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Dean Koontz Writing
Several novels by Dean Koontz nestle in my overflowing fiction bookcase. I kept trying to like his horror stories, but always ended up feeling he just wasn't horrible enough for me. (My idea of a good horror writer is Clive Barker.) Cognitively, I'm still not up to digesting nonfiction, but felt strong enough to give comedy a break to return to my first love in fiction. Koontz's The Funhouse wandered into my hands, and I thought, "What the heck. I'll give him another chance." At first I was put off by his florid, over-the-top style which I think sounds like romance writing. When a sentence runs on for four lines, laden with adjectives and descriptive phraseology, well, come on! Surprise--I became engrossed in the story, forgot about the style, and it was horrible! Really gruesome. Blood and gore upon the floor. A monster or two. Funny thing, the origin of the book was a movie (Koontz tells all in the back), first published under the pseudonym Owen West, and the earliest copyright is 1980. Now I'll have to try another Richard Patterson effort to see if any of his writing scares the pants off me.Pantless in San Diego. Listen to this article
posted by Georganna Hancock M.S. | 8:17 AM
3 Comments:
Heh! You pantless lady, you!
Dean Koontz did write romance novels to pay the bills in his leaner years. He talks about it in his book, How to Write Best Selling Fiction. (It's out of print I think, but I got it at the library.)
I always liked Koontz because he tended to write about Southern California and I recognized the settings.
You should read Intensity—holy cow, that one had me on the edge of my seat.
Dean Koontz not scary enough?? Maybe I've been too sheltered!
I've bought several novels by Koontz over the years, and he definitely scares the pants off of me. I would have to put the books down for a while if he really creeped me out.
I remember that it took me a while to finish False Memory, one of my favorites, because the characters and plot seemed so real. I think I slept with the light on a couple of nights.
Sole Survivor is arguably my favorite. I kept the light on for that one, too. Koontz writes some of the most psychologically complex novels on the planet.
Perhaps I'm not old enough to read The Funhouse OR Intensity!
Thanks for the comments, ladies. I'll keep an eye out (picture that one!) for the Koontz novels mentioned. I've been asked over the years why I like horror and why I abhor reading about war or any realistic violence. The only explanation I've come up with is that I know the horror isn't real, and the others are true horrors in life. I think my fave is the Hellraiser series, especially the movies. Oh, and I'm a pacifist.
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