Koontz, Dean R. 1945– (David Axton, Brian Coffey, Deanna Dwyer, K. R. Dwyer, John Hill, Leigh Nichols, Anthony North, Richard Paige, Owen West, Aaron Wolfe)

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KOONTZ, Dean R. 1945
(David Axton, Brian Coffey, Deanna Dwyer, K. R. Dwyer, John Hill, Leigh Nichols, Anthony North, Richard Paige, Owen West, Aaron Wolfe)


PERSONAL


Full name, Dean Ray Koontz; born July 9, 1945, in Everett, PA; son of Ray (in sales) and Florence (a sales clerk; maiden name, Logue) Koontz; married Gerda Ann Cerra, October 15, 1966. Education: Shippensburg State University, B.A., English, 1966. Religion: Roman Catholic. Avocational Interests: Architecture, interior design, antiques.

Addresses: Agent Robert Gottlieb, Trident Media Group, 152 West 57th St., 16th Floor, New York, NY 10019; Brian Lipson, Endeavor, 9701 Wilshire Blvd., 10th Floor, Beverly Hills, CA 90212.


Career: Writer and educator. Appalachian Poverty Program, Saxton, PA, teacher and counselor, 196667; high school English teacher in Mechanicsburg, PA, 196769. Canine Companions for Independence, volunteer.


Member: Horror Writers Association (president, 198687).


Awards, Honors: College creative writing award, Atlantic Monthly, 1966, for the story "The Kittens"; Hugo Award nomination, World Science Fiction Convention, 1971, for the novella Beastchild; Daedalus Award, 1988, for Twilight Eyes; honorary Litt.D., Shippensburg State College, 1989.


CREDITS


Television CoExecutive Producer; Miniseries:

Intensity (also known as Dean Koontz's Intensity ), Fox, 1997.

Mr. Murder (also known as Dean Koontz's Mr. Murder ), ABC, 1998.

Black River (also known as Dean Koontz's Black River ), Fox, 2001.


Television Work; Other:

Coexecutive producer, The Face of Fear (movie), CBS, 1990.

Executive producer, My Familiar (pilot), CBS, 2003.


Film Work:

Executive producer, Phantoms (also known as Dean Koontz's Phantoms ), Miramax/Dimension Films, 1998.


WRITINGS


Screenplays:

Phantoms (based on his novel; also known as Dean Koontz's Phantoms ), Miramax/Dimension Films, 1998.


Television Movies:

The Face of Fear (based on his novel), CBS, 1990.


Television Episodes:

(As Brian Coffey) CHiPs, 1978.

Novels:

Star Quest, Ace Books, 1968.

The Fall of the Dream Machine, Ace Books, 1969.

Fear That Man, Ace Books, 1969.

AntiMan, Paperback Library, 1970.

Beastchild (novella), Lancer Books, 1970.

Dark of the Woods, Ace Books, 1970.

The Dark Symphony, Lancer Books, 1970.

Hell's Gate, Lancer Books, 1970.

The Crimson Witch, Curtis Books, 1971.

A Darkness in My Soul, DAW Books, 1972.

The Flesh in the Furnace, Bantam, 1972.

Starblood, Lancer Books, 1972.

Time Thieves, Ace Books, 1972.

Warlock, Lancer Books, 1972.

A Werewolf among Us, Ballantine, 1973.

Hanging On, M. Evans, 1973.

The Haunted Earth, Lancer Books, 1973.

Demon Seed, Bantam, 1973, revised edition, Berkley Publishing, 1996.

After the Last Race, Atheneum, 1974.

Nightmare Journey, Putnam, 1975.

Night Chills, Atheneum, 1976.

The Vision, Putnam, 1977.

Whispers, Putnam, 1980.

Phantoms, Putnam, 1983.

Darkfall, Berkley Publishing, 1984 (published in England as Darkness Comes, W. H. Allen, 1984.

Twilight Eyes, Land of Enchantment, 1985.

Strangers, Putnam, 1986.

Watchers, Putnam, 1987.

Lightning, Putnam, 1988.

Oddkins: A Fable for All Ages (juvenile), illustrated by Phil Parks, Warner Books, 1988.

Midnight, Putnam, 1989.

The Bad Place, Putnam, 1990.

Cold Fire, Putnam, 1991.

Hideaway, Putnam, 1992.

Dragon Tears, Berkley Publishing, 1992.

Trapped (graphic novel), illustrated by Anthony Bilau, Eclipse Books, 1992.

Mr. Murder, Putnam, 1993.

