Dean re-returns to science ficiton

January 29, 2011

I recently discovered that in March of this year, the Nevermore comic series “Created by Dean Koontz” will be released by Dynamite, the current publishers of Dean’s Frankenstein comics. The interesting bit, is that none of the articles I’ve found online (1,2,3,4,5,6) mention that Nevermore #1 and #2 were previously released in March and June of 2009 respectively, by Dabel Brothers. (As I understand it, Dabel brothers went out of business shortly thereafter.) So the question is, will the first two issues of this “new” series be reprints of the original first two issues or not? Keep an eye out for further details as I find them. (Oh, and don’t miss the fact that there will be four different covers released for issue #1.)
Here are the images that I’ve been able to find online:

One more thing, an online article by Zac Turgeon is based on a “10 page preview” of issue #1. Does anyone know how I can get my hands on a copy of that?

Dean on Blu-ray for better or for worse

January 26, 2011

The film High Tension, often pointed out as a complete rip-off of Intensity, has been released on Blu-ray.

Blurb on a David Morrell book

January 26, 2011

David Morrell’s 2008 book The Successful Novelist contains a blurb from Dean on the back cover. FYI: The guide will contain an appendix listing books containing review blurbs form Dean. It won’t be exactly exhaustive but so far I do believe I have hundreds of titles listed. So, if you know of any please supply the title, author and year of publication in a comment.

Two new reprints in the next two months

January 25, 2011

A new trade paperback edition of The Door to December will be released by NAL on February 1st. The cover lists that it includes an afterword and considering it doesn’t say “a new afterword” I’m guessing it’s the same one as in the previously released Signet mass market paperback edition.


Then on March 1st, a new paperback of The Voice of the Night will be released with “a new afterword”. At this point I’m assuming it’s in the premium format given the $9.99 cover price and the fact that other recent reprints have been in that format.

Frankenstein updates

January 25, 2011

Just in case you missed it, the premium paperback edition of Frankenstein: Lost Souls was released today. (However, Amazon.com does list it as a mass market paperback.)


And on May 24th we’ll see the release of the fifth book in the series, Frankenstein: The Dead Town. This is being released as a mass market original, completely skipping a trade hardcover release.

Jeffrey Jones: A Life in Art

January 22, 2011

Previously I wondered if the book Jeffrey Jones: A Life in Art contained any of the work he did for Dean’s books. The answer is yes. Page 194 contains the cover of Dark of the Woods. As a result, both editions will be included in the Guide.

Legacies

January 20, 2011

I always had this small defense in the back of my mind when someone asked me why my book isn’t out yet. It was “Well, Cemetery Dance was supposed to publish Legacies back in 2001 also and it’s not out yet either.” That defense, although generally unspoken, disappeared yesterday as I finally received my copy of Legacies, containing Dean’s “Black River”, yesterday. (Click on the photo for more pics of this wonderful and long-awaited title.)

An odd observation about a recent book club edition

January 19, 2011

Back in the old days, book club editions didn’t list ISBNs, just the book club’s number. Then, a few years back they started listing an ISBN but usually of the equivalent trade edition. For example, the ISBN for the trade hardcover of What the Night Knows is 978-0-553-80772-1. The book club edition (BCE) of What the Night Knows lists the book club number of 1315656 but also the ISBN for the trade edition. (The appearance of the club number and the smaller size, never mind the shoddy binding, indicate that it’s a book club edition.) What this boils down to is that BCE’s don’t get their own ISBNs.
But then today I received my BCE of the large print edition of What the Night Knows. It lists a club number of 1333073 but the ISBN 978-1-61129-143-8. This is not the ISBN of the trade paperback large print edition. (978-0-7393-7797-0) Any searches for this new ISBN online all point to the large print book club edition.
So here’s my question from a bibliographer’s point of view: when did book club editions start getting their own ISBNs? Anyone?

Needed: Original publication of an interview by John Gilbert

January 17, 2011

The Summer 2006 issue of Useless News contains an interview titled “From the Graveyard of Forgotten Interviews” described as A few questions from a 1995 interview with John Gilbert.” I’m looking for any information on the original publication of this interview.

