edited by David Tabatsky, is filled with gorgeous photography by the late Gary Gross. While Gross may have been noted in fashion, he later went on to become a leading dog trainer.  This book captures purely stunning photos of senior dogs in their glory in an effort to show how beautiful and loving senior dogs really are, along with uplifting essays and poetry by Anna Quindlen, Ally Sheedy, Christopher Durang, Doris Day, Dean Koontz, Marlo Thomas, and others.

Spokesdog’s Book Review: Beautiful Old Dogs

When I was asked to review this book there was something about the title that made me anxious to get to it.  The title is short, sweet, simple and says it all.
Have you noticed some grey hair on your dog’s muzzle?  Does it seem your dog is growing more lumps on a monthly basis?  Have you noticed your dog is napping more?  There is no way for humans or animals to beat the aging process although humans trying to fake out the mirror may pay for a little nip or tuck here and there.  Dogs seem to take aging in stride as they are not consumed with our vanity.

Dean Koontz's 'Innocence' Is A Fall From Grace

November 24, 2013

InnocenceHeads up: the reviewer didn’t like it.

Dean Koontz’s newest novel, Innocence (December 10; Bantam), is virtually guaranteed to be a runaway holiday bestseller. With a primo release date and the tried and true name of Dean Koontz stamped on the cover, grandmas everywhere will be salivating to slide this gift-wrapped treasure into the soft hands of their bookworm grandsons. After 30+ years of repeated bestsellers, Koontz is no longer an author, he’s a brand. He represents something you buy because you’ve always bought it, like a particular type of canned chili––he’s not particularly good, but you stick to what you know. And when it comes to Christmastime, a new Dean Koontz hardcover is like a strangely familiar glitter, winking at you from a Barnes and Noble easel rack.

Read the full review @ Bloody Disgusting.

The top 25 underappreciated films of 1998

November 24, 2013

phantoms_025. Phantoms

“Hundreds of thousands missing! No bodies, no graves, no witnesses” Peter O’Toole emotes in this unfairly overlooked mash-up of The Blob, The Thing, Invasion Of The Body Snatchers and the cosmic terror of HP Lovecraft. Something evil has wiped out the occupants of Snowfield, Colorado, and whatever it is has designs on absorbing the rest of the planet, too.

The oddly-cast yet entirely welcome O’Toole leads an eclectic cast, including Ben Affleck, Rose McGowan and Liev Schreiber, who encounter something sentient and very oily in the deserted old town. There are few truly original ideas to be found in this adaptation of Dean Koontz’s novel (with a screenplay by the author himself), but it’s an entertaining, well-paced thrill ride, and genre fans will find much to enjoy in the gooey monsters and O’Toole’s deliciously ripe performance.

Read the full article @ Den Of Geek.

The Best Sci-fi/Horror Mash-ups, Part 2: The 80s

November 24, 2013

Watchers & Watchers II - DVD_resultThe Dean Koontz adaptation “Watchers,” about an escaped mutated monster and a hyper-intelligent dog, with former teen star Corey Haim and Michael Ironside (of “Scanners” fame), spawned three sequels of varying quality and is reasonably entertaining. Think “A Boy and His Dog” with a more action bent and you’ve almost got it.

Read more @ FilmEquals.com.

Ask Dean: What question do you get asked the most?

November 24, 2013

Ask Dean: What was your favorite book as a child and why?

November 24, 2013

Ask Dean: Have you seen any good movies lately?

November 24, 2013

Ask Dean: Which authors do you read yourself?

November 24, 2013

Secret Forest coming in 2015

November 24, 2013

no image availableAs if 2014 news wasn’t enough for you, you’re going to have to wait until 7 July 2015 for Secret Forest.
(Amazon.com is not yet listing a release date but Amazon.ca is listing the 7 July 2015 date so for now I’m going with that.)

