Topic: Book Reviews

[Dr. Hasslein]

Dean Koontz's work is similar to Stephen King right?
I saw a movie recently that was based on a Dead Koontz novel, Demon Seed I think it was.

I also remember there being a very minor character in Stephen King's It who was named Koontz. He played the night warden at Juniper Hill Mental Hospital that would regularly torment Henry Bowers.

[Dragonfire]

I think they are considered similar..though most of Koontz's isn't as much of horror as King's.  From some things I've read, Koontz only considers one of his books to be true horror...the others just have horror elements in them at times.

[Kathy]

I sort of lump King and Koontz together in my mind. Both of them have books I really like and others are just too "out there".

If you've never read King's The Shining, I would recommend this one. I love the movie but I love the book even a little more.

[Dr. Hasslein]

I've never read The Shining, but I've seen the movies countless times.

Ever read any of King's short stories? I really enjoyed The Graveyard Shift, it was only 20 odd pages long but it was so good!

[Dragonfire]

I've read The Shining.  It is the only one of his that I've read that I loved. 
The movie is good too, but the book is better.  Well the Kubrick movie..I didn't see the newer version made for television.  I thought I read that it stayed closer to the book.

[Alien Redrum]

I've read The Shining.  It is the only one of his that I've read that I loved. 
The movie is good too, but the book is better.  Well the Kubrick movie..I didn't see the newer version made for television.  I thought I read that it stayed closer to the book.

It did! You should check it out. If you are a fan of the book, the TV miniseries does a fairly decent job covering what it can.

I like both the movie and the mini-series, but the mini-series is a much better adaptation of the novel.

I like Koontz, too, but mainly his older stuff (Watchers, Phantoms, Lightening, The one where the strangers meet each other in that hotel). As a fan of both King and Koontz, I don't consider the two to be very similar, outside of being accessible 'horror' to the masses. Koontz tells a good story (on occasion), but King is just a great story teller.

If you like King and Koontz, I highly recommend Gary Braunbeck and Joe Hill's work. Hill is King's son and writes like King used to. Braunbeck is just phenomenal.

On a side and unrelated note, does anyone here read bizarro fiction? I just got into it and find it pretty fascinating.

[Dragonfire]

I love Watchers.  That is probably my favorite Koontz book.
Phantoms is really good too.  I think the one with the strangers in the hotel is Strangers.  I liked that one too.  I've liked more Koontz books than King books...though I haven't read many King books. 

I'll probably try to see the tv mini-series some time.

[Dr. Hasslein]

Marie, Have you read Stephen King's It? That book's terrifying, but also quite beautiful.

[Dragonfire]

No.  I haven't read that one.

I've read The Shinning, Dreamcatcher, Bag of Bones, and Misery...there might be one more, but I can't remember now.  I only liked The Shinning.

[Alien Redrum]

I love Watchers.  That is probably my favorite Koontz book.
Phantoms is really good too.  I think the one with the strangers in the hotel is Strangers.  I liked that one too.  I've liked more Koontz books than King books...though I haven't read many King books. 

I'll probably try to see the tv mini-series some time.

Strangers! Yes, I think you are correct. That one was pretty good.

I second IT. That and The Stand are the King books I read most often.

[Dragonfire]

I need to read Strangers again...and Watchers.  It has been years since I read them.

[Alien Redrum]

Did you see the Watchers movie with Corey Haim? I liked it when I saw it years ago, but I'm terrified to watch it again. I don't think it will hold up. 

[Dragonfire]

I think I did.  At least I saw a movie based on the book...I wasn't impressed.  It was so different from the book...I know things get changed when books are turned into movies, but entirely too much was changed with that one.

[Achim]

Letter (in French and a translated version) from Francois Truffaut arranging the famous interviews they did

Saw this link to the MP3 files of those interviews today (tweeter by Criterion).

[Najemikon]

wow, thanks, Achim!