Dark Rivers of the Heart, Knopf, 1994.

Intensity, Knopf, 1995.

TickTock, Ballantine, 1996.

Santa's Twin (juvenile), illustrated by Parks, Harper-Prism, 1996.


Sole Survivor, Ballantine, 1997.

Fear Nothing, Bantam, 1998.

Seize the Night (sequel to Fear Nothing ), Bantam Doubleday Dell, 1999.

False Memory, Bantam, 2000.

From the Corner of His Eye, Bantam, 2000.

One Door away from Heaven, Bantam, 2002.

By the Light of the Moon, Bantam, 2003.

The Face, Bantam, 2003.

Odd Thomas, Bantam, 2003.

The Taking, Bantam, 2004.

Koontz's novels have been widely translated and published in more than thirty countries.


Novel Collections:

Three Complete Novels: Dean R. KoontzThe Servants of Twilight; Darkfall; Phantoms, Wings Books, 1991.

Dean R. Koontz: A New Collection (contains [originally published under name K. R. Dwyer] Shattered, Watchers, and Whispers, ), Wings Books, 1992.

Dean Koontz Omnibus, Headline, 1993.

Three Complete Novels: Dean KoontzLightning; The Face of Fear; The Vision (The Face of Fear originally published under name Brian Coffey), Putnam, 1993.

Three Complete Novels: Dean KoontzStrangers; The Voice of the Night; The Mask (The Mask originally published under name Owen West; The Voice of the Night originally published under name Coffey), Putnam, 1994.
Three Complete Novels (contains The House of Thunder, Midnight, and Shadowfires ), Putnam, 1996.


Other Writing As Dean R. Koontz:

Dean Koontz's Cold Terror (short stories), edited by Bill Munson, UnderwoodMiller, 1990.

(Editor, with Paul Mikol, and contributor) Night Visions 6: All Original Stories, Dark Harvest, 1988, published as The Bone Yard, Berkley Publishing, 1991.

Strange Highways (novels, a novella, and short stories), Warner Books, 1995.

Author of text, David Robinson, Beautiful Death: Art of the Cemetery, Penguin Studio, 1996.

The Book of Counted Sorrows (ebook; poetry), Barnes & Noble Digital, 2001.

The Paper Doorway: Funny Verse and Nothing Worse (juvenile), illustrated by Phil Parks, HarperCollins, 2001.


Author of the novella Black River. Contributor to books, including Infinity 3, edited by Robert Haskins, Lancer Books, 1972; Again, Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison, Doubleday, 1972; Future City, edited by Roger Elwood, Simon & Schuster, 1973; Children of Infinity, edited by Elwood, Putnam, 1974; Final Stage, edited by Edward L. Ferman and Barry N. Malzburg, Charterhouse, 1974; Night Visions IV, Dark Harvest, 1987; and Stalkers: All New Tales of Terror and Suspense, edited by Ed Gorman and Martin H. Greenberg, illustrated by Paul Sonju, Dark Harvest, 1989. Contributor of short stories to periodicals. Also wrote the short story "The Kittens."


Novels As David Axton:

Prison of Ice, Lippincott, 1976, revised edition as Dean R. Koontz published as Icebound, Ballantine, 1995.

Dragonjet, Bantam, 1994.

Novels As Brian Coffey:

Blood Risk, BobbsMerrill, 1973.

Surrounded, BobbsMerrill, 1974.

The Wall of Masks, BobbsMerrill, 1975.

The Face of Fear, BobbsMerrill, 1977, published under name K. R. Dwyer, P. Davies, 1978, published under name Dean R. Koontz, Headline, 1989.

The Voice of the Night, Doubleday, 1981, published under name Dean R. Koontz, Headline, 1991.


Novels As Deanna Dwyer:

The Demon Child, Lancer Books, 1971.

Legacy of Terror, Lancer Books, 1971.

Children of the Storm, Lancer Books, 1972.

The Dark of Summer, Lancer Books, 1972.

Dance with the Devil, Lancer Books, 1973.


Novels As K. R. Dywer:

Chase, Random House, 1972.

Shattered, Random House, 1973.

Dragonfly, Random House, 1975.


Novels As John Hill:

The Long Sleep, Popular Library, 1975.

Heartbeeps, Jove, 1981.


Novels As Leigh Nichols:

The Key to Midnight, Pocket Books, 1979, published under name Dean R. Koontz, Dark Harvest, 1989.

The Eyes of Darkness, Pocket Books, 1981, published under name Dean R. Koontz, Dark Harvest, 1989.

The House of Thunder, Pocket Books, 1982, published under name Dean R. Koontz, Dark Harvest, 1988.

Twilight, Pocket Books, 1984, revised edition under name Dean R. Koontz published as The Servants of Twilight, Dark Harvest, 1988.

Shadowfires, Avon, 1987, published under name Dean R. Koontz, Dark Harvest, 1990.


As Owen West:

(With wife, Gerda Koontz) The Pig Society (nonfiction), Aware Press, 1970.

(With G. Koontz) The Underground Lifestyles Handbook, Aware Press, 1970.

Soft Come the Dragon (short stories), Ace Books, 1970.

Writing Popular Fiction, Writer's Digest Books, 1973.

The Funhouse: Carnival of Terror (novelization of screenplay), Jove, 1980.

The Mask, Jove, 1981, published under name Dean R. Koontz, Headline, 1989.

How to Write Bestselling Fiction, Writer's Digest Books, 1981.


Novels under Other Names:

(As Anthony North) Strike Deep, Dial, 1974.

(As Aaron Wolfe) Invasion, Laser Books, 1975, revised edition under name Dean R. Koontz published as Winter Moon, Ballantine, 1993.

(As Richard Paige) The Door to December, New American Library, 1985, published under name Leigh Nichols, Fontana, 1987, published under name Dean R. Koontz, Headline, 1991.


ADAPTATIONS


Several screenplays have been based on Koontz's novels, including Demon Seed (also known as Proteus Generation ), MetroGoldwynMayer/Warner Bros., 1977; Les Passagers (also known as The Intruder, L'homme qui nous suit, and Viaggio di paura ), Vid-America, 1977; Shattered, Warner Bros., 1977; The Funhouse (also known as Carnival of Terror and Dean Koontz's The Funhouse ), Universal, 1981; Watchers, MCA/Universal, 1988; Whispers (also known as Dean R. Koontz's Whispers ), International Video Entertainment, 1989; Watchers II, Concorde, 1990; Watchers III, VPS FilmEntertainment, 1994; Hideaway, TriStar, 1995; and Watchers Reborn, Concorde, 1998. Television miniseries based on Koontz's fiction include Intensity (also known as Dean Koontz's Intensity ), Fox, 1997; Mr. Murder (also known as Dean Koontz's Mr. Murder ), ABC, 1998; Sole Survivor (also known as Dean Koontz's Sole Survivor ), Fox, 2000; and Black River (also known as Dean Koontz's Black River ), Fox, 2001. The television movie The Servants of Twilight (also known as Dean R. Koontz's The Servants of Twilight ), released by Showtime in 1991 was also based on a Koontz novel. Many of Koontz's works have been recorded as audio books, generally unabridged, including Cold Fire, Hideaway, and The Bad Place, all Reader's Chair, 1991; Dark Rivers of the Heart, Random House Audio, 1996; Sole Survivor, Random House Audio, 1997; Fear Nothing, BDD Audio, 1998; The Taking, Random House Audio, 2004; Mr. Murder and Dragon Tears, both Simon & Schuster Audio; Icebound, and Intensity, Random House Audio; Strange Highways and Chase, Warner Audio; and Phantoms.


OTHER SOURCES

Books:

Authors and Artists for Young Adults, Volume 31, Gale, 2000.

Contemporary Popular Writers, St. James Press, 1997.

Greenberg, Martin H., Ed Gorman, and Bill Munster, editors, The Dean Koontz Companion, Berkley Publishing, 1994.

Kotker, Joan G., Dean Koontz: A Critical Companion, Greenwood Press, 1996.

Munster, Bill, editor, Discovering Dean Koontz: Essays on America's Bestselling Writer of Suspense and Horror Fiction, 2nd edition, Borgo Press, 1995.

Newsmakers 1999, Issue 3, Gale, 1999.

Ramsland, Katherine M., Dean Koontz: A Writer's Biography, HarperPrism, 1997.

St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, St. James Press, 2000.

St. James Guide to Crime & Mystery Writers, 4th edition, St. James Press, 1996.


Periodicals:

Entertainment Weekly, March 22, 1996, p. 46.

Publishers Weekly, December 14, 1998, p. 53; October 22, 2001, p. 50.

Reason, November, 1996, p. 44.

Writer, December, 2003, p. 25.

About this article

Koontz, Dean R. 1945– (David Axton, Brian Coffey, Deanna Dwyer, K. R. Dwyer, John Hill, Leigh Nichols, Anthony North, Richard Paige, Owen West, Aaron Wolfe)

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