KOONTZ, Dean R(ay)

(1945-)

   US writer of much fiction under various names. He began his career with a number of sf novels; since 1975 he has concentrated on HORROR, becoming one of the bestselling authors in that genre, and afigure of genuine significance for his well crafted and very various work, though he lacks Peter Straub's panache and Stephen KING's compelling sense of locality. Much of his horror output first appeared (see listing below) as by Brian Coffey, Deanne Dwyer, K.R. Dwyer, Leigh Nichols, Anthony North, Richard Paige and Owen West; from the 1980s, these titles whenreprinted are acknowledged as by DRK or Dean Koontz (on many of his more recent books the middle initial is omitted). Sf titles have appeared also as by David Axton, John Hill and Aaron Wolfe.DRK began publishing work of genre interest in 1966 with "Kittens" for Writers \& Readers and sf proper in 1967 with "Soft Come the Dragons" for FSF, which with other stories was collected in Soft Come the Dragons (coll 1970 dos). His first novel, Star Quest (1968 dos), was followed by at least 20 more sf novels within half adecade. The sensibility that would find horror congenial quickly revealed itself in a tendency to write stories in which, cruelly and effectively, the boundaries of human identity were stretched. Monstrous children - who classically embody a horror at the potential aliens beneath the human skin - appear in Beastchild (1970; text restored 1993) and Demon Seed (1973),filmed as DEMON SEED (1977); and MUTANTS and CYBORGS and ROBOTS appear throughout, notably in books like Anti-Man (1970) and A Werewolf Among Us (1973). As an sf writer, DRK managed frequently to transcend the plottingconventions he seemed to obey and the forced "darkness" of imagery and style to which he was prone, and to create worlds of invasive mutability. Of those novels written within a more normal sf frame, Nightmare Journey(1975) stands out; though overcomplicated, it impressively depicts a world 100,000 years hence when humanity, thrust back from the stars by an incomprehensible ALIEN intelligence, goes sour in the prison of Earth, where radioactivity has speeded mutation, causing a religious backlash.DRK's large body of work contains some surprises; there are comic novels like The Haunted Earth (1973), drolleries like Oddkins (1988), and several fantasies. Some of his horror novels - like Night Chills (1976) and Lightning (1988) - are plotted around sf premises, but the use of these is clearly subordinate to the mode within which they fit as arbitary enabling devices; they are best discussed as HORROR. In the end, the effect of his work is oddly diffuse. After 50 books, the portrait of the artist remains blurred.

   JC

   Other works: The Fall of the Dream Machine (1969 dos); Fear that Man (1969 dos); Dark Symphony (1970); Dark of the Woods (1970 dos); Hell's Gate (1970); The Crimson Witch (1971); A Darkness in My Soul (1972); Warlock! (1972); Time Thieves (1972 dos); The Flesh in the Furnace (1972), Starblood (1972); Hanging On (1973); After the Last Race (1974); The Vision (1977); Whispers (1980); Phantoms (1983); DarknessComes (1984 UK; vt Darkfall 1984 US); Twilight Eyes (1985; exp 1987 UK); STRANGERS (1986); Watchers (1987); The House of Thunder (1988 UK); The Shadow Sea (1988); Midnight (1989); The Bad Place (1990); Cold Fire (1991); Three Complete Novels (omni 1991), assembling The Servants of Twilight (under its vt Twilight), Darkfall and Phantoms; Hideaway (1992); Lightning/Midnight/The Bad Place (omni 1992 UK); Three Complete Novels (omni 1992), containing Shattered, Whispers and Watchers; Dragon Tears (1993); Trapped (graph 1993) adapted by Ed Gorman, illus Anthony Bilau; Mr Murder (1993 UK); Dean Koontz Omnibus (omni 1993 UK), containing Cold Fire, The Face of Fear and The Mask;Three Complete Novels (omni 1993), containing Lightning, The Face of Fear and The Vision: Dark Rivers of the Heart(1994); Three Complete Novels (omni 1994), containing STRANGERS, TheVoice of the Night and The Mask; Dean Koontz Omnibus (omni 1994), containing Hideaway and The Vision: Winter Moon(1994); Strange Highways (coll 1995).As David Axton: Prison of Ice (1976); rev vt Icebound 1995 asDK), sf.As Brian Coffey: Blood Risk (1973); Surrounded (1974); Wall of Masks (1975); The Face of Fear (1977; 1978 UK as K.R. Dwyer; 1989 UK as DRK); The Voice of the Night (1980; 1989 UK as DRK).As Deanne Dwyer: Demon Child (1971); Legacy of Terror (1971); Children of the Storm (1972); The Dark of Summer (1972); Dance with the Devil (1973).As K.R. Dwyer: Chase (1972; 1988 UK as DRK); Shattered (1973; 1989 UK as DRK); Dragonfly (1975).As John Hill: The Long Sleep (1975), sf.As Leigh Nichols: The Key to Midnight (1979; 1990 UK as DRK); The Eyes of Darkness (1981; 1989 as DRK); The House of Thunder (1982; 1988 as DRK); Twilight (1984; vt TheServants of Twilight 1985 UK; under original title, 1988 US as DRK); Shadowfires (1987; 1990 as DRK).As Anthony North: Strike Deep (1974), not sf/fantasy.As Richard Paige: The Door to December (1985; 1987 UK as Leigh Nichols; 1991 UK as DRK; rev 1994 US).As Owen West: The Funhouse * (1980;with new afterword 1992 as DK), film novelization; The Mask (1981; 1988 as DRK).As Aaron Wolfe: Invasion (1975 Canada), sf.Nonfiction: WritingPopular Fiction (1972); How to Write Best Selling Fiction (1981), which incorporates parts of the earlier book.

   About the author: A Checklist of Dean R. Koontz (last rev 1990 chap) by Christopher P. STEPHENS.

   See also: BIOLOGY; GOTHIC SF; MEDIA LANDSCAPE; MONSTERS.