By Steve Newton
Way back in 1988 I did a phone interview with Dean Koontz for a story I was writing on the film adaptation of his novel Watchers for Fangoria magazine.
Watchers was an awesome book–especially if you like golden retrievers–but the movie, starring Corey Haim, turned out to be a piece of doggie doo. I know because I reviewed it in December of ’88, when it was released without a much-needed pooper scooper.
But it was great talking to Koontz, because I’m a real fan of his horror/suspense novels, in particular titles like Intensity, Strangers, and Dark Rivers of the Heart. He was late in making the scheduled call, so to make up for it gave me a nice, long, 45-minute interview.
During the course of our chat we talked about lotsa stuff–including the crappy movie he was promoting, which he didn’t know was crappy at the time. But I was particularly intrigued by what he thought of one of my other fave horror/suspense writers, Stephen King, who the year before had released Misery and, the year before that, It.
At one point in the interview I asked Koontz if he was a fan of horror movies, and he wound up raving about his favourite Stephen King movie–The Dead Zone–before offering some insightful criticisms of The Shining:
Later on I asked him about Stephen King’s overall effect on the marketability of horror fiction, and also whether he would ever consider cowriting a novel with someone, as King had done with Peter Straub on another of my faves, The Talisman:
Maybe some day, if Koontz asks me to, I’ll post the audio of our entire 45-minute chat.
I’d post it if King asked me to as well.
If you were on the phone, how are you sure you were talking to Koontz? I mean, was he listed in the phone book? This was in 1988. That could have been any maniac.
I suppose you’re right. Maybe it was Stephen King himself!