To Dean Koontz, With Love...K.L. Almeroth's Book Club, Edition 2
I have an enormous reader crush on Dean Koontz.
This first developed when I was 12 years old. I'm now 27...
So I guess it's not a crush anymore. Now, it is love (or some kind of warped obsession/reader stalker thing - but hey! These publishing houses rely on us reader stalkers).
The very first Dean book I read was Phantoms, and a friend of my dad's gave it to me. Being given a book at 12 was huge to me (it still is, actually), and I locked myself in my room and devoured the worn paperback one sunny, Sunday afternoon.
Phantoms still stands out in my mind, because it's such a classic. Classic Koontz! Reminds me a bit of The Gremlins, with a supernatural/alien type feel to it.
Koontz has lots of humour in his books, as well as gore and thrills and suspense. Phantoms is funny, as well as scary, and is filled with characters that I love, such as the sisters (among many others).
He's a bit like King in the way he can merge lots of different characters, and you become immersed in all of their lives, and just generally enjoy the ride as you go along.
After Phantoms, I didn't read another Koontz until a friend of my uncle's gave me The Bad Place.
This cemeted what would become a life-long love affair (at least, a one-sided one!). One great novel is one thing...but two?
Who is the man? I said to myself, at aged 13. Who is this man (and when am I legally able to marry him??)...and where can I find more of his books?
From then on, it was Koontz for birthdays, Koontz for Chrismas, Koontz if I managed to generate some kind of pre-teen/teen income. I was obsessed, and he became the number one author I would collect.
He still is to this day. I hang out for his books, and I am the annoying customer (freak) in the bookstores with the question 'Have you got Dean yet? Have you got Dean yet?'
Yes, I'm on first-name basis with the man (in my bloody dreams). So is any good bookstore.
The bookstores know who I'm talking about, when I say 'Dean'. They know exactly what I'm going to ask, when they see the crazy, stalker woman dressed in pink, with baby (toddler) in tow...they shrink back from the counter, already dreading my reaction when they tell me:
a) He's sold out ('How can that happen?' I scream. 'I specifically told you to hold me a copy! Don't you know my NAME? Don't you know who I AM?')
or
b) He's not out yet ('What do you MEAN he's not out yet? Can't you hurry along your book supplier? The publishing house? Perhaps be a bit NICER to them, if you know what I mean?')
Oh, yeah. They see me coming, alright.
Just wait till it's my book on those shelves. Then they'll be scared.
But I digress (a favourite pastime of mine). To what I was saying...
Koontz is King.
In case that line was misinterpreted, I'd like to say that I can't write a Dean post without mentioning old Stephen. Why is that? Various reasons, I suppose.
In some ways, the two authors are quite similiar. They both got merged into the horror genre years back, despite the fact that both have done other types of work.
I still count them both as horror writers, though.
I read my first Stephen King book at 12, too. Carrie, then Pet Semetary. I would read as many King as I would Dean.
And I love Mr King, I truly do.
But there's just something about Dean Koontz that I'm completely attached to. After so many years of reading his work, I feel like I know him intimately. I know his thoughts, his favourite things in life, the things he hates. His fears, his loves.
Ultimately, despite the horror/gore/thrills he writes about, I sense a gentle soul in him. I sense a kind man, a good man, a great man.
He's a brilliant writer, and I often think my life is better for having had this love affair with his books. I think about when that inevitable will happen - you know what I'm talking about. When he's no longer of this world, what will happen? What will I do? How will I go on without my Koontz fix?
I will mourn him like a loved one.
For now, while he's still around (thank the gods), I will continue to read and love his books. I will continue to terrorize my local bookstores, and the poor staff.
And I will pass something else wonderful (one day) onto my daughter.
I can only hope she becomes a fan, too.
Before I go, I want to leave you all with a wonderful list of some of my favourite Dean books. I hope some of you (all of you; I see a world of Dean Fan-bots, all of us looking like we've had a labotomy - a bit like the Simpsons episode when Ned Flanders is ruling everybody - and reading aloud verses from Odd Thomas, or The Watchers) pick up a Dean because of my list!
I couldn't ask for a more wonderful thing! To discuss Dean with somebody...anybody!!
K.L.'s favourites:
The Watchers
From The Corner Of His Eye
Lightning
Phantoms
False Memory
Strangers
The Servants of Twilight
Odd Thomas - you'll never look at Elvis the same way again!
Shadowfires
The Funhouse
Midnight
(You might also be interested to know that Dean once wrote as Leigh Nichols, as a female! Being 13, I picked up an old copy of Leigh's, and began reading it.
Only to finish it, and announce that this writer was a lot like Dean Koontz! I love her!
