Strange Highways by Dean Koontz

(hb; 1995: horror/speculative fiction/Christian novella and story anthology)

Overall review

This is a hit-and-miss collection. If you are not a fan chatty, overlong stories, or works that try to convert you to Christianity whilst being sold as mainstream horror tales, you might want to not read Strange. I’ve read a few other works ─ novels ─ by Koontz, and this, by far, is the worst book I’ve read from this author.


Pieces

“Strange Highways” (novella): A middle-aged alcoholic (Joey Shannon) returns to his coal-mining town of Asherville to bury his father and, beyond mourning his estranged relative, he finds a new reason to weep ─ and fear. Horrifying memories and truths from his past await him in nearby Coal Valley, where a vicious murder occurred, one linked to his family.

There is a lot to admire about this atmospheric, visually-rich short novel. The characters are well-written, most of the twists arrive at the right time, the pacing and the settings are excellent, when “Strange” stays on track as surrealistic time-traveling-to-a-dark-past work.

One of the main problems is that “Strange,” a 154-page tale, runs fifty pages too long. It is often in these extra pages where Koontz’s Twilight Zone-esque story is marred by in-your-face religiosity, between Joey and Celeste’s repeated church visits, Koontz’s ham-fisted symbolism and overt ‘without religious faith, Joey is lost’ dialogue. This might as well be a Christian novella of the week contender, with its ridiculous third-act/video game-esque character “reset” scenes and certain scenes where it suddenly morphs into vampire mythology nonsense.

If you are inclined toward Christian faith, there is a good chance you will revel in this story. If you are inclined to dislike overly Christian works, you may roll your eyes at the overbearing, plot-convenient “miracles” that even “Strange”’s extraneous “reasoning” cannot support. 

Koontz, in a collection-ending “Note to the Readers,” wrote that he usually does not write supernatural-themed horror works. Reading “Strange,” I can see why. He should stay away from them.


“The Black Pumpkin”: A young boy is terrified when his older brother buys a creepier-than-usual carved pumpkin. Good Halloween tale.


“Miss Atilla the Hun”: Hopeful, entertaining and sometimes cheesy story about love, a schoolteacher and an invasive alien.


“Down in the Darkness”: A man discovers that his cellar might be used as a site of vengeance. Good use of symbolism, solid work.


“Ollie’s Hands”: Empathetic, sad tale about a lonely man with special abilities, as he tries to bond with a woman he rescued.


“Snatcher”: Creepy-/EC-esque story about a thief who steals the wrong purse, one that will take him down. Predictable but fun.


“Trapped”: Mutant rats escape from a lab and attack a woman and her ten-year-old son. Solid work.


“Bruno”: Silly, alternate world-themed pulp detective tale. Offbeat, in a chatty way.


“We Three”: Evolutionarily-advanced children usher in new genetic apocalypses, perhaps their own. Excellent, short, one of my favorite entries in this collection.


“Hardshell”: Overly long work about a cop and a serial killer battling in a warehouse. This is another oddball story with science fiction infused into it.


“Kittens”: Horrible, pointless story about murdered felines, with a dumb ending.


“The Night of the Storm”: Four robots confront mythical creatures: men. This is a religious ‘God exists’ story with a chatty science fiction overlay.


“Twilight of the Dawn”: A man’s son, who believes in God, dies. So, of course, God must exist, and anyone who doubts that is arrogant and must be stupid. That is the gist of this Hallmark Channel Movie of the Week in short story form, one that runs way too long.


“Chase”: I forgot to take notes on this one. I recall, however, that it runs in the same religious vein as the two previous stories.

Demon Seed by Dean Koontz

(pb; 1977)

From the back cover:

"Susan Harris lived in self-imposed seclusion, in a mansion featuring numerous automated systems controlled by a state-of-the-art computer. Every comfort was provided, and in this often unsafe world of ours, her security was absolute.

"But now her security system has been breached, her sanctuary from the outside world violated by an insidious artificial intelligence, which has taken control of her house. In the privacy of her own home, and against her will, Susan will experience an inconceivable act of terror. She will become the object of the ultimate computer's consuming obsession: to learn everything there is to know about the flesh."


Review:

Demon Seed is a focused and entertaining read that employs multiple points of view to tells its eroticized, computer-centric and often creepy story. It is worth owning, if you pick it up for a few bucks, one of Koontz's better books.

#

The resulting film was released on September 30, 1977. Donald Cammell directed it, from a screenplay by Robert Jaffe.

Julie Christie played Susan Harris. Fritz Weaver played Alex Harris. Gerrit Graham played Walter Gabler. Lisa Lu played Soong Yen.

Parasite Eve, by Hideaki Sena

(1995, 2005: translated by Tyran Grillo)

From the inside flap:

“Filled with scientific acuity and existential challenges in the tradition of Ghost In The Shell and Frankenstein, this medical fantasmagoria is a disorienting look into consciousness and will have you questioning the future of human evolution. New life begins at the cellular level, but when that cell contains restless mitochondria, it will aspire to be much more than just a speck in a petri dish. Parasite Eve was the basis of the hugely popular video game of the same name and has been cinematized in Japan, where the novel’s smashing success helped set off a horror boom that has only been intensifying since.

“When Dr. Nagashima loses his wife in a mysterious car crash, he is overwhelmed with grief but also an eerie sense of purpose; he becomes obsessed with the idea that he must reincarnate his dead wife. Her donated kidney is transplanted into a young girl with a debilitating disorder, but the doctor also feels compelled to keep a small sample of her liver in his laboratory. When these cells start mutating rapidly, a consciousness bent on determining its own fate awakes from eonic sleep.”


Review:

Fans of Dean Koontz and Koji Suzuki should check this out. Parasite Eve, which mixes elements of “hard” (fact-heavy) science fiction, emotional anguish and horrific goopiness, is an addictive read.

Sena’s medical background is evident in the crisp, restrained prose that makes up the first two-thirds of the novel, as well as the detailed medical explanations that occasionally sidetrack the plot. Still, Sena manages to keep the reader emotionally involved with conflicted, mostly well-meaning, characters who just can’t seem to get their lives back in order. The final third is an orgy of Lovecraftian splatter, an over-the-top release from the bursting-at-the-seams tension of the first two-thirds.

Another welcome, genre-true (as in effective and envelope-pushing) entry for bookstore horror shelves, this. Well worth your time.

A made-for-television film, based on the novel, was broadcast in Japan in 1997.

Hiroshi Mikami played Toshiaki Nagashima. Riona Hazuki played Kiyomi Nagashima. Tomoko Nakajima played Sawaka Asakura. Ayako Omura played Mariko Anzai.

Masayuki Ochiai directed, from a script by Ryôichi Kimizuka.