The City coming in 2014

November 24, 2013

The CityIt looks like Dean’s next novel is titled The City and will be released on 8 July 2014.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Dean Koontz is at the peak of his acclaimed powers with this major new novel—a rich, multi-layered story that moves back and forth across decades and generations as a gifted musician relates the “terrible and wonderful” events that began in his city in 1967, when he was ten.
There are millions of stories in the city—some magical, some tragic, others terror-filled or triumphant. Jonah Kirk’s story is all of those things as he draws readers into his life in the city as a young boy, introducing his indomitable grandfather, also a “piano man”; his single mother, a struggling singer; and the heroes, villains, and everyday saints and sinners who make up the fabric of the metropolis in which they live—and who will change the course of Jonah’s life forever. Welcome to The City, a place of evergreen dreams where enchantment and malice entwine, where courage and honor are found in the most unexpected corners and the way forward lies buried deep inside the heart.

Dragon Tears next to get the trade paperback treatment

November 24, 2013

Dragon TearsSet a reminder for 6 May 2014 as that’s the release date for the $16.00 trade paperback edition of Dragon Tears. (Or you could of course pre-order your copy today.)

Dead Low Tide cover art

November 24, 2013

Dead Low TideFor those unaware, Dean’s writing new introductions for the forthcoming re-issues of John D. MacDonald novels. The cover art for Dead Low Tide has recently been released. (Search this blog for macdonald for more information.)

Charnel House editions update

November 24, 2013

Charnel House LogoAccording to the Charnel House Web site:

The numbered edition of Odd Interlude is out of print.

and

Both states of DEEPLY ODD are currently being shipped.

Demon Seed screening tonight in New York City

November 15, 2013

Demon Seed - LASERDISCMuseum of the Moving Image: ‘Computer Age; Early Computer Movies, 1952-1987’ (Friday through Sunday)
A screening of Donald Cammell’s “Demon Seed,” a 1977 science-fiction thriller based on a novel by Dean Koontz, will open this mini-festival of films that focus on computers or utilize computer-generated technology. In “Demon Seed,” starring Julie Christie, a supercomputer seeks to reproduce with human assistance. The screening, on Friday at 7 p.m., will be preceded by the 1981 short feature “Let’s Groove,” a music video directed by Ron Hays. A program on Saturday devoted to digital technology will feature works by John Whitney, one of the pioneers of computer animation, and one of his collaborators, Larry Cuba, as well as works by his son John Whitney Jr. John Whitney died in 1995 at 78. Mr. Cuba will appear at the Saturday screening at 2 p.m. 35th Avenue at 37th Street, Astoria, Queens, (718) 784-0077, movingimage.us; $12, $9 for 65+, and students and $6 for children 3 to 12.
Via NY Times.

Innocence trailer

November 11, 2013

Terror, Science and Faith from the Hand of Dean Koontz

November 9, 2013

koontz-bob-9899612413Translated from Spanish:

Considered one of the main authors of the horror genre, his work stands out for its influence-Christian ethic that facilitates happy endings and hopeful compared to other authors conducive as Stephen King, darker and realistic.
In November this time the best thing is to talk about the genre par excellence, terror, and who best represents the genre is undoubtedly Dean Koontz. However, only one thing you can not blame this writer, that leaves unexplained end without hope that everything will be fine or maybe not? While it is true that the end of their stories just strict relatively well for its protagonists, at least for the survivors, and not less true that always leaves a door open to doubt whether it can replay the situation. Since either by an evil engendered by man as in “The cursed place” or by an entity as old as the world itself as happens in “Ghosts”, Koontz shows situations in which all evil has any type of remedy. But where that hope comes from a writer with the facility to display such dark situations?

Read the full article @ Vavel.com.

Remaining holdouts in burning town reach settlement; Tale of Centralia, Pa. noted in film and fiction

November 9, 2013

Strange HighwaysA handful of residents who have refused to leave Centralia, the central Pennsylvania town that has literally been burning for decades, will be allowed to remain in their homes until their respective deaths, according to a settlement reached in a civil case between the homeowners and state officials.

Throughout the years, the story of Centralia trickled into popular culture, with the town, in which smoke can still be seen rising from the asphalt, reportedly serving as the inspiration for the film adaptation of the video game Silent Hill.
Horror and suspense author Dean Koontz also has said that Centralia’s tale was the inspiration forStrange Highways, the title piece of a short-story collection of the same name that Koontz released in the mid-1990s.
A professional biography says that Koontz is a Pennsylvania native who previously worked as an English teacher in a suburban Harrisburg school district.

Read the full article @ The Pennsylvania Record.