Found out a few months later it was actually Dean!)
Written for Dean Koontz, and any fellow fans...with love by K.L.
Total Number of Champagne References: None! (Oh my God, there's something wrong with me...)
This first developed when I was 12 years old. I'm now 27...
So I guess it's not a crush anymore. Now, it is love (or some kind of warped obsession/reader stalker thing - but hey! These publishing houses rely on us reader stalkers).
The very first Dean book I read was Phantoms, and a friend of my dad's gave it to me. Being given a book at 12 was huge to me (it still is, actually), and I locked myself in my room and devoured the worn paperback one sunny, Sunday afternoon.
Phantoms still stands out in my mind, because it's such a classic. Classic Koontz! Reminds me a bit of The Gremlins, with a supernatural/alien type feel to it.
Koontz has lots of humour in his books, as well as gore and thrills and suspense. Phantoms is funny, as well as scary, and is filled with characters that I love, such as the sisters (among many others).
He's a bit like King in the way he can merge lots of different characters, and you become immersed in all of their lives, and just generally enjoy the ride as you go along.
After Phantoms, I didn't read another Koontz until a friend of my uncle's gave me The Bad Place.
This cemeted what would become a life-long love affair (at least, a one-sided one!). One great novel is one thing...but two?
Who is the man? I said to myself, at aged 13. Who is this man (and when am I legally able to marry him??)...and where can I find more of his books?
From then on, it was Koontz for birthdays, Koontz for Chrismas, Koontz if I managed to generate some kind of pre-teen/teen income. I was obsessed, and he became the number one author I would collect.
He still is to this day. I hang out for his books, and I am the annoying customer (freak) in the bookstores with the question 'Have you got Dean yet? Have you got Dean yet?'
Yes, I'm on first-name basis with the man (in my bloody dreams). So is any good bookstore.
The bookstores know who I'm talking about, when I say 'Dean'. They know exactly what I'm going to ask, when they see the crazy, stalker woman dressed in pink, with baby (toddler) in tow...they shrink back from the counter, already dreading my reaction when they tell me:
a) He's sold out ('How can that happen?' I scream. 'I specifically told you to hold me a copy! Don't you know my NAME? Don't you know who I AM?')
or
b) He's not out yet ('What do you MEAN he's not out yet? Can't you hurry along your book supplier? The publishing house? Perhaps be a bit NICER to them, if you know what I mean?')
Oh, yeah. They see me coming, alright.
Just wait till it's my book on those shelves. Then they'll be scared.
But I digress (a favourite pastime of mine). To what I was saying...
Koontz is King.
In case that line was misinterpreted, I'd like to say that I can't write a Dean post without mentioning old Stephen. Why is that? Various reasons, I suppose.
In some ways, the two authors are quite similiar. They both got merged into the horror genre years back, despite the fact that both have done other types of work.
I still count them both as horror writers, though.
I read my first Stephen King book at 12, too. Carrie, then Pet Semetary. I would read as many King as I would Dean.
And I love Mr King, I truly do.
But there's just something about Dean Koontz that I'm completely attached to. After so many years of reading his work, I feel like I know him intimately. I know his thoughts, his favourite things in life, the things he hates. His fears, his loves.
Ultimately, despite the horror/gore/thrills he writes about, I sense a gentle soul in him. I sense a kind man, a good man, a great man.
He's a brilliant writer, and I often think my life is better for having had this love affair with his books. I think about when that inevitable will happen - you know what I'm talking about. When he's no longer of this world, what will happen? What will I do? How will I go on without my Koontz fix?
I will mourn him like a loved one.
For now, while he's still around (thank the gods), I will continue to read and love his books. I will continue to terrorize my local bookstores, and the poor staff.
And I will pass something else wonderful (one day) onto my daughter.
I can only hope she becomes a fan, too.
Before I go, I want to leave you all with a wonderful list of some of my favourite Dean books. I hope some of you (all of you; I see a world of Dean Fan-bots, all of us looking like we've had a labotomy - a bit like the Simpsons episode when Ned Flanders is ruling everybody - and reading aloud verses from Odd Thomas, or The Watchers) pick up a Dean because of my list!
I couldn't ask for a more wonderful thing! To discuss Dean with somebody...anybody!!
K.L.'s favourites:
The Watchers
From The Corner Of His Eye
Lightning
Phantoms
False Memory
Strangers
The Servants of Twilight
Odd Thomas - you'll never look at Elvis the same way again!
Shadowfires
The Funhouse
Midnight
(You might also be interested to know that Dean once wrote as Leigh Nichols, as a female! Being 13, I picked up an old copy of Leigh's, and began reading it.
