Dean R. Koontz Biography (1945-)

Full name, Dean Ray Koontz; born July 9, 1945, in Everett, PA; son of Ray (insales) and Florence (a sales clerk; maiden name, Logue) Koontz; married Gerda Ann Cerra, October 15, 1966. 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.

Nationality: American
Gender: Male
Occupation: Writer, educator
Birth Details: July 9, 1945; Everett, Pennsylvania, United States

Famous Works

CREDITS
Television Co-Executive 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
Co-executive 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
Anti-Man, 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
Tick-Tock, Ballantine, 1996
Santa's Twin (juvenile), illustrated by Parks, HarperPrism, 1996
Sole Survivor, Ballantine, 1997
Fear Nothing, Bantam, 1998
Seize the Night (sequel to Fear Nothing), Bantam DoubledayDell, 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. Koontz--The 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 Koontz--Lightning; The Face of Fear; The Vision (The Face of Fear originally published under name Brian Coffey), Putnam, 1993
Three Complete Novels: Dean Koontz--Strangers; 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,Underwood-Miller, 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 (e-book; 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, includingInfinity 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 wrotethe short story "The Kittens."
Novels As David Axton
Prison of Ice, Lippincott, 1976, revised edition as Dean R. Koontzpublished as Icebound, Ballantine, 1995
Dragonjet, Bantam, 1994
Novels As Brian Coffey
Blood Risk, Bobbs-Merrill, 1973
Surrounded, Bobbs-Merrill, 1974
The Wall of Masks, Bobbs-Merrill, 1975
The Face of Fear, Bobbs-Merrill, 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 DeanR. 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 DeanR. 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, DarkHarvest, 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 Best-selling 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

Further Reference

ADAPTATIONS

Several screenplays have been based on Koontz's novels, including Demon Seed (also known as Proteus Generation), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/Warner Bros., 1977; Les Passagers (also known as The Intruder, L'homme qui nous suit, and Viaggio di paura), VidAmerica, 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 DeanR. Koontz's Whispers), International Video Entertainment, 1989; Watchers II, Concorde, 1990; Watchers III, VPS Film-Entertainment, 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

User Contributions:

Comment about this article, ask questions, or add new information about this topic:

forum