Strange Highways [Hardcover]

Dean Koontz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2002

One of the most popular and prolific writers of our time, Dean Koontz has penned many classic New York Times bestsellers, but nothing quite like this. STRANGE HIGHWAYS is Koontz's spellbinding collection of tales interconnected by the strange highways of human experience-the adventures, terrors, failures, and triumphs encountered on the roads that are chosen, and on those detoured by fate. As profound as it is mesmerizing, STRANGE HIGHWAYS is a remarkable achievement.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Collection of tales from horror novelist Koontz.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

From Library Journal

This collection includes a new novel along with previously published novellas and short stories.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 576 pages
• Publisher: Warner Books (September 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446531383
• ISBN-13: 978-0446531382
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (54 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,023,085 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I was born and raised in Pennsylvania where I graduated from Shippensburg State College (now Shippensburg University). When I was a senior in college, I won an Atlantic Monthly fiction competition and have been writing ever since. My first job after graduation was with the Appalachian Poverty Program, where I was expected to counsel and tutor underprivileged children on a one-to-one basis. During my first day on the job, I discovered that the previous occupier of my position had been beaten up by the very kids he had been trying to help and had landed in the hospital for several weeks. The following year was filled with challenge but also tension, and I was more highly motivated than ever to build a career as a writer. I wrote nights and weekends, which I continued to do after leaving the poverty program and going to work as an English teacher in a suburban school district outside Harrisburg. After a year and a half in that position, my wife, Gerda, made me an offer I couldn't refuse: "I'll support you for five years," she said, "and if you can't make it as a writer in that time, you'll never make it." By the end of those five years, Gerda had quit her job to run the business end of my writing career. Gerda and I, along with our dog, Trixie, live in southern California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Koontz enters the realm of horror...and we love it!, May 13, 2004

By 

DanD - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Strange Highways (Mass Market Paperback)

Koontz isn't a horror novelist, even though he's been cast in that role. He's called the Master of SUSPENSE, and for a reason: his tales are downright suspenseful (the mold for other novelists) even if they usually don't use the element of horror.

But in this collection, Dean Koontz delivers several short stories that contemplate and expertly acheive horror genre greatness.

The title story (actually, it's a novel) is about a man who returns home...then is forced to face the demons of his past, who have come back to haunt him. "Kittens," Koontz's first published work of fiction, is about a little girl who decides to get revenge on her parents.

"The Black Pumpkin," along similar lines, is about a little boy ostracized from his own family. "Miss Atilla the Hun," "We Three," and "The Night of the Storm" are brilliant sci-fi pieces (from Koontz's old days of writing science fiction), while "Trapped" follows a similar vein as Koontz's pinnacle novel "Watchers".

"Bruno" is a flat-out hilarious sci-fi farse, while "Hardshell" (the first piece of fiction I read by Koontz) is about a cop hunting down a killer who is a little different. "Snatcher" is a journey into the macabre, while "Twilight of the Dawn" is a moving tale of a man's search for faith and guidance.

"Strange Highways" is not so strange at all; it's great fiction by a masterful writer. Dean Koontz is without a doubt one of the best writers of all time. That statement may sound a little exaggerated, if you haven't read any of his work. If you read something by him, though, you'll know what I mean. Why not start here, with "Strange Highways"? It's diverse, and it shows you what this man can do--and do well.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Short Stories, October 16, 2004

By 

James N Simpson (Gold Coast, QLD Australia) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Strange Highways (Mass Market Paperback)

Strange Highways is an immense doorstopper sized collection of short stories by one of the greatest writers of all time. Some of these stories have appeared in other compilation thriller author short story novels so you may have read them before. Most of these were written at least thrity years ago. Like any collection of stories the quality varies across the range as well as the subject matter. Science fiction fans are catered for well here with aliens, genetic engineering gone wrong, an alternative dimensions. Twilight of the Dawn contrasts what the emptiness of life is like without anything to believe in. Fans of serial killers are catered for with Chase although you are likely to have already read this one as a stand alone novel either under the pseudonym K.R. Dwyer or Koontz's own name. The other lengthy story is the title track, Strange Highways. Not one of my favourites but you may like it. My favourites and ones I would rate five stars are The Black Pumpkin, Miss Attila the Hun, Trapped, Kittens (his first ever published work) and Twilight of the Dawn.

There is also a commentary by Koontz on how publishers do not encourage short story writing and how hard it is for them to be published which is quite interesting.

Whilst not the masterpieces that some of his novels like Mr Murder, Watchers, Intensity, Night Chills and some others are the stories in here are still a great and satisfying read.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Joyful ride of suspense and mayhem!, August 30, 2006

By 

Littlet T "Tra" (Cypress, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Strange Highways (Mass Market Paperback)

Strange highways

This is a twisted story about a man that must confront his past and gets a second chance by choosing the highway road he didn't take 20 years earlier. It will take him back to when he was 20 years old and will enter new people to help him along the way. He is able to rewind for a few minutes until he gets it right. It was a very short story. A bit too descriptive for me, I felt like the story dragged.

The Black Pumpkin

I could see this in Tales of the Crypt. You get what you give. Very good story about being good and being evil. The choice is ultimately up to you!

Miss Attila the Hun

A great story that Love does conquer all. I loved the storyline that this teacher was able to protect her children she taught and the town she loved to live in.

Down in the Darkness

What would you do if you came in contact with a door that just appeared everytime someone was being mean to you? Would you use that door to the cellar to your advantage? Would you let the "things" take what you could not stand anymore? When would it end? Loved this one! I wish I had a cellar door like this!

Snatcher

When evil encounters something even eviler than oneself. What happens? Will it survive? This is about a young man who loves to steal and to will steal at any cost. Enter a fragile old woman and her purse. What lays beneath her purse is bound to cure the thief!

Trapped

Total Sci-Fi and a bit cartoonish. What happens when the BioLab up the road finds out its inhabitants escaped. Will mankind survive or will they triumph?

Bruno

What a strange character Bruno is. He has hands with power to heal and powers that enable him to mend with ones mind. How much invasion of ones thoughts is too much? Is it worth letting yourself go and giving yourself 100 percent?

Hardshell

I really liked this. Total Sci-Fi feel. A dark creature is on the loose and only one cop - hardshell can apprehend him. What happens with Hardshell comes face to face with this thing??? Very good story!

Kittens

Very short story that goes like this - what goes around comes around. A little girl wants to know why God always takes her cats kittens. The parents respond that its Gods world and up to him. They also have twins and take a liking to them more than this little girl. She hides one night in the barn to find out what happens to the kittens. Absolutely frightening! But the little girl has the last word............

The night of the storm

What happens when man and robot come face to face. Who will be the victor. That is what this story is about. It puts us in the minds of the robots, how they feel, how they live, how they move. How mankind wants to extinguish them. Very good story.