Only to finish it, and announce that this writer was a lot like Dean Koontz! I love her!
Found out a few months later it was actually Dean!)
Written for Dean Koontz, and any fellow fans...with love by K.L.
Total Number of Champagne References: None! (Oh my God, there's something wrong with me...)
Celebrity Obsession
I went through a massive Dean Koontz and Stephen King phase all through my teens and twenties. I really like both authors.
I went off Dean a little bit when I read one of his books that was remarkably similar to an earlier Stephen King (I can't even remember the name of either book) and I stopped reading his books with the same zeal for a few years.
However, in the last few of years I've started reading his books again, and remember how much I liked him. He does great characters and the books move at a great pace (in this, I always felt Koontz had the jump on King. Some Stephen King books really drag.....yet I've never read a Dean book that did). The book that got me reading Dean again was Seize the Night. Loved it. I also then liked One Door Away From Heaven.
I think Intensity was one of his best books. A great thriller, rather than horror/supernatural book. I remember being almost breathless reading it at times.
I haven't read Odd Thomas, and I'm need of another book to read, so I think I shall go and purchase that to read. Perhaps I'll read it with a glass of pink champagne (if you're not going to mention it in your post, I'll have to do it for you!).
KylieW
Motherhood
To KylieW,
I am so stoked that you, in particular, like Dean!!! Just what I've been waiting to hear....
Now, if Dusk Devi and A.H. love him, my world will be perfect! The MOSTEST women will have another tie bonding them!!
It's interesting that you read both Dean and Stephen, like I did...I'd love to know which book you felt was a lot like King's....if you can remember....
I loved Seize the Night, too...love that character....that's actually the second book....did you know that? Fear Nothing is the first....same character, Christopher Snow....I actually think Fear Nothing was the best out of the two....
So you should get that one, too! And enjoy it with your glass of pink champagne!
It's funny, Intensity wasn't one of my favs....still bought it and read it and loved it, but it just didn't do it for me....probably because it wasn't horror/supernatural! I love those ones of his the most!
Odd Thomas is absolutely brilliant...one of his best. I love it! But you also can't go past The Watchers or From The Corner Of His Eye...
I could stay here all night, talking Dean! Thanks for letting me!
K.L.
Celebrity Obsession
I knew there was two books that i'd read with Christopher Snow in them. But couldn't for the life of me remember the name of the book.
I'm going to go home and find the title of the Dean/Stephen books that I thought were really similar and I'll let you know.
KylieW
Rugby World Cup 2007
There is nothing wrong with you...there is one champagne reference in the post...
My most favourite DK book and on the list of my most favourite books ever is 'Sole Survivor'.
I will admit that I do not go out of my way to look for a DK book anymore because the writing seems to have changed...it's very hurried...possibly because DK is just one hell of a prolific writer of all genres and you read him here, you read him there, you read his writing everywhere...very gifted man.
BUT yes K.L. my SOS (Soul Orble Sister), I too am a Dean Koontz fan.
That chain keeps on growing....MOSTEST...
Dusk
Motherhood
To KylieW,
I know, the Christopher Snow books are fab...I wish he'd do another one!
Thanks for checking out which books....just curious, cause hubby said something like that to me, too, once...wondering whether it's the same book.
K.L.
Motherhood
To the darling DD,
You're like a Diva I eagerly await the appearance of....kind of like Cher....
I love Cher, by the way...
I am sooooo stoked you like Dean!!! Made me all excited!!!
I know what you mean about the books of late....I think this is a publishing house issue, too, because I kind of feel that way with all my favourite authors....the novels are shorter, the characters not as much depth, the whole thing feels hurried.
It's like they've got an 80,000 - 100,000 word count, and that's it, that's the max.
Whereas their old stuff could be as long as they wanted, and more developed.
The 80's and 90's rocked for the long-novel lovers out there....like myself!
The 60's and 70's were for sex and drugs (not that I'd know)....the 80's and 90's for long novels!!
Great hearing from you, my sis,
K.L.
Rugby World Cup 2007
Just Cher-ing my thoughts with you my Golden K.L....
Dusk
V8 Supercar Pitstop
Damn you, woman. You've got me all a tizz with this one.
As you know, I was a big King fan as a teenager and read everything he wrote. When I moved over to Australia from England I had to leave a lot of my books behind, which included my collection of King.
Your posts have made me think about his writing again and that I must start up another collection.
"What on earth does this have to do with Dean?" I hear you cry in frustration. Well, you don't need to shout, I'm getting to that.