Found: Staten Island Advance

January 17, 2011

According to the Holidays 2007 issue of Useless News “In 1996, following the publication of Intensity, Dean did this interview with Michael Lyons, at the time the teenage correspondent for the Staten Island Advance.” Any additional information is greatly appreciated.
Update 12/18/12:
As you can tell from the comments I have been in contact with Mr. Lyons and he has supplied me with the needed information. As special thanks goes out to him!

Needed: Reader's Digest of Great Britain

January 17, 2011

According to the Spring 2007 issue of Useless News “…as The Husband was pending publication, Dean did the following interview with Reader’s Digest of Great Britain.” Any additional information would be greatly appreciated.

The Green Devotional

January 17, 2011

For those completists out there, The Green Devotional: Active Prayers for a Healthy Planet By Karen Speerstra contains a small excerpt from One Door Away From Heaven on page 197 and mentions the inclusion of Dean on the back cover. I’m guessing that since just a paragraph is being quoted, it was done so under fair use and Dean was not involved. If anyone knows any different please let me know. (You can see the quote via Google Books.)

Does this book contain and Dean Koontz cover art?

January 15, 2011

UPDATE: This question has been answered.
Here’s the Amazon.com description for the book Jeffrey Jones: A Life in Art

Over the past 40 years, there have been few artists who have received as much acclaim and garned as much attention as Jeffrey Jones. From his early comic book work for Heavy Metal and National Lampoon to his popular book covers for such authors as Dean Koontz and Andre Norton to his move into fine art, Jones has inspired generations of painters and artists. This beautiful volume of his personal favorites will only enhance his reputation and cement his standing as one of America’s greatest living artists.

So here’s my question for before I order a copy and need to return it if the answer is no: does this book actually contain any cover art from a Dean Koontz book?
(Oh, and there’s a “signed and numbered limited edition” version of this title coming out in February too.)

Double the Odd

January 15, 2011

It looks like the major book clubs (New Literary Guild, SFCB, &tc.) are releasing an exclusive Dean Koontz title Double the Odd. The amusing part is that none of the sites selling it seem to have a description or a cover image available, just a release date of February 28, 2010. My guess is that it’s a two-in-on edition of In Odd We Trust and Odd Is On Our Side. My copy is on order and I’ll report as soon as I know anything else. If anyone has additional information please leave it in the comments.

Two new magazine articles

January 9, 2011

In updating the manuscript last night I found two previously unknown (to me) magazine items. The first is the February 2008 issue of the US Airways in-flight magazine which contains an interview with Dean. The second is the October 2010 issue of Saveur with an article by Dean titled “Lunch Lessons”. I immediately was able to find copies of each of them on eBay for less than $5.00 each.
If you’d like to read them without buying your own copies I used the Wayback Machine to find a copy of the US Airways magazine in question (their current Web site doesn’t include content going back that far.) The Saveur article is currently on their Web site and was reprinted in the Holiday 2010 issue of Useless News.

Songs of the Dying Earth

January 2, 2011

In case you missed it, TOR has published a trade hardcover edition of Songs of the Dying Earth: Stories in Honor of Jack Vance (right) which includes “an appreciation” by Dean. Previously this was only available in pricier limited and trade editions from Subterranean Press (below).

What am I working on this week?

January 2, 2011

Here’s the pile of what I’m working on this weekend:

Podcast Interviews

January 2, 2011

Dean’s done an interview for the National Review’s Between the Covers with John J. Miller podcast on What the Night Knows. It seems he also did one back in 2007 regarding the release of Darkest Evening of the Year.

eBook Only

December 19, 2010

And for the last bit of catching up for today, did you know that two eBook-only titles have been released lately? The first was the novella Darkness Under the Sun which is available for purchase on most, if not all, of the major eReader platforms. (Link is to the Kindle version.)

The other is a Nook-only essay titled “Why I Shout at the Computer Screen.” To get it you need to be a Nook owner and download it from within a Barnes & Noble store during the month of December 2010. (Or have a friend with a Nook take some photos for you. Thanks Ryann!)

Graphically Dean

December 19, 2010

I’m getting caught up today so here’s another post, this time pointing out some graphical recent releases: