Latest Posts
Dean on DVD
August 29, 2013
Wondering what Dean’s stuff looks like on DVD? Here’s what I believe is a complete collection. I’ll leave it to you to figure out some of the more non-obvious discs I’ve included. (As always, let me know if you think I’ve missed something.)
Frickin' lasers!
August 26, 2013
Did you know that several Dean Koontz films (for better or for worse) were released on laserdisc? I think I have a complete collection. Please feel free to correct me if I’m missing one. (Sharks not included.)
Rockin’ the Book World
August 24, 2013
A great article on Joe Stefko publisher of the amazing Charnel House Editions.
Charnel House began in earnest with Dean Koontz, of whom Stefko is a fan. Koontz gave Stefko a copy of the Beastchild paperback, and, with help from Ken Keller at Nemo Press, Stefko taught himself the basics of fine bookmaking. In what would become a Charnel House tradition, he incorporated aspects of theBeastchild storyline into the binding’s design; the numbered copies were bound in lizard, making for an especially tactile reading experience. “Basically I took it and came back almost a year later and handed him a copy of both editions [lettered and numbered—Charnel House produces two versions of each title]. He loved them.”
For his part, Koontz said, “Working with Joe is great fun because he’s an entertaining guy and because he’s got an exceptional talent for designing and producing exquisite limited editions. His books are always thoughtful and clever and well made—and often as downright sensuous as a book can be.”
Read the full article @ Fine Books Magazine.
Charnel House Deeply Odd news
August 24, 2013
The cover design has changed on Deeply Odd. It went from a Hitchcock’s profile in gold to a two color hand stamp of Edie Fischer’s jeweled exclamation point brooch.
Source: CharnelHouse.com.
Meet manga artist Queenie Chan (Australia)
August 24, 2013
If you enjoy manga, or even illustrating, you’ll love the opportunity to meet Queenie Chan, a New York Time’s bestselling manga artist and graphic novelist in September.
Sunshine Coast Council libraries present Queenie Chan at two special events at Nambour Library on 20 September and at the ‘pop up’ library the Vault at the University of the Sunshine Coast on 21 September.
Queenie’s latest collaboration is with bestselling author Kylie Chan, illustrating her new book Small Shen. She has also worked with Dean Koontz on his Odd Thomas graphic novel adaption and her series The Dreaming was one of the first manga launched by Tokyo Pop that was not made in Japan.
Read the full article @ MySunshineCoast.com.au.
Ben Affleck as Batman: Roles that might inform Dark Knight portrayal
August 24, 2013
“Phantoms” (1998): As Jay and Silent Bob could tell you, Affleck was the bomb in “Phantoms,” yo. In the 1998 supernatural horror flick, based on the book by Dean Koontz, Affleck plays Sheriff Bryce Hammond, tasked with sleuthing out the culprit behind a string of grisly deaths. Batman, after all, is a detective with a cape.
Read the full article @ LATimes.com.
Read the first five chapters of Innocence right now
August 22, 2013
Donald Wollheim and the Ace Double Novel
August 18, 2013
While this article doesn’t mention Dean, he did publish two Ace Doubles so some of you might find the article interesting nonetheless.
In October 1953, Ace introduced its first science-fiction novel, pairing up two novels from A.E. van Vogt: The World of Null-A and The Universe Maker. Every other month, a new book would appear on the book rack. Van Vogt’s book was followed in December 1953 by Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Conqueror and Leigh Brackett’s The Sword of Rhiannon. In between, the company published a single novel. Due to their popularity, Ace bumped the production schedule up to a science-fiction double a month in 1958.
Read the full article @ KirkusReviews.com.
Forbes Top-Paid Authors 2013
August 16, 2013
Dean’s #11 this year. (Full article)
New trilogy to start in 2014
August 12, 2013
Your heard it here first folks! Here’s what’s coming after Innocence in 2014!
EXCITING NEW TRILOGY ON THE HORIZON: Innocence will publish a short six months before the start of a brand new trilogy from Dean Koontz, kicking off with Secret Forest in July. The series stars Ivy Elgin, who played a secondary role in Koontz’s New York Times bestselling novel Velocity, and she’s risen to become one of Koontz’s most popular, sought-after characters in spite of the limited time she spent on the page. There’s something magical about her that fans simply cannot forget and have asked for more of since first meeting her! These back-to-back, high-power publications will help fuel and promote one another, and bring Koontz to even greater heights.
This comes from a promotional site that Random House (and many other publishers) use to promote titles to booksellers and librarians which I’m going to keep to myself. Granted, previous books by Dean have been announced and later cancelled (Storm Front anyone?) so if this doesn’t come to be, don’t blame me.
Read some of Innocence now
August 12, 2013
Innocence won’t be released until December 10th, but if you’ve got an iOS device you can get the first 15 pages right now via the iBooks store. (Just using iTunes, won’t work. You’ll need to open the iBooks app on your iOS device and find download the sample via the app.)
Stephen King liked Watchers
July 31, 2013
“I read you that stupid book, that Dean Koontz book,” said Owen King, who is 36 and the youngest of the three children.
“Watch it!” interrupted his father, but Owen, seated across the table from his father, kept going: “The one where the dog is a genius, and he talks to him by pointing at Scrabble pieces with his nose.”
“Hey, I liked that book,” Joe said.
“I loved that book,” their father said.
Read the full article @ NYTimes.com.
I should be in front of my TV right now
July 18, 2013
My Hungarian DVD of Odd Thomas showed up in today’s mail. I’m about 1/3rd through it right now but my wife needed to do some other things for a few minutes so I’m using that time to write this post. I’ll be sure to post more details and a review this weekend.
Meet Odd Thomas
July 18, 2013
Today I got a hold of a copy of Meet Odd Thomas which is actually just a promo copy of the original Odd Thomas novel. A special thanks goes out to Diana K. for swapping this with me for some books of her interest.
Watchers trailer
July 18, 2013
[evp_embed_video url=”https://collectingkoontz.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Watchers-Trailer-1988.mp4″]
Koontz's Chart Toppers
July 13, 2013
A bit dated (January 2012) but still interesting.
Is Dean Koontz a Visionary Fiction Writer?
July 13, 2013
Then along came the Odd Thomas series. Again, I don’t know how I discovered it, but I do know that Koontz’s “odd” protagonist nabbed and bagged my heart before I even got to paragraph two. The series is written in first person, from the point of view of a short-order cook named Odd Thomas, who pulls you in with his wit and humility and then captivates you like a first crush with his concern for the underdogs of – and out of – this world.
“My name is Odd Thomas, though in this age when fame is the altar at which most people worship, I am not sure why you should care who I am or that I exist.”
Peculiar things happen to Odd Thomas that don’t happen to anyone else. He communicates with the dead, for instance. Not by choice, mind you. Odd Thomas is a reluctant confidant and can’t resist helping the quiet souls who seek him out for justice.
Read the full article @ Visionary Fiction Alliance.
Update 7 September 2013:
On the author’s personal blog A Writer’s Journey, she’s posted a response she received from Dean a few days later.
More Odd Thomas film news, and it's not good (unless you're in Hungary)
July 9, 2013
Several new articles appeared online today regarding the status of the Odd Thomas film. Basically, don’t hold your breath when it comes to a theatrical release in the US:
We now have an update on the ill-fated movie Odd Thomas, and what’s causing it to be stuck in limbo. It turns out it’s due to a monetary dispute between two production companies behind the film; one of them is not paying up! According to The Hollywood Reporter, Two Out Of Ten production company (TOOT) and Fusion Films had filed a lawsuit back in January that continues to postpone the release of Stephen Sommers’ film adaptation of Odd Thomas , a novel written by Dean Koontz. The lawsuit had been filed because OMG (Outsource Media Group) had promised producers $35 million to cover marketing prints and other advertising leading up to the release of the film, and money to pay back production loans. Through many meetings, missed deadlines, and second chances, the producers have not seen the money they were promised.
The above paragraph is from PageToPremier.com and you can find pretty much the same info on FirstShowing.net and some more stills from the film on IndieWire.com.
But, the PageToPriemer article also points out an announcement from the Unofficial Odd Thomas Movie Facebook page that there was a DVD release of the film back on June 17th… in Hungary.
I quickly found a copy with a little online searching and got it for $35. However, and this if very important, it is a Region 2 DVD which means that it will not play on 99.9% of US DVD players. Unless you have a region-free DVD player, if you purchase this disc, you won’t be able to watch it.
Luckily, I do have a region-free DVD player and I’ll post more as soon as my copy arrives.
Happy 68th Birthday Dean Koontz
July 9, 2013
Books make great gifts
July 8, 2013