At the same time I was lapping up King (not physically, you understand) I also introduced myself to Koontz. I know for a fact that I had a number of his books and I enjoyed them immensely but I'm buggered if I can remember which ones.
(Sorry Sis ...)
Reading through the list you mentioned in your post, I'm sure I recognise the title The Watchers and Shadowfires rings a very insistant bell (ding-a-ling). But ... damn!
I can see that I will have to take a trip into town one day and do the rounds of the charity shops ... King and Koontz, here I come. I promise to inform you when I have managed to beg, borrow or steal (shhhh ... don't tell anyone) a copy of one of his novels and read it. Now I'd better go and raid my children's piggy banks for a few coins ... my need is great and it's all for a good cause.
Damn you, woman ... what are you doing to me?
A.H. (obviously suffering from an unfortunate lack of alcohol)
Rugby World Cup 2007
"...lapping up King (not physically...)..."
My monitor is not waterproof!!!
I'm snorting and cackling all over place...dribbling too now...
Dusk
V8 Supercar Pitstop
Loved the 80s, although I'm not sure about the hair style I had then - very teenage years! Best forgotton. When my daughter saw a photo of me from that time she asked if I was wearing a wig.
Then again, at seven, my daughter is a hippy. No wonder the 80s hair styles make her laugh, she's still back in the 60s and 70s.
A.H.
Motherhood
Girls, girls, girls,
You crack me! You seriously do!!
Firstly...I am without alcohol, and feeling kind of cranky myself...
Secondly...I am snorting everywhere, too, cause you two are just so damn funny....
Thirdly....there's a lot of damns in our comments....
A.H...there was no doubt that you'd have liked Dean...that whole freaky thing we've got happening....
And the raiding the kids' money boxes....oh, yeah. Been there, done that....
'Sweetie, what happened to the two dollars that was in here? Mummy needs a can of Coke, really badly!'
Cherry's like, 'Ga do boo do money.'
Whatever that means! Probably 'I don't have any money,' since there's never $2 anywhere in the house when I want a damn coke!!!
But anyway....
Yes, you'll have to go scavenge for some Dean....I know every secondhand bookstore I go into has Dean and King....
Actually, when you move to the coast, they have the absolute best secondhand stores....you will die....
D.D....what wine are you drinking? And where is mine??
This nun is outta here....
Talk later, girls....actually, better go check out your sites first, then I'm gone.
At least till tonight!!
K.L.
V8 Supercar Pitstop
Honestly, I can't believe you can't translate that comment from your lovely Cherry...
'Ga do boo do money.'
Obviously it means, "bad luck, mummy, you're too late. Daddy's already spent it. Next time, could both of you keep your filthy, theiving fingers out of my loot."
Or words to that effect.
Never a $2 in the house when I need a bottle of Aldi wine either. Funny that (not 'funny ha-ha', you understand. The use of the word funny is meant more along the lines of "I'm not bloody laughing!")
Damn, I've got to stop this.
I need a bit of sanity in my life ... time to go and tackle another chapter in my fantastic book. A tale of humour and sadness, of hope and fear and of making a baby with a man not your husband (naughty Kate). And, no, it's not taken from real life!
I raise my cup of tea (and pretend it is actually full of alcohol, any kind will do) and send a cyber-toast to my MOSTEST Sisters. Cheers.
A.H.
V8 Supercar Pitstop
For the life of me I can't rember a single story line. Give me a Terry Pratchett any time.
George
Motherhood
To A.H.
You obviously talk the Cherry gibberish....you must translate more for me!
How did your chapter go?? Hope it went well....with that lovely cup of tea you had.....
I would kill for a wine right about now....
I'd raid her money box, if she had any in there.........
Kidding! I only do that in real emergencies....
Like the Coca-cola fix I need every now and then....like after a late night up writing, and then she gets me up at 5am.....
That is when money boxes are raided!
Have a good night, my sweet MOSTEST sister,
K.L.
P.S. You've intrigued me with your book....anything that relates to infidelity gets me interested....why is that???
P.P.S. Love your moments of talking crap...is hilarious!! Reminds me a bit of myself, too...
There I go....I think I'm McDreamy one moment....now I think I'm funny....
Motherhood
To George,
You think you know someone....then, BAM! They hit you with something like this....
You need to go wash your mouth out, George....
Terry Pratchet??? Over Dean???
Must be a boy thing.
Your mad writer friend,
K.L.
Tell you what though, I was sure that I had a book of Dean's on the shelf. Very bad when books go missing.
George
Motherhood
To George,
You've obviously got a Dean thief in your life...I've got a few of them in my life....never see those books again.....
I've got a Pratchet on my book shelf...hasn't gone missing yet....
Deep.
K.L.